Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Most young Dayaks move away from the longhouse for greener pastures, seeking high-
er education and good jobs in the cities. But almost all keep close ties to their home long-
house, returning for major family and community celebrations. Some families that choose
to remain in the longhouse community build a private house nearby, in part to escape the
fire hazard inherent in living in a flammable structure with so many other people.
Dayak Religions
Traditional Dayak animism, which varies from tribe to tribe, focuses on the spirits associ-
ated with virtually all places and things. In Kalimantan it is known collectively as Ka-
haringan.
Carvings, totems, tattoos and other objects
(including, in earlier times, headhunted skulls)
are used to keep bad spirits at bay, attract good
spirits and soothe spirits that may be upset.
Totems at entrances to villages and longhouses
are markers for spirits. The hornbill is con-
sidered a powerful spirit and is honoured in
dance and ceremony; its feathers are treasured. Black is widely considered a godly colour,
so it features in traditional outfits. In some tribes, women have special roles - for instance,
a female priest, called a
bobohizan,
presides over many key Kadazan-Dusun traditional
rituals in Sabah.
Ancestor worship plays a large part in Kaharingan. After death, Dayaks join their an-
cestors in the spirit world. For some groups, spirits may reside in a particular mountain or
other natural shrine. Burial customs include elaborately carved mausoleums, memorial
monoliths and interment in ceramic jars.
Most Dayaks now belong to mainstream Protestant groups (eg the Anglican Church),
evangelical denominations (especially the Borneo Evangelical Church, also known as the
SIB) and the Roman Catholic Church. Some evangelicals insist on purging all vestiges of
previous beliefs, but in most instances Christianity overlays older cultural practices. Very
few Dayaks still follow traditional religious practices.
Festivities such as Gawai Dayak, the harvest festival in Sarawak, are usually considered
to be an expression of Dayak culture rather than of pre-Christian religious beliefs.
The White Rajahs of Sarawak allowed the Dayaks
to live according to their age-old traditions and be-
liefs except in one area, headhunting, which they
made great efforts to suppress.
