Dusk of the Dayak Art

They have not only been deprived of their

forestry claim by the industrial age, but
also weakened their cultural values by
the pressure of the outer world.

November 1974. Hendrawanto Pandji Akbar Luthan
or as he is called, Deddy Luthan, was then 23 years
old. The student of the Creative Artists major of the
Jakarta Art Educational Academy –now Jakarta Art
Institute- departed aboard the Hercules aircraft from
the Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta. His destination; Balikpapan
of East Kalimantan.

From Balikpapan, he boarded a boat towards the inland of Kutai, still in
East Kalimantan. At those times, there was only a number of land transportation.
The main transports were small boats crossing hundreds of kilometers
of the river. Both banks of the river are bushed with rain forest.
After a two days and two night’s trip, he arrived at the Long Less Village of
Muara Ancalong in Samarinda. It is here that he observed the life and arts
of the Dayak community for preparation of his proficiency study test. He
went in-depth to the cultural society life that is beyond his own in Jakarta.
There he lived with the Kenyah and Modang Tribes.

Just three weeks into settling with the Dayak people there, he found a
disturbing oddness. During that rainy season, by the river bank of Long
Le’es he witnessed ancient statues of all sizes that belonged to the Dayak
people, laid. Some were carried off by the water flow. Those hundred year
old statues made of ulin wood were treated as useless items.

His body shook to see so many old models laid about and discarded at the
river bank. “How could ancient articles be thrown away so easily? What
is really happening? Why is cultural creations be put to such waste?” his
heart wallowed, saddened.

At the same time, Javanese and Banjar settlers were head to head in getting
the old items. As if finding a box full of gold, they sold those statues
in the City of Samarinda with process up to millions of rupiah. When the
Dayak people places the statues as part of their belief, the Javanese and
Banjars consider them nothing more than high-valued artistic items to be
marketed amongst art lovers.

Deddy was moved to find out about this seemingly unusual act. One Tribe
casts away old statues, while the other picks them out and sells them.

It was not until the following week that he found out why. It turned out that
the obscene doing was influenced by Christianity teaching. The new missionary
that was spreading the Christian belief condemned the existence
of the statues. Those missionaries gained two supremacies in the eyes of
the Dayak people: one is the knowledge of Christian teachings, including
biblical intelligence, and the holy mission that they bring.

Deddy could not let go easily the discarding of those statues, because
cultural creations cannot simply be thrown away. “If this continues the
Dayak people may lose their identity. They may have new faith, but they
can lose their customs and identity which for hundreds of years have
been their way of life,” expressed the choreographer whom since the year
of 1974 to date still makes the time to live for several months amongst the
Dayak community in East Kalimantan.

He argued a missionary. The following is the debate that went on in the
front of Tribal Assembly Hall.

“Why were those statues discarded to the river?” enquired Deddy
Luthan.“We did to allow them complete faith towards the Lord. They
must not return to their ancient belief. If those things (statues) still remain
within their sight, they will be haunted to come back to being submissive
to their old faith,” explained the missionary.

The ancient belief he was implying to is the animism and dynamism; entrenched
and ancient faith that has become the devotion of Dayak people.

“Those models are cultural creations that need not to be thrown away.
Those were merely tools of their worship. They could have been preserved
as cultural articles. It is your duty to explain to them so they follow the
path of God,” claimed Deddy.

“Who can guarantee that they won’t return to their old faith?”

“It should be within your mission to teach them how to have a good devotion.
I can assist in explaining the statue as a relic.”

Deddy came up with the idea to keep the statues from considered condemned
items.

“Place those statues as relics, to become the identity of the art of Dayak
people,” he concluded.

The idea found by Deddy, who was an “outsider” but later on was considered
as the foster child of the Dayak community, receive positive responses.
It would be much better, he added, if those ancient models were
to be placed in front of the Tribal Assembly Hall. It should be placed in
an open room to allow surveillance to their presence. It was unfortunate
that Deddy was only there for two months.

As it turned out, statues were not the only items the missionaries disallowed,
but also musical instruments and other Dayak arts. For the missionaries,
to convert to a new faith means to leave behind symbols, activities
and ancient traditions.

Though the missionary movements were progressing, to late 1980’s the
Dayak community was divided into two major groups: those that embraced
the new faith and those who remains devoted to their ancient beliefs.

Then in year 1978 Deddy Luthan returned to the inland of East Kalimantan.
He witnessed relics stood strongly before the Tribal Assembly Hall.

He was at peace, for those cultural creations still remain until today.

The new religions that arrive often times condemn traditions which are
considered as part of the prior faith. They not only forbid, but at times
dispose of the symbols of the old beliefs. Almost all of the religions that
rooted back from the time of Abraham have chastity dimensions those
are inconsiderate to the local culture.

Fortunately, in the upcoming progress, the gospel missionaries in Dayak became
aware of the significance in upholding the community’s traditions.

The Dayak community possesses plenty of art products. Dances, music,
poetries, articles, crafts, and literacy are part of the Dayak Tribe existence.

The Punan Tribe, for example, builds house trees that are livable by three
to four families. This house is made simple because they are nomadic
hunters. There is a belief there that once a family member departed, the
tree house should immediately be abandoned. It is such because the
house they live in will be no longer healthy and could pass on misfortune
to those still living, according to their belief.

Besides the tree house, there is the Lamin (long) house. This high house
can be settled by 40 to 60 families. The width is around 10-15 meters and
the length could reach up to hundreds of meters. Each family has their
own loft for the entire members to live in. The necessities of water, washing,
lavatory and bathing; are fulfilled by the rivers that are many in East
Kalimantan. It is in this house that togetherness; collective works and traditional
values are preserved and taught in everyday life.

According to Deddy Luthan, the daily routines of Dayak people have
major influence to their culture. Day to day they live in the forests and
are always close to nature. In the wild they are self-taught to be swift, responsive,
and versatile in doing anything. That is because the forest gives
out challenges like wild animals, snakes, and limited food supply.

When they hunt, as the Punan Tribe does, like it or not they have to move
fast to catch their prey. Different from the lives of modern people, who only
hunt to fulfill the family’s needs for several days. There is no greedy behavior
of wanting to take out the entire animals from the forest. This kind of living
is certainly distinguished from that of the city that is far from the forest.

Besides hunting, some of them farm. As their attitude in hunting, they
plant the paddy not to be sold, but for a year long supply. This is caused
by their dependence on a traditional planting pattern where the irrigation
depends solely to rainfall.

Those who cultivate dry-land also do it for daily survival. Even so, they do
not damage nor clear the forest by fire. They apply the five sites cycle system
in cultivating. When one site is no longer fertile, they move on to the second
site. So on with the second and subsequent sites until they start back to the
first cultivating site. Local insight becomes their lifelong guidelines.

Besides the art of sculpture and architecture, the quite rooted and popular
art known amongst the Dayak community is the dance art. Of the many
Dayak Tribes, each has their own particular dances. Although they speak
different languages and different types of dancing, according to Deddy,
for the Dayak people, the art serves multi-functionally: tradition, rituals,
and healing. There is no such word as entertainment in the Dayak
community’s book. “When there are lyrics, enchantments, or music that
seems entertaining, it must be coincidental,” said the choreographer and
dance tutor of the Jakarta Art Institute.

Art for the people of Dayak is part of their life. The artistic activities they
perform are inseparable from daily routines. Artist in this context is not a
profession, yet the activity for the good of the community. Here, various
art forms belong to the community.

Even so, their dance movements are soft, far from their hard and rough
everyday life. Most dances are performed massively. They do it with the
symbolic of gentle and agile beauty.

For instance the war dance of Kancet Papatai. This dance tells the story
of a warrior from Dayak Kenyah in a battle against the enemy. The movement
of the dancer is lively, swift, and full of stamina. At times the dancer
will let out energetic yells. The dancer dresses in traditional Dayak Kenyah
Tribe attire, equipped with the mandau, shield, and war gear. The
Sampeq instruments backgrounds this dance performance.

Even though the word “war” is used, this dance is far from the impression
of war using mandaus. When in Javanese dances the war scenes are often
times expressed in a vulgar manner, this war dance shows the dance by
force of the shields. Their held mandaus are never used, unlike the force
of spears in Javanese dances. “The movement of the war dance is the personification
of forest birds’ movements,” explained Deddy Luthan.

Besides mass dances, the prime dance is the solo dance. This is the dance
that shows skills and professionalism in dancing. In mass dance, slight
mistakes can be overlooked to make it seem like a perfect dance.

The Kanjet Lasan Dance is one of the solo dances. This dance portraits daily
life of the Enggang bird. For the people of Dayak Kenyah, the Enggang
bird is a noble bird regarded as the symbol of greatness and heroism.
The musical instruments use in Dayak dances are among others the
sampeq, jatung utang (similar to antique xylophone), traditional flute,
and genggong (udiyeng).

The Belian Sentiyu Dance of the Benuaq Tribe is the healing dance for the ill. This dance will only be performed when an ill person needs it. There
are phases within this particular dance.

According to Hertalina, a dancer of Dayak origin, each phase is performed
with mantra chants, and also the process of sacrificing chicken,
pigs and mules. The mantra ceremony is held to summon the spirit from
the sky which will cure the ill.

The phase is divided to three. In the first three days of illness, the person
is attempted to be healed by medicine. When there is no healing, five days
later he/she will be given a liquid remedy and the chicken sacrifice ceremony
is performed. This ceremony is to detect the kind of illness that the
person is enduring. When there is yet healing, four days later a follow-up
ceremony is held by sacrificing a pig. Lastly, the mule on the eighth night.
The final night is the conclusion. “When they heal, that’s good. When
they don’t, it usually means death,” explained Hertalina.

A live pig will be stepped on in order to transfer the ill one’s sickness to
it. Mantras are chanted to summon the spirit of great ancestors that will
cure the person.

Deddy Luthan once witnessed the healing episode of a patient. A dancer
sucks on the ill part of the person. From the dancer’s mouth, pebbles and
glasses come, to then be put on a plate. Though modern medics have entered
the modern community, “To date the Belian Sentiyu Dance is still
used for healing purposes,” Deddy claimed.

The popular dance amongst the Dayak community is the Hudo Dance. This
dance is a part of the Dayak Modang and Bahau Tribe rituals. The dance is
performed after the paddy harvest time. It is easy to recognize because of the
unique costumes and masks used. The dance is meant as a ceremony to cast
away rice field pests to prepare for the next planting season. The dance is
carried out massively by several villages by collective work.

There are three phases in this dance: the common Hudo as the symbol of
crop pests; the Punan Hudo as the symbol of casting away the rice field
pests; and the mad Hudo that brings up the energy of the paddy.

According to folktales of the Dayak community, this dance is performed
as a remembrance of their forefathers’ good deeds. There is a belief that
as planting season comes, the spirit of the great ancestors will always be
around them to guide and keep an eye on their descendants.

Unlike other Dayak dances, the costumes of this dance use banana and
palm leaves. That makes the production process of this dance elongated
for the time used in scouting for those leaves in the forest, and also in formulating
potions. The masks take on the form of robin bird or a pig. Both
are considered as the pests that damage rice fields. Due to that, in the last
scene of this dance, the dancers with the masks will be told to go.

This is more than just a dance. There is a strong belief that is the Hudo
Dance is not performed, crops will be ruined. In short, the harvest will
be unsuccessful if Hudo Dance is disregarded. In the contrary, when it is
performed, they believe the harvest will yield well.

Despite of all the said beautiful dances, the life for them nowadays has
changed. Dayak community today is no longer applying the dances as
only part of rituals and customs, but more for entertainment. “This is
an inevitable reality, because of the pressure by the outer world that has
penetrated Kalimantan inland,” regretted Deddy.

As he went a few months ago back to the interior of East Kalimantan, he
saw that the forests by the river banks had vanished, turned into meadows.
He also found satellite dishes and televisions in Dayak houses. This
is not a new thing. Since the last two decades, television has influence the
way Dayak people view their life. “Now there are poco-poco contests and
dangdut music. The dances those were part of their rituals have now become
an act of recreation in the celebration of Indonesia’s Independence
Day or during Christmas,” he disappointedly remarked.