couple that is about to be married. As an example, when a newly engaged
couple decides to have a six months engagement period before having the
wedding, that same six months period would be the period of Tavol
placed. When the wedding date nears, the family members of the couple
will enter the Tavol area to collect the resources needed during the
ceremony.
Once the wedding ceremony is over, the Tavol area specially
invoked for the couple also ends. The Tavol area would then be allocated
to another family that require the resources for their own ceremony or
activity which they are going to hold. Thus, the Tavol system is done in a
continuous and rotational manner.
Role of Women
The role of women in the Naufasan Tavol can be seen through
their involvement in decision-making to identify areas outside Tavol for the
daily needs of the community. This takes into account the areas which are
normally used to collect daily food resources, or active areas for food such
as paku pakis, umbut, and fishing. Not to mention, areas identified as
places for handicraft materials such as bamboo and rattan are also taken
into account.
Women have an integral role in preparing the handicrafts needed
for wedding ceremonies such as silaung (hat), apin (mat), vuyung (basket
for carrying items) and tikalis (or nyiru, a tool for cleaning or separating
hulled rice from husk). The number of handicrafts that are required to be
prepared for the ceremony is usually in the range of 200 pieces or more
according to needs.
14 | PRACTICES OF THE MURUT TAHOL IN ALUTOK, ULU TOMANI