DYAK BURIAL CUSTOMS

 REV. WILIAM HOWELL

It is necessary first of all to explain what baya is.Baya are things given to a deceased person.These things are either buried with the deceased or placed on the grave.The baya consists of things which belong to the deceased and things which are given by friends.

      Whilst a person is breathing his last the baya is immediately put aside for him.Friends and relations who come to see him contribute to it.But as soon as life is extinct it becomes tabooed for anyone living to contribute to it.

      At the moment life is extinct the mouth and eyes are closed by some near relation, the wife or his own child.The corpse is washed and clothed and raw rice is sprinkled on the chest.The body is then taken out to the covered verandah of the house (ruai) with the mat on which he died, and carefully walled round with home-made  blankets (pua kumbu) or mats.All the women enter the enclosure and surround the corpse, and wail at the tops of their voices.The baya is taken out of the room and is put on the passage of the house, with a little hearth and light on it,raw rice and a live fowl.If the coffin is to be taken up to the house two live fowls are required for propitiation.

      The lamentation of the women whilst watching the corpse is by no means deficient in poetry.It is exceedingly striking and most heart-rending to listen to it.Every one recalls the loss she once suffered, and entreats the dead and the spirits etc. to take her too.It runs thus:-“Adopt me, Spirit, and take me to the cemetery at the river called Pedalai.Lift me up, whirlwind, to the highest parts of heaven”.And various other sayings, which would fill a volume.

       For a few hours only the corpse is allowed to be in the house, unless the death has taken place at night when a longer time is permitted.With the Dyaks, immediately a person is dead he must be separated from the living.A deceased person is called a spirit(antu), and is dangerous to the living.The corpse is then taken to the cemetery with the baya, a live fowl, raw rice and the cooking pot.At the edge of the cemetery some halt with the fowl, fire, raw rice and the cooking pot.The rest quickly proceed into the cemetery bearing the corpse and the baya.Those who halt at the edge of the cemetery cook the rice and kill the fowl for their consumption*.The blood of the fowl is put in a bamboo for the purpose of propitiation.

      With other tribes the corpse and all halt at the edge of the cemetery. After everybody has eaten and has touched the toe of his foot, they proceed into the cemetery to bury the dead.

On the ground where the grave is to be dug some raw rice has to be sprinkled. If there be no coffin some make it and others dig the grave.

      The interring of the dead is executed with great haste for fear of a bad omen. Much care is

(*Any food left must be thrown away there: it may not be brought home.

taken that no green leaves go into the grave for fear the deceased should thereby be offended and haunt them. On the return home all of them cut, out of the branches of trees, hooks and place them on their shoulders. This signifies that the hooks keep the soul back from wandering about in Hades. As soon as the halting place is reached at the edge of the cemetery the propitiation of touching the toes with the blood of the fowl begins.All partake of the rice and fowl.The last man drives a piece of wood into the ground at the edge of the cemetery and everybody throws away his wooden hook.*)

      The driving of a piece of wood at the edge of the cemetery, by the last man, signifies a barrier put between the living and the dead, and between Hades and this world.The raw rice, first sprinkled on the ground where the grave is to be dug is to compensate the earth, or rather I should say Pulang Gana, the god of the earth.

      No portion of the soil of the cemetery is allowed to enter their house.Everybody washes himself clean before he enters the house.If the soil is brought to the house plagues will be the result.

      The bereaved persons confine themselves to their room for three days in order to undergo their adat or custom called bepana.The rite of bepana is mourning including a mild kind of fasting.During this time the fire in the room is kept lighted, and at every meal time, when scanty food is served, a part is thrown under the house as a share for the deceased.After the third day of bepana has expired the relatives beserara bangkit, which means perform the rite of entirely separating themselves from the deceased.It involves the putting out of the fire, the mourners are fed by a friend, and a medicine man(manang) waves a fowl over their heads, simultaneously reciting a poetic prayer to the effect that their souls may continue to live.The fowl that is waved becomes a propitiatory sacrifice on behaif of the mourners.

      The three days of bepana are stringently observed.All the inmates of the house rest from their daily pursuits.The usual mirth and jollity is hushed and sadness alone reigns throughout the house.To the memory of the deceased something is held sacred, either an article of jewellery or a fruit tree of some sort; but it must be the property of the deceased.The length of time this property is considered sacred depends upon whether the relatives have consummated the feast for the dead, called berantu.Until this feast is passed the property is still held sacred.

      With the Saribas Dyaks, the blood of the fowl that is killed at the halting place at the cemetery is brought home and is placed at the ladder on the ground.All the women that wail for the deceased go down and touch their toes with the blood for a propitiation.

      Each tribe has its own peculiarity.Among the Undup, Balau, the Batang Ai a professional wailer has first to be sought for or rather engaged.When a person dies a professional wailer is

(*Often done by several.Twigs are enough; driven in tip first (for everything in Hades is back to front and upside down) to make a fence which the antu cannot pass.)

engaged either immediately or two or three days after the death occurs.This is called the rite of nyabak nerengka, which means lamenting the deceased in order that he may travel direct to Hades.It appears that, with the Dyaks, unless the ceremony of nyabak nerengka is performed the soul of the dead wanders about in the unseen world and will never reach Hades.

      The professional wailer is generally a gifted person, skilled in poetry, and is supposed to possess an intimate knowledge of all that befalls the dead on their journey to Hades through the unseen regions.She avers that the soul has to pass seven places of the utmost importance before it reaches its destination.Therefore unless the sabak nerengka is properly performed the soul will never reach Hades will encounter the greatest danger.She avers also that while giving the soul assistance she is herself treading on dangerous soil, and therefore demands a large fee for steering the soul of the departed into its haven of everlasting bliss.

      The proceeding in nyabak nerengka is considered to be a complete sacrifice to the powers reigning in Hades.The wailer sits on a swing in the room of the deceased, and her opening words are couched in the choicest poetry which charms and fascinates her hearers who delight in such fictions.She commences by severely blaming all the materials of the building for not holding back the soul of the deceased.This undoubtedly points to the fact that the Dyaks regard such inanimate objects as gods.She then traces the journey of the soul in its six perilous positions.Firstly, towards the country of the Tigers; secondly, towards the Kayu malam; thirdly, towards the abode of the bird Dundun; fourthly, towards the haunt of the bird Undan; fifthly, towards the country of the Great Wind; and sixthly, towards Hades, and when it arrives it throws itself down as one who has endured great fatigue.As the soul is in that unconscious state through the fatigue of its incessant journey Dara Rambai Geruda Salabong Kanggan brings it refreshment and through her magic revives it, and enables it to partake of it with a good appetite.

NOTE:  The professional mourner is here referred to as a woman,which is usual nowadays.In Howell’s original text there was some inconsistency; the professional mourner was referred to as a woman in some of the text, as a man in other parts of the text. (Actually, the wailer can be a man or a woman - Jimmy Donald)