(untitled) (International Journal of Creative Future and Heritage (TENIAT), 2018)
Masyarakat Iban di Sarawak memiliki warisan peninggalan yang bernilai iaitu sejenis tempayan seramik yang digelar tajau. Dari aspek sosio-budaya, tajau melambangkan hierarki status, kekayaan dan turut digunakan dalam adat tradisi masyarakat Iban. Namun, peredaran zaman dan pendedahan tentang kepercayaan dan agama sedikit sebanyak telah mempengaruhi adat penggunaan tajau dalam sosiobudaya mereka. Objektif kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengenalpasti peranan tajau dan hubungkaitnya dalam hukum adat perhubungan dalam masyarakat Iban. Kaedah kajian yang dijalankan adalah melalui kajian lapangan di Rumah Panjang RH Malang, Pakan, Sibu Sarawak yang turut merangkumi kaedah kualitatif seperti temubual dan kajian literatur. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa tajau memainkan peranan penting sebagai medium ukuran denda dalam hukum adat perhubungan masyarakat Iban di Sarawak. Di masa kini tajau hanya sekadar menjadi bahan warisan turun-temurun dan kurang difahami oleh generasi masyarakat Iban tentang nilai warisannya. Namun, sosio-budaya msyarakat Iban yang mengamalkan pantang larang dan adat tradisi yang berhubungkait-rapat dengan tajau, membolehkan tajau terus disimpan sebagai tanda hormat terhadap nilai keharmonian dan kelangsungan adat tradisi mereka. Tajau is a legacy of the Iban community in Sarawak that remains as a socio-cultural aspect in their lives. In socio-cultural aspect, tajau resembles the hierarchial status, wealth, and also applied in customary law, deities and the community beliefs. However, convergence to religions and beliefs has infl uenced the sosio-cultural element in tajau practice. This research aims to determine the tajau’s functions and its relation to the law of relationship in Ibanese residence in long-house. The research was conducted through fi eld work at the Iban long-house in Pakan, Sarawak; interviews, and the reviews of literature. The fi ndings show that tajau existed as an important medium in the socio-culture as the medium of punishment for the law of relationship of Ibanese. Nowadays, tajau has become inheritance whereby the meaning and value are less understood by the kin. But, the deities and customs of Ibanese which are related closely with tajau have allowed the tajau to be kept by the kin as a matter of respect to the synchronization and endurance of their tradition.