Planted in a pot on my front balcony is a clump of bamboo. I don’t recall where we got it but we moved it from our home in River Bank Suites to Riverrine Emerald at least five years ago. We watered it when we remembered and a bird built a nest in the very top when we were in the States. I never thought much of it until I asked if there was any significant ritual with bamboo.
One Malay lady across the river believe it a symbol of good luck. They also believed that when two people were quarreling, a small piece of bamboo, toothpick size, was secured from a Dukun and brought into the house. The bamboo would stop the argument and couple would end up ….well together…if you catch my drift. The sound of the wind whistling through the bamboo in the deep forest was considered “passionate bamboo” and pieces of it were secured by the Dukun to bring back to the kampong.
The Dusun people have taken the bamboo to new heights. An article in the Sarawak Museum in 1959 by E. White elaborated. They believed the plant to have fertility properties for both crops and people.
A ceremony was initiated by the priestess (bebalian) about once every four years. A conference was held to determine the approriate day. When the day was decided, the people of the longhouses would slaughter the chickens, pigs and buffalo.
On the appointed day, the people would meet at the central house at around 10 a.m. dressed in their best clothes. The men would walk to the bamboo where they cleared away the grass and dead spikes of the plant. The bebalian would lead the young women and they would dance around the bamboo, gongs being sounded through out the day.
As part of the ritual, rice wine (tapai) was brewed and a bamboo about two meters high was filled with the potent elixer. It was given to each person. They drank it slowly but steadily throughout the ceremony.
A small stream was dammed and the water was used to flush the sickness away from humans. If there was no stream, water from bamboo would be sprinkled on the ill.
The procession would continue to the main house. When it was about 140 feet away, the bebalian walked up to the main house and killed and plucked the chicken. The main feathers were given to the house and land owners.
After the praying, the evil spitrits (Tambiruau) were placated. People away from the village and the sick had their names called and blessings for all the domestic animals and crops were made.
The next day, a piece of special grass (saguman or cherai) was planted together with a plucked feather on each land site. Special prayers were made and the ceremony lasted about 10 minutes per site. More tapai is drunk from bamboo poles.
Here, the writing gets a bit confused. I think it means that while the villagers are drinking, people from other villages are not permitted into the host village unless the Bebalian is paid one chicken. Rice cannot be sold but husked rice can be marketed.
The Bebalian is not a hereditary post. Anyone can be a bebalian if she can find one that will teach her. The cost is one pig, one fowl, one tin of padi and some cloth. The course lasts for two years.
The bebalian attire consists of a hand made blouses and sarongs of traditional design. The back of the blouse is embroidered with small floral designs. If a non qualified person dons these clothes she will become mad. An ordinary conical hat is headress. When praying, the bebalian waves the spirits away.
Our book “Sarawak River Valley: Early times to 1840” is available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com. There are some availble in Malay and English in the Smart Book stores in Kuching.
