International Tutors' Magazine December 2018 | Page 16

INTERNATIONAL TUTORS’ MAGAZINE
Sarawak
The Dayak people of Sarawak consist
of the Iban tribes who live by the sea
and the Bidayuh tribes who live more
inland. Rather than agriculture, the Iban
community makes a large contribution
to the clothing industry in Sarawak. Pua
kumbu is the most prominent textile sown
and woven by the local women. Like the
Kadazan, the Iban are also animists, and
their beliefs also play a big role in their
work. A ritual is performed after each stage
of production of pua kumbu to appease
the spirits. The Iban women creatively use
different botanical resources around them
to produce natural dyes with remarkable
shades of colours. Handweaving skills are
passed down from generation to generation
orally. Girls from every family are trained
from a young age to prepare the materials
from dried cotton and later to select a
motif design, which varies according to
their status in society. For example, only
wives and daughters of chiefs are allowed
to weave motifs of humanoid figures. The
introduction of such crafting skills helps to
elevate women’s status in society, as they
are now able to earn a living for the family.
Similarly to Kadazan Dusun, both Iban
Dayak and Bidayuh Dayak also celebrate
the Harvest Festival, called Hari Gawai
Dayak. Even though rice production is on
smaller scale in these communities, they
still show their gratitude to the rice spirits.
The Dayak also have their own historical
dance performed during the festival, called
Ngajat. It is performed to welcome guests
to the Harvest Festival. It also reenacts
the victorious moment of warriors’ return
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
from battle in ancient times. Wearing
large feathers as headgear, male dancers
aggressively lunge forward in a particular
turning movement to demonstrate their
high fighting spirit. In some performances,
some of the dancers will even hold mortars
weighing 20 kilograms using only their teeth
to emphasize their strength and masculinity.
Through the dance, the tribes hope to
remind the younger generation
of their responsibilities
to fight for their cultural
identity and reputation.
Serenity of Embracing Nature
Both indigenous groups in Sabah and
Sarawak embrace their unique culture as it
represents their identity. Some of us may
criticise them for being old-fashioned and
stubborn to hold on to the ancient rituals
of the premodern world. Yet we should
consider the fact they are actually celebrating
the festival to pay their homage to the
spirits who take care of them.
They do not take things
for granted. Yet we in the
urban world only treasure
the profits. We exploit
natural resources to the
brink of extinction while
these tribespeople work hard
to prevent such a disaster from happening.
Natural resources are shared assets of all
humankind and everyone should shoulder
the responsibility to preserve them.
Ironically, the responsibility seems to shift
towards the “inferior group of tribes”,
whom we criticise and look down upon.
We seem to forget that the beauty of nature
lies in the principle of mutual respect
and appreciation. It is these moral values
found in the indigenous communities
that we are lacking. Instead of looking
down on them, we should appreciate
their culture and values. Maybe we can
learn something valuable ourselves. v
The tribes
fight for their
cultural identity.
The festival is also famous
for its special drink, tuak.
It is a locally brewed rice wine
using homemade yeast (ragi) and glutinous
rice. The tribes need to prepare the drink
1 month prior to the festival for sufficient
yeast fermentation. The tasty drink is
enjoyed with local dishes of bamboo rice
(ngelulun pulut) and lemongrass chicken
(pansoh manok). There are also many desserts
prepared from glutinous rice flour and
sugar, such as ant nest cake (sarang semut),
molded cake (cuwan), twisted cake (kui sepit)
and discus-shaped cake (penganan iri). The
lengthy food and drink preparation does not
deter their spirit in celebrating the festival
as they hope to introduce their culture to
the outsiders through their unique cuisine.
Clockwise from left: A Dayak
dancer performing the Harvest
Festival Ngajat dance; a symbolic
pua kumbu motif; the chicken-
based dish of pansoh manok is
prepared inside a bamboo stalk.
photos sourced online and labeled for noncommercial reuse
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