21-23 October is planned for a massive communal tiwah in the upper Rungan area in the longhouse village of Tumbang Malahoi and another in an adjacent village.
These sababuka or masked, anonymous village guardians are protecting the village of Tewang Rangas during its tiwah ritual last year. The colourful masks and imaginative costumes are part of many such rituals in Borneo in a variety of forms. I have seen guardians swathed in fresh lake weed, giants in colourful batiks and others with huge fierce masks. You could join us 21-23 October to experience the unique Rungan tradition.
Many of the activities will be centred around the traditional ironwood longhouse, where totem poles and a bone house or sandung, already stand. The ancestor bones are generally placed in family sandungs at the end of the ceremony, removed by families from the main site of the events to their own sandungs, sometimes overgrown with vegetation.
Our program will cover the 3 days, and will provide simple accommodation and food in the village. We will follow the activities as they unfold giving plenty of opportunities for learning about the meaning of each part of the ritual and for photographs. This will include animal sacrifices, communal cooking, shaman led ceremonies and parades. Our normal village visit is covered at this link http://www.wowborneo.com/tours/longhouse-culture-and-trekking/dayak-cultural-and-longhouse-tour-malahoi-longhouse-3d2n/ and our special tiwah event will follow a similar overall time schedule. Get more information at info@wowborneo.com
