Up there, time has no meaning but down here, in Kuching, time totally controls you, Langub says.
As a result, indigenous kids are losing proficiency in their own language. Its a matter of concern because it is language that sets your thinking and your cultural perspective, says Langub, who has been writing about the oral traditions of the Sarawak tribes. Along with language, epics, storytelling and oral narratives — things that shape the world view of indigenous peoples — are rarely practiced now, theyre in great danger of being lost.
So, where are the spirits? I asked Direp Nyoheng, 42, a Bidayuh who just arrived at the priestesses hut toward midnight at the height of the gawai in Kampung Stass. He has been involved in documenting the tribes religious rituals in the past years and was happy that a religious ritual with real duyongburis lapsing into a trance was going on in a Bidayuh kampung during gawai.
They are just around, he says, his face lighting up.
But arent they outraged at what is going on?
He stopped short, confused. In a small room just a couple of steps from the loud gong contest, near the sacred food offerings, three duyong buris on a swing were chanting prayers while crowds milled around, shooting pictures.
Downstairs, just a couple of steps from the duyong buris hut, crowds were deep in various betting games while a number of young women (Christians) were preparing for a beauty pageant, donning beads and the duyong buri hats. Among the Bidayuhs, these items (the beads and the priestess hats) are sacred, says Jennifer Rubis, who heads the community-based eco-tourism project in Krokong Bau under the small grants programme for operations of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Her project seeks to promote tropical forests but includes as component the documentation of the tribes’ religious rituals as a way to preserve and revive interest in Bidayuh’s culture and history. You just dont walk around donning a nuns habit or a priests cassock, she says. But why are they wearing the beads and the duyong buri‘s hat? Their intrinsic lack of respect for this culture manifests itself in how they treat these objects.
What I dont understand is why did they hold that contest right inside the ritual hut where the duyong buris chant their prayers, adds Diweng Bakir, a new generation Bidayuh holding fast to his culture.
They shouldnt even wear the beads, Rubis adds. They have rejected the meaning of the beads, in the first place, when they converted to the new religion. They were once required to crush and destroy them. So, why wear them now?
When the loud shouts and noise drown the duyong buris chants, I asked Nyoheng again if the spirits are angry.
Christianity is a religion, he says. But for me, if Christians can accept gawai as a festival, then it should be okay. It would be this cultures another lease to life, he says. Nyoheng, himself, has been married to a Seventh Day Adventist (Christian) but resisted being dragged into another religion. He and his mother are among the few Bidayuhs (less than 10 percent of the tribe) who still practice the ancient beliefs.
He believes that festivals like the gawai, where real duyong buris do the rituals, will hopefully delay the dying of the culture.
In 10 years time, when they (the priestesses) are already below grounds, this culture will die. We wont be able to do it alone, he says. Besides, he adds, The kampung is earning money from tourists. He nods to indicate the crowd flocking to the various betting games and stalls sprouting all over the place. It was close to midnight and the roads leading to the Bidayuhs Kampung Stass was practically clogged with cars for the gawai.
I just hope the spirits wont mind, says Nyoheng. (Germelina A. Lacorte/davaotoday.com)
So much of what remains of the culture is now slipping away, he says. Now, you only find epics, storytelling, oral narratives in books — scholarly books — written by foreigners, especially foreign anthropologists. Foreigners are becoming expert on indigenous cultures than the indigenous peoples themselves.
Its ironic to think that if you want to know about traditional culture, you have to go to the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, he says.
As Malaysias economy industrializes, the tribes, according to Langub, are being lectured to change their attitudes, become more progressive in outlook, not to leave their land idle.
Governments definition of progress, however, clashes with the traditional practice of the tribes. For instance, there is a certain period after harvest when the tribe has to leave the land idle to allow the environment to heal, or to provide time for re-growth, Langub points out. The fast paced life could not accommodate this time for re-growth.
BEFORE 1957, when the government declared gawai as an official holiday, this harvest ritual was not something that could be set in a calendar. A village elder has to dream a good dream first before they can celebrate gawai, explains Mujah, reflecting on the old Iban practice. When nobody dreams, there is nothing to celebrate.
In some areas, there is no fixed date when a certain village celebrates gawai, explains Kelvin Egay, a researcher who has been doing studies with the indigenous tribes, You join a celebration in one village and from there, you get to hear which other villages are going to celebrate next.
He narrates an incident in the previous year when some government official had wanted to cut the ritual short because of the presence of some very important visitors. As a result, one duyong buri (tribal priestess) almost died, in the process. Duyong buris are the Bidayus name for priestesses who serve as the spirit medium during rituals, says Jennifer Rubis, head of the community-based eco-tourism project in Krokong, Bau under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) small grants programme. During the ritual, they lapse into a trance to communicate with the spirits. When the ritual was cut short the previous year, one duyong buri simply had trouble getting out of the trance; thats why she almost died.
Indigenous Peoples
