Before the 1950s, the Dayak peoples lived in communal longhouses. Today, longhouses are rare in Kalimantan. Their disappearance in turn affects the process of preserving the social, economic, cultural, and political values of the Dayak. Before, children were taught the basics, including the legends. Before going to bed, youngsters relaxed in the soah (open area) to listen to their parents tell stories. The change from living in longhouses to single-family houses makes it impossible for the Dayak to continue the story telling tradition. There is simply not enough space in a single-family house for it.
The coming of radio and television has promoted a consumptive culture. This is the era of new colonialism by capitalism. Dayak youngsters migrate to Indonesian cities in great numbers, either to pursue their studies or make a living. They are enthralled with the glamour and lifestyle of urban Indonesians. Some drop out of school, lacking skills and knowledge, to pursue this lifestyle. This is the short cut attitude. In Pontianak, for example, dozens of Dayak girls, end up working the bars, karaoke joints and hotels.
Since the 1970s, the Dayak have been baffled by the existence of mining projects, logging by forest concessionaires, plantations and industrial timber estates. Socio-economic expert Mubyarto said the presence of the giant projects in Kalimantan changed the Dayak’s source of wealth.
The rattan monopoly has impoverished the Dayak in East and Central Kalimantan. The gold mining in Ampalit (Central Kalimantan ), coal mining in East Kalimantan and gold mining in Monterado (West Kalimantan) have caused the locals to suffer. The same thing has happened to the Dayak Bentian, Dayak Pawan-Keriau and Empurang. They struggle against the plantations, which are partly financed with foreign loans. They are forced to give their land to the investors. After the land transfer, all the plants, all the sacred places and cemeteries were demolished and replaced by palm oil trees. They are forced to pay the investors for the privilege of living on their own land in installments.
The project ruins the environment, as well as the social, cultural and political patterns. They have marginalized the sovereignty and dignity of the Dayak over the Land and natural resources.
The coming of radio and television has promoted a consumptive culture. This is the era of new colonialism by capitalism. Dayak youngsters migrate to Indonesian cities in great numbers, either to pursue their studies or make a living. They are enthralled with the glamour and lifestyle of urban Indonesians. Some drop out of school, lacking skills and knowledge, to pursue this lifestyle. This is the short cut attitude. In Pontianak, for example, dozens of Dayak girls, end up working the bars, karaoke joints and hotels.
Since the 1970s, the Dayak have been baffled by the existence of mining projects, logging by forest concessionaires, plantations and industrial timber estates. Socio-economic expert Mubyarto said the presence of the giant projects in Kalimantan changed the Dayak’s source of wealth.
The rattan monopoly has impoverished the Dayak in East and Central Kalimantan. The gold mining in Ampalit (Central Kalimantan ), coal mining in East Kalimantan and gold mining in Monterado (West Kalimantan) have caused the locals to suffer. The same thing has happened to the Dayak Bentian, Dayak Pawan-Keriau and Empurang. They struggle against the plantations, which are partly financed with foreign loans. They are forced to give their land to the investors. After the land transfer, all the plants, all the sacred places and cemeteries were demolished and replaced by palm oil trees. They are forced to pay the investors for the privilege of living on their own land in installments.
The project ruins the environment, as well as the social, cultural and political patterns. They have marginalized the sovereignty and dignity of the Dayak over the Land and natural resources.
Modern Religions
Christianity greatly affected the status of legends among the Dayak groups. The legends, which were recited during rituals, were dismissed as animistic. The Christian converts deem adherents to the traditional religion primitive and obsolete. The doctrine was spread through schools and sermons in the villages. In Central Kalimantan, people call it the "obsolete yeast" or "emptying glass" policy. Anthropologist J.J. Kusni concludes in one of his books that the propagation of Christianity amounts to the conquering of the Dayak.
The Christian proselytizers shouldering what they call ‘la mission sacre’ of civilizing the savage peoples see the Dayak culture as ‘obsolete yeast’, worth disposing. The ‘obsolete yeast’ concept tends to drain the Dayak of their culture and fill them out with new values," says Kusni. The policy was exercised not only in Central Kalimantan, but also in East, West and South Kalimantan. Further, Christianity was considered as a savior and a symbol of modernization. The impact has been great. The Christians are uncomfortable attending funerals and weddings of pagans.
In a West Kalimantan village, used as a base by a Christian mission, posters are plastered all over the place to intimidate Dayaks from practicing their cultural traditions. A poster in illustrates a path branching in two. The left is "the road to hell", with a picture of a ritual at the end of the road. The right is "the road to heaven", with a picture of modern life is seen at the end of the road.
Society
Kinship in Iban society is traced in both lines. Although, in Dayak Iban society, men and women possess equal rights in status and property ownership, political office has strictly been the occupation of the traditional Iban Patriarch. Overall Iban leadership in any given region, is marked by titles, a Penghulu for instance would have invested authority on behalf of a network of Tuai Rumah's, and so on to a Temenggung or Panglima. It must be noted that individual Dayak groups have their social and hierarchy systems defined internally, and these differ widely from Ibans to Ngajus and Benuaqs to Kayans.
The most salient feature of Dayak social organisation is the practice of Longhouse domicile. This is a structure supported by hardwood posts that can be hundreds of metres long, usually located along a terraced river bank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which the individual households can be reached. The Iban of the Kapuas and Sarawak have organised their Longhouse settlements in response to their migratory patterns. Iban Longhouses vary in size, from those slightly over 100 metres in length to huge settlements over 500 metres in length. Longhouses have a door and apartment for every family living in the longhouse. For example, a Longhouse of 200 doors is equivalent to a settlement of 200 families.
Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture, in particular to the Iban. There used to be a tradition of retaliation for old headhunts, which kept the practise alive. External interference by the reign of the Brooke Rajahs in Sarawak and the Dutch in their part of Borneo managed to break this tradition. In contrast with South American practices, not the shrunken head (the skin without the skull), but the skull was kept. The captured enemy heads were triumphally brought back to the settlement, received by the women, tied with rattan and hung in bundles from the ceiling of the longhouses. The skulls were placed over the hearths. Each community had a special warrior (Tau serang) who led the raids against the enemy. But besides such massive raids, there were also individual retaliation attacks or they could be the result of chance encounters in the forest. Sarawak Government Resident reports describe victorious Iban War parties with captured enemy heads. At various times, there have been massive coordinated raids in the interior, and throughout coastal Borneo, directed by the Sarawak Government during Brooke's reign. This may have given rise to the term, Sea Dayak, although, throughout the 19th Century, Sarawak Government raids and independent expeditions appeared to have been carried out as far as Brunei, Mindanao, East coast Malaya, Jawa and Celebes. Tandem diplomatic relations between the Sarawak Government (Brooke Rajah) and Britain (East India Company and the Royal Navy) acted as a pivot and a deterrence to the former's territorial ambitions, against the more passive Dutch colonial administration in the Kalimantan regions and client Sultanates.
Metal-working is elaborately used for making mandaus (machetes - 'parang' in Indonesian ). The blade is made of a softer iron, to prevent breakage, with a narrow strip of a harder iron wedged into a slot in the cutting edge for sharpness. The headhunting necessitated being able to draw the parang quickly. For this purpose, the mandau is fairly short, which also better serves the purpose of trailcutting in dense forest. It is holstered with the cutting edge facing upwards and at that side there is an upward protrusion on the handle, so it can be drawn very quickly with the side of the hand without having to reach over and grasp the handle first. The hand can then grasp the handle while it is being drawn. The combination of these three factors (short, cutting edge up and protrusion) makes for an extremely fast drawing-action. The ceremonial mandaus used for dances are as beautifully adorned with feathers as the dresses are. There are various terms to describe different types of Dayak blades. The Nyabor is the traditional Iban Scimitar, Parang Ilang is common to Kayan and Kenyah Swordsmiths, and Duku is a multipurpose farm tool and machete of sorts.
Dayaks like to party. Not only during festive occasions like weddings, but also impromptu, such as for the arrival of a guest (with the advent of tourism this is, however, either not done for every visitor or made into a tourist attraction). A very potent liquor is served on such occasions and one is supposed to get severely inebriated. Ceremonial dances are performed in very colourful dresses and feather headdresses with elaborate parangs.
Another popular drug beside alcohol is tobacco, which is grown locally and can be of high quality. The use of sirih (betelnut) is also fairly widespread.
In Sarawak, Dayak political activism had its roots in the SNAP (Sarawak National Party) and Pesaka during post independence construction in the 1960s. These parties shaped to a certain extent Dayak politics in the State, although never enjoying the real privileges and benefits of Chief Ministerial power relative to its large electorate. It can be said that successive Key Dayak parties in the State of Sarawak acquiesced real political credibility in favour of personal short term gain in junior ministerial posts and token positions in the Prime Minister's Cabinet and the ruling coalition government. Nevertheless, Dayaks dominate Sarawak politics and are present in all political formations within the State Barisan Nasional.
Under Indonesia's transmigration programme, settlers from densely-populated Java and Madura were encouraged to settle in the Kalimantan provinces, but their presence was, and still is, resented by Dayaks. The large scale transmigration projects initiated by the Dutch and continued by present Javanese governments, caused widespread breakdown in social and community cohesion during the late 20th Century. In 2001 the Indonesian government ended the gradual Javanese settlement of Kalimantan that began under Dutch rule in 1905.
From 1996 to 2003 there were systemic and violent attacks on Madurese settlers, including a resurgence of the beheading practices. Inevitably, order was restored by the Military but this was somewhat too late in application.
The Christian proselytizers shouldering what they call ‘la mission sacre’ of civilizing the savage peoples see the Dayak culture as ‘obsolete yeast’, worth disposing. The ‘obsolete yeast’ concept tends to drain the Dayak of their culture and fill them out with new values," says Kusni. The policy was exercised not only in Central Kalimantan, but also in East, West and South Kalimantan. Further, Christianity was considered as a savior and a symbol of modernization. The impact has been great. The Christians are uncomfortable attending funerals and weddings of pagans.
In a West Kalimantan village, used as a base by a Christian mission, posters are plastered all over the place to intimidate Dayaks from practicing their cultural traditions. A poster in illustrates a path branching in two. The left is "the road to hell", with a picture of a ritual at the end of the road. The right is "the road to heaven", with a picture of modern life is seen at the end of the road.
Society
Kinship in Iban society is traced in both lines. Although, in Dayak Iban society, men and women possess equal rights in status and property ownership, political office has strictly been the occupation of the traditional Iban Patriarch. Overall Iban leadership in any given region, is marked by titles, a Penghulu for instance would have invested authority on behalf of a network of Tuai Rumah's, and so on to a Temenggung or Panglima. It must be noted that individual Dayak groups have their social and hierarchy systems defined internally, and these differ widely from Ibans to Ngajus and Benuaqs to Kayans.The most salient feature of Dayak social organisation is the practice of Longhouse domicile. This is a structure supported by hardwood posts that can be hundreds of metres long, usually located along a terraced river bank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which the individual households can be reached. The Iban of the Kapuas and Sarawak have organised their Longhouse settlements in response to their migratory patterns. Iban Longhouses vary in size, from those slightly over 100 metres in length to huge settlements over 500 metres in length. Longhouses have a door and apartment for every family living in the longhouse. For example, a Longhouse of 200 doors is equivalent to a settlement of 200 families.
Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture, in particular to the Iban. There used to be a tradition of retaliation for old headhunts, which kept the practise alive. External interference by the reign of the Brooke Rajahs in Sarawak and the Dutch in their part of Borneo managed to break this tradition. In contrast with South American practices, not the shrunken head (the skin without the skull), but the skull was kept. The captured enemy heads were triumphally brought back to the settlement, received by the women, tied with rattan and hung in bundles from the ceiling of the longhouses. The skulls were placed over the hearths. Each community had a special warrior (Tau serang) who led the raids against the enemy. But besides such massive raids, there were also individual retaliation attacks or they could be the result of chance encounters in the forest. Sarawak Government Resident reports describe victorious Iban War parties with captured enemy heads. At various times, there have been massive coordinated raids in the interior, and throughout coastal Borneo, directed by the Sarawak Government during Brooke's reign. This may have given rise to the term, Sea Dayak, although, throughout the 19th Century, Sarawak Government raids and independent expeditions appeared to have been carried out as far as Brunei, Mindanao, East coast Malaya, Jawa and Celebes. Tandem diplomatic relations between the Sarawak Government (Brooke Rajah) and Britain (East India Company and the Royal Navy) acted as a pivot and a deterrence to the former's territorial ambitions, against the more passive Dutch colonial administration in the Kalimantan regions and client Sultanates.
Metal-working is elaborately used for making mandaus (machetes - 'parang' in Indonesian ). The blade is made of a softer iron, to prevent breakage, with a narrow strip of a harder iron wedged into a slot in the cutting edge for sharpness. The headhunting necessitated being able to draw the parang quickly. For this purpose, the mandau is fairly short, which also better serves the purpose of trailcutting in dense forest. It is holstered with the cutting edge facing upwards and at that side there is an upward protrusion on the handle, so it can be drawn very quickly with the side of the hand without having to reach over and grasp the handle first. The hand can then grasp the handle while it is being drawn. The combination of these three factors (short, cutting edge up and protrusion) makes for an extremely fast drawing-action. The ceremonial mandaus used for dances are as beautifully adorned with feathers as the dresses are. There are various terms to describe different types of Dayak blades. The Nyabor is the traditional Iban Scimitar, Parang Ilang is common to Kayan and Kenyah Swordsmiths, and Duku is a multipurpose farm tool and machete of sorts.
Dayaks like to party. Not only during festive occasions like weddings, but also impromptu, such as for the arrival of a guest (with the advent of tourism this is, however, either not done for every visitor or made into a tourist attraction). A very potent liquor is served on such occasions and one is supposed to get severely inebriated. Ceremonial dances are performed in very colourful dresses and feather headdresses with elaborate parangs.
Another popular drug beside alcohol is tobacco, which is grown locally and can be of high quality. The use of sirih (betelnut) is also fairly widespread.
Politics
Dayaks in Indonesia and Malaysia have figured prominently in the politics of these countries. Organised Dayak political representation in Indonesian State first appeared in Kalimantan in the form of the Dayak Unity Party (Parti Persatuan Dayak) during the late 19th century and crystallised with the formation of the DUP. Dayaks in Sarawak in this respect, compare very poorly with their organised cousins and brethren in Kalimantan due to in no part, the personal fiefdom that was the Brooke Rajah dominion. Political circumtances aside, the Dayaks in Kalimantan actively organised under various associations beginning with the Sarekat Dayak established in 1919, to the Parti Dayak in the 40s, and to the present day, where Dayaks occupy key positions in government.In Sarawak, Dayak political activism had its roots in the SNAP (Sarawak National Party) and Pesaka during post independence construction in the 1960s. These parties shaped to a certain extent Dayak politics in the State, although never enjoying the real privileges and benefits of Chief Ministerial power relative to its large electorate. It can be said that successive Key Dayak parties in the State of Sarawak acquiesced real political credibility in favour of personal short term gain in junior ministerial posts and token positions in the Prime Minister's Cabinet and the ruling coalition government. Nevertheless, Dayaks dominate Sarawak politics and are present in all political formations within the State Barisan Nasional.
Under Indonesia's transmigration programme, settlers from densely-populated Java and Madura were encouraged to settle in the Kalimantan provinces, but their presence was, and still is, resented by Dayaks. The large scale transmigration projects initiated by the Dutch and continued by present Javanese governments, caused widespread breakdown in social and community cohesion during the late 20th Century. In 2001 the Indonesian government ended the gradual Javanese settlement of Kalimantan that began under Dutch rule in 1905.
From 1996 to 2003 there were systemic and violent attacks on Madurese settlers, including a resurgence of the beheading practices. Inevitably, order was restored by the Military but this was somewhat too late in application.