Ngayau, Head Hunter Story

Ngayau a tradition Dayak tribe who inhabit the island of Borneo, Dayak good living in West Kalimantan or Borneo other. Iban and Kenyah are two of the indigenous Dayak has ngayau. In the tradition of true ngayau, ngayau not be separated from the victims of human heads of the enemy. The most popular image of Kalimantan during this time was related to the hunt for the head (ngayau). Carl Bock, The Head Hunters of Borneo [1] which was published in England in 1882 greatly contributed to the creation of Dayak image as "the people headhunters".The practice of head hunting is one form of complex social behavior and has been fishing the emergence of various explanations of the various authors, both from the "explorers" as well as academics.For Ngaju Dayak tribe in Central Kalimantan, the tradition of headhunting for ceremonial purposes Tiwah, the most sacred ceremony of Dayak Ngaju to deliver the soul or spirit of man that have died towards the seventh heaven (Riwut, 2003: 203). According Width (1972: 171), among Kenyah, head hunting is important in relation to Mamat, the party cutting head, which ended the period of mourning and the accompanying initiation rites for entering multilevel system status, Suhan, to the warriors. Hunters who succeed are entitled to wear head gear panther in his ears, a headdress of feathers of hornbills, and a tattoo with the design khusus..Serangan head-hunters attack carried out by small groups of ten to twenty young people -laki moving silently and suddenly. They are very attentive to omens, especially birds. Having been used in ceremonies Mamad, heads hung on the porch of the house long, dealing with spaces amid the residence chairman of the longhouse. In the past Dayak Kenyah reported as the most famous head hunters in Borneo. As well as Dayak Kenyah, Dayak Iban also conduct headhunting ritual called the clerk. This 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), stating that the practice of head hunting can be explained in terms of supernatural powers by Dayaks believed to exist in the human head. For the Dayaks, human skulls that have been dried is the most powerful magic in the world. A new head decapitated strong enough to save the entire village from the plague. A head that has been spiked with herbs when manipulated appropriately strong enough to produce rain, increasing rice yields, and cast out demons. If it was not strong enough, it is because its strength has started to fade and needed a new skull. Meanwhile Mc Kinley describe the head-hunting ritual as a process of transition, in which the people who once were enemies become friends with a way of integrating them into the everyday world.Perhaps there is a question, in the tradition of the ngayau why should the head and not the parts of the body are taken. Mc Kinley argues (1976: 124), the head chosen as a fitting symbol for these rituals because the head contains elements of the face, which is in a way similar to the social value of personal names, is the most concrete symbol of social identity (social personhood). This self-identity in turn is the most human of attributes belonging to the enemy and thus become an attribute that must be claimed by the community itself.In his study of the Dayak Iban, Freeman said that merely symbolic head hunting associated with fertility. Parallels between the human head and fertility is central to the discussion about the practice of head hunting. Freeman says (1979: 234), the culmination of a remarkable allegory that becomes central in head-hunting ritual performed by the Iban people when it was sung by the shamans spell readers, conducted by candidates headhunters, is a ritual known as Ngelampang which literally means to chop or cut into small sections. In part this allegory presented a graphic description of the ritual head splitting imitation or nutmeg Antu by a Lang Singalang Burong namely Iban god of war. Lang perform this ritual (something that symbolizes the beheading of real enemies) with one sword (saber) is doing very quickly, and from the head ripped it flows seeds that will arise when ditaurkan become a figure of the human body.Not all of the Dayaks in Kalimantan apply ngayau tradition. As well Dayak Dayak Maanyan and Meratus, in their customary no ngayau term, but based on the story of the tetuha their custom, when the war first time the knights and Dayak Dayak Maanyan Meratus the head while fighting enemy leaders who made the target them. If they cut off the head of its leaders succeed, then the soldiers will soon knees. The head of the enemy leadership not as a complement to traditional rituals as conducted Dayak Kenyah, Iban and Ngaju, the head remains buried with his body. Although Dayak Meratus and Maanyan not apply ngayau tradition in their customs, but they still found a human head has significance that the top of the head (height) in the human body and has a symbol of one's status.

source :  http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngayau