Page 106 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

horticultural societies 925

Iban Swidden Horticulture

Like many indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia, the still going on. From the historical survey (presented
Iban of Sarawak practiced swidden or slash-and-burn in Part II of this report) of the Iban occupation of
horticulture. The following ethnographic account by the Batang Rejang and its tributary rivers and streams,
Derek Freeman details the advantage of exploiting vir- it emerges clearly that the Iban are a virile and re-
gin land for gardens. sourceful people with an insatiable appetite for vir-
gin land. The motives which prompt this appetite
Despite the fact that Iban have been living in the val-
are many. Foremost is the knowledge that, given good
ley of the Sut for something like fifty years, virgin jun-
weather, two and more crops of exceptional abun-
gle (kampong ) was still being felled at Rumah Nyala
dance may be harvested from an umai kampong. In
in 1949–50, and I was fortunate in being able to wit-
their prayers (sampi ) at the time of pemanggol, the
ness many different types of land usage. Before begin-
Iban ask for:
ning our survey there are several preliminary points
which should be made. Iban methods of land usage “Land that is fat, fat in deep layers,
are complex. Luxuriant land, land that is fruitful,
There is however, one general feature of especial Soil soft and fecund, land richly fertile;”
significance: a marked tendency (particularly when
and they know that this is most likely to be found
working virgin forest) to farm land for two years in
in tracts of kampong, on untouched slopes and ter-
succession, before letting it revert to secondary jun-
races, where the humus of centuries lies thickly.The
gle. [...]
labour expended on an umai kampong is heavy, but
Every land usage cycle begins with the felling of
it holds high promise of a surplus—a surplus that
virgin jungle. During the past hundred years, many
leads to property and prestige and all the other things
thousands of acres of primeval forest in the Rejang
most desired by Iban hearts.
basin have been felled by Iban axes, and in the Baleh
Source: Freeman, D. (1955). Iban agriculture: a report on the shifting cultivation of hill
(and other similar pioneer areas) this onslaught is rice by the Iban of Sarawak (pp. 114–115). London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

In contrast, agricultural systems make use of perma- ticultural economies contain elements of both. Most
nently cultivated fields, and only one or a few cultigens anthropologists believe that human groups first practiced
are planted.These plots are typically cultivated for longer an economy based on foraging; in some cases these
periods than they are left fallow, and various methods for groups harvested natural stands of plants that bore edi-
soil enrichment, such as the addition of mulch and fer- ble seeds. Many of these plants were pioneer species that
tilizers, are employed. Agriculture often involves a com- grew in areas where the climax, forest vegetation, had
bined use in which domesticated animals contribute to been disturbed. From the outset people disturbed habi-
soil fertility (for example, manure) and consume the tats by clearing land for settlements; by cutting trees for
nitrogen-fixing fallow plants that are cultivated to enrich house construction, boats, and other uses; by using fire
the soil. Gardens are not returned to secondary growth to hunt game; and by dumping their trash and other
and in many cases they are specially constructed. Such waste near their settlements, and many edible plants
constructions include raised and ridged fields, mound- thrive in these disturbed, human-created spaces.
ing, chinampas (the floating gardens of Aztec Mexico), The next step involved encouraging the growth of use-
pond gardens, and irrigation works. In agriculture, great- ful plants—for example, in the eastern United States peo-
er efforts are placed on modifying the land and adding ple may have removed particular trees to increase the
to its fertility. output of hickory nuts. Finally, seeds and cuttings were
Because horticulture lies at the interface between a planted in specially prepared gardens where they were
complete reliance on wild foods (“foraging”) and com- tended throughout their growth cycle. Such tending and
plete reliance on domesticated foods (“agriculture”), hor- management involved activities such as land clearance,