Rentap Libau

Rentap or Libau (died 1863) was a famous Dayak (Iban) warrior in Sarawak, Malaysia during the Brooke White Rajahs era in that state. "Rentap" in Iban means "Shaker of the world". He was known as "Raja Darat" or "Raja Ulu". Essentially, Rentap's rebellion was due to the White Rajah's or James Brooke's action of eliminating the Ibans in Skrang because he thought they were pirates. Being a leader of the Ibans there, Rentap took the subsequent action of attacking James Brooke's fort at Skrang River called Nanga Skrang. James' then burnt Rentap's village after he successfully drove James Brooke's side out of Skrang. He retreated to Bukit Sadok and built himself a fort after a defeat at Sungai Lang, Ulu Skrang by James Brooke in the year 1854. There he gained a reputation and thwarted many plans by James Brooke to control the Skrang and Saribas areas. Only after many attempts and with the aid of bigger cannons did James Brooke defeat Rentap in the year 1861. Though defeated, Rentap never officially surrendered. He retreated to Sungai Entabai and died in same place. In Malaysia, he is not only renowned in Sarawak, but he is also a national hero in both Sabah and the Peninsula as both a national hero and a freedom fighter.

A very good book about Rentap by James Ritchie

Another good book by Harry Usup Umbar

Hornbills Buceros in Borneo: Can they continue to co-exist?

Helmeted Buceros vigil and rhinoceros B. rhinoceros hornbills are large, conspicuous birds in the forests of northern Borneo. Both are of enormous importance in local culture, being the subject of legends, ceremonies and beliefs. Tail feathers of both species are used in traditional costumes and dancing. Both are also hunted for their meat. Changes in access, technology and rural lifestyles mean that hunting is causing populations to decline or become locally extinct. The birds breed slowly and occur at low natural densities. Thus, hunting levels must be extremely low to be sustainable. A single team of traditional dancers uses about 400 rhinoceros hornbill feathers, which involves killing 40 birds. To hunt these sustainably, and to re-supply new feathers every five years, about 205 km² of forest is needed. Hunting levels currently exceed this in almost all forests in northern Borneo. A series of measures is needed to ensure that these birds survive in Borneo's forests, and not just in legend and in the form of a few decaying artefacts.

Sex involve in Ngayap?

According to Padoch (1982:p92-3)

“The exact age of Iban at first sexual union is a topic difficult to explore, partially because of the usual reticence of women to discuss the subject, but mostly because of the impossibility of determining precise chronological ages. It is probable that among women in the Engkari region, courtship commences at about sixteen or seventeen years of age, while among men a somewhat later age, of eighteen or nineteen, is indicated. I have found no reason to assume that ages at which courtship begins in Bintulu are different. Whether there has been any change over time in the ages at which young Iban begin to court is uncertain. Several older women assured me that the age at first courting has declined, but there is no possible way of verifying this allegation”.

Gomes (1911)

“The mode of courtship among the Dyaks is peculiar. No courting goes on by day, but at night, when all is quiet, a young lover creeps to the side of the curtain of his lady-love, and awakes her. The girls sleep apart from their parents--sometimes in the same room, but more often in the loft. He presents her with a roll of sireh leaf, in which is wrapped the betel-nut ingredients the Dyaks love to chew. […] This nightly courtship is, in fact, the only way a man and woman can become acquainted with each other, for such a thing as privacy during the day is quite unknown in a Dyak house. If the girl be pleased with her lover, he remains with her until close upon daybreak, when he leaves with her some article as a pledge of his honour, such as a bead necklace, or ring, or a headkerchief, or anything else which he may have about him. This act of leaving some gift with the girl is considered as a betrothal between the two parties, and the man who refuses to marry the girl after doing so is considered guilty of breach of promise of marriage, and liable, according to Dyak law, to a fine”.

Komanyi (1973:p81-2): “An Iban girl may marry when she is fifteen or sixteen years old. Now, however, as educational opportunities improve, marriages tend to occur at a slightly later age, such as eighteen to twenty-two. A period of courtship, called ngajap , which is a uniquely Iban custom, precedes the betrothal”.

Padoch:

“The traditional Iban patterns of courtship (ngayap) , which involve nocturnal visiting of women by men, are a topic mentioned frequently by earlier writers (Roth 1896,I:109-11), among whom there is disagreement on the frequency or occurrence of sexual intercourse during the visiting. A more recent account of the practice (Beavitt 1967), and all informants I encountered, concurred that sexual relations take place often, although not always. It is reported that ngayap is now being replaced among someIban groups, particularly those converted to Christianity, by other forms of courtship not involving sexual union (Beavitt 1967:p409-10). However, the traditional form prevailed in all the communities that were studied during the period of field research”.

“... 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 herself. 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 emphasises the methods in which her daughter can judge whether or not the boy is sincere enough to marry her”

Pua Kumbu of Sarawak

Southeast Asia has had a long history of producing local vegetable fibre textiles and later, locally grown handspun cotton textiles introduced by early traders from the Indian subcontinent. As Srivijaya evolved into a Maritime kingdom in the 7 th century, merchants from India, China, Persia and Arab came to trade on Malay soil. Among other goods, they brought silk threads, gold and textiles for trade. The new textiles and materials provided a new dimension to weaving in Malaysia. When Europeans arrived in Melaka towards the late 14 th century, the frame loom was introduced.


In the early centuries of maritime trading, Indian traders brought the back-strap loom to Southeast Asia and introduced cotton as an alternative to bark-cloth textile. This primitive back-strap loom requires little effort in setting up. There is no rigid framework thus; the warp beam can be set up wherever there are two parallel upright poles. Often women are seen working at the verandah, in between house and field chores. The back-strap loom is portable, which befits the nomadic requirements and simplistic lifestyle of these communities. Most of the motifs and designs of the ancient forms of vegetable fibre textiles are connected to ceremonial rites and animistic values. Among the most renown and sought after textile are the cotton blankets called Pua Kumbu of the Iban tribe of Sarawak. The Iban tribe's lifestyle and beliefs are intricately woven into their textiles. As in many societies, weaving was always the work of women and her status in the community can be revealed from the type of motifs weaved. In the olden days, motifs with humanoid figures or anthromorphs (engkaramba) can only be weaved by wives and daughters of chiefs. These figures with raised arms and out-turned legs are representations of deities of the Iban's animistic religion and serves as a talisman to protect the wearer from danger as well as to ensure a bountiful harvest for the season. Although difficult to interpret, the motifs and colouring are usually inspired by the environment and reveal a lot about the Iban's rituals and beliefs. While most motifs are visual representations of animals, plants and even daily activities, others are more complex and abstract. Intricate patterns on the pua are often traditional and hereditary.

natural dyes

Kept as family heirlooms, these patterns are passed from mother to daughter. Like a personal stamp, the Iban women infuse much of their creativity in their weaving and decorative style. The most popular is the ikat or tie-and-die method. The warp patterns are created by selectively dyeing the longitudinal threads prior to weaving. This is also known as resist dyeing. When the dyed yarns are woven with a plain weft, the warped patterns emerge fuzzy and indistinct. To enhance the motifs, some weavers introduce embroidery, tapestry weaving, brocade weaving or supplementary weft embroidery. Old beliefs of misfortunes and death befalling upon them, however, kept weavers from straying from traditional motifs and methods of weaving.