Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAPTER VIII,
Arts and Crafts.
Division of Labour.
As a rule it may be said among all the tribes that the
men perform the essential minimum of such work as
requires brute force, and the women do the rest.
Among the wildest Semang tribes, the men do the
hunting, and the women the shelter-building and the
cooking, and so, too, among tribes which have
reached the agricultural stage ^ the men do the
felling and heavy clearing, whilst the women do
the lighter clearing and lopping of branches, as
well as the sowing and reaping, and not unfrequently
the tilling of the soil, if the scratching of its surface
with a pointed stick can be so called. Similarly, when
a regular house or hut has to be built, the men only
* The following description, by
Logan, of the work of the Benua-Jakun
women applies, generally speaking,
to all tribes that have reached this
stage :
—
" The plantation, having once been
formed, receives no culture, and is left
entirely to the control of the women,
who are never for a moment idle. In
the morning, having first refilled their
melon -skins (or gourds) with water,
they fasten a deep basket on to their
backs by means of straps passing over
the shoulders and head, and proceed
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to collect sweet potatoes, sugar-cane,
and so forth, for the morning repast.
Breakfast once cooked and despatched,
they employ themselves in nursing
their children and weaving mats and
bags until it is time to go out and fill
their baskets again for the evening
meal. If the men are at home, a slight
meal is also prepared in the middle of
the day. The only employment at a
distance from the plantation which
they share with the men, and sometimes
pursue by themselves, is angling "
(/. /. A. vol. i. p. 256.)