Peoples & Cultures - Borneo - page 571

TRIBAL BODY ART
Elongated Ears
The most striking fashion feature of many older Dayak women (and, in some groups such as the Kelabit, men) is
their elongated, pierced earlobes, stretched over the years by the weight of heavy gold or brass rings. Young
people rarely follow this custom, and older Dayaks sometimes trim their ear lobes as a sign of having converted to
Christianity.
Iban Tattoos
According to Iban tattoo master Ernesto Umpie ( www.borneoheadhunter.com ), bejalai can loosely be defined as a
journey, or a voyage of discovery. With each life skill mastered, an Iban warrior-to-be would add a tattoo to their
body, creating a biographical constellation of swirling designs.
At around the age of 10 or 11, a young Iban would get their first tattoo, a bungai terung (eggplant flower)
drawn on each shoulder. The design, created using soot mixed with fermented sugarcane juice and hand-tapped
bamboo or bone needles, commemorated the beginning of one's journey as a man (women were known to get
them as well). The squiggly centre of the flower symbolised new life and represented the intestines of a tadpole,
visible through their translucent skin. The plant's petals were a reminder that patience is a virtue, and that only a
patient man can truly learn life's lessons.
Further attainments - for instance, mastering boatbuilding, hunting, shamanism and even traditional dancing -
brought more ink, including the popular crab design, which symbolised strength and evoked the strong legs and
hard shell of the crafty sideways walkers. Traditionally, the Iban believed that when drawn with magical ink, the
design could act like the shell of a crab, protecting bearers from the blade of a machete.
The bravest travellers received the coveted throat tattoo as they evolved into a bujang berani (brave bachelor).
The design - a fish body that morphs into a double-headed dragon - wanders up from the soft spot at the centre of
the clavicle, known as the 'life point' to the Iban.
Through all this, elaborate rules had to be followed. For instance, only men who had taken a head were permit-
ted to tattoo the tops of their hands. Also, every animal inked facing inward must have something to eat - dragons
were always depicted with a small lizard near their mouths - because if the creature was left hungry it would feed
on the bearer's soul.
When the warriors returned to their village, the tattoos were a bit like passport stamps, tracing borders crossed
and frontiers explored. A large collection of blueish-black 'merit badges' greatly increased one's desirability as a
bachelor and, it was believed, enabled a soul to shine brightly in the afterlife.
These days, after decades of decline, tattooing is making something of a comeback. In urban areas, some young
Iban get tattoos to commemorate achievements such as travelling abroad or completing their military service or a
university degree. Sometimes the tattoos are eclectic, combining designs from tribes that once warred with each
other with modern motifs inspired by Eminem and Lady Gaga.
The Infamous Palang
If you thought tribal body art stopped at tattoos, you are very wrong. However, unlike the ubiquitous skin ink, you
probably won't come head to head, so to speak, with a palang.
The palang, a long-standing Dayak tradition, is a horizontal rod of metal or bone that pierces the penis, mim-
icking the natural genitalia of the Sumatran rhino. As times change, this type of procedure is becoming less com-
mon, but many villages still have an appointed piercer, who uses the traditional method: a bamboo vice in a cold
river. The real macho men opt for some seriously extreme adornments, from multiple palang to deliberate scari-