Gawai Sakit Iban

Nguji ngeraika sakit ngena pengap
Posted By : Valentine Tawie Salok
Date Posted : Friday 14-Feb-2014

LEBUH bala Iban kelia sakit sida terubah iya nganjung diri minta tubar tauka puchau manang, tauka sapa bala serumah nya ti nemu muchau. Nya pan bepanggai ba penyakit. Enti pedis perut, pedis pala mayuh orang ke nemu puchau. Tang enti penyakit bukai, sida neju manang aja mutarka penyakit nya. Manang tauka dukun ngepunka atur ngubat ngena jalai begama dulu, kena iya ngelala pemedis orang nya. Udah iya ngelala penyakit, baru iya muchau pemedis nya.

Enti penyakit nya patut diburah, iya lalu murah. Enti penyakit nya bedau gerai dibela dukun tauka manang ngena jalai burah tauka puchau, nya baru ngatur pelian. Mina manang aja meh ti nemu belian, lalu pasal sekeda pelian tu udah bisi dilansa aku dulu ari tu suba. Tang enti manang udah belian, lalu apin ga gerai, dia sida sebilik ti ngintu orang sakit nya lalu berunding deka ngambi lemambang besugi tauka berenung. Enti orang ke sakit nya enda gerai udah diperenung tauka dipesugika lemambang, dia sida serumah nya nyangka lalu baum deka begawai sakit ke alai lemambang mengap ka orang sakit nya.

Menya lebuh begawai sakit pan orang beambi ngabang kulu kili ba kelingi genturung menua sida dia. Tu siti utai ti manah ba adat asal kitai bansa laban enti sepintu diri serumah nya bisi pengawa manah tauka enda manah baka mati, tauka penusah bukai, orang serumah nya sigi sama enggau kiruh sereta sama ngintu. Apin lemambang datai ba rumah nya, bala sida serumah nya deka mansutka manuk kena ngerah orang beranchau tikai. Enti bala lemambang udah nuntung datai ba tengah laman, orang empu rumah nya lalu nganchau tikai ba tanah alai sida lemambang duduk ke lalu ditunga bala sida serumah nya. Sida pan lalu nanya bala lemambang nyangka bi s i burung. Enti bisi burung, sida lalu ngatur ai burung.

Jalai ngirup ai burung nya baka ke ngirup ai burung ba jalai gawai bukai, iya nya setengah irup lemambang lalu setengah irup orang empu gawai. Orang empu rumah lalu angkat ari endur nanya lemambang tadi. Bala lemambang pan angkat lalu nyebut leka pengap apin sida niki rumah. Bechuanka tulis pangan aku suba, niang aya Benedict Sandin – kami duai selalu betundi betimbal kangau timang jalung enggau pangan diri lebuh iya nyadi Senior Fellow ba Universiti Sains Malaysia (1975 – 1978 suba) – dalam bup iya Pengap Gawai Sakit, lemambang lalu nyebut leka ti manah muji rumah orang nya munyi genteran tu: Nya baru tebang petai di langit sungai, Nyaduh ka tubuh kitai mupuk bejalai. Tak nyau lama ngenung meh anak bujang Lemambang Luong, Meda kepai setunggul gantung, Enggi sida di Batang Malupa matung Empu nembiak redak di tapak Kedap langgung, Nampung perabung pematang pinang. Nyadi lebuh ke niki rumah bala lemambang pan lalu nyebut leka pengap ngerara pemanah tanggam tangga sida serumah nya.

Datai ba pala tangga sida pan lalu mansa dinding, sida pan ngerara pemanah chat dinding orang nya. Enti bisi dirias orang enggau ukir, sida pan lalu muji pemanah likau enggau chura ukir orang nya. Udah nya sida lalu tama kedalam agi ngagai rumah orang nya lalu nyebut leka pengap muji pintu ke belagu anak orang. Sida pan lalu begelih enggau ripih tiang medang lamba lulai, ba batang iya ditanchang ka gelanggang manuk tawai, ukai enda ba puchuk iya, teleba alai endu Teruna Dara Pandai ngeredai punggai tali tengkebang.

Nyadi lebuh bala lemambang deka nuduk ka diri ba ruai ti mela orang sakit nya, sida pan lalu muji pemanah anyam tikai ba ruai orang nya. Udah sida tembu nyebut leka puji,orang lalu nyambut sida miau manuk, kena miring. Tembu miring, manuk dibiau baru kena ngerah nyugu babi. Orang pan bejalai tiga kali besundang niti rumah dilagu enggau gendang panjai. Abis pejalai niti rumah orang lalu bedijir lalu disibur enggau ai tuak. Tembu nyibur ai, manuk dibiau baru kena ngerah niri ka tiang pandung ba tiap belah ruai. Udah pandung didiri nya baru miau manuk kena ngerandang jalai. Tembu nya lemambang lalu berengkah nyampi Sampi Gawai Sakit, tang sebedau nyampi sida dulu deka ngambi orang sakit nya pansut ari bilik lalu diengkah ba meligai di ruai sida empu. Lemambang ke nyampi nya lalu ngangau ka bala semengat tuai-tuai menua ke udah lesi nengali hari, udah parai nengali lemai, udah danjan nengali malam. Reti nya sida besampi ngerintai tuai, belabuh ari petara aki ini sida mega. Kebuah pia, laban minta sukung, minta tulung sida nya ngeraika tudah ti sakit nya. Nya alai ba pun sampi iya bakatu: O hoi! O hoi! O hoi! Nya baru terai-terai betanchang ratai, Nyaduh ka tubuh ngerintai tuai. Tu baru aku ngangkatka kita ke lama udah tetumpat, Tinggang urat sebangki api, Tu baru nyungkang kita ke udah tumbang, Tinggang batang tebelian wi.

Aku nyerungkai kita ke udah parai, Nyadi sampi tu panjai, lebih agi enti lemambang nya lalu nyebut rintai siku-siku tuai sida menua nya. Enti dalam Batang Krian, iya deka nyebut bala tuai Krian baka Gun Mangku Bumi, baka Antau Linggang Nengeri sereta mega baka Minggat Apai Runai tauka Tarang Apai Dungkong. Sida di menua Batang Saribas enggau semua pati iya nyangka deka ngangau bala aki ini sida empu mega, nitih ka dini alai rumah orang ti begawai nya, baka dalam Padeh, Paku, Rimbas tauka Layar. Baka sida di Paku tauka di Padeh enggau pati Saribas bukai, nyangka deka ngena leka sampi munyi tu: Ni nuan Petara Uyut nama Bedilang, Petara Atin Apai Saang, Petara Sabuk Apai Maang, Petara Dana Rekaya Bayang.

Tang batang kangau ti sebaka nya endang ngangau sida petara Keling enggau bala iya ari Panggau Libau Ke Lendat Dibiau Takang Isang, Merawa Lama Munyi Ke Berimba Buong Nebang, Tuchung Engkeranji Padi Baka Api Ke Nyadi Mauu Ngerendang. Nyadi sekeda ari kangan sampi nya munyi tu: Ni nuan Sigundi Sepit Api ke bejari rangang rangang, Nya tuai ke udah nadai dulu lesi alah di kaki Lembang Muang, Apai Jelingau tu enda taulenyau, Datai ari tuchung Panggau Libau, Lendat dibiau takang isang, Apai Datu Siku ke pemadu nama orang, Keling Aji ke berani tau serang. Ni nuan Ensing Gima bedada nyala ngerang kepayang, Nya berada apai nuan Laja aka Dara Lantan Sekumbang.

Ni nuan Simpurai Sumba ke linga pala pengerang, Simpurai Ketau datai ari tugau tunggul tebang. Nya baru ngangau ka Laja siku kerindu kaban dayang, Laja Sigat ke serangkap panau jarang. Tegal mayuh amat bala sida Panggau Libau, nya alai enda ibuh dirintai semua ditu. Udah tembu lemambang nyampi, pengawa gawai nya lalu dipenggal orang enggau sibur ai tuak. Nyadi dudi-dudi tu tadi, bisi ga orang begawai sakit meri orang ngirup ai kopi tauka makai bubur gasak tauka bubur kachang. Ukai nya baka diatu seneka ati utai bantai.

Tembu nya baru lemambang belabuh mengap. Sida bedau angkat tang nyebut leka pengap nya agi mengkang duduk. Nyadi udah nya nitih ka ripih pengap nya bala lemambang lalu Ngerara rumah orang ke deka begawai dientudika Ngading Iyang Lemambang ke alai lemambang ngerintai bala iyang sida sereta lalu ngichaka bala iyang nya datai mantu sereta nulung mai peminta ngena pengap sida awakka pengap nya sidi lalu ulih ngeraika orang ti sakit nya. Siti genteran ke disebut sida ditu nya munyi tu: Semadi aku ngading Iyang aku, Lemambang Penjuang Tangga Lulai, Ke datai ari menua iya di sungai, Kena tinggang tangkai ketunsang ngembang. Udah nya lemambang lalu Nyerayung pandung. Nya baru sida angkat bejalai.

Ripih pengap sida bakatu: keterubah iya sida beranchau tikai, udah nya nanggung baku, dientudi ka berunsut enggau ubat enda layu. Tembu nya bala lemambang lalu nyebut leka pengap ngeluluka sida mai orang ke sakit pansut ari bilik ngagai meligai – orang ke sakit nya sigi udah dibai pansut sebedau sida berengkah nyampi tadi belalau ka belachu panjai dua depa diiring lemambang tama ngagai meligai – lalu dientudi enggau leka pengap ngelulu sida duduk ngimbai orang ke sakit nya di bilik.

Nyadi sekali agi ga bala lemambang mengapngerintai tuai munyi ke udah disampi tadi, mina sekali tu sida ngerintai tuai e n g g a u benyawa tauka kangau pengap. Terubah iya sida ngerintai tuai aki ini orang menua nya empu. Udah nya sida lalu ngerintai tuai orang Panggau enggau Gelong. Tu kira ngerintai tuai antu. Entudi nya sida lalu nurun ka Petara Manang ari langit. Nyadi genteran leka main ti manah nya lebuh sida ngelulu deka Ngiga orang diinjau ngambi Menjaya Manang Raja datai ngabang. Rindu amat ninga leka sebut bala lemambang ditu.

Bisi ngasuh geli ati mimit lebuh sida nginjau Kusing seduai Entawai ngambi ngabang. Utai ti ngasuh ketawa nya lebuh Kusing seduai Entawai nanya indai diri empu. Lemambang udah nya lalu nyebut leka pengap pasal Kusing seduai Entawai ke nyikap diri deka nurun ngambi ngabang. Seduai lalu nurun ngambi ngabang tang apin nurun ambai seduai dulu ngangau deka mekal seduai enggau pengaruh kena beruntu bejalai jauh. Seduai pan lalu nurun ari rumah, ku kelulu lemambang. Seduai lalu mansa menua Manang Ridun, udah nya menua Manang Sampuk, udah nya menua Manang Ruai, menua Menggung, menua Aki Ungkuk.

Angkat ari nya lemambang ngelulu seduai datai ba Kebung Langit, udah nya baru datai ba menua Menjaya Manang Raja ke alai seduai niki madah pejalai. Udah Menjaya nutung pengaruh nya baru manang bukai nguang lalu sama nurun ngabang ari rumah iya. Jauh pejalai bala sida manang tu nitih ka kelulu lemambang. Bisi nya mansa menua Singalang Burung, iya nya menyadi Menjaya empu sereta bisi mega niki ngagai tuchung bukit Rabung. Lebuh nurun ari langit bala Menjaya terengkah ba kayu perugan gasing. Udah nya terengkah di tanah.

Mayuh menua kena pansa sida datai ka sida terengkah ba pendai orang ke begawai nya. Sida lalu mandi ba pendai nya, ku kelulu bala lemambang. Nyadi udah bekau mayuh kelulu pengawa bukai, bala lemambang lalu penudi iya nyebut leka pengap ngenang bala Menjaya Manang Raja ke ngambuh tubuh orang sakit nya di tanju. Udah tembu ngambuh, nya baru lemambang mengap baru mulai ka semengat antu enggau semengat sida iya empu. Tembu meh pengawa mengap ke lalu jadi pengujung Gawai Sakit. Tang gerai meh kitai ku Selempandai, gayu meh kitai ku antu, panjai nguan menua meh iya ti sakit nya, ku petara.

http://www.utusansarawakonline.com/opinion/166/Nguji-ngeraika-sakit-ngena-pengap/

Cock-Fighting: The Dayak National Game…

on November 5, 2007 at 10:16 am | Reply Chgtmwr

Cock-Fighting: The Dayak National Game..

The so-called Dayak national game is cock-fighting.Why do dayaks like to play cock-fighting game? Should the game be abolished?

This “national” game started early- with the history of the Sea Dayak in the days of Keling, Laja, Bunga Jawa, Simpurai, Sengalang Burong and Sanggol Labong against Apai Sabit Bekait in the sky and Niram of the other world – Sebayan. It was because cock-fighting was started by our ancestors that we Dayaks knew all kinds of colouration in the fighting cocks.

Cock-fighting is a very favourite amusement of we Dayaks, and is indulged in to a great extent at our feasts.

And because cock-fighting is so important in connection with our custom and religion, in the days of our forefathers they usually once a year held a cock-fighting feast ( apart from Gawai Burong & Gawai Antu). This was done between the nebas and nebang seasons of the year. At this time men were free from farming work, clearing and cutting bushes and trees.

Also, as the cock fighting is closely parallel with the meaning of war spritually; the dayak war-leaders used to lead their followers on the warpath at this time of the year especially. RENONG SABONG sung on the eve on the annual cock-fighting is the same RENONG KAYAU sung on the night before going on the warpath.

In the RENONG KAYAU song, as Keling’s warriors from Panggau Libau Menoa Luchak Lunyau Kena Biau Jila Isang get ready to fight Apai Sabit Bekait and his fighters in the sky, the latter asks for the names of his enemy. They arrogantly tell him as follows: –

1. Aku tu Keling, manok biring sempidan arang (I am Keling, a dark brown cock after the coloration of the bird sempidan arang).

2.Aku tu Laja, Lau moa penyampu leka balang berang, Laja sigat serangkap panau jarang; Laja batik kelandik kaban dayang ( I am Laja, with burnt face, the smoker of the skulls balang berang; Laja sigat am I, whose skin is dotted with ringworm panau jarang; and I am Laja Batik who is forever praised by the maidens kaban dayang.

3. Aku tu Simpurai Munti-grai Lacham Di simbang, Patu aku Buloh Antu Lanting Tekejang; Bunga Nuing aku manok biring ka di sabong mali lenggang ( I am Simpurai Munti-Grai Lacham Di Simbang. I am Patu Buloh Antu Lanting Tekejang; and I am Bunga Nuing, a dark brown cock who has never lost any fight.

Because the origin of cock fighting is so important in the Iban culture and Religion-I do not urge it to abolished but instead :
– Make a proper place for it
– Make proper regulations
– No Children allowed
– limit other races at the Menalan
– Make cock fighting a recognise sport just like horse racing,
Car / motor racing etc,.

In order that cock-fighting continue as a national game, we should do it nicely and properly. It was originated by our earliest ancestors so that we can enjoy it in a good way.

Some Dayaks would foolishly bet RM6.00 against RM10.00. This behaviuor comes from ignorance and boasting.

Source: http://gnmawar.wordpress.com/main-asal-iban/nyabong/#comment-47650

Hornbill

Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Hornbill
The hornbill is a highly symbolic and important bird to many peoples in the numerous countries it calls home across the world. The most obvious case is the extraordinarily strong beak which is a symbol of power. However the characteristics and behaviour of the bird are simultaneously representations of the male phallus, the act of intercourse and the female mothering instinct. For the female of the species enclose themselves almost entirely within the nest with only room for the male beak to deliver food as it peers through.

Papua New Guinea – Here the hornbill plays a major symbolic role; it is associated with head hunting and the transfer of power. It also unites female and male characteristics important in initiation ceremonies due to the way in which the female hornbill walls herself in her nest with the male entering with only his beak is symbolic of intercourse, yet it is also a sign of nurture. In New Ireland territory they also act as carriers of the soul to the land of the dead.

Met Museum: Abelam people, Middle Sepik River Culture & Deutscher and Hackett: Nelikum Village, Maprik District, East Sepik Province
Ripley Auctions: Abelam People, Prince Alexander Mountains
Australian Museum: Malagan, Northern region, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, Pacific

Indonesia – In East Kalimantan province Hudoq ‘hornbill’ masks are worn during agricultural ceremonies and to welcome important guests. The Hudoq scares away evil spirits but also by clowning around they create the tears of laughter, these are believed to help water the newly planted rice. The mask is a unique morphing of many elements of Dayak mythology including the hornbill (celestial messenger of the upper world), the dragon (symbol of the lower world), and an ancestor-spirit form. The Dayak, Iban, Kalani and Punani people of Borneo practice a cult of the hornbills, whom they consider messengers of the spirits and symbols of virility. These people make masks and collars from the wing feathers and bills of these birds. Dayaks believe that the souls obey only to two divine powers: the sky, whose image is the hornbill, and the land with water, symbolised by the infernal snake.

Malaysia – The largest sculptures of the Iban people of northwestern Borneo are stylized images representing the rhinoceros hornbill (kenyalang), a large forest bird whose beak is surmounted by a hornlike projection typically depicted, as here, as a spiral form. In Iban religion, hornbills are associated with the upper world, and they were once identified with warfare and headhunting. In Iban cosmology, hornbills serve as intermediaries between the powerful deity Singalang Burong and the human world. Hornbill effigies receive offerings during the gawai kenyalang, a ceremony that in the past could only be sponsored by a prominent war leader or his descendants. They are also used in similar rites called gawai burong. At the climax of the ceremony, the sacred hornbill image, lavishly decorated for the occasion, is elevated atop a tall pole inserted through a hole in its body. Between ceremonies, it is preserved in the loft of the communal longhouse.

depepermuntjesknipper: Hudoq Dance Masks
Kenyalang – Malaysia (Borneo, Sarawak), Iban people
Tuntun Ragu carved hornbill
Hornbill carving, Borneo, Malaysia

Ivory Coast – In Seunfo mythology the hornbill was one of the five original beings, the first ancestor that founded humanity. They are used in the Lo and Poro society as symbols of fertility. Setien or Porpianong figures, when carved to represent procreation have their long hooked beaks touching their protruding stomachs that have been fertilized, therefore being the carrier of life and a symbol of continuity to future generations. The phallic beak and the pregnant stomach represent the dual forces of the male and female components.

Discover African Art: Senufo Porpianong, Lo and Poro Society & The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Senufo Poro (Sejen/Kasinge)

Nigeria/Niger – Nupe ‘burtu’ hunting masks use the heads of real hornbills. Of course they have the practical use of blending in with the environment yet also have supernatural functions. Firstly by imitating the prey the hunter becomes one with it, allowing him to impose his will on the creature he stalks. Secondly by using the powers of the local medicine man to credit the mask with supernatural or magical powers, use of the fetish was an active way of attempting to influence the outcome of the hunt.

Hamill Gallery: Nupe Decoy Birds, Northern Nigeria
Antiqua Print Gallery: Northern Nigerian Hunter; stalking game. Nupe, 1900
Burkina Faso/Mali – The Bobo people of the Dwo religion are creators of the Kuma (hornbill) mask. They can be used to represent great wisdom and the knowledge of secrets. The Bobo religion is based upon magical objects and figures that are kept in village and family shrines, masks are also numerous and sacred.

depepermuntjesknipper: Kuma Hornbill Masks, Bobo people, Dwo religion, Burkina Faso/Mali

China – In large species of hornbills (like the Asian Buceros), the bill and the helmet are made of a compact bone resembling ivory and ritual objects are carved of it. These bills, called ho-ting by the Chinese during the Ming dynasty, were more precious than gold, jade or ivory for this very reason. They carved the casques, or they made them into sheets, coloured them with the secretion of the preen gland, and made them into belt buckles for high officials. It was also common for Japanese netsuke to be carved from hornbill casques due to high malleability.

Chinese Hornbill Casque, circa late 19th/early 20th century
Icollecter: Chinese Hornbill Casque, circa late 19th/early 20th century

Source: http://itsfine-levine.blogspot.com/2013/10/hornbill.html

How does creativity and headhunting come about among Ibans?

It seems all creative objects are used by the Ibans to worship their gods eg antu pala, pua kumbu, pentik kenyalang etc. I think Perhams said that the Ibans are definitely religious with all their rituals and festivals. Further, some remarked that the Iban belief is very similar to Hinduism if one studies Comparative Religion. So, can it be concluded or thought that creativity flourished among Ibans in the last 300 years was principally caused by the requirements to worship gods via headhunting, rice farming and human renewal which can be summarized to a single purpose ie survival?

Wadley said that headhunting resulted from disputes gone awry but didn’t he not to notice from Benedict Sandin’s write up on the origin of Iban Adat and in this case the mourning rules, one of which states that a fresh head must be obtained to open the mourning jar during the ngetas ulit? So the concerned Iban ancestor by the name of Serapoh to whom the law was given to went on a sojourn to seek a freah head and brought a jar to entice anyone for a fight (bebunoh) in order to get a freah head but none agreed. At the end Serapoh managed to exchange the jar with a young Kantu boy which Serapoh killed to get his head. Upon hearing this news of the boy’s fate, the Kantu took revenge and thus started the Iban-Kantu War. This episode basically marked the starting point of the practice of headhunting among Ibans. However, it was not clear enough or sufficiently explained by Benedict Sandin’s write up how antu pala skulls can help in rice farming or human fertility. Can anyone explain these two aspects of Iban belief? Is it said so in the pengap or timang?

It should be noted that Iban expansion into new areas which were already populated although sparcely by other tribes like Bukitan, Seru, Kayan, Kenyah also resulted in some conflicts that were settled via headhunting or ngayau eg Iban migration to Saribas, Kanowit/Julau and Ulu Rajang.

Of course, later on some headhunting resulted from disputes gone awry especially the war between Saribas against the Lingga/Undop/Balau as detailed by Benedict Sandin. However, the reasons for OKP Dana “Bayang” to ngayau to areas around the Kapuas River mouth such as Sambas and Pontianak seemed to be seeking heads for ngetas ulit as he requested permission from James Brooke during the meeting to sign on the Saribas Treaty onboard a ship and of course to gain the loots eg Bujang Timpang Berang cannon by OKP Dana “Bayang” himself and golden handle keris by Rentap.

After Brooke rule, it seems the reasons for ngayau by Ibans appear to be requests from the Brooke government to ngaluske menoa (to pacify other Ibans or natives) which in turn appears to be a policy of “Only Dayaks can kill Dayaks.” which was taking advantage or exploiting of the Iban culture of ngayau eg Libau “Rentap” was defeated at Mount Sadok by Brooke troop during the third Sadok punitive expedition after a large number of Iban/native fighters joined and the surrender and joining of sons of OKP Dana “Bayang” ie Nanang and Luyoh.

Perhaps the Iban spirit of ngayau still exists during the resistance to Japanese Occupation, the Indonesia Confrontation and the Anti-Communist War in Malaya by Iban/Sarawak trackers.

ADAT BALU NGAU NGAMBI ENTEBALU

ADAT TEBALU  (WIDOW/WIDOWER FEES)

 

In accordance with custom, after a person’s death, his or her widow or widower is known as balu. As required by customary adat all widows and widowers must show respect to the relatives of their deceased’s spouse by paying a fee (tebalu) not earlier than six months after the spouse’s death. Only after this fee is paid are they permitted to remarry.

The amount paid to the deceased’s relatives depends on the deceased’s status as follows:

 

1. If the deceased was a Great War leader (tau serang), the fee in his honour will be sigi menaga, $16.00.

 

2. If the deceased was a minor war leader (tau kayau), the fee in his honour will be lima belas igi jabir, $ 15.00.

 

3. If the deceased was a leading warrior (kepala manok sabong), the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $ 14.00.

 

4. If the deceased was an ordinary warrior (manor sabong), the fee in his honour will be dua belas igi jabir, $12.00,

 

5. If the deceased was a great noble chieftain (kepala tuai menoa), the fee in his honour will be lima belas igi jabir, $ 15.00.

 

6. If the deceased was a famous Penghulu of aristocratic family, the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $ 14.00.

 

7. If the deceased was a wealthy aristocrat, i.e. a man who never failed to get more than enough padi each year as well as being successful in his other undertakings, the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $14.00.

 

8. If the deceased was an ordinary Penghulu, the fee in his honour will be tiga belas igi jabir, $ 13.00.

 

9. If the deceased was a very famous Tuai Rumah, i.e. one who has done good works for his followers and the people in his district in general, the fee in his honour will be tiga belas igi jabir, $ 13.00.

 

10. If the deceased was only an ordinary Tuai Rumah, the fee in his honour will be either sabelas or dua belas igi jabir, $ 11.00 or $ 12.00.

 

11. All male aristocrats are honored with a fee of sapuloh igi jabir, $10.00,

 

12. The tebalu fee of ordinary people should not exceed sambilan igi jabir, $9.00 (depending upon the important work he has done during his life­time). If he did nothing important, he will be honored with a lesser amount of tebalu fee.

 

13. The tebalu fee of people of low status should not exceed enam igi jabir, $6.00.

 

14. If the deceased was the wife of a great war leader (bini orang tau serang) and, at the same time she was an outstanding weaver (indu takar, indu gear) of the finest quality of blankets (pua kumbu), the fee in her honour is sapuloh igi jabir, $10.00. If she is not a weaver, her tebalu fee is sambi­lan igi jabir, $9.00.

 

15. If the deceased was extraordinarily clever at weaving blankets (pua kumbu) and is known as indu sikat, indu kebat, the tebalu fee in her honour is sambilan igi jabir, $9.00.

 

16. If the deceased was a good hostess to visitors (indu temuai, indu lawai), the tebalu fee in her honour is sambilan igi jabir, $9.00.

 

17. If the deceased was diligent in preparing food for visitors who came to her family bilek, (indu asi, indu ai), her tebalu fee is from lapan to sambilan igi jabir, $8.00 to $9.00, respectively.

 

18. If the deceased was always alert in looking for vegetables for those who visit her family (indu tubu, indu paku), her tebalu fee is from tujoh to lapan igi jabir, $7.00 to $8.00.

 

19. All deceased women of aristocratic families are honored with a tebalu fee of not less than tujoh igi jabir, $7.00.

 

20. The tebalu fee for a woman of low status shall not exceed enam igi jabir, $6.00.

 

WIDOW/WIDOWER RULES AND FINES

• If a widow and a widower marry each other before they have compen­sated their respective former spouse’s relatives in a ngambi tebalu ceremony, they will be accused by the latter of committing berangkat2 tulang, eloping marriage. This is regarded as a grievous offence for which the widower is fined tujoh igi jabir, $7.00 and the widow sigi alas ngerang, $5.00. In addition, they are required by the Tuai Rumah to produce a pig, a knife and an iron adze.
• If a widow and a widower have sexual intercourse, they are accused of committing a butang antu offence, and are fined sigi alas muda, $4.00 each.
• If a widow or a widower has sexual intercourse with another person, he or she is accused of committing a ngemulu antu offence, and is fined sigi alas muda, $4.00 each.
• There are two kinds of tebalu fees, which the widow or the widower may be required to pay; one is called tebalu mata, “unripe tebalu” and the other is tebalu mansau, or “ripe tebalu9”. The former is paid at the expiration of six months following the death of the spouse and its payment enables the widow or widower to remarry freely. The latter is a vow made by the widow or widower not to remarry before he or she has built a tomb hut for the deceased during a Gawai Antu festival. If this vow is broken, the offender and his partner will be fined according to the type of offence they have committed, i.e. adultery or elopement.

Source: http://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/part-1-iban-adat-law-and-custom/

 

LALAU PENDIAU (GENERAL ETIQUETTE)

LALAU PENDIAU (GENERAL ETIQUETTE)

After his marriage, a man is taught by his father and grandfather to respect his wife more than anyone else. He must also respect her parents, brothers, sisters and other close relatives, as he does his own kinsmen. He should never cast suspicion on his wife of misconduct with other men, unless he can prove it properly, and not just because he has heard it as rumors.

As a married man he should now work harder than when he was a bachelor. In order to please his wife and her family he should be diligent in providing food by hunting and fishing. If he fails to do these things, he will disappoint his wife and the other members of her family. It is a man’s duty to fetch firewood for cooking food; therefore, he must not let the frame above the hearth (para) become empty of dried firewood.

If a man accompanies his wife to live in her parent’s house, he must always be attentive to his parents-in-law and other members of his wife’s family. If he brings back anything such as meat or fish from the field, he should hand it to his wife, so that she may know that he has done his work well that day.

In order to be a good husband he should never show his bad temper to his wife and family. If he does, he is considered by the people to be an ill-bred man. If he wants to remove his wife from her family in order to live elsewhere, he must do it through mutual understanding, and not through domestic quarrels and anger. If he feels that he would like to join a voyage or trading venture he must inform his wife and her family. If the latter agrees, then he can go with their blessing.

a. Maia makai (Meal times)

When one is taking food it is bad manners for anyone who is sitting nearby to blow his or her nose or spit saliva. It is equally bad manners to do this while somebody else is taking food in a family room nearby. Any­one who behaves this way is said to be an ill-mannered man.

b. Mansa Moa (Passing in other people’s presence)

It is customary for an Iban, if he must walk in front of someone, especially an elderly person, to show his respect with a traditional saying of “excuse me, may I walk in front of you,” with his hands folded to show his way. Anyone who does not do this while walking in front of other people is said to be a man of no manners.

c. Basa enggau temuai (Respect towards visitors or strangers)

Every man wants other people to respect him. If he wants to be res­pected, then first of all he too must respect other people. And in order to gain respect from others, he should work with diligence and stead-fast­ness, until he successfully gets all he wants. He should also be just in dealing with people, so that the latter can put their full trust in him. These are the teachings of Iban parents to their children.

If a family is visited by a stranger, they must speak to him and give him food and drink if he arrives at meal time. If he comes at night he should be given shelter and food so that he may not be hungry while stay­ing under the family’s roof. Even the dogs and chicken brought by the stranger is fed accordingly. Ibans of all generation believe that by show­ing kindness to strangers and animals, the unseen one will be kind to them also.

http://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/part-1-iban-adat-law-and-custom/

Nama kabuah Iban bisi adat nyabong?

Why nyabong is so important to the Ibans? Here is the reason:

Another traditional game that the Iban universally play in Sarawak is cockfighting, a game said to be first played by the deities. Famous contests between the deity Sengalang Burong against Apai Sabit Bekait, Ambong Mungan against Raja Machan and the heroes Keling and Laja of Panggau Libau against Tutong and Ngelai of Gellong occupy an important place in Iban oral traditions.

In Sebayan Raja Niram and Bujang Langgah Lenggan also fought their roosters against those of Ensing Jara and Kedawa.

In ancient times, cockfighting was held at least two times a year, the first after harvest from June to July, and the second between cutting and felling, from August to early September, and together were known as Sabong Taun.

As this game was, and is, the traditional sport of the spirits and deities, it must also be held at all major religious festivals to please the gods who are believed to be spiritually present.4 Because of the importance of cockfighting to the Iban mind, there exists an elaborate terminology particularly for the colorations of plumage, and it is believed that there are special times when it is best to fight each rooster according to its colouration.5

On the night prior to a sabong taun day each set of contestants asked two bards (lemambang) to sing the traditional songs called renong kayau, similar to the songs sung by the bards on the night before the warrior’s depar­ture to invade the enemy’s country. In these songs the bards mention the names and actions displayed by heroes of the spiritual worlds while fighting against their foes. As these spiritual and mythical heroes are invited to help the Warriors in fighting their enemy, an offering must be made to the deities and spirits whenever these songs are sung.

http://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/part-1-iban-adat-law-and-custom/

Nama kabuah Iban main gasing?

I once saw my late aki made a spinning top from tebelian tiang lada. I was wnodering why aki made a gasing as his age is already very old by then. NOw I know the reason for doing so!

 

From the month of June to August men traditionally played with spinning tops (bepangka) all over the country. Top spinning was believed to make easier the felling of trees for new padi fields.

Again, in late February the young men traditionally played with tops once more in order to burst spiritually the womb or kandong4 of the padi so as to hasten the ripening of the grain.

As men are spinning tops, boys play with small tops made by their fathers.

Iban tops are usually made of tough, strong woods such as kayu malam, bait, engkerutak, mengeris, and tapang.

http://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/part-1-iban-adat-law-and-custom/

 

New Generation Finds Strength in Borneo’s Past

New Generation Finds Strength in Borneo’s Past

By BARBARA CROSSETTE, Special to the New York Times
Published: October 18, 1987

For more than a century, since explorers and missionaries first ventured into the interior of Borneo, outsiders have been captivated, awed and not infrequently humbled by the Iban people, who dominated millions of acres of tropical rain forests on one of the world’s largest islands.

The Iban, or Sea Dayaks, were a complex society: Fearless headhunters in war, they lived in peace humanely and, in some ways, democratically in longhouses along the rivers of Sarawak, a former British colony that is now part of Malaysia. Individualistic, egalitarian, adaptable and honorable were all judgments made of the Iban during the hundred years that Sarawak was ruled as a private fiefdom by the ”white rajahs” of the Brooke family.

A Briton, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, wrote in the 1860’s, ”The quietly watchful eyes which the Dayak chief turns upon every speaker, though the language employed be unknown to him, are so shrewdly intelligent that one longs to dive into his mind and ascertain what his thoughts can be.”

Today, a new generation of Iban, increasingly conscious of their ethnic roots after almost a quarter-century within the Moslem Malay-dominated nation of Malaysia, are themselves diving into Dayak minds to re-examine their strength and expand their political power. Their success or failure, they say, will define the future political map of northern Borneo, and possibly influence people like them who live across the border in Indonesia. Recent Political Awakening

Borneo, a sparsely populated island, is rich in resources over which its native people have very little control. Restless Iban, educated in American or British missionary schools and Western universities, speak of creating a sense of ”Dayakism.”

The political awakening of Borneo’s people is a recent trend, said James Masing, a social scientist and politician who was the first Iban to earn a doctorate in anthropology.

”There is a growing awareness that we must have a place in history,” he said. ”Our priority now is to organize the Dayak community and make them a strong political force.”

Mr. Masing, a state assemblyman who belongs to a Dayak-dominated coalition that almost brought down the state government in elections this spring, said in an interview that 46 percent of Sarawak’s 1.4 million people are Dayaks or other non-Islamic native peoples related to them. About 26 percent are Moslem Malays and Melanau; most of the rest are ethnic Chinese. ‘The Wild Men of Borneo’

In neighboring Sabah, also a Malaysian state since 1963, ethnic Kadazans – another group of traditional headhunters once labeled ”the wild men of Borneo” by Europeans – now head the state government under Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the first Kadazan to be educated as a lawyer. The example of Sabah made a big impact in Sarawak, Mr. Masing and other Ibans said. Among the lessons drawn from the Kadazan experience, Mr. Masing said, was the importance of an alliance with the ethnic Chinese, who control much of local commerce and banking. In Sarawak, however, such an alliance seems a long time away.

The strength of Iban society, people with roots in their communities say, derives from the society’s own culture and from the years Sarawak’s people spent under the rule of the Brooke Rajahs – James, Charles and Vyner. The Sultan of Brunei ceded Sarawak to James Brooke, an Englishman, in 1841; the Brooke family did not relinquish control of Sarawak to the British Crown until after World War II.

”It is part of our culture to meet challenge,” Peter Mulok Kedit, an Iban ethnologist at the Sarawak Museum, said as he explained his people’s adaptability in meeting the modern world with little apparent social trauma. ‘We Know How to Adapt’

”In our oldest traditions, in our folklore, we have always had mythological heroes who go out to conquer demons,” he said. ”Our horizon lies beyond our river systems, our valleys.”

”Historically, we have been exposed to Western culture and Western ways of doing things,” said Mr. Kedit, who does not count himself among the Dayak nationalists. ”We know how to adapt ourselves to life beyond the tropical forests in which we find ourselves.”

Mr. Kedit, who has traced his ancestry to a pirate chief who led a band of marauders along the coast of the South China Sea, recently completed a doctoral dissertation on what he considers an Iban tradition crucial to the group’s development: ”bejalai.”

In the Iban language, bejalai means ”to walk away.” It is used to describe the journey into the unknown every young Iban man was expected to make before attaining responsible adulthood.

Traditionally, this could be a headhunting expedition – later translated into joining the military or the police. It could be a search for work: ”Bekuli” – ”be a coolie” – entered the Iban language to describe those on contract labor. Other Iban became collectors for European hunters or museums. They were soon labeled ”Museum Dayaks,” Mr. Kedit wrote.

Bejalai continues, in the oilfields off the Borneo coast and in timbering concessions – both money-earners for the young man’s longhouse – and, more negatively, in ”urban drift” from the forest to towns, where young men are sometimes drawn into drinking and gambling. Enrollment in the universities of foreign lands can also be a bejalai.

When missionary scholarships became available to boys, and a few girls, barely out of a preliterate age, they went along happily to try out a new form of an old tradition. They were sent off to academic life with songs, dances and feasting not unlike the accompaniment that once dispatched pirate crews.

”Whatever people say about Christianity, it brought us education,” said Mr. Masing, who was born in a longhouse near this Rajang River town of Kapit, attended a Methodist mission school and won a church scholarship to a university in New Zealand.

Christianity also gave the Dayaks what Michael Buma, a retired educator and Iban Anglican lay leader, calls ”an alternative to our tradition that changed our way of living.” Omens Cause Changes of Plans

Both Mr. Buma, who writes a newspaper column on Iban culture, and Mr. Masing said that there was much in Iban ritual that was unwieldy and awkward in a developed society – like not going to work after a bad dream or altering plans because of omens. The Iban, Mr. Masing said, have not lost these beliefs, but instead have become selective in choosing a course of action from one system or another. He called this a ”utilitarian” approach to religion.

”The Iban accepted Christianity not because of the promise of life after death,” he said. ”They accepted Christianity because they can increase their economic and social standing while alive.”

Iban youths, taught to be individualistic and egalitarian at home, say they can take foreign education in stride. Sometimes, however, they have been surprised to discover that Western customs were not quite what they had expected.

Joseph Sibat, a graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., who works for the Sarawak state electric company, is the son of a headhunter from Kapit who was converted to Christianity by American Methodists and later decided to give his children the first higher education their longhouse – a communal Iban dwelling -had ever experienced.

At DePauw, the younger Mr. Sibat says, he was the appalled to see students showering naked in a group. Students also hit each other over the head with books, a custom he found barbaric. An Informal Welfare System

Mr. Masing, who abandoned a civil service career to fight for the Dayak cause in and out of government, is regarded by Ibans here in Kapit as a future political leader. Mr. Masing has strong ideas about what Dayaks need: A share of the civil service and other government jobs more in line with their proportion of the population, and economic policies intended to serve the interior, not the commercial interest of the coastal towns.

Above all, he and other Iban – some of them his political enemies – would like to save the Iban longhouse, the village system of connecting homes with shared work and leisure space that has contributed to social development through democratic decision making and an informal welfare system.

”In a longhouse, people cared for other people,” said Leonard Linggi Jugah, secretary general of the governing party, who opposes Dayak nationalism. ”Loneliness does not exist, though privacy does not exist either.” ”

To save the longhouse, Mr. Masing said, the opening of large plantations must stop, and traditional slash-and-burn farming must be modernized.

”The longhouse has strong social values,” Mr. Buma said. ”Once you lose your social values, you have lost your identity.”

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/18/world/new-generation-finds-strength-in-borneo-s-past.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Iban’s ranking of bedara, gawa and gawai

1) Bedarak matak dalam bilek

2) Bedarak mansau ba ruai

3) Makai di ruai

4) Sandau Ari ba tanju or Gawai Matak ba tanju

5) Enchaboh Arong

6) Gawai Ngaga Kenyalang

7) Gawai Burong – 9 renggat (Kalingkang, Sawi, Sandong, Salangking, Mulong Merangau/Lemba Bumbun, Gajah Meram, Meligai, Ranyai/Mudur Ruroh, Gerasi Papa)

8) Gawai Tuah – 3 renggat

9) Gawai Mangkong Tiang

10) Bedukun, Belian/Bemanang, Besugi sakit, Berenong sakit, Gawai sakit, Nampok, Gawai Btambah Bulu, Gawai Nangga Langit, Gawai Bebangun

11) Berenong kayau, Berenong sabong, Berenong ngayap

12) Gawai Bumai – Gawai Batu, Gawai Benih, Gawai Ngalihka Tanah, Gawai Ngemali Umai, Gawai Basimpan,