A. Ottino Origin myths, hierarchical order, and the negotiation of ...

Status in the Balinese Village ofTrunyan 505
behaviour and marriage whose non-observation in the past was liable to
bring down severe sanctions upon the members of the banjar jaba
(Danandjaja 1980:125). The dadia also takes charge of the Kentel Gumi
temple, which was built by the ancestors of the Pasek Gelgel when they
settled in Trunyan (Danandjaja 1980:644). It possesses its own body of
customs (awig-awig) with regulations specific to this group.
At marriage, jero men acquire the title of gum - although their wives do
not. This is true regardless of whether the wife is ajero or zjaba woman,
and it may go back to a time when the newly arrived Pasek rulers married
local women - although Danandjaja is silent on this point. Formerly it was
taboo for ajaba person to articulate aloud the personal name of a member
of the banjar jero. Jero children were also distinguished by their birthorder
names. Jaba children did not receive birth-order names, but were
known simply by their personal names, prefixed by I for a boy and Ni for a
girl. This is no longer the case, but the birth-order name Made is still not
used by members of the jaba, Nengah being used instead, while I and Ni
continue to be prefixed to the birth-order names (Danandjaja 1980:130). 22
Until recently hypogamous unions, i.e., marriages between ajero woman
and ajaba man, were forbidden and punishable by death. Although they
are no longer liable to the death sentence today, hypogamous unions are
still widely discouraged. When they occur, the jaba husband must observe
certain taboos, such as not being at his wife's side when she gives birth. 23
The jaba woman who manies a jero man must undergo a rite of purification
before marriage.
First settlers
The category of first settlers comprises four unrelated dadia and their
offshoots. They include the original population, about whom nothing is
known except that their origin is identified with the foundation of
Trunyan, a group of Pande consisting of three unrelated sub-dadia, the
descendants of the original population of Bunut, which was annexed by
Trunyan at some stage in the past, and a low-status origin group which
probably came from Bangli and about which little is known. All these
origin groups support the shrines of female deities associated with natural
fertility, cultivated plants, food and fecundity.
The highest-ranking origin group is the dadia Mangku Seripen, a dadia
made up of the descendants of the first people to occupy the area, who
have the status of most direct descendants of the mythical village
founders. lts apical ancestor is the first-born son of the first king of
22 Similar practices are found in the region of Gunung Batukau, in the villages
located on the traditional (adat) territory of Wangaya Gede in Tabanan.
23 This is contrary to the Trunyanese custom, which requires a husband to be present
at the birth of his children and participate by holding his wife against his chest while
she is giving birth.