On tally sticks and strings in Borneo
This note by Dr. Hose and J. Hewitt documents the use of notched sticks and knotted strings as instruments of record and covenant among the native peoples of Sarawak and the Borneo interior (pp. 7–10).
Summary
The authors describe how Malanau, Kenyah, Punan, and other Bornean tribes employ knotted strings and notched sticks to record debts, engagements, and contractual obligations. Among the Malanau, a knotted string or rotan serves as evidence in debt courts, with each knot representing a specific quantity of sago; a notched stick similarly tracks repayments (p. 7). Among the Kenyahs and Punans the practice reaches its highest development: strings made from Artocarpus bark are knotted according to the number of days before a fixed engagement, each party retaining one, and a knot is cut off as each day passes. The authors note that the god Bali Atap is himself depicted wearing knotted strings to record the doors and people under his protection, and that tying such a knot to his image constitutes the sealing of a divine contract, preceded by a divination ceremony involving the observation of a hawk’s flight (pp. 7–9).
Tally sticks, described as strips of wood roughly a foot long with a rudely carved head and hands at one end, are used by Kenyahs, Punans, and other inland tribes to record debts by door and by type of commodity (pigs, fowls, parangs, gongs, iron). A paid debt is marked by snipping away the notch, and an old stick, blackened by years of smoke near the fireplace, is considered difficult to forge and thus acceptable as evidence in disputes; it also acquires value as a “lucky” stick used in oaths (pp. 9–10). The authors conclude that the knotted string and tally stick likely originated not merely as counting devices but as relics of a covenant tradition that has largely lost its original meaning (p. 10).