Gawai Dayak

The tradition & historical record

Gawai Dayak (Iban: Ari Gawai; Bidayuh: Andu Gawai; Malay: Hari Gawai Dayak) is a form of harvest festival celebrated on 1 and 2 June annually in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is observed annually on the month of June by the Dayak ethnic groups to mark the end of the rice harvesting season and gratitude for all the blessings, harmony, sustenance and luck the tribe has received. The festival is also celebrated by Dayaks in neighbouring West Kalimantan, Indonesia on the other date, although it is still not recognised a public holiday by the republic, as well as other Dayak (particularly Iban and Bidayuh) diaspora all around Malaysia, Indonesia and abroad. The festival is celebrated with various symbolic decoration and family and other social gatherings activities such as beauty pageants of Pekit Kumang (Dayak/Iban female), Dayung Sangon (Bidayuh female), Keligit (Orang Ulu female) and Miss Cultural Harvest Festival (female), Pekit Keling (Dayak/Iban male), Dari Pogan (Bidayuh male), dance performance of Ngajat, Pencha (sword dance), Kuntau (martial arts), and other arts and crafts performances together with the availability of food stalls throughout the festivals. ¹

The Gawai Dayak term comes from Gawai meaning "festival" or "ritual" and Dayak a collective name for the indigenous peoples of Sarawak, Indonesian Kalimantan and the interior of Borneo. In the Iban language, the festival is called Ari Gawai, while the Bidayuh refers to it as Andu Gawai. During the Gawai Dayak, roadside billboard or banner greetings such as Selamat Hari Gawai Dayak "Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai, Lantang Senang Nguan Menoa" which is translated to "Wishing you longevity, wellness, and prosperity", is commonly found around Sarawak during the festive season. ¹

During the Brooke era, the celebration of Dayak festivities was only celebrated according to the traditions of each of the Dayak sub-groups since it was not officially recognised as a national public holiday by the Brooke kingdom like Christmas, Eid al-Fitr (Hari Raya Aidilfitri), and Chinese New Year holidays. This was continued until the administration by the then British Crown colony government of Sarawak which considered the day as both "Dayak Day" and "Sarawak Day" for the inclusion of all Sarawakians as a national day, regardless of ethnic origin, where it became both a religious and a social occasion since the 1950s despite still being without any official recognition as a public holiday. There is a strong perception among the British colonial authorities at the time that the strong agitation for a "Dayak Day" will draw the Dayaks to communism by the infiltration of the leftists among them. Despite this, a gathering organised among the Dayaks for the colonial government to recognise the Dayak Day didn't start any communist meetings; instead, it led to more pressure on the government to recognise the ethnic celebration day. First mooted by radio producers Tan Kingsley and Owen Liang, the British colonial government then began to consider recognising it by 1962. Michael Buma, a Dayak native in Betong, hosted the first unofficial celebrations of Gawai Dayak at his residence in Siol Kandis on 1 June 1963. The issue of the name of Dayak festivities continued until after the formation of the Malaysian federation, until it was brought to the State Council (Council Negri) several times, and in April 1964, it was officially recognised. ¹

Gawai Dayak is celebrated by ethnic Dayaks, as well its sub-group in the state such as Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Orang Ulus, and the celebration lasts for the whole of the month of June. As the festival day approaches, everyone will be busy with general tidying up, grave visiting, paddy drying and milling, collecting and preparing food and final house decoration, where necessary. The mode of celebrations of Gawai Dayak vary from place to place and preparations begin early with the three major Dayak communities of Ibans, the Bidayuhs and the Orang Ulus celebrates the occasion in their own distinctive way. Throughout the festive, activities such as hosting prefestival thanksgiving dinners and open house gatherings, cultural shows, female beauty pageants of Pekit Kumang (Dayak/Iban female), Dayung Sangon (Bidayuh female), Keligit (Orang Ulu female) and Miss Cultural Harvest Festival (female), male beauty pageants of Pekit Keling (Dayak/Iban male), Dari Pogan (Bidayuh male), as well as the setting up of food bazaars are held. ¹

On Gawai Eve, sago and heart of palm (upa aping) will be gathered for the preparation of soups and stews, this also includes vegetables such as bamboo shoots, Dayak round brinjals, wild midin fern, fiddlehead fern, and tapioca leaves either from the nearest jungle, farms or gardens. For the Dayak tribes that live in interior parts, they may organise a hunting, trapping, fishing and more for meat, fish and vegetables that'll be served for the festival. After the gathering of plants and vegetables early in the morning, the poultry is slaughtered. Both the meat and fish can be preserved with salt in a jar, or smoked over a firewood platform above the hearth. Enough meat is cooked in mid-aged thin-walled bamboo logs to make a traditional dish called pansoh or lulun in Iban language. The meat is first mixed with traditional herbs like lemongrass, ginger, bungkang leaves and salt. Among the dishes that hold a special place in the festivity, especially among the Iban and Bidayuh, is ayam pansuh (manok pansoh), a traditional chicken dish cooked in a bamboo stalk with onions, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, torched ginger flower, and galangal and roasted in an open fire, which infuses the chicken with a distinctive flavour and aromatic smells. Any remaining meat is preserved in salt and mixed with kepayang leaves and detoxified seeds. Wooden cooking implements are made from small tree logs. Pig heads are roasted on an open fire to be served hot with the traditional Dayak liquor, a rice wine called tuak, brewed at least one month before the Gawai Dayak. The drink is brewed from the glutinous rice from a recent harvest mixed with homemade yeast called ciping. Traditionally, tuak was made with rice milk only, but is now cut with sugar and water in a process called manduk. ¹

The longhouse is cleaned, repaired and repainted by cooperation amongst its residents. The longhouse is constructed as a unique place of living and worship. Its main post (tiang pemun) is the designated starting point of all the building materials (pun ramu) and must remain intact. Timber and wooden materials for repairs are obtained from nearby reserve forests (pulau galau or pulau ban) or purchased in towns. A pantar (long chair) may be built along the upper area of the ruai (gallery). The seat is raised and the tanju (verandah wall) is used as the backrest. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Gawai Dayak”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Gawai Dayak is harvest festival in Malaysia, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²