As with Dayak groups all over Borneo, swidden cultivation
has always imparted some kind of territorial rights
(Schneider, 1974; Appell, n.d.; Weinstock, 1983). Recognized
because of the labor entailed in clearing mature forest,
after the death of the clearers, territorial rights were
vested in either their direct descendants or in their resident
longhouses/settlements. Oral histories collected from
Salako villagers in and around Bagak Sahwa have shown
that territorial rights to cleared land were loosely held in
common by the clearer’s descent group, although through
inheritance practices, certain individuals might gain favored
access to land. Whether or not a particular piece of
land would be inherited by a favored child or grandchild
would depend on many circumstantial factors. Sometimes
certain plots of land would be cleared and planted
repeatedly by an individual, and over time that plot would
come to be recognized as an individual’s (or a couple’s)
holding rather than common property, although other kin
might ask to borrow it to plant rice for a season. Such
practices varied within and across villages.