A few ulun-no-bokan (Murut) taboos
This short note by H.G. Keith documents twenty-two taboos observed by the Ulun-no-Bokan, a Murut subgroup inhabiting the area between Kampong Kindasan and Kampong Labau in the Keningau District of North Borneo (p. 327).
Summary
Keith organises the taboos under their native names, beginning with the general term iliun (covering death, feast, tuba, trap, kapur/camphor, and food taboos) and then listing those with specific designations: Mambiang (sickness), Magulid (death), Mampali balui (pregnancy), Sarawang (full-moon), and Talikud (waning moon). The taboos are predominantly agricultural and domestic in scope, linking prohibited actions to specific misfortunes such as crop failure, spoiled camphor crystals, or harm to an unborn child. The pregnancy taboos (Mampali balui) are the most numerous, with nine entries governing door-closing, fire-keeping, food avoidance (venison, bumbaras meat, pork, fireback pheasant), and contact with deformed fruit, most applying only to a first pregnancy (pp. 328–329).