Friday 27 August 2010

Thursday 26 August 2010

Sunday 22 August 2010

Niabor


The niabor is a kind of parang (sword) used by the Iban people of Sarawak in Borneo. In contrast to the mandau, the parang of their neighbours the Kayan people, the niabor is more curved, with a broader tip so the centre of gravity lies nearer the point.

Unlike many Bornean weapons, the blade is not decorated and there are no hair decorations on the hilt or wooden sheath. The V-shaped hilt, designed to protect the knuckles, is of elaborately carved antler and bound in brass rings. There is an unusual projection on a blunt section on the underside of the blade called a kundieng, which serves as a finger protector.

Mandau


Mandau is the Kayan term for the parang ilang (‘double knife’), the sword of the peoples of inland Borneo (Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan). The name refers to the main sword and a smaller, secondary knife, known as a piso raout, stored on the back of the scabbard. Here, this secondary sheath is covered in red textile.

The mandau is a slashing weapon, historically used for headhunting but also as an everyday machete. It is worn edge-upwards on the left hip, almost horizontally in the Japanese fashion. This example is highly decorated: the blade is inlaid with brass studs and both the carved wooden hilt and sheath are covered in tufts and fringes of hair, much as Kayan shields were. The sheath also features beadwork tassels, carved bone panels and hornbill feathers.

Jimpul

A hybrid between the Parang Ilang and the Langgai Tinggang, the Jimpul originated in the second half of the 19th century. The blade has flat sides and is curved. It starts from the hilt with a 4 to 5 cm rectangular shoulder (tamporian), then widens to the point and ends in a slanting angle or a rounded tip. A groove crosses the blade just below the tamporian and runs along the back of the blade, it is terminated at both ends with hooks (krowit), probably to symbolize the dragon/dog Aso. The blade is rarely decorated, this example has brass inlaid lines and small dots run along the groove and the tamporian.

The hilt is carved from antler or wood, similar to the Parang Ilang.


Krowit (hook)

Saturday 21 August 2010

After headhunting ceremony

Dayak women dancing with human heads.
A few days after the return of a successful head-hunding expedition, the heads, which have been hacked off the dead bodies, are brought triumphantly into the house. Then follows a time of rejoicing, in the course of which the heads are taken by the woman who, having performed fantastic dances, hang them beside the old ones. The presence of heads in the house is supposed to attract the beneficent spirits who abide around them, provided they are properly respected.

Kelabit tattoed woman

Beaded and tattooed beauties of the Kalabit tribe.
All Kalabit women are tattooed when they reach the age of sixteen. Bold zigzag bands are traced on the forearm, not completely encircling the limb, and strikingly decorative geometrical designs are tattooed on the thigh, the shin, and sometimes, on the knee-cap. They wear strings of large blue beads around the waist and wrist, and necklaces of smaller beads. ( Source : Charles Hose)

Bukitan people of Borneo


Ukits( Bukitan people) of the Rejang tattoo extensively. A bold hook pattern covers the chest, and a pattern known as the lizard adorns the sides of the shoulders. They wear brass earrings.Bukitan people now are extinct as most of them merge with other bigger tribe and become among them.

Saturday 14 August 2010

Weapon of Dayak warrior














there are several names to call this blade. Parang Ilang, Mandau, Malat, Baieng.
Parang Ilang in fact is the term applied by Malays and Sea-Dayaks to the weapons of the Kayans and allied tribes.
The biggest charactaristic is that the blade is convex at one and concave at the other side.

Penyebaran Suku Suku Dayak di Kalimantan


Penyebaran Suku-Suku Dayak di Kalimantan :

I.Dayak Ngaju :
  • Dayak Ngaju = 53 suku kecil
  • Dayak Maanyan = 8 suku kecil
  • Dayak Dusun = 8 suku kecil
  • Dayak Lawangan = 8 suku kecil
II.Dayak Apu Kayan :
  • Dayak Kenya = 24 suku kecil
  • Dayak Kayan = 10 suku kecil
  • Dayak Bahau = 26 suku kecil
III.Dayak Heban (Iban):
  • Dayak Heban = 11 suku kecil
IV.Dayak Klemantan :
  • Dayak Klemantan = 47 suku kecil
  • Dayak Ketungau = 40 suku kecil
V.Dayak Murut :
  • Dayak Murut = 28 suku kecil
  • Dayak Idaan = 6 suku kecil
VI.Dayak Punan :
  • Dayak Punan = 24 suku kecil
  • Dayak Basap = 20 suku kecil
  • Dayak Ot = 3 suku kecil
  • Dayak Bukat = 3 suku kecil
VII.Dayak Ot Danum :
  • Dayak Ot Danum = 61 suku kecil