Power & Wealth For at least 2000 years in many parts of
ancestral Southeast Asia, power and wealth have been accrued by
noble families, with social relations within a community ordered
in hierarchical ways. Villages are divided between dominant and
subservient clans and lineages, and governed accordingly. The
superiority of one family over another is often dependent on
genealogical and legendary descent from the founding ancestors
of the village. This link to the ancestors ensures that the
leading families control ritual activities and the opening of
new agricultural land. The nobles who dwell in the great house
claim direct descent from its original founders and to the
inherited wealth and power imbued in the heirlooms of the house.
In some communities, and in certain arenas of endeavour, high
status can be earned. Prowess in fields deemed economically and
spiritually important can cement the fame of certain
individuals, especially within the elite families. For women
this is pertinent to skill in textile ma