Muja Menua… appeasing the angry gods

IN 1924 a Muja Menua miring ceremony was held to mark the end of hostilities between the Kayans and Kenyahs and the Ibans in the upper reaches of the Rajang.

CHIEF PRIEST: Nabau, chosen by the elders to lead the grand ceremony, the Muja Menua.

The hostilities was a result of the tribes literally colliding into each other as the Kayans and Kenyahs move downstream from the headwaters of the Rejang and Baleh towards Kapit while the Ibans spread upstream from Kapit.
The peace treaty was brokered by one of the more colourful officers of the Brooke reign, Gerald MacBryan and cleverly enforced by the holding of the Muja Menua miring in November that year.
In the Iban tradition the Muja Menua is the highest level of miring, the ceremonial prayers and rituals to appease the spirits and gods for sins committed against humanity and nature.
Such is the level of Muja Menua that it was never held again until this year and coincidentally also in the month of November and in the upper reaches of the same river — the Rajang.
However, the Muja Menua held on Nov 17 this year was not to cement a peace treaty but to seek forgiveness and appease the gods for the ravages wreaked on the environment by the people through logging and other activities.
Apparently the devastation of the environment in the headwaters areas of the Baleh which is a tributary of the Rajang had so angered the spirits of the forests and mountains that they brought on massive landslides that caused logs, branches and other debris tumbling into the river resulting in the most massive logjam ever seen in Sarawak.
On Oct 17 the people living along the Baleh and Rejang were flabbergasted by the sight the mighty rivers choked a solid mass of logs, trees and branches floating down stream like Nabau the Iban mythical serpent — some estimated the logjam to be 250 kilometres long.
Although the cost of the physical damages caused by the floating logs was small, the environmental damage was massive and unlikely to be fully gauged. Fish, prawns and other aquatic life in the rivers were suffocated by the silt and mud churned up by the logs.
Although the river folk had a field day picking up dying fish and prawns in the river, their hearts were filled with misgivings and fear for the future.
The Ibans in Baleh have expressed their fear and believed that the reason behind the massive debris along the Baleh/Rejang Rivers was the wrath of the gods who were angry with the loggers as the tractors and bulldozers have damaged their abode at Ulu Sg Melatai.
For some, they believed that the indiscriminate pollution at the domains of the spirits of the rivers, jungles and mountains at Ulu Sg Melatai have caused the gods to move out from their domains and caused the massive movement that resulted in the massive debris being washed down the rivers.
During a meeting with 12 Iban village chiefs held at Rumah Tujai, Ng Sebiro, Entawau, Baleh on Oct12, they have told Dato Sri Dr James Masing, the Minister of Land Development that a grand miring ceremony must be held to appease the spirits as soon as possible.
Masing had said then that he would have to discuss the matter with the Majlis Adat Istiadat the kind of miring ceremony that would be most appropriate to appease the deities, and more so, the wrath of the local people.
“The ceremony will hopefully appease the gods as well as the local people. At this stage, they only blamed the loggers but we must stopped their anger otherwise they vent it out at the government.
“My top priority now is not only to appease the people but also the gods whose wraths could worsen the already tense situation,” Masing told thesundaypost after meeting.
For the Ibans in Baleh their wrath was justified as their livelihood had been devastated by the logjam causing a complete lost of fish and animals from their jungles which they claimed as their ‘supermarket’.
“But we are very angry with the loggers because the ‘Baleh Tsunami’ or logjam is caused by them. They have made the abode of the gods too noisy with their tractors and other heavy machineries which made the gods to get angry and shake the forest and resulted in the devastation,” said Tuai Rumah Sebaung, Ng Melamah, Baleh.
They said the disrespectful ways of the loggers to nature have created an enmity between them and the local people.
Masing, himself a Christian, who earned his PhD in anthropology through his research on Iban studies stressed that the miring ceremony was not against the Christian teachings as it is part and parcel of the Iban’s culture and tradition.
“Miring is part of the socio-religious fabric of the Iban community. So there is no reason to think that the miring ceremony is diminishing among the community,” stressed Masing.
It was determined the landslides occurred at Ulu Sg. Malatai, which is a tributary of the Baleh.

Panggau Libau

Panggau Libau Lendat Dibiau Gerempong Isang,
Merawa Lama Munyi Merimba Mungga Nebang.

Sape...instrument of the Gods of Borneo

• Sape is not even the original name it was called. It was firstly known as sampe' by the Lebu' Kulit Tribe among the Kenyah's race in Kalimantan ,Borneo .Who was the inventor of the instrument. Now people call it sape, sapeh and sampik , it all depend on the reporters spelling. Even so as the instrument being used by people of various ethnic, they have name for it according to their own tongue.
  
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• Who was this historical inventor? His name was called Anye' Selung. Again some writers spell his name as Nyik Selung and Anyik Selong. He was a limping man. He got a high fever for many days. On one particular day he got this strange encounter or rather a dream where he was instructed by spirits to invent the instrument. When he got up he was healed. He then shape this "Jelutung wood" and carved it according to what he was instructed. He used Pineapple leave threat as the strings.

Later the news spread so quickly to the surrounding villages. He was transported to many nearby villages to play the instrument which they believe can heal people of their sicknesses. People would carry him by four because he was limping. The dancing with the music comes much later. Every time when the people have festival or celebration he would be asked to play the instrument. The people would dance "they call it kancet", most commonly called 'ngajat'.

History of Tattooing

History of Tattooing Middle East -Egypt
A little known fact about the Egyptian Culture and Tattooing is that oddly enough that tattoos were worn by only the Egyptian females! Of course in the future, it may be possible that archaeologists may unearth new mummies with proof of tattooed male Egyptian mummies, but to date, the proof states that if you were a woman of Egypt thousands of years ago you and your female counter parts would be the only ones getting tattooed while the males just sat around and watched, perhaps in envy.

An Egyptian mummy known as "Amunet" was discovered in Thebes in 1891. Amunet (The Goddess of Love) was later to be found to be the remains of "The Priestess of Hathor, her time dates back to approximately 2200BC. Decorated with diamond shaped and elliptical dot patterns, groups of linear markings decorating her arms and thighs and a fairly large pattern with a mixture of dots and smaller lines resting below her navel area, this High Priestess and as well "dancer" may have been an inspiration to other dancers and performers of her area. Many other mummies were discovered to have basic renditions of the Goddess Amunet, tattooed upon their own bodies, along with similar linear and circular markings. Although there is no known word or glyph associated with tattooing in our current understanding of the Egyptian language, it must have been important to them as it is rumored that the Egyptians played a major role in the spreading the art of tattooing throughout the area and as well onto the world itself during the days of the Great Pyramid build. Many local and non local laborers and various artisans were traveling to Egypt to take their respective places in the audacious task of building the Pyramids.

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Punan

Punan Bah or Punan is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia. They are distinct, unrelated to the Penan and also the other so called Punan found in Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living time immemorial. They do have other names - Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan. But these terms are only used ritually these days.
The Punan (or Punan Bah) have never been nomad. In the old days they base their living on a mixed economy. Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources are the other important factors in their economy.
However, in the late 1980s many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrating to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living. However, they didn't abandon their longhouses altogether. Many would still return home - especially during major festivities such as Harvest Festival / or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan.
Punan is a stratified society of 'laja' (aristocrats), 'panyen' (commoners), and 'lipen' (slaves). This is a fact determine their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.