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Published: August 31st 2014
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The notion of staying with a tribe who were the dominant 'headhunters' in Borneo may strike some as odd. However, my short stay with the 'Iban' was a fascinating and stimulating tour that I'll remember clearly for a long time.
The Iban are the main tribal group in Sarawak, Malaysia. They were once renowned for being the most feared warriors, hunters, and 'headhunters' on the island of Borneo. The term 'headhunting' refers to the practice of killing an enemy and taking the head back to a 'longhouse', a large single-storey continuous house. The head would be smoked, worshipped and treated with a high level of reverence. The practice was forced into a decline by the British 'White Rajah', James Brooke in 1841. His intention was to ensure less violence between the various tribal groupings and encourage more trade on the island. There was a small recurrence of British-endorsed head-hunting during the Second World War with Japanese soldiers as victims. However, the practice has mostly (if not entirely) disappeared.
My journey to the Iban 'Longhouse' started in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak. It was about a five hour trip by car towards the Longhouse, which was in a part
of the jungle bordering the Batang Ai National Park. The route to Batang Ai was straightforward. A highway made up about half the journey and a one lane road the rest. After enjoying the view of the lush and verdant jungle from the car, my guide - Ji Hye, myself, and three others, arrived at a small riverside. We got into boats and then took a 30 minute trip upriver. The jungle was rich with colour, insects, and birds; trees, with roots on the banks of the river, precariously thrust themselves out horizontally into the river and low hanging branches forced me to duck my head low on numerous occasions as we traversed our way upstream.
We soon arrived at the Longhouse and were greeted by the former chief who was heavily tattooed, quiet, but also cheeky and querky. Furthermore, he possessed a high-level of regard and respect from other members of the tribe. Ji-Hye told us that he had been required to stand down as Chief because the Government had asked for his replacement due to his inability to read or write. The chief then suggested his own replacement, his son. The tribe had made the change, however
the former chief was still more widely revered than his son, the Chief (who we didn't meet).
The Longhouse itself was a large continuous structure which was about 60 metres long and could accommodate around 38 families. The families had individual quarters on one side of the longhouse. The other side was the communal area where the families would interact, play, sit, and make various crafts. This area was also where the tourists, such as myself, would stay overnight. Some Longhouses still contain the skulls of former victims, however, the Longhouse I stayed in didn't. The reason for this was that the old wooden longhouse had burned down in 1994, along with it the skulls. The new Longhouse was made of wood, but reinforced with a concrete and cement structure,and was built with money and materials provided by Christian groups, who had made the donation based on a promise that the community would convert from animism to Christianity. Most of the families accepted, however some did not, and chose to live elsewhere.
After meeting the former chief and looking around the longhouse, our guide was soon informed that a boar had been killed by a hunter from the
tribe, nearby in the jungle. We went to take a look. After a short trek of ten minutes we came to a clearing in a pepper field, where many of the villagers had gathered. Most were gleeful and quite jubilant. I was momentarily surprised for on the ground was the head of a boar that had been cut away from the rest of its body. I observed how the rest of the body was being cooked and chopped up by different members of the tribe and saw the successful hunter merrily hacking away at the body. Ji Hye, our guide, indicated that the hunter, who had shot the boar with a 22 rifle, was particularly pleased because he would receive the jaw of the boar, which was was a highly prized part. The village revelled in the celebratory mood and were all keen to share the positive atmosphere with outsiders and offered us locally made rice wine/whisky, along with parts of the recently smoked and cut meat. After feeling slightly full and a trifle squiffed, I went back to the Longhouse.
For dinner, we had a variety of meat, rice, and noodle dishes that were nicely prepared by the
Chief's mother (the former chief's wife). I asked a few questions to Ji Hye about the various tattoos that the elder members of the tribe had. He indicated to me that the neck tattoo the former chief had was an indicator that his family were headhunters, in fact his grandfather was a headhunter. Ji Hye also discussed an anchor tattoo that the former Chief had. This tattoo was a sign that the chief's genitals had been pierced. Traditional custom stipulated that before a headhunter went away for a while he would spend a night with his wife. Attachments would be added to the piercing and would be used to either greatly satisfy his wife, or cause discomfort for a while, so as to ensure she didn't have a sexual encounter with another man.
After dinner, we were then officially welcomed by the former chief. He greeted us in Iban and encouraged us to give three cheers in Iban before drinking a shot of rice wine/whisky. A number of dancers then gave a performance showcasing a number of different dance routines. During the performance, we were instructed to offer the dancers some rice wine, which they accepted and then returned
the favour. Towards the end of the performance, we were encouraged to join in. Shortly after the dancing we presented the former chief with gifts that we had bought. These were then divided and distributed among the thirty eight families. The atmosphere was jovial and the rice wine had wrought its strong effect thanks to the former chief walking around topping up peoples shot glasses. A number of tourists, members of the tribe, and guides were thoroughly inebriated. Everyone retired to bed at around 10pm.
We woke up early the next day thanks to a number of squawking chickens and rain pounding and crashing down on the tin roof of the Longhouse. After breakfast, we headed up through the village, where we met the Shaman, and we continued up towards the jungle. At the entrance to the jungle, we were treated to a blowpipe demonstration, a weapon/tool that was used to hunt animals. Then, we ventured into the mosquito-infested jungle and saw a range of trees which were tapped for rubber. Afterwards, we walked around the various pepper and chilli fields. Ji Hye described how the plots of land were allocated to the families based on an annual lottery
system. The different families are allowed to keep their surplus individually and can thus make more money if they are good at nurturing and cultivating their plot.
After the short trek, we then said goodbye to the former chief and headed back towards Kuching. Overall, the trip was a fascinating and stimulating experience, which I would definitely recommend. It cost 688 Ringgits with the tour group, Borneo Experiences and I left Kuching at 8am on the first day and returned at about 4.30pm the next day.
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