Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: A Record of Intimate Association with the Natives of the Bornean JunglesGomes, Edwin Herbert
History
Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: A Record of Intimate Association with the Natives of the Bornean Jungles
Gomes, Edwin Herbert
Iban (Bornean people); Sarawak (Malaysia) -- Description and travel
There are also certain erections called _pandong_ put up at regular
intervals in the long public veranda, and to these are hung war charms
and swords and spears, etc. The men who are to make the incantations
walk up and down, going round the _pandong_ and the heads in the brass
dishes, singing the particular _pengap_, or incantation, which is used
at this feast. There are generally two principal singers, each of whom
is followed by five or six others. The leaders sing in turn a few lines,
and the rest join in the chorus at the end of each verse. The leaders are
dressed gaily, and have, in addition to their Dyak dress, a long coat
reaching to the ground. They all hold long walking-sticks in their hands
and stamp their feet as they walk along.
This song of the head feast takes the form of a story setting forth
how the mythical hero Klieng held a head feast on his return from the
warpath, and invited the god of war, Singalang Burong, to attend it. It
describes at great length all that happened on that occasion. The singing
of this song takes up the whole night. It begins before 8 p.m., and lasts
till next morning. Except for a short interval for rest in the middle of
the night, the performers are marching and singing all the time.
On the third day the people go out on the _tanju_, or open-air platform,
in front of the Dyak house. They take with them offerings of food and
drink and a live pig. The mats are spread out, and the guests sit down,
and food is handed round to them. The men of rank and those who have
distinguished themselves in battle sit together, and the oldest of these
is asked to make the offering to Singalang Burong. The drums are struck
in a particular manner called _pepat_; the pig is killed as a sacrifice,
and the liver examined to find out whether good or bad fortune is in
store for them. The people shout together (_manjong_) at short intervals
until a hawk is seen flying in the heavens. That hawk is Singalang
Burong, who has taken that form to manifest himself to them. He has
accepted their offerings and has heard their cry. The ceremony is over,
and the crowd return into the house. The guests go back to their homes
after feasting and drinking liberally for three days and nights.
(2) _Gawai Ijok_ (the “_Ijok_ Feast”): The _ijok_ is the gamuti palm
from which the native drink _tuak_ is obtained. When a man has held
the hornbill feast several times, and has been successful against the
enemy, this feast sometimes takes place. The special characteristic of
this feast is that a long pole is set up, and at the top of it a jar of
native spirit (_tuak_) is placed. Incantations and offerings are made to
Singalang Burong as in the former feast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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