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The Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borneo.In Malaysia,most Ibans are located in Sarawak,a small portion in Sabah and some in west Malaysia. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion. A long time ago, being a very strong and successful warring tribe, the Ibans were a very feared tribe in Borneo. They speak the Ibanlanguage.

Today, the days of headhunting and piracy are long gone and in has come the modern era of globalization and technology for the Ibans. The Iban population is concentrated in Sarawak, Brunei, and in the West Kalimantan region of Indonesia. They live in longhouses called rumah panjai. Most of the Iban longhouses are equipped with modern facilities such as electricity and water supply and other facilities such as (tar sealed) roads, telephone lines and the internet. Younger Ibans are mostly found in urban areas and visit their hometowns during the holidays. The Ibans today are becoming increasingly urbanised while (surprisingly) retaining most of their traditional heritage and culture.

The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Ibanwas an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia).

The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.

The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.

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The Ibans were traditionally animist, although the majority are now Christian, some of them Muslim and many continue to observe both Christian and traditional ceremonies, particularly during marriages or festivals.

Significant festivals include the rice harvesting festival Gawai Dayak, the main festival for the Ibans.Other festivals include the bird festival Gawai Burong and the spirit festival Gawai Antu. The Gawai Dayak festival is celebrated every year on the 1st of June, at the end of the harvest season, to worship the Lord Sempulang Gana. On this day, the Ibans get together to celebrate, often visiting each other. The Iban traditional dance, the ngajat, is performed accompanied by the taboh and gendang, the Ibans’ traditional music. Pua Kumbu, the Iban traditional cloth, is used to decorate houses. Tuak, which is originally made of rice, is a wine used to serve guests. Nowadays, there are various kinds of tuak, made with rice alternatives such as sugar cane, ginger and corn.

The Gawai Burong (the bird festival) is held in honour of the War God, Singalang Burong. The name Singalang Burong literally means “Singalang the Bird”. This festival is initiated by a notable individual from time to time and hosted by individual longhouses. The Gawai Burong originally honoured warriors, but during more peaceful times evolved into a healing ceremony. The recitation of pantun (traditional chants by poets) is a particularly important aspect of the festival.

For the majority of Ibans who are Christians, some Chrisitian festivals such as Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and other Christian festivals are also celebrated. Most Ibans are devout Christians and follow the Christian faith strictly.

Despite the difference in faiths, Ibans of different faiths do help each other during Gawais and Christmas. Differences in faith is never a problem in the Iban community. The Ibans believe in helping and having fun together. This is ironic for a tribe who once waged war with others due to differences.

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Iban music is percussion-oriented. The Iban have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles – percussion ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drones without any accompanying melodic instrument. The typical Iban agung ensemble will include a set of engkerumungs (small agungs arranged together side by side and played like a xylophone), a tawak (the so-called ‘bass’), a bendai (which acts as a snare) and also a set of ketebung (a single sided drum/percussion).

The Iban as well as the Kayan also play an instrument resembling the flute called ‘Sape’. The Sape is the official musical instrument for the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is played similarly to the way rock guitarists play guitar solos, albeit a little slower, but not as slow as blues. One example of Iban traditional music is the taboh.

The Ibans perform a unique dance called the ngajat. It serves many purposes depending on the occasion. During Gawais, it is used to entertain the people who in the olden days enjoy graceful ngajats as a form of entertainment. Iban men and women have different styles of ngajat. The ngajat involves a lot of precise body-turning movements. The ngajat for men is more aggressive and depicts a man going to war, or a bird flying (as a respect to the Iban god of war, Singalang Burong). The women’s form of ngajat consists of soft, graceful movements with very precise body turns. Each ngajat is accompanied by the taboh or the body.

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The loincloths was once of the most basic markers of cultural identity, is now distinctively ignored among modern Ibans. Even the so called expert such as the anthropologists give a word or two regarding it, then pass on to other matters. The writers on customs seems to forgot the topics altogether.  For as the Dutchman Karl Martin said of the Sulawesi loincloth a hundred years ago, “once it’s on it’s hard to figure out how it got that way.” Some may thinks, a paper on the loincloth ought to be brief and cover only the essentials. Yet just as we wear clothes for more reasons than mere utility, and dress decorates as much as it hides, the subject of the loincloth furnishes an occasion for remarks on history, culture, and psychology.

The reasons why it did not attracts any attention of the scholar, though the purpose of the loincloth is to cover the male genitals, it leaves the buttocks bare. Most peoples feel shame about all or part of the genitals; but it seems to be a peculiarly western trait to feel equal shame about the buttocks, probably from a fear of homosexuality, an anxiety which also seems to grow with civilization. Hence, westerners have always considered the loincloth an immodest garment.

The loincloth is a garment of great antiquity, the original men’s clothing of most of the world, and particularly of the Malayo-Polynesian area, which includes the islands of the Pacific Ocean as far east as Hawaii and as far south as New Zealand, the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines, the Malay peninsula, the island of Madagascar to the west, and mainland places inhabited by such Dayak-like peoples as the Mnongs of Vietnam, the Mru of Bangladesh and the Nagas of Assam. On the continent west of India the loincloth is unknown. In Malaya, Java, Bali, and elsewhere, the loincloth was replaced by the skirtlike kain because of Hindu influence,while the sarong (a sewn tube of cloth) is an Islamic import.  It is worth noting that in the Balinese wayang kulit, the most venerable character, Twalen, wears a loincloth and not a skirt. Twalen is both a funny rustic servant and one of the highest of gods, and it has been suggested that his character represents the pre-Hindu and animist “native” nature of the Balinese.

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PANTANG (tattoo)

Dayak tattoo mythology

All aspects of Dayak tattooing showed a great reverence for ancestors, the departed spirits who resided in the ‘village of the dead’, as well as nature – the Dayak believing that plants contained the same type of life force as humans and animals. Performed by Shaman known as ‘manang’ to the Iban tribe of Borneo, tattoos were performed to show rites of passage such as a successful head-hunt, to cure illness which was sometimes believed to be due to evil spirits, or to mark women’s ability with textiles and their status in the tribe. In Iban mythology and religious belief, all humans were formed by Selempandai, the Iban blacksmith god who forges human beings, and if a person’s illness was thought to be caused by evil spirits, a name changing ceremony was sometimes performed along with a new tattoo near the wrist, in order to conceal the person from the evil spirit by changing them spiritually in the same way as Selempandai forged humans.

According to tradition, a departed Iban soul encountered numerous obstacles in searching the land of ancestors (heaven). The toughest obstacle was the River of Death. Only the soul that was properly tattooed was able to cross the bridge that spanned the river. The soul’s tattoos began to shine and guide the soul to the heaven. Meanwhile, Maligang, the bridge guardian, refused such passage to those failing souls, forcing them to descend into the river to be eaten by Patan, a giant fish.

Common Borneo tribal designs

Other than those beliefs, Iban tattooing was also an initiation rite in the community and served as vital elements of beauty for women.

Iban tattoos are specific to particular parts of the body. For instance, images of jar appear on the neck, the brinjal flower on the forepart of shoulders; scorpion on the hands and other images appear regularly on the backs and legs. Interestingly, tattoos for women are predominantly on the hands and forearms with limited designs like bracelet, ring and dot; and tattoos on the throat are distinctively meant for men only.

Dogs, Scorpions, Tigers,The Hornbill, Tuba root, the Garing tree, and Rosettes feature highly in Borneo designs, as well as other images all depicting features of nature, such as bamboo. These designs denoted spiritual assistance, protection, prestige, and tribal identity among other things.

How do they do it?

Iban tattooing was carried out outside the longhouse. The designs were first drawn with soot from burnt resin onto the parts of the body to be tattooed. Using ancient dye-recipes and a special tool with one or more sharp points embedded in native rubber on the one end, a skilled tattoo artist hammered against the tool with a wooden stick to pierce the body, resulting in excruciating pain. After working on the designs, a rice-flour paste was applied to cool the tattooed areas.

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The Iban have created one of the most extensive bodies of folklore in human history, including more than one dozen types of epic, myth, and chant. Women weave intricate fabrics and men produce a variety of wood-carvings.

Iban women are superb weavers using the backstrap loom. Most men are skilled in the use of the piston bellows. In addition to weaving blankets and other cloths, women weave mats and baskets.

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The Ibans were traditionally animist, although the majority are now Christian, some of them Muslim and many continue to observe both Christian and traditional ceremonies, particularly during marriages or festivals.

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There were approximately 400,000 Iban in the state of Sarawak in 1989 (368,208 in 1980). Reliable figures for Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island, are unavailable.

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https://sites.google.com/site/1132702581v1/traditional-costumes-of-different-races/iban

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https://ibancustoms.wordpress.com/iban-traditional-clothing-and-attire/

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http://minorityrights.org/minorities/orang-asli/

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https://dayakwithgoldenhair.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/the-female-iban-attire-ngepan-in du-iban

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https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/NorhidayuRosman/development-of-education-system-in-malaysia-preindependence

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https://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/the-early-iban-way-of-life/