Ngayau, The Headhunters of Borneo at Dayak Tribes Tradition
Ngayau is traditional Dayak tribes who inhabited the island of Borneo , Dayak both living in West Kalimantan and other Borneo. Tribe Iban and Kenyah tribe are two of the Dayak tribe that has customary Ngayau.In the true tradition Ngayau, Ngayau not be separated from the victim’s head man of the enemy.The most popular image of Borneo all these years was associated with head hunting (Ngayau). Bock’s work, The Head Hunters of Borneo , published in England in 1881 greatly contributed to the creation of Dayak image as “people head hunter”.
The practice of head hunting is one form of complex social behavior and has provoked the emergence of a variety of explanations of various authors, both from the “explorers” as well as academics. For Ngaju Dayak tribe in Central Kalimantan , for the sake of ceremonial tradition mengayau Tiwah , which is the largest sacred ceremony of Dayak Ngaju to usher the soul or spirit of man who died towards the sky to seven (Riwut, 2003: 203).According to the Width (1972: 171), among the Kenyah, headhunting is important in relation to Mamat, namely cutting the party’s head, ending a period of mourning and accompanies initiation ceremonies to enter the system status stratified, hostile, to the soldiers of war
Hunters who had right to wear head gear panther in his ears, headdresses of hornbill feathers, and a tattoo with a special design .. The attacks carried out by the head hunter of small groups consisting of ten to twenty men in man who moves quietly and suddenly.They are very concerned about omens, especially birds.Once used in ceremonies Mamad, heads hung on the porch of the long house, with rooms facing the middle of the head of the longhouse residence.In the past of the Dayak Kenyah were reported as the most famous head hunters in Borneo.Like the Dayak Kenyah, Iban Dayak tribes also conduct headhunting ritual called Gawai.The ceremony is not only religious, but also involves a massive party with a drink and have fun (Width, 1972: 184).
Miller is an explorer, for example, wrote in his Black Borneo (1946: 121), states that the practice of head hunting can be explained in terms of supernatural powers which by the Dayaks believed to exist in the human head.For the Dayak people, a human skull that has been dried is the most powerful magic in the world.A decapitated head of the newly powerful enough to save the entire village from the plague.A head that has been laced with herbs when manipulated appropriately strong enough to produce rain, increasing rice yields, and cast out demons.If it was not strong enough, it’s because his strength was fading and needed a new skull.Meanwhile, Mc Kinley headhunting ritual describe it as a process of transition, in which people who used to be enemies become friends by integrating them into the everyday world.
(article source : http://maritimeborneo.com/
