Dusun and other “house horns”
Ivor H. N. Evans, writing from his long residence in the Tempasuk (Kota Belud) District of North Borneo, published this comparative ethnographic note in 1951, arguing that the “house-horns” found on Dusun gable ends—and their counterparts among the Hovas of Madagascar, the Naga peoples, and other Southeast Asian groups—originally served a protective, apotropaic function against evil spirits rather than being merely ornamental.
Summary
Evans documents the “house-horns” of Dusun houses in North Borneo, which in most cases are simply untrimmed upward projections of the rafters at either gable end. He notes that when queried, Dusun informants uniformly describe them as purely ornamental, yet the local term sinasangau (from sangau, “horn”) may derive from kinasangau, meaning “there were in past time horns,” suggesting an earlier use of actual animal horns in the same position (p. 165). Wealthier Dusun households commission carved wooden pairs, as illustrated in the accompanying plate from Mangkahak village, where the decorative pattern is called kinagai-kagai (from kagai, “branch”) (p. 165).
Evans then extends the comparison across a wide geographic range. Among the Hovas of Madagascar—whose Malayo-Polynesian linguistic and racial affinities are well established—the equivalent feature is called tandro trano, directly cognate with the Malay tandok rumah used in the same Borneo district (p. 166). Ellis and Sibree describe crossed rafters projecting above the ridge, sometimes surmounted by carved birds representing clan crests, a practice Evans notes parallels the Dusun custom (p. 166). Professor J. H. Hutton of Cambridge supplied information on the Angami Nagas (kika, “house-horns,” sometimes antler-shaped and drilled with holes) and the Sema Naga (tenbaku-ki, “snail-horns,” generally straight and surmounted by birds) (p. 166). Evans also references single upright spikes on Menangkabau gable ends, Batak “house-horns or skulls,” and a Flores model in the Colonial Institute at Amsterdam with horns resembling sixteenth-century arquebus rests (pp. 166–167).
On function, Evans acknowledges Hutton’s suggestion of phallic or fertility significance among the Angami but advances his own hypothesis: that house-horns operated as talismans against evil spirits, analogous to the Italian gesture of the index and little fingers against the “evil eye” (p. 167). He grounds this in Dusun religious practice, where the roof-beam (tiningusan) is understood as an assembly point for spirits called Koolungung, and draws a parallel to the spikes atop Zulu beehive huts, which he was told in 1905 served to prevent evil spirits from alighting (p. 167).
Key Findings
- The Dusun term sinasangau likely derives from kinasangau (“there were in past time horns”), implying an earlier use of actual animal horns in the gable position (p. 165).
- The Hova Malagasy term tandro trano and the Malay tandok rumah are etymologically identical, confirming a shared Malayo-Polynesian lexical root for the feature (p. 166).
- Among the Hovas, house-horns on houses of rank are surmounted by carved birds representing clan crests, a practice paralleled by the Sema Naga (pp. 166–167).
- The Angami Naga term kika (“house-horns”) refers to projections that are sometimes antler-shaped and drilled with holes to reduce wind resistance; a rare third upright horn with a square end also appears (p. 166).
- Evans identifies the Dusun roof-beam (tiningusan) as a recognized spirit-assembly point in religious ceremonies, providing a cultural rationale for placing protective horns at the gable ends (p. 167).
- A carved pair of house-horns from Mangkahak village is reproduced in Plate 11, showing the typical decorative form commissioned by wealthier households (p. 168).
Conclusion
Evans concludes that while the original protective significance of house-horns has been lost from living memory among the Dusuns—who now regard them as ornamental—the comparative evidence from Madagascar, the Naga hills, and Sumatra supports the hypothesis that these gable projections functioned as apotropaic talismans, warding off evil spirits in the same way that animal horns serve as weapons of defence against enemies.
Context
- Evans conducted his fieldwork from a remote posting in North Borneo, relying on correspondence with scholars in Cambridge, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur to assemble the comparative material, a circumstance he explicitly notes as a constraint on his research (p. 165).
- The article was received in May 1950 and published in the February 1951 issue of the JMBRAS, reflecting the Society’s ongoing interest in the ethnography of Borneo’s indigenous peoples during the colonial period.