Ex-cancer patient finds solace in wood carving

VARIOUS DESIGNS: Kennedy showing the drawings of his collection of dagger grip designs.

ONE look at the machete, parang and dagger sheaths at the home of Kennedy Mark Tegang and one can safely vouch that their magnificent designs are the work of a master craftsman. Indeed, the exquisite motifs on the wooden casings for the blades are carved by self-taught Kennedy who discovered his latent talent while recovering from nose cancer years ago. “Life was unpleasant as I just had chemotherapy and I was worried about my family. Then one day, in my kitchen, I took a look at my old parang casing and thought it had a very dull design,” recalled the 49-year-old civil servant of the lowest point of his life. At that moment, Kennedy suddenly felt inspired to do something about improving the appearance of the casing. So without second thoughts, he headed for the hardware shop to buy some carving tools and got to work on the sheath right away on reaching home. That was 11 years ago. And now, after recovering from the cancer, he has received so many orders (for the casings) that his clients have to wait patiently for their delivery. “With machine, it would be much faster but they all want my personal touch,” he said. Kennedy explained the beautiful native designs gave the casings a unique character of which the owners could be proud. The Ibans often use this type of “general purpose” parang while working at their farms and many of them like the sheaths to have certain ethnic motifs.

ALL DONE: Kennedy with some of his finished products.

 Patience and time According to Kennedy, mainly Iban designs are carved on the casings and the work takes patience and time. “Very few people have the heart for this kind of work,” he said. At first, Kennedy paid scant attention to his exquisite carvings on the casings until friends and family members asked him who made them for him. “They couldn’t believe I did it because to them, only a master craftsman could produce beautiful carvings on wood.” As word got around, his orders started to pile up. But he is getting a bit worried about his expanding clientele as he is a part-time artisan and only does the carvings in his free time. “It’s only a hobby,” he said. He gets his ideas from books on Iban motifs before coming up with his own designs on a piece of paper and selecting the right tools for the carving process. “I taught myself everything about wood-carving and improvised some of my tools for better handling. I don’t consider myself a master craftsman. I do it as a pastime but I’m happy to say, it has helpd me regain my perspective after being a cancer patient.” Kennedy, an Iban from Sri Aman, said during the recovery period, he worried constantly about not being given a clean bill of health again. “Chemotherapy was not very pleasant – it made me weak. But doing something with my hands really helped me forget I was sick — even if temporarily. “Designing the sheaths with my carvings was the therapy I needed to motivate myself to live from day to day and I thank God I’m still here.”

ORIGINAL: The various native designs Kennedy uses for his carvings.

Devastated Kennedy revealed his father died of cancer and he was devastated when the doctor also diagnosed him with the same affliction (nose cancer). “It seemed the world just collapsed on me when I got the bad news. I was also constantly plagued by a sense of panic – my siblings were all very young at the time and my mother was a housewife. When my father died of cancer, my brothers and sisters were still teenagers and our family life was greatly affected by his death. “My father’s death was already a big blow to us. I couldn’t bear to see my family suffer further because of my illness. We all had to fend for ourselves – we must finish our secondary education and find jobs to become independent and not bother our mother who was surviving our father’s pension.” Looking back, he said his new-found talent and hobby had helped him clear his thoughts of his illness “and my life now is pretty normal.” Kennedy said he could not explain how or where he got his talent from as he hadn’t the foggiest idea whether his grandfather or other relatives had ever done any handiworks. “I’m not a person who is into culture and arts either but, of course, no one will want to see his or her unique culture just vanish — so in a way, I’m helping to preserve it with my carvings,” he added. He usually recommends traditional Iban designs to clients but the final decision lies with the clients themselves. How fast he finishes his carvings depends on how intricate the designs are and what wood surface he is working on. He gets his materials from discarded wooden boxes or from his clients. The work involves not only carving the sheaths but also binding them. He uses varnish to make the designs stand out, and ensures the blade is secure in the casing by reinforcing it with nylon string or metal wire. On the top of that, he also designs the handle of the blade to ensure it matches the casing. Kennedy said he did not make much money out of his craft, adding that besides showing their appreciation, people just paid him between RM50 and RM100 for each casing. “I don’t think I want to commercialise my hobby now — maybe when I retire,” he laughed. “There is a long list of people who order from me and they all wait patiently because they know I do the carvings only when I’m free in the evening and on weekends or when my inspiration is right.” Kennedy hoped people would appreciate their cultures and he felt he had contributed to ensuring his own (Iban) culture would not just disappear. “I don’t think my children will follow in my footsteps — they have their own interests but it’s too early to tell,” he reckoned. He said he was not asking or looking for more re-wards from what he was doing because he loved doing it. “I hope I can help preserve the Iban culture through my hobby,” he added.

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.

Iban Agressive Expansion(part 4)

by Stephanie Morgan

This glance at relatively recent history has brought out some of the main characteristics of Iban migration. It was in most cases rapid; aggressive; persistent; and successful. It also seems to have been so basic to the Iban outlook on life that there are few cultural and technological traits of their society that do not either necessitate a frequent change of site, facilitate it, or (the exact relationships are hard to trace) even derive from it. Culture and the migratory pressures perhaps evolved together; where this happened, what might be the source land of migration, is itself a problem frequently discussed. As recounted in Mr. Sandin’s book, the earliest people to possess a recognizably Iban culture seem to have been inhabitants of the Kapuas basin in West Kalimantan.

                                               (ignore this pic of me...i just have no idea of what pic to put)

Most probably the curious immigrants from overseas, landing at Merudu Hill and Cape Datu, head some of the traditional Iban genealogies because their descendants married Ibans rather than for any Iban identity of their own; indeed, Derom is curiously linked through his offspring not only with Ibans but with peoples as diverse as Bukitans, Melanaus, and Kelabits.7 Through many similarly misty links (such as those shown in the tusut appended to Mr. Sandin’s book) the line of Iban ancestry seems to go back to men, if they were men, living somewhere in the Middle East (some of them near Mecca) who moved, or whose descendants moved, to Sumatra then to Kalimantan, sometimes by way of Brunei. It is not likely that this outline represents any actual mass movement of population (favourite recourse of early theories, like that of Dr. Hose which derived the Ibans from fighters imported from Sumatra by Malay pirate nobles); but it may be symbolic of the drift of some of the cultural traits which apparently diffused into the Kapuas area, there to be woven by a people of unknown origin into their own style of life, whose shape we can only guess at, with explosive results. The historical processes surrounding the evolution of the Iban ethnic identity can only be viewed through a prism of myth; the commitment to expansion which permeates traditional Iban culture, however much of it may be the result of what it might be used to explain, is far easier to investigate.

...to be continued

*source Tansang Kenyalang GN Mawar

Iban Agressive Expansion (part 3)

By Stephanie Morgan

 The more traditional, more lasting process of aggressive expansion up into the Rejang and Balleh was rather curiously accelerated by the Brooke regime, whose avowed interest was to keep the Ibans close at hand. Migration was under way well before the English, intending to control the pirate raids, built their forts in the Iban rivers; but the resulting official divisions into downriver and upriver groups gave a new impetus to population movements. As some Iban groups had co-operated for mutual benefit with Malays, so the same groups came to co-operate with the English. “Only Dayaks can attack Dayaks to make them feel in any way a punishment” said the Rajah Charles Brooke, and he made great use of Iban levies, conveniently costless: they came gladly, arranging if possible attacks on their own enemies, or taking advantage of the government’s.

The great Kayan expedition of 1863, while it thoroughly revenged the murder of Fox and Steele, in the process so completely broke the power of this other expansionist group that they never again resisted Iban migration into the Rejang.5 This went so far that some non-Iban interior tribes concluded that invading Ibans were always working for the Government. The rebellious pioneers took heads and raided; and after them came the equally deadly allies with official blessing, taking heads and burning longhouses, punishing them in the way most familiar to both. The inevitable result was that the upriver and downriver Ibans retained and practiced their ideology of aggression; and those upriver, who had most opportunity to migrate away and were most often raided to punish them for trying to do so, migrated even farther to be out of reach.

Both these aspects of Iban expansion and aggression in the nineteenth century – piracy, and movement to the north and east – were affected by outside pressures that suggested their form and direction; but it seems clear that neither Malays nor English had any real control over the wellsprings, the pace or the ultimate expression of Iban activity. The rare efforts to counteract this cultural drive (as with settlement in the Balleh) met with no more permanent success than did, in the long run, attempts to direct the urge for the formal rulers’ benefit. It is clear that in the matter of aggressive expansion Iban culture, while superficially highly adaptable, had a fundamental resistance to being changed.

*to be continues...

Source= Tangsang Kenyalang

Iban Aggressive Expansion: Some Background Factors

By,
STEPHANIE MORGAN

Mr. Benedict Sandin’s recently published book, The Sea Dayaks of Borneo before White Rajah Rule, has no doubt become familiar to all interested in the people and traditions of Borneo. Here, for the first time, a highly educated and scholarly Iban writes with authority on his own people, and therefore with an understanding which a Westerner, even after years of field study, could rarely hope to approach. Familiar from childhood with the traditions of the Iban past, Mr. Sandin has drawn the skeletal structure of his study from the orally transmitted genealogies, tusut, of which thirty-two are appended to his text. The tales associated with these remembered ancestors illustrate his main theme, the westward migrations of the Iban people from Indonesian Borneo to the Second Division of Sarawak, and west again and north, during approximately the past fifteen generations. The material so vividly presented here is enough to feed theory for many years to come, and another book dealing with earlier and more recent periods is underway. The present short paper draws on aspects of Mr. Sandin’s material as well as other sources in an attempt to explore certain generalities, which underlie his narrative, and some of the points, which, because of their speculative nature, fall outside the scope of his book. In dealing with this complex range of material, I have drawn upon suggestions given by Dr. Robert Pringle and Dr. George Appell. The impetus and advice provided by Mr. Tom Harrisson, for whose seminar on Malaysia at Cornell University the body of this paper was originally written, have been invaluable; and Mr. Sandin himself has contributed the benefit of his experience in essential explanation.

The process of Iban migration, as Mr. Sandin’s material makes very clear, was far from orderly or organized either in space or in time. Its patterns were shaped by chance, by a network of individual decisions. A man such as Punoh* would quarrel with a neighbour, and move out to avoid the consequences; another, like Tindin, would make a friend in new rich land; another would hastily migrate, as Kaya did, to prevent relatives or strangers from getting to new territory before him. In the days when local conflict spread and hardened into “inter-tribal” hostility, the whole river populations might be driven out, even long-settled ones like the Undups. But the basic force of most directed migration was the desire for fertile land, which led to prestige and prosperity; and this meant, in these areas of thin and basically infertile soil, the old jungle living richly on itself. Those who felled it first owned the land forever, or as long as they wanted it: but as long as the forest seemed inexhaustible, farther pioneering was more attractive, symbolically and practically, than close-knit, rotated exploitation. So untouched land might be left ignored and once-settled areas deserted, till claims had lapsed so long that no one of a later immigration could tell who had first felled the forest they were clearing once again.(1) Specially erratic, migrations also moved at varying paces, according to the strength of the migrants’ motivation and the quality of the land. If nothing compelled them and the land was good, a group (probably several related families) would move gradually up from the mouth of a tributary, clearing its side spurs from valley to crest, as far as the headwaters: then away to a neighboring tributary, perhaps to return ten or twenty years later, or not at all. The Tuan Muda judged their average progress as four or five days’ journey every one or two years.2

(*The particulars of his story, and those of other men mentioned, may be found in Sea Dayaks of Borneo: page references are given with the names, in the first Index following this paper.)

The conscious motivations of migration, however, need not be the only reasons for the existence and persistence of this cultural option; nor do they explain why it became such a powerful and cherished part of Iban values, nor why its impulse seemed to be stronger before 1700 and after the early 1800′s (periods I and III of Mr. Sandin’s book) than in the relatively sessile interim. The first period, out of range of written history, is the more problematical; in the more recent, Iban movements were affected by outside influences, novel and shallow compared to the cultural drives which often they invoked (and then found most difficult to repress). But this very lack of depth may make their effect on the Iban easier to trace; and the more recent, documented Iban may be a convenient introduction to the Iban of the farther past, which is in large part an extrapolation.

*to be continued

source= Tansang Kenyalang

The Origin and Traditional values of Iban Cock-fighting

Cock-fighting is another type of culture or recreation which is commonly shared by the Ibans. Their interest for this culture originated from the game introduced by Raja Machan who held a cock-fighting bout with Ambong Mungan. The later lost the contest to Raja Machan and decided to go to visit the supernatural being in the sky to look for a fighting cock. In the domain of the God in the Sky, he met with a Supreme God called Raja Petara who gave him a fighting cock with the coloration of “Tuntong Lang Ngindang Terbai, Biring Belangking Pipit Kechuai”. Raja Petara told him that the fighting cock would never be defeated in the contest. With this prized possession given by the Supreme God, Ambong Mungan staged another cock-fighting session against Raja Machan. With such divine help, he won the contest.

There is another story of an Iban man named Kendawa, who went to the underworld in search for a good fighting cock with the coloration of “Biring Gerunggang”. In the underworld, he met with Ensing Jara who is a deity who looks after the soul of the dead fighting cock. He is also known as God of Cockfighting. These tales goes to show that cock fighting is a serious affair to the past Iban man who went through great length in search for a good fighting cock. Furthermore, they also imitated the game where their fable hero Keling, his friends and Gods of war, Sengalang Burong and his party held a cock-fighting contest against their arch enemies, Apai Sabit Bekait and demon Nising or Beduru in the sky.

The Iban believed that all the fighting cock that the supernatural being (Petara and Bunsu Antu) used in the cock-fighting contest, turned into human warriors. That is why cock fighting is closely tied to intangible qualities of human nature, their spiritual fulfillment and their religious refinement. It signifies a man’s chivalry while fighting enemies during war expeditions. As human beings became the fighting cocks of the supernatural being, they bore many different types of coloration (bulu manok), which is believed to reflect the personality profile of each warrior. The Iban believes that every warrior is born with his or her own “god given” fate (tuah diberi Petara) and destiny (nasib). These fate and destiny can only be seen and read from the scales of the fighting-cock’s leg and in its coloration. The scale is unique to individual rooster reflecting the unique fate given by god to individual warrior. That is why an Iban warrior is called “manok sabong” (fighting cock), spiritually sharing and possessing similar properties and characteristic. Thus, through these supernatural being, the Iban learn how to recognize the different type of coloration of the fighting cock and choose their preferred colorations that fit their personality when they became true warrior. With this traditional knowledge, the Iban learn how to recognize the quality and profile of each warrior and the natural element that influence them.

An Iban man is only a true warrior after he has slain an enemy in a battle. A true warrior will declare to God his praise name (ensumbar) and his choice of fighting cock coloration with the blood of his first slain enemy on their hand, which they tapped on their knees, elbows, on top of their head (bubun) and at the tip of their tongue. The declaration is also followed by swearing to God to abide by the rules of engagement handed down for generations. Once the fighting cock coloration has been declared with an enemy blood, the same coloration fighting cock must be used to honour the said warrior when he is invited to grace any major festival of the Iban people. If he needs to change his praise name later in life, he needs to repeat the same process using a fresh blood of his slain enemy.

The Iban warriors adorn beautiful headgear during major festivals or war expedition. These headgears are decorated with beautiful Angus pheasant feathers to resemble the beauty and grace of a fighting cock. The art of cock fighting teaches them to recognize the vulnerability of individual warriors. This helps the warleader to select individual warriors to perform specific task in a war expedition, which, at times, would include death duel with enemy warriors. That is why cock-fighting is not only a favorite pastime, but it is also a school of thought that teaches chivalrous behavior (courteous and considerate behavior) associated with the spirit of Iban warriors. It also teaches the Iban about the natural behavior, character and instinct of different fighting cock as it’s coloration represented the type of fish, birds, animals and insect living in its natural environment; location of the sun for their active and inactive time, feeding time, playing time, rest time; river tide situation; etc. Cock fighting thus represented the Iban’s religious and personal ideal. It is certainly their unique way of life.

The period when the Ibans normally hold cock-fighting bouts is between the felling season and the time when the burning is approaching. In the past, this was known as the annual cock-fighting Season.

In the past, on the eve of a cock-fighting contest, leaders of the cock-fighting teams would ask two bards to sing renong (folk songs), one after another. The renong that they sang were the ones that were formerly prescribed for war expeditions. They mentioned Keling, Bunga Nuing and party who went on war expeditions against their archenemy, Apai Sabit Bekait. War expeditions are similar to cock-fighting contests. Therefore, whenever the Iban leaders wanted to go on war expeditions, they would ask the bards to sing the renong specifically prescribed for cock-fighting contests, following what Ensing Jara did when he held a cock-fighting bout against Ngerai and Niram from the land of the dead (sebayan). Whenever they sing the renong, mainly for cock-fighting bouts or war expeditions, they must prepare offerings because the supernatural being that used to go on war expeditions or held cock-fighting contests are all mentioned in their songs.

However, to the Ibans who adhere to the old customs, cock fighting does not bring them any harm. It is a traditional sports and if organized professionally, it will be good for the tourism industry which benefits the Dayak people. In the past, the cock-fighting session is the time they exchange views and contemplate various meaningful undertakings with each other. Through their conversation at the cock-fighting arena, a majority of them receive ideas on how to improve their methods of farming, gardening, trading and carrying out activities to raise their community standard of living.

The cunning ones do not indulge themselves too much in gambling and betting during cock-fighting bouts because they remember the advice of their elders on being thrifty. They are aware of the dangers of doing things irresponsibly which will not only reduce their families to destitution but create problems for their children after their deaths.

Nowadays, cocks fighting are being organized occasionally following a major festival, annual gawai Dayak festival and final death rites (ngetas ulit) to mark the end of mourning period. In the headhunting past, death rites was completed with the acquisition of fresh heads. Such practices of blood letting have been replaced with cock-fighting session. This beautiful tradition should be preserved and kept alive in a contemporary Iban society through a better-organized session, proper set of rules and better arena.

(additional*in Iban)

RUKUN SABONG

1. Mimpi rurus – Manah

2. Burong rurus – Manah

3. Bulu manok maioh bunoh – Ngeraup – Siti Bulu

4. Manok manah bintih – Kering sereta Silat

5. Tisik ngemudi ka bulu manok ti manah – Tuah

6. Ngangkat ka manok ngena hari – enggau atur

7. Saa manok enggau chukup – manah intu

8. Taji ka bulih – tajam

Lapan iti Rukun Sabong ti diterang ka datas nya, rukun sabong menang, enda bertuakal agi, tentu menang. Nya baru tau berani masang manok naka pemisi, tau dipasang nerima pasang besai.

Enti kita nyabong enda ngena rukun sabong datas nya, kita semina nyabong enggau buta-tuli, sapeneka ati aja, nyabong betuakal, nyabong nasit, nyabong ngapa, nyabong nadai penemu, nyabong nadai pelajar. Tampak bendar kitai enda nemu nyabong dipeda orang ti bisi ngembuan pelajar nyabong.

Enti udah belajar sereta nemu rukun sabong, nya baru tau nyatup orang nyabong sabarang maia lalu manok ke dibai kita ka gelanggang endang disadang menang. Baka kitai ka ngerja pengawa bukai, kitai mesti bisi petua, isharat enggau rukun awak ka pengawa kitai lurus pejalai. Nadai semua utai nyamai sereta mudah diulih kitai enti enda enggau petua, isharat enggau rukun. Kitai enda tau ngutuk diri empu enti alah kategal salah petua, isharat tauka rukun, laban penyalah nya endang penyalah kitai empu ti enda chukup pelajar tauka penyabar dalam pengawa nyabong.

Besabong ka manok tu baka pengawa kitai mensia ka bentaruh ka nyawa bebuti enggau pangan diri. Sapa alah, nya mati. Nya kabuah kitai enda tau enda betati ka tiap-tiap rukun sabong, enggai ka alah uti enggau pangan diri. Kelia, enti alah uti enggau pangan diri, ngagai ringka ga pemulai sida. Nya alai rukun sabong enda tau enda dipelajar awak ka enda lebu bebuti enggau pangan diri.

NGELALA BULU MANOK

Bansa kitai iban endang udah lama bisi panemu ngelala bulu manok. Ngelala bulu manok tu siti panemu sabong ti nyelai bendar enti dibanding enggau panemu bansa bukai ke sama bekunsi ka uti sabong bakatu. Bulu manok endang dikelala bansa iban nyemaka semua bansa utai ti idup (jelu, burong, ikan, indu utai enggau bansa utai tumboh) baik ka di dalam ai tauka di darat. Lalu pengangkat bulu manok mega ditemu kitai bansa nitih ka ulah, bunyi, gaya, pendiau enggau pemakai utai idup ti sabaka bulu enggau manok nya. Bakanya mega tuah manok ti dipeda kitai ba tuboh enggau ba tisik kaki manok sabong kitai. Tisik enggau tuah manok endang nitih ka pemai enggau gamal utai idup ti sabaka nama enggau bulu sida. Semua ulah enggau pendiau utai idup ti nyemaka enggau bulu manok endang dipelajar ka kitai Iban ngambi ka nemu maia hari sida kering, maia sida makai, maia sida diau, bansa utai di empa sida enggau maia ulah bukai. Semua utai tu endang bisi sangkut-paut enggau maia kitai nyabong manok sereta enggau sapa bulu manok ti disabong kitai nya ninggang pangan diri. Ari tuah enggau bulu manok, orang ke nemu nyabong endang nemu ni bagi manok ke bebintih nya tau dulu datai kaki ba lawan diri.

Bedudok ari pelajar sabong tu anak pungka lelaki Iban kelia endang udah diajar ngelala bulu manok kenyau ari sida iya agi biak. Sida mega diajar ngintu manok sabong ti aroh ati diri empu. Enti sida nyau udah nyadi ka manok sabong orang, sida nemu ngambu bulu manok sabong nyadi ka tanda pemerani sida tauka pengering bulu diri. Pengawa ngambu bulu manok sabong tu dikerja chara besumpah ngena darah munsoh ka udah didengah sida. Bulu manok sabong tu beguna bendar dikena miau enggau niki ka bala Raja Berani enggau Bujang Berani enti sida diambi ngerja pengawa gawai besai kitai bansa. Enti salah bulu manok dikena, pengawa sida tau sabau ngapa laban salah ripih pengawa lalu enda chukup intu. Utai baka tu tau ngemedis ka orang ka bempu pengawa. Nya kabuah ngadu enggau ngintu pengawa ba pengarap bansa kitai Iban pedis bendar enti nadai penemu ti chukup kena ngerja pengawa. Nya alai anak Iban enda tau enda nemu ngelala bulu manok, ukai semina dikena bebuti nyabong aja, tang mega ka penemu kena ngerja pengawa pengarap kitai bansa.

source: THE HOUSE OF SENGALANG BURONG

Iban History

The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia) of Sanskrit Root.

The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.

The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.

In those days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as the Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants of Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.

The Ibans started moving to areas in what is today's Sarawak around the 15th century. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local tribes, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the sultans of Brunei. At the same time, Malay influence was felt, and Iban leaders began to be known by Malay titles such as Datu (Datuk), Nakhoda and Orang Kaya.

In later years, the Iban encountered the Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines. These were seafaring tribes who came plundering throughout Borneo. However, the Ibans feared no tribe, and fought the Bajaus and Illanuns. One famous Iban legendary figure known as Lebor Menoa from Entanak, near modern-day Betong, fought and successfully defeated the Bajaus and Illanuns. It is likely that the Ibans learned seafaring skills from the Bajau and the Illanun, using these skills to plunder other tribes living in coastal areas, such as the Melanaus and the Selakos. This is evident with the existence of the seldom-used Iban boat with sail, called the bandung. This may also be one of the reasons James Brooke, who arrived in Sarawak around 1838, called the Ibans Sea Dayaks. For more than a century, the Ibans were known as Sea Dayaks to Westerners.

*source www.enotes.com

Pirates of the Saribas

Who really were the pirates – the Rajah Brooke’s men or the fearsome natives of Saribas and Skrang? History books paint the Brookes as the good guys because they were the government while the other faction was made out to be the bad guys. But could it be that the natives, described as pirates were simply a bunch of patriotic souls trying to free their homeland from the clutches of the whites? Whether the so-called pirates of Skrang and Saribas are really pirates is an issue for historians to determine. The war basically came about because the Brookes were eager to expand their territories and the warriors of Skrang and Saribas were seen as a threat to their ambitions. It is possible that the natives were merely defending their territory against invasion by the Brookes. The fierce battle as a historic moment in the annals of Sarawak because its outcome determined who was in control of the State.
The bloody Battle of Beting Maro between the Rajah’s forces and the so-called pirates took place on July 31, 1849. On July 24 of that year, an expedition led by Rajah James Brooke comprising three steamers, seven men of war and 18 war canoes set sail from Kuching to ambush a fleet of Saribas and Skrang natives. They had heard that the natives had left Saribas two days earlier and headed north. The Rajah’s invading forces were determined to intercept the natives on their return. The British sailors were promised a bounty of 20 pounds for every pirate killed. On the evening of July 31, sentinel boats signaled the return of the natives, who fell into the trap. The ensuing battle lasted about five hours. Both sides shot at each other with guns and rockets. By midnight, everything was over, but a few native leaders managed to escape up the Saribas amidst the confusion. A few days later, the Rajah’s forces in a mopping up operation, burnt and destroyed longhouses and homes of the pirates on the Saribas river.
Acoording to the Rajah’s estimates, 300 “pirates” were killed out of 3,700 at the battle. Five hundred more died later of wounds, either trying to walk home or at the hands of the Rajah’s Iban allies. The Admiralty Court in Singapore later concluded that 2,140 “pirates” manning 88 boats took part in the battle of whom 500 were killed. The court awarded 20,700 pounds in bounty – 10,000 pounds for 500 pirates “destroyed” at 20 pounds per head, and 2,140 pirates “dispersed” at 5 pounds per head.

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The Dayak Cultural Foundation's Ethnic Orchestra.

Some Notes on the Traditional Dances of Sarawak, Sarawak Museum Journal 34-35 (New Series), p. 163-201.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Borneo Research Council, Inc
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

In November 1999, when I first came to Sarawak, I found that the three officially recognized Dayak communities: Bidayuh, Iban, and Orang Ulu Orang Ulu ("remote people") is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in Sarawak, with a population ranging from less than 300 persons to over 25,000 persons. , each had its own cultural organization in the modem state capitol, Kuching. (1) Moreover, in 1992, the three communities joined forces in the Dayak Cultural Foundation with the object "to receive and administer funds for cultural, educational, scientific and charitable purposes, and for public welfare." (2) Since the beginning of 2000, the Dayak Cultural Foundation headquarters have been located in the Tun TUN, measure. A vessel of wine or oil, containing four hogsheads. Jugah Tower, a new high-rise building high-rise building

Multistory building taller than the maximum height people are willing to walk up, thus requiring vertical mechanical transportation. The introduction of safe passenger elevators made practical the erection of buildings more than four or five stories tall. in the business area, which also houses the Tun Jugah Foundation, a non-profit Iban cultural heritage foundation. In accordance with its objectives, the DCF DCF

See: Discounted Cash Flows aims to preserve cultural traditions, and one of the ways it does so is by organizing courses in Dayak dance and music. The set-up of these courses fits within the framework of the three officially recognized Dayak communities, so that each community has an appointed time for weekly instruction and group practice in the Foundation's spacious dance studio and music rooms. Special sets of costumes and musical instruments, selected according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3. what is considered characteristic for each community, are stored and available here. Iban and Bidayuh groups have ensembles of gongs and drums to accompany dances; the Iban have several long barrel drums Barrel drums are a class of membranophone, or drum, characterized by a barrel-shape with a bulge in the middle. They are often one-headed and open at the bottom. Examples include the Vietnamese trong chau and the bendre of the Mossi of Burkina Faso. (gendang) (3) and a gong gong, percussion instrument consisting of a disk, usually with upturned edges, 3 ft (91 cm) or more in diameter in the modern orchestra, often made of bronze, and struck with a felt- or leather-covered mallet or drumstick. ensemble consisting of a set of eight small bossed gongs resting on strings (engkrumong), deep-rimmed tawak gongs with a prominent boss, and single-bossed gongs suspended by a rope or chain (bebendai/chanang). The Bidayuh have long wooden drums originally used in headhunting headhunting

Practice of removing, displaying, and in some cases preserving human heads. Headhunting arises in some cultures from a belief in the existence of a more or less material soul that resides in the head. rituals (sebbang), a wooden xylophone xylophone (zī`ləfōn) [Gr.,=wood sound], musical instrument having graduated wooden slabs that are struck by the player with small, hard mallets. The slabs are usually arranged like a keyboard, and the range varies from two to four octaves. (gulintang), and a set of suspended gongs of various sizes, large, wide agung and smaller bebendai. The Orang Ulu group mainly uses the plucked pluck
v. plucked, pluck·ing, plucks

v.tr.
1. To remove or detach by grasping and pulling abruptly with the fingers; pick: pluck a flower; pluck feathers from a chicken. lute lute, musical instrument that has a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, which are plucked with the fingers. The long lute, with its neck much longer than its body, seems to have been older than the short lute, existing very early (sape), originally a two-stringed, three-fretted instrument used in rituals associated with healing ceremonies (Langub 1997:177). (4) The present three- or four-stringed, multi-fretted sape is either played as a solo instrument or combined with another sape, and/or a wooden xylophone (tuvung lutang/jatung utog). Other instruments, such as bamboo flutes Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.

Some bamboo flutes include:

* Atenteben (Ghana)
* Bansuri (India)
* Dizi (China)
* Daegeum (Korea)
* Dangjeok (Korea)
* Danso (Korea)
* Hocchiku (Japan)
* Jeok (Korea)
* Junggeum (Korea)
*

and the tube-zither (satong), bamboo stamping-poles (tongkat), and mouth organs mouth organ: see harmonica (1.) (keluri/engkrurai), are used by more than one group. (5)

Music and dance practices are usually held separately, in the evening or during the weekend. Students tend to join a music or dance practice group (some study both music and dance) which corresponds with their tribal background--a child of Iban descent will frequently be put into an Iban dance or music group by its parents--indicating that for many students these practices function to support one's tribal identity. Yet, there are people who are keen to learn another style beyond their own, and join different groups. Each of the three main communities has a DCF dance company consisting of young adults who have successfully passed the basic course and must regularly attend practices in order to maintain a repertoire of group dances for public performance.

In accordance with its location in the state capitol, the music and dances practiced at the DCF express group identity at the state level. They remain confined within the framework of one of the three officially recognized Dayak communities and conform to Verb 1. conform to - satisfy a condition or restriction; "Does this paper meet the requirements for the degree?"
fit, meet

coordinate - be co-ordinated; "These activities coordinate well" state-developed standards of beauty and appropriateness. (6) Improvised im·pro·vise
v. im·pro·vised, im·pro·vis·ing, im·pro·vis·es

v.tr.
1. To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation.

2. dancing in an individual style, as is common in the longhouse longhouse

Traditional communal dwelling of the Iroquois Indians until the 19th century. The longhouse was a rectangular box built out of poles, with doors at each end and saplings stretched over the top to form the roof, the whole structure being covered with bark. , is replaced by uniform movement in orchestrated or·ches·trate
tr.v. or·ches·trat·ed, or·ches·trat·ing, or·ches·trates
1. To compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra.

2. group compositions in three specific styles, created to express either Iban, Bidayuh, or Orang Ulu identity. Male and female dancers wear different costumes, basically, a selection of what is traditional festive dress in various Dayak communities. In addition, contrasts between the sexes are stressed by giving them characteristic movement patterns. This is most evident when groups of male and female dancers are combined, for which the DCF choreographers This is a list of choreographers A

* Paula Abdul
* Alvin Ailey
* Richard Alston
* Robert Alton
* Gerald Arpino
* Frederick Ashton
* Fred Astaire
* Lea Anderson

B

* Jean Babilée
* George Balanchine
*


faultless·ly adv. execution of--more or less complex--spatial patterns and uniform movement sty les, a period of preparation with group-drill is required, resulting in the smooth execution of previously fixed patterns. However, the DCF policy is in the first place, to preserve traditional culture, therefore dance and music teachers try to maintain whatever they have learned of the traditional arts, which has often been acquired in a longhouse setting. (7)

At the same time, there is also a demand for the production of new, large-scale compositions for important social occasions, the main one being the annual State Gawai Dayak Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak, a festival celebrated in Sarawak on 1 June every year is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak celebration. This recently-created Dayak national holiday, (8) celebrated annually on 1st June in a ballroom of one of the largest international hotels in Kuching, is attended by the most important state dignitaries. As an important state ceremony, it provides a major incentive for dance and music practice, as each of the three main Dayak communities must, on that occasion, display a great spectacle in a characteristic style.

Julia Chong and the foundation of the Ethnic Orchestra

One of the few musical experts in Kuching involved both theoretically and practically with the development of Dayak music was the late Datin Julia Chong, a Western-educated musician of Chinese background. (9) In an article published in the Sarawak Museum The Sarawak Museum is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was established in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak. Sponsored by Charles Brooke, the second White Rajah of Sarawak, the establishment of the museum was strongly encouraged by Alfred Russel Journal entitled "Towards the integration of Sarawak traditional instruments into 20th century Malaysian music" (J. Chong 1989), she states that the folk music folk music: see folk song. folk music

Music held to be typical of a nation or ethnic group, known to all segments of its society, and preserved usually by oral tradition. Knowledge of the history and development of folk music is largely conjectural. of Sarawak lacks development in material and is too repetitive, so that "listening becomes uninteresting (jargon) uninteresting - 1. Said of a problem that, although nontrivial, can be solved simply by throwing sufficient resources at it.

2. Also said of problems for which a solution would neither advance the state of the art nor be fun to design and code. ."

Taking as an example the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok Noun 1. Bela Bartok - Hungarian composer and pianist who collected Hungarian folk music; in 1940 he moved to the United States (1881-1945)
Bartok , she suggests that Sarawak composers "should attempt to produce musical works for the chamber orchestra Noun 1. chamber orchestra - small orchestra; usually plays classical music
orchestra - a musical organization consisting of a group of instrumentalists including string players and score according to the potentials of the individual traditional instruments." In forming such a chamber orchestra, one has to "group the strings, woodwinds and percussions with care so that they will be balanced."

But Julia Chong was not only interested in modernizing Dayak music, also, as she writes: "the folk music of the natives of Sarawak will be distorted to a certain extent because it is based on oral tradition," and therefore "efforts must be made to notate no·tate
tr.v. no·tat·ed, no·tat·ing, no·tates
To put into notation.


[Back-formation from notation.]

Verb 1. them." Moreover, she advises recording and publishing the technique of playing the different instruments, "so that generations that follow will master them correctly," and, "not only the proper way is learned but it can reach thousands of people" (J. Chong 1989:126).

In the following years, Julia Chong had the opportunity to realize her dream in cooperation with the staff and musicians of the Dayak Cultural Foundation. According to DCF records, the first ensemble of Dayak musical instruments was formed in 1997 for a workshop on Iban traditional music, dance costumes, and songs organized jointly by the DCF and the Sarawak Museum. On this occasion a group of children performed Julia Chong's composition, "The Sound of Sarawak." The musical instruments played were: tawak and bebendai gongs, two sets of engkerumung gongs, seven long drums Long drums are a loose category of tubular membranophones, characterized by their extreme length. They are most common in Africa and in Native American traditions. Long drums can be made out of entire tree trunks. Reference

* 534m Membranophones. SIL.

(gendang panjai/ketebung), and nine mouth-organs (engkerurai), plus eight stamping-poles (tongkat gurong). All are considered Iban instruments. (10) After this, Julia Chong continued teaching Dayak orchestral music to staff and students at the DCF.

In November 1999, when I visited the class, I saw a variety of instruments being used: seven mouth-organs (engkrurai), three short-necked lutes (sape), some one- and two-stringed fiddles (serunai or terunjang). Instruction was given in a classroom; the group was instructed from the front, and conducted in a Western manner, with the help of music notation written on the blackboard.

Since its first performance, the Dayak Ethnic Orchestra has developed from a small chamber ensemble into a large orchestra in which mature, as well as young musicians play a variety of instruments. Thus, the ethnic orchestra depicted in Julia Chong's publication on traditional musical instruments of Sarawak includes, besides an Iban ensemble, a number of different instruments from the three main Dayak communities: four Bidayuh hanging gongs and a long wooden drum (sebbang), a cylindrical drum Cylindrical drums are a category of drum instruments that include a wide range of implementations, including the bass drum and the Iranian dohol. Cylindrical drums are generally two-headed and straight-sided, and sometimes use a buzzing, percussive string. (dumbak), bamboo flutes and tube-zither (satong), stamping-poles (tongkat), as well as wooden shakers Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the trembling produced by religious emotion, were also known as Alethians. (gurong).

As I took a keen interest in this unique orchestra, I was invited by Julia Chong to cooperate with her in preparing a concert for the official launching of the Dayak Cultural Foundation's Ethnic Orchestra. The concert was offered by the DCF on 13 July to the participants in the Sixth Biennial biennial, plant requiring two years to complete its life cycle, as distinguished from an annual or a perennial. In the first year a biennial usually produces a rosette of leaves (e.g., the cabbage) and a fleshy root, which acts as a food reserve over the winter. Conference of the Borneo Research Council. For Julia Chong and the artists, this was a fine opportunity to present the Dayak orchestra to an international audience.

In consultation with the directors of the DCF, a concert of fifty minutes was agreed upon Adj. 1. agreed upon - constituted or contracted by stipulation or agreement; "stipulatory obligations"
stipulatory

noncontroversial, uncontroversial - not likely to arouse controversy , comprising compositions based on traditional music of the various Dayak communities. The concert program, entitled "Sounds of Borneo," consisted of the following four pieces:

1. The Sound of Sarawak--for full orchestra,

2. Prunchong--for bamboo instrumental group,

3. Jungle Sounds of Borneo--for ensemble of bird-whistles, and

4. Liling merry-making--for full orchestra.

The pieces differed in composition and structure: in the first and fourth pieces, instruments of the three main communities were combined to form a large orchestra of drums and gongs, with strings as well as woodwind instruments woodwind instrument: see wind instrument. woodwind instrument

Any musical wind instrument that produces sound by either directing a stream of air against the edge of a hole or by making a reed or a double reed vibrate (see reed instrument). . They played in novel arrangements created by Julia Chong, in cooperation with the DCF artists and the author of this article, who was responsible for the choreographic arrangements.

The Sound of Sarawak

As there was not much time for preparation, we started working on musical pieces which had been practiced before. The ensemble of the piece, The Sound of Sarawak, originally consisted of Iban instruments, but was extended with Bidayuh gulintang, drums and gongs. The revised structure of the score (11) was divided into three parts: the first part had predominantly loud percussion instruments This is a list of percussion instruments. Tuned percussion

* antique cymbals
* celesta
* chimes (a.k.a. tubular bells)
* clavinet
* crotales
* Gong
* glass harmonica
* hammered dulcimer
* handbells
* lithophone
* marimba
* marimbaphone
*

and gongs, entering one-by-one first, then merging into an ensemble. The softer second part had a group of four mouth-organs (engkerurai), followed by a solo on the one-stringed fiddle (serunai). A group of five men with bamboo stamping-poles (tongkat) made the connection to the third part or finale in which all the instruments played together.

While the basic rhythms and playing styles of the various instruments were maintained, initially much time was spent working on elements such as phrasing, dynamics and tone production. (12) Predictable problems arose when instruments were combined which did not usually play together, such as mouth-organs, wooden xylophone, drums and gongs. Mouth-organs were especially problematic, as these are basically solo-instruments and are not tuned to play with other instruments. Moreover, changes in dynamics, to which most musicians were not accustomed, such as variations in loudness, and speeding up or slowing down the tempo, were difficult to coordinate. While the musical pieces were taking shape, Julia Chong requested me to make them more interesting by adding choreographies, corresponding to traditional performance practices in which dancing is supported by music.

Since I intended the choreography to mirror the structure of the music and to parallel the combination of instruments in the orchestra, traditional choreographic patterns were maintained. The character of the piece was dominated by the strong sound of gong and drum ensembles, not surprising since it originated from a composition for strong Iban instruments. Therefore I selected three male dancers, one from each of the three communities, who should use their own warrior's dance style in a danced combat scene. The confrontation, situated in the jungle, was dissolved through the entrance of a magnificent Iban masked dancer representing the spirit "Antu Guruk." This enchanting en·chant·ing
adj.
Having the power to enchant; charming: enchanting music.


en·chanting·ly adv. mask pacified the warriors and conducted them into a harmonious line-dance, similar to a group of bards marching around and beating rhythms with their stamping-poles.

Liling-merry making

The second large orchestral composition, Liling-merry making, was based on a popular long-dance song (belian dadu) from the Kenyah community, Liling, "to turn around," documented in a publication of Kenyah songs by the composer's daughter (Chong Pek Lin 1998). In a study of vocal performance traditions of the Kenyah Lepo' Tau people of Sarawak, Gorlinski explained that "the word dadu (long) refers to "the particular dance context (tu'ut dadu) for which these songs were intended" (Gorlinski 1995: 226). In the longhouse this type of song is sung by the whole community while performing a simple line-dance proceeding counter-clockwise along the verandah, usually as an opening for a major dance event. The basic step of tu'ut dadu, which is characterized by Chong Pek Lin as "the simplest version of the group dances," consists of a step and a shuffle (Chong Pek Lin 1998:23). The song is started by a solo singer, with the other participants joining in on the second or third lines and in the chorus. The turning of the dancers may have connotations of wardancing (Chong Pek Lin 1998:39-41). (13)

The orchestral piece had a strong rhythmic opening played on a set of Bidayuh sebbang that were struck with wooden rods. While these large drums had to remain in a fixed place, the next group of musicians came marching in Marching In is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story was written at the request of the US publication 'High Fidelity', with the stipulation that it be 2,500 words long, set twenty-five years in the future and deal with an aspect of sound recording. from the side: beating in unison on their Iban gendang, they stepped in a circle around the dance floor before they came to a halt in front of the platform. As the melodic theme was gently introduced by the two sape players, supported by soft drum beats A drum beat, a beat on a drum, is any single strike on a single drum, drum machine, or a series of beats on various percussion instruments creating a rhythmic or metric pattern. Many drum beats define or are characteristic of specific music genres. , a group of dancers made their first entrance and danced one round. The dance was followed by alternating instrumental groups and solo-parts. In line with the character of the long-dance song, a group of four musicians playing the mouth-organs came in, walking in a circle.

For the conclusion of the piece, all musicians played together, led by the expert sape musician, Henry Anyie, who also sang the solo-lines of the well-known Kenyah lyric:

alam ini telu tuyang pemung jaiee,
Pemung jaiee tawai uyan.
Tonight, my friends, we gather together,
We gather together and recall the old times (Chong Pek Lin 1998:40).




The traditional line dance was performed by a mixed group of dancers from all three communities led by a beautiful young Orang Ulu dancer. While joining in the chorus lines, the dancers performed the traditional long-dance step with the turning variations, accompanied by the full orchestra. (14)

Prunchong and Jungle Sounds of Borneo

In alternation alternation /al·ter·na·tion/ (awl?ter-na´shun) the regular succession of two opposing or different events in turn.
alternation of generations metagenesis. with the orchestral compositions for percussion, wind and string instruments This is a list of string instruments categorized according to the technique used to produce sound, followed by a list of string instruments grouped by country or region of origin. , two pieces were performed by a small ensemble using mainly one type of instrument. The traditional Bidayuh prunchong, a set of tuned bamboo tubes hit with a rod, was played by a group of eight male musicians moving around in the semcircular dance space while striking various traditional rhythms. According to the Bidayuh musicians, this type of music was mainly performed during agricultural ceremonies.

Jungle Sounds was a completely new creation, played on various types of bird whistles (binchiu) imitating bird calls. These were combined with sets of snail shells (Zool.) the shell of snail.

See also: Snail (tegalerg) imitating the sound of croaking frogs, as well as coconut shells and wood-shakers (gurong). The idea behind the piece was the waking up of the animals in the forest, heralded by various birds and developing into midday concerts of frogs and other animals, then fading into a sunset scene with the sweet sound of the sape played by a young man wandering alone in the forest. The idea for this piece came from the Bidayuh musician Gerald Oscar Sindon who made most of the instruments, helped by the Iban instructor, Ubang Kendawang. A number of mature artists, including Julia Chong and the author, cooperated in creating this new piece. As all insisted that I should also participate in the performance, I gladly accepted a part in the happy croaking of the frogs.

On Thursday, 13th July, the period of hard and intensive training culminated in a spirited performance at the Poolside pool·side
n.
The area next to or around a swimming pool. Reception Area of the Holiday Inn Hotel for the members of the Borneo 2000 Conference. Special guests included Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. Alfred Jabu anak Numpang and Datuk Amar Dr. Leonard Linggi Jugab and the Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors.
..... Click the link for more information. of the Dayak Cultural Foundation. The artists, a group of approximately thirty musicians and dancers, received warm applause from the audience, many of whom joined in the round dance of Liling. Local newspapers reported the event, and performers and members of the audience asked for more such concerts in the future.

Conclusion

The Dayak Cultural Foundations Ethnic Orchestra provides an excellent example of "modernization" in the sense of incorporating Western influence into originally Dayak music and dance. Some people may feel that this leads to "hybridity" in these Dayak art forms, or perhaps the term "syncretism syn·cre·tism
n.
1. Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.

2. " might be appropriate, in view of underlying religious implications. (15) To the author, it was an exciting experience to participate in creating the various musical items and choreographies. Although the novel combination of different tribal traditions did not seem to work in the beginning, after ten days of intensive rehearsals, the performance turned out very satisfactory and inspiring, not only to the performers, but also to an international audience.

The successful launching of the DCF Ethnic Orchestra proves that live performances of Dayak music and dance can play a significant social role, not only by adhering to well-known patterns, but also in creating new forms. Indeed, changes of form, structure, and content are only to be expected in a changing environment. Moreover, one should realize that live performances in longhouses are not necessarily static entities but variable events, capable of adapting to different circumstances, both in the present and the past. Accordingly, they often fit into more than one type of context, having entertainment value and also functioning to maintain social values or to support religious ceremonies. As these art forms are by nature flexible and adaptive, there is no need to fear their imminent disappearance.

(1.) My visits to Sarawak in November 1999 and May-August 2000 were kindly sponsored by Datuk Amar Dr. Linggi Jugah, Director of the Tun Jugah Foundation, and the Dayak Cultural Foundation in Kuching.

(2.) The Memorandum and Articles of Association, 30 December 1992, also states that it aims "to foster, develop and improve culture and education of all kinds."

(3.) There is some variation in musical and dance terminology. Names of instruments in this article are in accordance with the terms used in J. Chong's "Traditional Musical Instruments of Sarawak."

(4.) Matusky mentions that "the Kajang also use the sape in pairs, played only by men, to provide music to accompany dance and for certain shamanistic sha·man·ism
n.
1. The animistic religion of certain peoples of northern Asia in which mediation between the visible and spirit worlds is effected by shamans.

2. rituals" (Matusky 1986:189).

(5.) Patricia Matusky kindly explained that "the Iban engkerurai usually has quite long pipes, while the pipes on the keluri/keledi are shorter overall. The gourds are often similar in size and the number of pipes is the same among these. Because of the longer pipes, the Iban engkerurai will have a lower overall range. Also, the Iban instrument usually has an amplifier of sound (terubong) on top of the lowest pipe, which is usually decorated with bird feathers" (email communication).

(6.) It is, for example, considered inappropriate for male dancers at DCF public performances to leave part of the buttocks buttocks /but·tocks/ (but´oks) the two fleshy prominences formed by the gluteal muscles on the lower part of the back. uncovered, as is usually the case when wearing the loincloth loin·cloth
n.
A strip of cloth worn around the loins.

loincloth
Noun

a piece of cloth covering only the loins

Noun 1. in the traditional way.

(7.) Interview with DCF staff members, November 1999.

(8.) Spearheaded by Datuk Tra Zehnder, a former Iban Assemblywoman, see Boulanger 2000:50.

(9.) Sadly, the news of Julia Chong's sudden demise arrived shortly before the draft of this article was ready to be sent to her (see the Memorial section of this volume).

(10.) The use of the stamping-poles in Kajan communities during the ancient ngayau ceremony was described by Matusky in an article with musical notations musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds.

Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of ancient Greece. In his five textbooks on music theory Boethius (c.A.D. 470–A.D. (Matusky 1986:193, 217-18).

(11.) The piece was based on a written score in accordance with the composer's concept that "the material should have local flavor based on traditional scale and rhythm" (...) "but the composed music should have correct forms" (Chong 1989:126).

(12.) The importance of these is emphasized in Julia Chong 1989:126.

(13.) Chong Pek Lin's publication on Kenyah songs cites a comment of Bishop Galvin (1962:510) that "the reference to turning around is symbolic of the young warrior looking to the right and left in search of the enemy" (Chong Pek Lin 1998:40). See also Seeler 1969:169: "each performer turned half about at every third step, the even numbers turning to one side, the odd numbers turning to the other alternately. All stamped together as they completed their turns at each third step. The turning to right and left symbolises the alert guarding of the heads which are supposed to be carried by the victorious warriors."

(14.) As described in Chong Pek Lin 1998:41

(15.) In her article on traditional dances of Sarawak, Seeler does make a distinction between dances which are part of a religious ceremony, and social dancing, but this is immediately modified to: "in these cultures the religious is usually intermingled with the social, and the dances reflect this" (Seeler 1969:163).

References

Boulanger, C. L.

2000

"On Dayak, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh and other Imperfect Ethnic catagories in Sarawak," Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Borneo Research Council Conference, ed. Michael Leigh Michael Leigh is an artist, based in Cheshire, England and working mainly in the area of mail art. As well as working in his own name, he has produced work since 1980 as A1 Waste Paper Co. , pp. 44-66, Kota Samarahan: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) was officially incorporated on 24 December 1992. UNIMAS is the eighth University, established just after the declaration of Vision 2020.
..... Click the link for more information..

Chong, J.

1989

Towards the Integration of Sarawak Traditional Instruments into 20th Century Malaysian Music, Sarawak Museum Journal 61:125-130.

2000

Traditional Musical Instruments of Sarawak. Kuching: Jabatan Muzium Sarawak.

Chong, Pek Lin

1998

Folk Songs folk song, music of anonymous composition, transmitted orally. The theory that folk songs were originally group compositions has been modified in recent studies. of Sarawak. Vol. 1, Songs from the Kenyah Community. Kuching: Dayak Cultural Foundation.

Gorlinski, V. K.

1995

Songs of honor, words of respect: Social contours of Kenyah Lepo' Tau versification versification, principles of metrical practice in poetry. In different literatures poetic form is achieved in various ways; usually, however, a definite and predictable pattern is evident in the language. , Sarawak, Malaysia. PhD dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison “University of Wisconsin” redirects here. For other uses, see University of Wisconsin (disambiguation).
A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. .

Langub, Jayl

1997

Orang Ulu Music and Dance Workshop April 7-8, 1997, Kuching, Borneo Research Bulletin 28:177-184.

Matusky, P.

1986

Aspects of Musical Style among the Kajang, Kayan and Kenyah-Badang of the Upper Rejang River: A Preliminary Survey, Sarawak Museum Journal 57 (New Series), pp. 185-229.

Seeler, J.

1969

THE ETHNIC WAR IN SAMBAS - BORNEO

The Tragedy of Ambon: what did really happen? - Part 2

FROM:
Br. Peter C. Aman ofm
JPIC Coordinator of the Franciscan Province Indonesia.
Franciscan Province of Indonesia
Jln. Kramat V/10 – Jakarta 10430
Tel. (021) 3909941
Fax. (021) 3101940
E-Mail : kanizo@yahoo.com

THE ETHNIC WAR IN SAMBAS - BORNEO

Tears and blood were not dry yet in Ambon and we were shocked by the new episode of the ethnic war in Sambas, West Borneo (Kalimantan). I say a new episode of the war, because there occurred wars several times between Dayak people and Madura there; the new conflict occurred between Melayu people and Madura people in Sambas. The conflict involved the people of Dayak, Bugis and Chine which were united to support the Melayu people to attack the Madura people.

Personal conflict has become ethnic conflict or war
In its interesting to analyze the conflicts occurred in Indonesia in recent years. The conflict generally started by the personal conflict and quarrel but soon after that it became a racial, religious and ethnic conflict. According to some hypothesis there are some provocateurs who are intelligently provoke and manipulate a little case to become a great conflict, whether ethnic, racial or religious conflicts. Anyhow the conflict in Sambas has its own background. The people in Sambas or in West Borneo are consisted of the Dayak (native people), Melayu, Chinese, Madura, Bugis etc. These people came to West Borneo and live there for economic reasons, to get a better life. For many years there have occurred many conflicts between the Dayak people and Madura people. But the last conflict has become interesting because the Dayak are united with Melayu, Chinese and Bugis to attack Madura. Why?

This ethnic war was caused by personal conflicts. Here is the story: on January 7th 1999 Bujang Labik did not pay bus ticket and it made Rudi, a Melayu, angry. Then Bujang Labik accompanied by his groups attacked Rudi. At the same time Ibrahim a Maduran clashed with some people in Pemangkat Market and soon after that there were found 4 Maduran people died. On January 19th 1999 Madura people killed about 4 Melayu people. On January 23 there was a personal conflict between a Bugis man and Maduran, that is wahy the Bugis people supported Melayu. The Dayak people involved in the conflict because Martinus Amat, a Dayak man, was killed and his car was burnt.

The open war between Madura and the united group (Melayu, Dayak, Bugis and Cina, the Chinese was forced to involve) occurred bertween 16 – 25 of March 1999. The war took place in 13 different places in the County of Sambas, West Borneo. Hundreds died and injured. Thousands refuged and left Sambas to another places or forest around there. The victims and detriment are as following:
The victims:

Dayak


1 died

Melayu


12 died

Bugis


-

Madura


252 died

Chinese


-

Injured


47

Refugees


30.000

The detriments:

Houses


2330 burnt down

164 destroyed

Cars


4. burnt down

6 destroyed

Motorcycles


1 burnt down

9 destroyed

The root of the problems/conflict
I have describe a general background the contemporary problems and conflicts in Indonesia. The problems are rooted in the wrong political, economic and social policies in the era of the regime of Soeharto named Orde Baru. But I think it is important to note that the conflict in Sambas between the Maduran people and Dayak occurred several times in the past. I would like to write down some reasons of the conflicts which are rooted in the cultural misunderstanding or insulting: There are some great cultural differences between Madura and Dayak (and Melayu people). The Madura people always and everywhere bring their traditional gun named: carok. Whereas according to Dayak (culture) people, those who bring gun want to fight. The Maduran people, especially those who entered Borneo in 1980-s, seem arrogant and tend to be criminal. The Maduran people tend to force their own will and threaten the other people to fulfill their will. There are many cases that indicate how the Maduran take over the houses and lands of the inland people. The Dayak people accused the Maduran people neglect the agreement assigned in 1997.

But there are also some economic problems. The Madura people always work hard and they want to carry out whatever jobs if it brings money. Therefore economically they are getting better and sometimes it causes the social jealousy. Many works have been carried out by Maduran people, whereas the Melayu and Dayak people accused that the Maduran people has take over their jobs.

But some analysts say that the conflict of Sambas is a part of a great scenario of some "hidden" important people who want to cause to fail the next general election. They want to crate a national chaos. Some say that the conflicts are the manifestations of the dissatisfaction of Soeharto who was toppled down last year. He want to turn the national attention from the investigation of is corruptions and violations during his power to the racial and religious conflicts. Which is the right one?

Courting girls

In the old days,at the age of fourteen, an Iban boy begins to attain his bachelorhood. His parents teach him to behave and speak politely to others. He also learn to court girls together with older bachelors. Courting girls at night (ngayap) has been an Iban traditional dating method to look for suitable partner and pave the way for their future love. Hence, they must learn the polite manners in approaching the girl of their heart.

The bachelors must learn to establish and maintain their good reputation by paying due respect to the girls’ bed. They ought to be considerate with other people who are sleeping without disturbing them from their dreams. In addition, they should walk quietly along the verandah, which was very difficult to do in the dark for the nervous and the inexperienced. The wooden floors surfaces were mostly uneven with a lot of loose domestic items lying around the corners, or hanging from deer antlers tied to the posts or hanging on loose bamboo beams.

This courting activity is also a test of the young boys’ courage and maturity as they have to travel at night through forest, crossing rivers or swamps to reach the girls’ longhouse. In the headhunting days, this kind of travel could be a very risky affair as they could fall upon a band of marauding enemies. So they are trained to exercise extreme caution to keep them on guard against untoward incident. These include keeping themselves adequately armed, be alert of danger and are prepared for action at all time in their travel. They were also taught to properly identify themselves should they meet other people in their journey.

This nightly travel by the bachelors is also treated as an inter longhouse night security petrol by the community. Any sign of danger detected, these bachelors could give early warning to the community. This would give them time to respond to these emergencies and quell any surprise attacks by enemies. For this reason, ngayap was encouraged as part of the Iban culture and treated as an important early learning and social interaction process for their children. Though there is no set of established rules to this tradition, common understanding by the community at large have accepted this traditional courtship as part of the Iban way of life. There has been no reported incident of property stolen or damaged and fatality incident in the history of the Saribas Iban society due to ngayap activities.

On the other hand, for the girls who aim high or those who have been properly counseled by their parents, they will automatically know how to recognise certain behavior of a suitor to be entertained. The boys who have been ill-cultured and talked boisterously are to be avoided as the girls normally abhor boys who have been badly groomed.

In their conversation with girls whom they court, many boys say that they wish to marry them, or tell the spinsters that their arrivals are made through the requests of their parents to ask for their hands in marriage. On hearing such proposals, the girls must think profoundly. Perhaps the declarations can turn to be mere tricks to induce the girls to offer themselves to the boys. At this juncture, many girls like to test the boys by telling them that they have as yet, no intentions of getting married unless these lads have shown their manly qualities like participating in venturing abroad to search for fame and fortune.

In the old days, when there were many enemies around, spinsters usually declared their refusals to get married unless Iban bachelors had killed enemies and taken their heads. Due to such encouragement on the part of the girls, the male Ibans in those days were rarely found not to have gone abroad or joining a war expeditions because they feared that they could not easily obtain suitable wives. Any man who spent his entire life in his own longhouse was usually labeled as a coward who could, as the women termed it, “put on a woman’s sarong”. Hence, they found it difficult to marry high profile (clever and skillful) girls, unless they are not aware of his true qualities.

Moreover, when a girl reaches maturity, and if there is a suitor, her parents will arrange for her to settle down. Normally, an Iban girl marries when she is seventeen years of age. When a girl attains her spinsterhood, her mother teaches her the ways employed to protect her. She must be taught to behave and speak courteously to boys who court her at night. She is aware that it has been a tradition for a boy to court a girl. However, the question of getting her to offer herself to the boy depends very much on the girl herself, because he cannot force her to give consent unless they love each other through his kindness and winning ways. These are secretly explained to her by her mother. The mother also emphasizes the methods in which her daughter can judge whether or not the boy is sincere enough to marry her.

*source

GN Mawar Wordpress

CEREMONIAL BATHING OF THE CHILD

Following the traditional naming of the child, the parents begin to think of giving the child a ceremonial bath at a river. Unless this is done with offerings, the child cannot yet be merely allowed to be bathed at the river. On the eve of the festival, the child’s father must get his longhouse mates to assemble at his common room, and inform them of the proposed celebration. All the people at the longhouse are requested to be at home the following day to observe the ceremony. Those who stay at their farm huts are also called back for the occasion.

Early the following morning, the longhouse dwellers start to go down to the river in a procession led by a flag-bearer. He is immediately followed by a man who carries a fowl. The two men are chosen from the influential personality of the longhouse because the flag-bearer will be tasked to slice the water with a nyabor sword (other type of traditional sword would be used if nyabor sword is not available) while the man who carries the fowl will recite an invocation prior to the slicing of the water.

Note: Nyabor sword is the ultimate Iban warrior’s weapon that can only be made by those warriors who have killed an enemy in battle. It is considered a taboo for ordinary people to make such weapon. It’s special identity is the “Butoh Kunding” design at the ricasso lower shoulder of the sword.

They are followed by two women, walking in line one after the other. The first lady bears offerings while the second carries the baby in a sling with a hand woven blanket (pua kumbu belantan or lebor api). These two women are also selected from among the most productive and fortunate breed amongst the longhouse ladies. Next in line are the other ordinary people and they are immediately followed by those who continuously beat the musical percussion throughout the event. Their purpose is to drown away any sound made by unfavorable omen birds during the ceremony.

On arrival at the river, the appointed man starts to recite the following invocation:

“Where are you, Seragindi, the maker of water?
Where are you, Seragindah, the creator of earth?
Where are you, Seragindong, the maker of cape?
Where are you, Seragindee, the creator of day?
Where are you, Seragindit, the maker of sky?”

“This morning we are giving so and so (the child’s name is then mentioned at this juncture) a bath in accordance with our tradition. We beseech thee to confer on him fortune, Give him sharp vision, So that he will be fortunate and wealthy in his life.”

“Where are you the king of fish, the king of gemian (a kind of sea fish).
Where are you the king of semah, the king of tapah (two kinds of river fish).
Where are you the king of soft shelled turtle, the super natural king of turtle.
Where are you, the king of barbus macrolepidoius, the king of fish called kulong?
Where are you the king of crocodile, the king of soft-shelled turtle?”

“If in future if this child, grandchildren of ours, happens to capsize and sink, when he is on his journey, We beseech thee to lift him up and keep him afloat, so that he can convalesce and recuperate and free from any danger and risk.”

“Oh Hoi! Oh Hoi! Oh Hoi!
Sa, Dua, Tiga, Empat, Lima, Enam, Tuuuuuuujoh.
Ni kita Seragindi ke dulu ngaga ai ke bepati enda sebaka nanga?
Ni kita Seragindah ke dulu ngaga tanah ke betingkah nyadi kerapa?
Ni kita Seragindong ke dulu ngaga tanjong betuntong dua?
Ni kita Seragindie ke dulu ngaga hari ke terunji petang kelita?
Ni kita Seragindit ke dulu ngaga langit nungkat neraja?

Nyadi pagi tu kami meri bala anak kami mandi.
Kami endang nitih ka pekat, nitih ka adat.
Kami endang nitih ka adat kelia, adat menya.
Kami endang nitih ka adat aki, nitih ka adat ini kami.
Nya alai kami minta sida iya bidik, minta sida lansik.
Kami minta sida kaya, minta sida raja,
Kami minta sida iya jelai rita, tampak nama.
Kami minta sida lantang, minta sida senang.
Kami minta sida iya pandai, jauh pejalai.

Oh Ha!
Ni kita Raja Ikan, Raja Gamian?
Ni kita Raja Tapah, Raja Semah?
Ni kita Raja Adong, Raja Kulong?
Ni kita Raja Genali, Raja Lelabi?
Ni kita Raja Gumba, Raja Baya?

Kami ngasoh kita nyaga, ngasoh kita ngemata,
Kami ngasoh kita meda, ngasoh kita ngila,
Ngasoh kita ngiching, ngasoh kita merening,
Ngasoh kita nyukong, ngasoh kita nulong.
Nyangka ka dudi hari ila anak telesak,
Uchu ambu kami tu bisi bejalai, bisi nyemberai,
bisi karam, bisi tengelam.
Kami minta kita nanggong,
minta kita melepong ka sida.
Kami ngasoh kita nyagu,
minta kita ngintu sida.
Awak ka sida pulai nyamai, pulai gerai,
Pulai lantang, pulai senang,
Pulai nadai apa, nadai nama.”

Upon the conclusion of reciting the invocation, the flag-bearer then slices the water with his knife, symbolizing the child’s life will be blessed, pure and flow continuously until it reaches its final destination. He then slaughters a fowl a bit further upstream from the spot where the woman is bathing the baby so that the fowl blood may flow towards the child.

When the child is being bathed, the onlookers hilariously make a lot of noise. At this juncture, the gongs are not normally beaten loudly but if the children wish to hit them hard, they are permitted to do so in order to drown any of the sounds made by omen birds, which are either ominous or foretell good fortune.

After the baby has been bathed, and if he is a boy, one of the wings of the slaughtered fowl is then hung on to a shaft of a multi-pronged spear (gansai), tied with a red ribbon. If the baby is a girl, the wing is fastened on to a heddle rod used by ladies in their weaving work. Placed near to the wing of the fowl is the offering which is being put inside a rough bamboo basket (Kalingkang), and hung from the top of the bamboo that still bears leaves.

The people return home after the ceremony held beside the river is over. On their way back, the procession maintain the same order as before. The gongs are being played loudly to avoid hearing the sounds made by omen birds.

On arrival at the longhouse, the child, is wrapped up and held by the mother in her lap as she sits on a large gong placed at the middle of the gallery. A Bebiau ceremony then conducted to cast away any bad omen and to bless the child. The child is then sprinkled with water. The water which the child is being sprinkled with is the water of a stone crystal (batu kuai) that possesses the power to wipe out bad omens brought about by the omen birds. This stone crystal is placed on a large antique china plate together with dollars coins, a gold ring and rain water poured on the same plate.

After the casting away of bad omen and the water sprinkling ceremony is over, the people then begin to eat various kinds of food and drinks prepared by the host like buns, rice wine, liquor and other traditional food. Later, a luncheon is held at the child’s family gallery for the guest and this is termed as the child’s bathing ceremony luncheon.

*source ; GN Mawar Iban Cultural Heritage

Empalang...genital piercing of Borneo

The empalang or ampallang is a form of male genital body piercing that penetrates horizontally through the entire glans of the penis. The piercing may betransurethral (passing through the urethra). A variant on this piercing is the shaft ampallang, which penetrates the shaft of his penis horizontally at any point along its length. A vertical piercing through the entire glans of the penis is known as an apadravya, and is a completely different piercing. The combination of an ampallang and an apadravya is sometimes referred to as the magic cross.

This is an advanced piercing, and the procedure can be extremely painful. Full healing usually takes between four and six months, but can take a year or more.

This piercing, once healed, is often extremely pleasurable to the bearer because it stimulates the internal penis tissues ^[1]. It can be sexually stimulating to the receiving partner during sexual intercourse, usually due to stimulation of the G spot

History and culture

Historically, this piercing was performed in various

Polynesian cultures, specifically the Dayak people of Borneo, who wore this and/or the apadravya (they don't usually distinguish between them) to emulate the rhino, which has a similarly equipped penis courtesy of nature.

Urban legend holds that an ampallang passing through the corpus cavernosum can leave the wearer bleeding to death, but this is not true unless the piercing is done as a dermal punching, in which case all bets are off and you are in for serious bleeding for weeks (although death is still an exaggeration).

This piercing originated by Bjorn Burke amongst the

Dayak people. In some cultures, having an ampallang may be seen as a pre-requisite for marriage. In contemporary society, it became popularized along with the many genital piercings practiced amongst the gay BDSM community prior to the establishment of the body piercing industry in the '80s and '90s. Due to its legitimate primitive origins, this piercing is closely associated with the modern primitive movement.

According to urban legend, should this piercing penetrate the corpus cavernosum penis, the recipient could bleed to death. This is not true, although should the piercing penetrate the corpus cavernosum, it may bleed even more heavily, both initially and during the healing process, than it normally would.

Placement

Standard ampallangs (versus shaft ampallangs) are done in one of two placements, either transurethral or not. A transurethral ampallang passes through the urethra. The advantage to this is that the urine helps keep the piercing clean, and because the piercing is effectively divided in half, it's almost like healing two shorter piercings. Also, piercing through the urethra makes this piercing less likely to migrate due to sexual use of the piercing. Some piercers believe that the non-urethral placement feels better for the client, but it also takes longer to heal and is more prone to rejection. Should the wearer also have a PA, this will likely result in hellacious pinching.

Procedure

The ampallang can be performed using either a standard clamp-and-pierce method, a freehand method, or a scalpelling method. For any method, proper jewelry size should be determined pre-procedure by measuring the penis while erect. The piercer should keep in mind the angle and placement of the jewelry when taking these measurements. Many piercers will also take this measurement and add a small amount to ensure that the jewelry is not too short. For this piercing in particular it is much easier to deal with jewelry that has too much room over jewelry that is too short. Also, it should be noted that piercings through the male glans are possibly the most painful piercings for a male to receive. This is not a piercing to enter into lightly and the discomfort level should not be mistaken for that of a Prince Albert Piercing or Frenum Piercing.

Clamp-and-Pierce

After acquiring appropriately sized jewelry, the area should be cleaned and prepped. This typically involves the use of a surgical scrub or similar. It is also common during this piercing to clean the front side of the scrotum in addition to the glans in order to eliminate problems with subsequent contact between the penis and scrotum. A single-use marking instrument should then be used to mark the placement of the piercing. At this point, the head of the penis is lightly clamped and the needle goes through the head. After piercing the tissue, the clamps are removed and the jewelry is transferred into the piercing. It is common for this piercing to bleed (sometimes heavily) for several minutes after the piercing. Many piercers will ensure that the bleeding is controlled and proceed to bandage the piercing to prevent staining of pants. Because the glans of the penis is a high blood flow area this piercing may also bleed in small amounts for several days after the procedure.

Freehand Method

The only change between the Freehand Piercing method and the clamp-and-pierce method is during the piercing of the head. Instead of clamping the tissue it is held firmly and carefully in one hand and pierced with the other.

Scalpelling Method

Scalpelling methods are often employed when starting an ampallang at 4 gauge or larger. Scalpelled piercings, especially of this nature, should be left to a well qualified practitioner.

Healing and aftercare

Ampallangs and apadravyas are generally considered the "toughest" male genital piercings. They are some of the most painful to get done, and can take, depending on the subject, between 2 and 6 months, or longer, to heal. A last warning: Withdrawing before going flaccid is a very good idea, and a very necessary one in some applications.

Long term health issues

A very important detail: this piercing, contrary to a tremendous amount of hype, is not a good choice for making most female partners happier. Good technique aside for a minute, the nature of the placement rules out direct pleasurable stimulation, and in fact has been known to be "catchy, irritating and just too much" for a good deal of people, never mind the possible hardships imposed on the back teeth and the soft palate. As with most piercings, these need to be left in, so seriously consider all possible outcomes before embarking on such a big journey.

Jewelery

The initial jewelry is almost always a straight barbell between 12 gauge and 8 gauge (although larger gauges are definitely possible, and this is sometimes done as a scalpelled piercing).