Midi Music by Mr. Zeplin Uteh
Contents
Gawai Sowa festival with a mystical beginning
Dayung Borih Modernity threatens rites and rituals of ancient practice
Maan Ieng A Grand lunch with unseen visitors
Gongs Musical instruments of the Bidayuh
Background music was composed and played by Zeplin Uteh for bidayuh dotcom. All rights reserved and any distribution of this music (midi) is strictly prohibited.
©2000 bidayuh dotcom.
All rights reserved.
Special songs: Berjang Beuh 2000
(Bidayuh Eagle Dance) Instrumental Dance. Mix with Electronica
Techno
Songs Title : Berjang Beuh 2000 (Bidayuh modern
Eagle Dance)
Composer : Zeplin
Uteh Type : Instrumental (Electronica Mix)
Mixing :
Zeplin Uteh Programmed
by : Zeplin Uteh
Sequencing : Zeplin Uteh
Released on : 16 May 2000
Traditional song actually but he have mix it with modern beats.
Warning: All songs here are being copyright Protected (Copyright © 2000), therefore, distributing it for commercial used in form of CASSETES,VCD, DVD,CD or any media form, including Internet is prohibited without the owner permission. Imitating of the songs in any kind of language is also prohibited without permission from the owner. However the owner allowed the user using it for home used or any occasion such as party, festival celebration.
Copyright © 2000 by Zeplin Uteh. All rights reserved. Release on 16 May 2000 .
All material in this page are copyright.
JUNE is fast approaching, the month when some of Sarawak's indigenous groups are in a festive mood.
Gawai Dayak is officially celebrated on June 1st, but the harvesting festival is carried out in the rural areas anytime after the padi fields are harvested in May.
Different ethnic groups have their own names for this celebration. "Gawia Sowa" is the term used by the Bidayuh.
The rural Bidayuh hold the celebration for two days and two nights on a weekend in June. Some mistakenly called the occasion "gawia podi" (padi), but because there are actually various gawia podi, Gawia Sowa is the more proper term.
This grand Gawai is held partly to thank the rice spirit for giving farmers a good harvest, and also to ask blessing from the spirit for a better harvest the following season.
To do that, the farmers present a lot of offerings during the festival. Pogang (glutinous rice cooked in bamboo shoots) is cooked in great quantity, numerous pigs and fowls are slaughtered, tuak is prepared by the gallons and there are other countless items needed.
In the olden days, before there were schools, Gawia Sowa was not necessarily held on weekends. Now, they hold the festival on weekends so that school children, government servants, and town dwellers can join the traditional rejoicing.
Each family slaughters their livestock and makes other preparation , for they not only entertain the rice spirit but also friends, relatives, and visitors.
Only the families who still practise animism serve the rice
spirit. They are the ones that still offer thanks the traditional way. The
Christians join the celebration but they only serve visitors . Nevertheless,
pagans and Christians alike do their part in making the Gawia Sowa
the biggest celebration of the year.
In the old days, they used to hold the occasion in any of the tukang gawai's (shaman) home. This was rather inconvenient and troublesome as his tiny house could hardly accommodate the vast number of visitors. Moreover, the non-stop beating of gongs could be deafening for the occupants. Since the 1980s, with a proper place for the Gawai festival, they no longer hold the rituals in individual homes.
Since this is a grand gawai, many tukang gawai and dayung borih (female shamans) are needed. More often than not, a village hires them from neighboring villages. A few villages have even stopped holding Gawia Sowa as there are no tukang gawai nearby.
This is one reason why Gawia Sowa can never be
held simultaneously in the different villages. On this occasion, one can see the
highest ranking tukang gawai -pinguguoh and sino
borih.
Preparation for this grand Gawai is heavy for the average families nowadays as food and drinks are no longer confined to pogang, pork, fowl and tuak.
The traditional food prepared are pogang, sukuoi, pork, fowls, and tuak. Sukuoi is boiled rice wrapped in broad leaves while tuak is a home brewed liquor.
During the rites, the dayung borih sits on a swing, chanting and singing traditional prayers and praises. At times, they join the male tukang gawais to perform traditional dances on the tanju (verandah) of the Gawai house. Tired, they may lie down on the large swing to get that much needed nap.
On the second day, families holding the Gawia Sowa proceed to a nearby stream together with the tukang gawai and dayung borih.
There, on a platform constructed beforehand, the dayung borih asks the rice spirit for bountiful paddy seeds to be planted in the coming season. As they communicate to the other world, they dip an empty white piece of cloth in the stream.
They then lift the cloth out of the water, and, as if by magic, there are the few grains they claim are given by the rice spirit.
Back at the Gawai house, all tukang gawais and dayung borih would be served at the tanju. This grand lunch is known as "maan ieng" which literally means "serving the spirits". It is believed that the spirits of their ancestors are there together with the rice spirit. The food and drinks are provided by the villages.
The villagers go round, each serving the tukang gawai and dayung borih with food and drinks that they bring to the Gawai house. There is much merry shouting and heavy beating of the various gongs. Tukang gawai and dayung borih would also visit and bless every home for good harvest and prosperity.
This is done with a brief praising of the rice spirit while at the same time waving a fowl over containers where the family stores their rice. The fowl is than slaughtered as offering to the rice spirit.
Headed by the pinguguoh, the pinyigar (senior tukang gawais) repeatedly perform traditional dances round and round a bawar (altar) at the centre of the tanju. Each dance has a specific name but the general purpose is to entertain the rice spirit.
Around 4.00 am or 5.00 am of the last day, these old men and dayung borih would perform two very vigorous dances, nguguoh and biramak.
This activity attracts a large number of audience and is considered the climax of Gawia Sowa. Many would deliberately stay awake the whole night or purposely wake up early to witness this part of the ritual.
Throughout the whole occasion, the villagers hold open houses. Visitors are served with all kinds of foods and drink. There is usually a live band performing for the two nights in the village community hall.
After resting for a night, the villagers then hold a simpler ceremony called 'tubi tikarak' whereby the tukang gawai perform the last dance for the old year. That last dance is usually performed around 11.00 pm.
While waiting for the finish, the villagers would gather at the tanju. Old man and women would dance the joget, a Malay dance, to the sound of a Malay musical instrument, the gendang. Others would perform kuntou, an art of self defense to the beating of gongs. Both are entertaining. Visitors are not expected for this ceremony and it is centred around the older generation.
The dances and kuntou are supposed to be performed by the elders and they generally have a good time as they have managed to see the year through and can go on to a new one.
Visit some Bidayuh villages during one of their Gawai festival for an opportunity to witness a dying ritual. As Christianity penetrates into the interior, it is only the older generation that practise the old adat, an ancient form of animistic worship that is no longer taken up by the younger people. Therefore, in the villages, the older Bidayuh women are central to the original meaning of gawai as they don their colourful traditional costumes during the various festivals celebrated by the believers.
These female mediums possess the knowledge to perform the rituals and rites for the festivals. They are the ones who conduct most of the Gawai ceremonies. Without them, some of the festivals would no longer be performed as they may be meaningless for the young.
These female medium or tukang gawai are known in the local dialect as dayung borih. They carry out a form of worship so old that when it first came to the Bidayuh society no one knows. It was so long ago that nobody can pinpoint the actual date. According to oral folklore, it was believed that way back then, a sick Bidayuh woman called Ngoma was taken to kayangan by a kawangan woman named Sino Bawang.
There, Ngoma was treated and given the knowledge to treat other women by conducting certain rites. Ngoma was then sent back to earth with powers no one else possessed. From then on, Ngoma carried out her responsibilities of curing the sick, besides teaching ordinary women to become dayung borih who can conduct the Gawai rituals.
During the annual Gawai Podi, more commonly known as the Gawai Sowa, dayung borih play important roles. They are the only ones who can communicate with the outside world and this they do for two sleepless nights - enchanting traditional prayers.
Gawai can be divided into two main categories, that is the Gawai connected with padi cultivation and harvesting and the other is Gawai for curing the sick. In both these categories, the dayungs play a major role.
During the Gawai associated with padi planting, the dayungs chant traditional prayers, perform age-old dances and help prepare all the things needed for the occasion. During the ceremony, they leave the Rumah Gawai (prayer house) to perform rites at a special platform on a nearby stream. On this platform, they communicate with the simongi podi or rice spirits, asking for a good harvest the following season.
At night when not chanting prayers, they perform traditional dances to entertain the simongi podi. Though perhaps hardly entertaining to the younger generation, the dances must be entertaining enough for the simongi podi to ensure a good harvest.
The other category is the Gawai for curing the sick. Besides communicating with the other world, the dayung borih are also capable of communicating with the soul of the sick. Wondering souls must be saved and brought back to the sick person so that he or she can be well again.
Among the grand occasions for curing the sick is pinya. Four or five of these dayung borih are needed to perform it, together with a few male tukang gawai (shaman).
Though the men are present, the real force are the dayung
borih. In fact, about eighty percent of all the proceedings are carried
out by these female tukang gawai. It can only be assumed that they
must have some healing power as the ceremonies have been performed through the
ages, through the request of believers.
Figuratively, maan ieng means appeasing the spirits. What spirits? The rice spirits, and the spirits of their ancestors. Though unseen, they are, so say the pagan farmers, are the most important guests. These much expected and important visitors come in answers to the calls, the praises, and the sound of gongs during Gawia Sowa.
The grand lunch is held at noon on the tanju, the open verandah, of the Bori Gawia, their Gawia Hall. Prior to the lunch, all gongs are struck, by experienced hands preferably, as a welcome gesture to the spirits.
Just before the lunch commences, rattan carpets called kasah are laid in front of the bawar, a raised altar constructed a few days before. The rattan carpets covered the bamboo splitting, thus creating a better place for both hosts and guests.
Panyut, the bamboo splinters, are then lighted and then placed by a pinginang, the shamans' helper, on all four angles of the bawar. This is then followed by the throwing of sikapur, crushed areca-nut and betel leaves, ceremoniously, to commence the first sigar, the tribe's traditional dance.
The first sigar, I suppose, is the welcoming dance, just as young maidens now do when welcoming the very rare visits paid by our ministers. In Kampung Staas I visited during the festival in 1997, there were seven old dancers who themselves were shamans. Throughout this welcoming dance, the leader held two lighted splinters, danced around, or to be more exact, ¾ round the altar. The other six followed him.
After every ¾ round, they always turned back, and repeat the movement. The dance lasted about six minutes. After the last round, they proceeded to the inner portion of the verandah where they all spent the three days and three nights during the festival. The pinginang then put out the lighted splinters, but lighted them again three minutes later. A second sigar was about to commence.
This sigar, visually, had no significant difference from the first -- stiff, body swaying literally absent, and perhaps could hardly be called a dance. Like the first, it lasted about six minutes. There were two more similar dances, but during the forth one, the leader and a fellow shaman, danced carrying a sailing boat replica with two lighted splinters and small offerings on board. The boat was decorated on both sides with young palm leaves.
When the dance was over, the boat was hung at the left side of the altar next to its staircase. It was during this last sigar that food and drinks were brought out from the inside the Bori Gawia, to add to those brought by individual families.
While the rest were still performing the last dance, a priestess sat on the carpet and opened a jumuo simongi, the tribe's sacred tambok. She slightly opened its mouth that all these while had been securely close with a piece of handkerchief, carefully slid her right hand, and while chanting praises, continuously shook a brarang, shells tied together, inside the tambok.
Meanwhile, the big slice of raw pork that had been hung at the right side of the altar, was now taken down, and placed besides the priestess, who was still praising and shaking the brarang, her hand concealed inside the jumuo simongi by the handkerchief at the mouth.
Villagers, most of them young and graceful, began to serve the dancers with tuak and soft drinks even while they were still dancing the sigar. When the dance ended, all 22 shamans took their seat, presumably with their unseen guests, forming a circle, on the kasah (rattan carpets). They all helped themselves with the rice, meat, and vegetables that the villagers brought. The never seen spirits were there, too, lunching with their hosts.
The young men and young women went round and round, serving
drinks to these old shamans, who, were consuming, or believed to consume, for
their guests. There was much merry shouting, "Tara, Tara, Ooo!".
With these to add to the sound of the various gongs, maan
ieng is indeed a noisy lunch.
A complete set of Bidayuh's musical instrument would consists of brass gongs (oguong, kitaak, canang, and kirutang) and a pair of tom-tom called pidabat. The full set is rarely played except on big festivals like the annual Gawai Sowa.
Even when welcoming important visitors like ministers, they
very rarely play full set. There are two reasons for this-it is difficult
to assemble a complete set as not likely any individual owns one, and no visitor
is as great as the rice spirit to render him the complete set.
In a complete set, there would be two oguongs, two kitaaks, two canangs, a kirutang, and two pidabats. All except pidabat are brass gongs. Oguongs, kitaaks, and canangs are hung from cross-beams of the Gawai House, a hall specially built for gawai festivals.
Oguong is the widest of the gongs, and always played in pairs. Only one man is required to strike these two gongs. He strikes one after the other with a stick.
The end of the stick is wrapped round and round with soft materials like rubber or cloth. This is partly to make the sound more agreeable and partly to protect the gongs from direct hit.
Kitaak is another big gong with a much deeper sound. Like oguong, kitaak is played in pairs but require two men to strike them.
The sound produced could be heard from miles away. So in the old days, a kitaak is also used to relay messages as well as to call for assemblies just as bells do today. To call for men to assemble, a kitaak would be a dozen times better than a bell.
Its note is being changed by grasping and releasing its boss
with the left hand while the right hand makes four to six quick beats with a
stick.
Then there are the smaller gongs, the pair of canangs. Only one man is required to strike the pair which are held in place by hanging them quite firmly. Unlike oguong and kitaak, canangs are struck with a bare ended stick one after the other. These smaller gongs produced very high notes.
Kirutang is the smallest of the Bidayuh gongs. When played, it is not hung but placed on the floor and struck with a bare ended piece of stick too.
The music starts with the kirutang followed by the two canangs five to ten seconds later. Due to its much smaller size, the sound of kirutang, though high pitch, is drowned by its bigger sisters.
A pidabat is a tom-tom made from a hollow log
with both ends covered tightly with goat's or deer's skin, securely fasten with
rattans. Asaid, a pair is needed-each beaten by a man.
They sit cross-legged opposite to each other with the pidabats upon their knees. One end of each pidabat is struck with a small stick held in the right hand. The other end is struck with the wrist and open palm of their left.
The Bidayuh once had two musical instruments made of bamboo-tirari and silotuong-but both are forgotten and perhaps never heard of by the new generation.
Both however were not played for gawai festivals, and this could be one of the reason for their untimely death.
Tirari is about a foot long flute. On its lower part are five or six holes on which the fingers act like keys. In the olden days, the young men and children frequently amused themselves with the bamboo flute.
Silotuong is made from a joint of dry bamboo that is cut lengthwise sufficiently deep but not through the cane. The outer skin of the bamboo are raised above the surface of the cane by small pegs. It is played upon by the fingers.
A nice-looking silotuong, but perhaps never
played, can be found in Bau Mini Museum adjoining the town's Dewan Suarah.
To the Bidayuh, these tamboks are highly sacred. They call them jumuo simongi which literally means "tamboks of the spirits". Being sacred and special, these small items are usually made from the best species of rattan.
But what are actually inside? Spirits, of course - at least that was what the tukang gawai told our fathers, and what our father re-told us when we were kids. And, what or whose spirits are these?
It depends on the gawai ceremonies. There are two categories of gawai. One category consists of the gawai connected with padi cultivation. Under this category, there are many different gawai. Every season - starting before the clearing of forest till harvesting - has a gawai of their own. To name a few, they are gawai lakang, gawai nuluk, gawai tumu padi, and gawai pori puun. During all these gawai, the tamboks of the spirits are placed at the centre of the house or hut where the gawai are carried out.
They are not allowed to be disturbed or even touched except by the tukang gawai themselves. Even then, they touch or lift them only when it is necessary. Otherwise, the sacred tamboks are left alone. They don't have the slightest intention to annoy the rice spirit(s) inside for fear that the latter won't give them a good harvest.
The farmers strongly believe that the rice spirits are inside. But of course no one, not even the tukang gawais themselves, could tell us for sure how the rice spirits look like. Nobody has ever seen them.
What-ever the look, those spirits must be small. Otherwise they will surely face great difficulties finding enough room in such small tamboks.
With the permission of one kind senior tukang gawai, I once lifted one of the tamboks during a gawai before harvesting time. It weighs more than a kilogram. That never-seen rice spirit must have weight. I felt the urge to shake the tambok just to see how the spirit reacted. But fearing that the spirit might not like it, and furthermore the still half-suspicious tukang gawai couldn't take his eyes off me, I put it down gently.
The old man then told me that no man could ever see the rice spirit in-side. All that can be seen are a few paddy grains, pogang (lemang), sukuoi (rice wrapped in leaves) and sikapur (crushed bettelnut) for the spirit. I was told that the grains would be sown together with the rest of the seedlings during the coming season.
During the Gawai Sowa, that is the biggest rice gawai, one in every family will proceed to a stream with the tamboks. This is an occasion called ngiraga, which is an occasion for them to fetch the rice spirits and good grains given to them by the spirits form a stream.
On a bamboo platform above the stream, the tukang gawai will enchant traditional prayers, asking the rice spirits to give them quality seedlings for them to plant the next season. The place an empty white piece of cloth in the stream below the platform. True enough, when the cloth is lifted after they have finished the prayers, there are paddy grains. Where do the grains come from. The tukang gawai claim that they are given by the rice spirits.
The rice spirits together with the grains are then placed inside each of the tambok. The grains will later be planted with the others as representatives from the rice spirits and as encouragement for the rest of the seedlings to grow healthy. They are kept in the tamboks till the pantang ends. During this period, the mouth of the tamboks are always securely sealed, perhaps to prevent the rice spirits from escaping.
The other category of the gawai is gawai for curing the sick. There are again many different gawai under this category but each has the same purpose - to bring back wandering souls of the sick person.
When a person is sick, it is believed that his or her soul leaves the living body and wanders in the wild. The soul must be saved and brought back so that the patient could recover. The task of the tukang gawai is to carry out "search and rescue" by carrying out the correct type and procedure of the gawais. Once the soul is rescued, it is then carefully placed inside the tamboks till the last day of the pantang period which could range from a mere half day to eight days.
When the pantang is over, it is the time to again unite the soul with the patient. This reunion is done by carefully bringing the tambok close to the patient. The tukang gawai put his hand in-side the tambok through the now slightly open mouth, take the soul in-side, then blow it towards the ears of the patient. The soul enters the body through the ears.
Again, the human soul must be very tiny, otherwise how could it enters the body through the ears?
Perhaps because of its tiny size, the tukang gawai sometimes
find difficulties locating it during the search and rescue task.
Acknowledgement:-
Note:
Published on the Internet by courtesy of Mr Redan Ginoh for
Paul Remek's Website
Re-Published for bidayuh
dotcom by courtesy of Mr Redan Ginoh (April 23, 2000)
Pictures and Photograph was taken from Paul Remek, Kelly Renim Muyang, Kron Aken and Joseph Orlean Jinap Web Page. Please follow the Bidayuh Netizens Links at bidayuh dotcom to visit them.
Redan Ginoh is a freelance
writer for local media, to write to Mr Redan Ginoh, you can
forward your email to bidayuh@bidayuh.com.
This article
was published in the Sarawak Tribune
Background music was composed and played by Zeplin Uteh for bidayuh dotcom. All rights reserved and any distribution of this music(midi) is strictly prohibited.
: All songs here are being copyright Protected (Copyright © 2000), therefore, distributing it for commercial used in form of CASSETES,VCD, DVD,CD or any media form, including Internet is prohibited without the owner permission. Imitating of the songs in any kind of language is also prohibited without permission from the owner. However the owner allowed the user using it for home used or any occasion such as party, festival celebration.
Copyright © 2000 by Zeplin Uteh. All rights reserved. Released on 16 May 2000 .
All materials in this page are copyrighted by their respective owner.
©2000 bidayuh dotcom.
All rights reserved.