Bau and the Bidayuh
Kampong Gumbang
Kampong Gumbang is located in the rural Bau district of Sarawak. At the time (1986) the village was only available on foot, where the trail goes up and down through the secondary forest, with a long final climb to the village.
Of special interest is one of the few remaining head houses (baruk) in the Bidayuh area. The baruk sits on the highest point of the kampong with houses nearby. It is raised from the ground by one meter on one side next to the mountain and about three meters on the other side. The baruk is square instead of circular and has a corrugated metal roof as opposed to a thatched roof. Further, it lacks the bird effigy on the pinnacle.
In describing the structure, the floor is made of bamboo and there is a raised platform along the sides. The hearth is located in the centre. The baruk contains four skulls which hang from the rafters and two deer skulls. The building is in poor condition, with a section of the roof worn away and leaks in the other parts of the roof. The entire structure could collapse if not repaired.
The villagers report the skulls are occasionally cleaned and given offerings. However, the main skull festival has not been held in many years. After further enquiry, the last skull festival was held in 1958. (this was 1986). When asked if another ritual would be held, the anthropologist was told the guy who was responsible for the ritual had died, but there were a few others that knew the procedure. Furthermore, if the entire village had converted to Christianity, then the traditions of the past would be abandoned.
Although Christianity had been introduced, it had not been firmly established in the village. There were four Christian families who were teachers and went away and came back converted to the religion.
In Kampung Omar, located near Kampong Gumbang, most of the people had converted to Christianity but kept the tradition of the skull festival as a matter of Bidayuh pride. Their baruk was visited by Malaysians and foreigners. It had become a major tourist attraction.
Old kampongs like Gumbang are repositories for the history of Jagoi Bidayuh which is now poorly understood. As had once been written by others, the Jagoi Bidayuh did not live in longhouses but in single-family homes. They lived in villages, with the bone house at the centre of the cluster.
The idea that the Bidayuh moved upland to the mountains to avoid the raiding Iban people is questionable. Almost ten years after the first Western visitors, the people are still in the uplands and have not moved back down to the lowlands. The concept of lowland highland migration is because the raiding does not hold water.
On the other hand, Brooke claims that when he visited Mt. Singge he found the people “filthy and dirty filled with half-starving dogs and pigs”. This quote is probably euro centric in nature and does not adequately describe the people living there. One must look through the lens of a fastidious gay guy and read another interpretation of how the people lived.
A Visit to Kampong Gumbang and some thoughts on the cultural history of Dayak Bidayuh Jagoi by Robert L. Winzler BRB vol 20, #1 April 1990
This article was condensed by Tom McLaughlin with permission from the Borneo Research Bureau.
