Bidayuh Head Ceremony-Katang
Tom’s note: Probably the thing that strikes me is the amount of preparation it takes to please the spirits before the actual harvest begins.
These notes were made during 1963 in Kampong Sudoh, Singghai.
Katang is a festival used to placate the spirits of the heads taken in battle. Previously, this was done whenever a head was taken, but now (1963) it is done during hard times when there is sickness, a bad crop or lack of rain for the padi (rice). It is thought that if there is sickness, the heads are trying to get the spirits of the people who are still alive. The heads must be fed and their spirits made happy.
There are three principal actors in the ceremony. They are:
Pinginyam-a woman who helps divide the food, prepares the feast and says a blessing for the warriors.
Pijanga– an old woman, over 60, who is very knowledgeable about the customs (adat). She is in charge of blessing the warriors and becomes possessed by the spirits which give her great powers during the ceremony.
Pemancha-The leader of the warriors. A man.
Preparations for the ceremony begins two months before. Pigs, a very old rooster, chickens and a dog that will be killed at Pun Buan are collected.
On the first night of Katang, all the men of the eight villages gather together and proceed after dark to a place called Obut Pikatang at Kwong. Kwong is the name of a whole area of forest where no trees can be felled. It is inhabited by spirits. Obut Pikatang is part of the Kwong where the spirits actually live but only the Katang men can go there.
Each man wears a red loincloth called a Tawap, a highly decorated parang with feathers of a hornbill around the waist and a red cloth wrapped around the head. Each carries a gun, a throwing spear, a shield and a basket. The basket is used at the time of war to carry the heads of the enemy. This called a Juah Pingoyu.
The men all sit around in a circle in the Obut Pikatang and sing a song of war which goes roughly like this:
Do not waste your time hunting for us or trying to make war with us./Do not bother yourself/You know well enough that we young men here/could kill you all easily/ When we aim our spear we aim well/ When we throw our spear it hits the mark/ when we swing our parang (machete) the heads fall.
They cannot go to sleep for the whole night. When dawn breaks at about 5 a.m., all the men jump up and slash the baskets with their parangs. When the baskets have been cut up, each man throws the pieces into the river. This represents the cutting of the heads and the winning of the fight.
There is one leader from each kampong and the Pemancha who lead the men. The men stop at a place called Bikubu about halfway up Singghai mountain. They fire guns to let the kampong folks know they are coming. Immediately, the people of the kampong begin to beat gongs and large drums. They fire guns and brass cannons all in welcome of the successful warriors. The men first pass the Kampong of the Pemancha. They then proceed to Baruk Daun, the largest of all head houses (a place where heads are stored from the days of headhunting) on Singghai Mountain.
The men go inside the head house and sit while the pijanga waves a live chicken and chants a blessing over them. After the blessing, a feast is prepared and divided among the men. These men then divide some of the food and give it to the heads previously collected during headhunting days.
After the feast, the men then must then go to their head houses in each kampong and sleep for two nights. For the next two months, gongs and drums are played inside the head house and offerings for the food are left for the heads. After two months, the men then go to the base of a buan tree. Again the men spend the night refraining from sleep.
At 5 a.m. (dawn) a loud shout is given and all the men run to the head houses of their kampongs. They collect all the heads and bring them back to the Buan tree along with a pig, a dog, and some rice wrapped in leaves. First, the dog is killed and all the men must walk over the dog to take away any of the spirits since their last visit. The pijanga then passes a live chicken over their heads and gives them a blessing. The chickens and pig are then killed and, with the rice, a feast is prepared. They distribute the food and make an offering to the heads who have previously brought from the kampong head houses. Heads of two chickens are placed outside the Baruk Daun.
Then the pijanga gets into the act. A strong spirit enters her and she becomes the bravest of women. She sees the enemy coming and rushes out of the group to meet the imaginary enemy and defeat it. She can be seen running under houses, (houses are built on stilts) up hills and through jungles but even though she may step on sharp bamboo or rocks she will not be hurt. She will not return to a normal state until a few hours have passed. If she is questioned after the spell is over, she can tell you what the enemy carried, how many were in the party and where the battle was held. She is highly respected during the Katang.
From: Katang Land Dyak Head Ceremony by Lynn D. Patterson in the Sarawak Museum Journal December 1979
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