What is Hari Gawai?
By Brian T. Hsiao
SELAMAT HARI GAWAI: Gayu guru gerai nyamai, lantang senang nguan menua.
Akin to a period suspended between dusk and dawn, Dayaks (one of many native groups in Borneo) celebrate Gawai Dayak in the period between the very end of May and the beginning of June (unofficially, some engage in month-long celebrations). Kinship, merry-making, reunion, and many childhood memories surround the one word, ‘Gawai’ for many of our Bornean friends.
Gawai Dayak is an annual festival, marked with a spirit of thanksgiving and expectation of a fruitful harvest for the new farming season. Officially celebrated on June 1, 1965, the annual traditional festival has become a symbol of unity and aspiration for the Dayak community.
The day preceding the festival day is occupied by rice-milling, paddy-drying, final house-decorating. The mode of celebrations of Gawai Dayak varies from place to place and longhouse to longhouse, but the overall purpose for the varied practices remains the same throughout in the festival.
A ritual offering ceremony, called miring¬ will take place, preceded by a performance of gendang ranyah (ritual music).
The miring is usually carried out by an elder to give offerings to the petara (deity) as a sign of gratitude. Long ago, a manang (a priest) used to carry out this ritual.
This is followed by ngelaluka petara, where the spirit is invited to ngabang (to come to the house) [1].
Traditionally the miring was carried out by each bilik (household of a longhouse). However, nowadays a grand ‘miring’ ritual is performed as the main event in a village or in a longhouse during Gawai.
Christian Dayaks are known to have replaced the traditional offering ceremony with a prayer session within the family room. An acompanying church service leader is called tuai sembiang, according to Wikipedia [2].
A toast of ai pengayu (toast for wellbeing) using tuak (a drink made from pulut, glutinous rice) is performed on the stroke of midnight of June 1, usually followed by a show of fireworks.
Ngancau tikai/bidai (the rolling out of a mat) acts as a commencement of the festival, they are special mats or carpets laid on the ruai (common corridor) of a longhouse during the celebration.
They will have a gathering (sendua), the festival involves giving food offerings to antu rangka (translated literally, it means greedy ghost).
Note: This one usually before ai pengayu, morning of May 31.
Obviously, the family gatherings are what most Dayaks look forward to, it has been said that most Dayaks return home to celebrate Christmas, but for Gawai, it is wajib balik, memang tak akan skip (it is obligated to return, we won’t miss it).
At the end of the Gawai celebration, a closing ritual called ngiling tikai (rolling the mat) or ngiling bidai (rolling the curtain) is carried out to mark the end of the year’s harvest festival. The act of rolling-up of the mat serves as a symbol of the closing of the festival, the mat is then stored away to be used again next year.
Note: Kaamatan and Gawai are similar are but not the same festival for the Kadazan-Dusun people of Sabah celebrate the former, there are significant historical and cultural differences between the two festivals [3].
Credits to Siti Nurfarahin Binti Lapirin, Saffri Bin Sa’dan, Lizrina Ludai Jeffry, and Chrsitiney Riah Anak Gaun for their insights, contribution, and encouraging feedback concerning the write-up of this article.
References:
[1] N. Edgar, The spirit of Gawai will not be dampened by CMCO restrictions, The Borneo Post, June 1, 2020. Accessed on May 25, 2021. [Online.] Available: https://www.theborneopost.com/2020/06/01/the-spirit-of-gawai-will-not-be-dampened-by-cmco-restrictions/
[2] Gawai Dayak, Wikipedia, May 7, 2021. Accessed on May 25, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawai_Dayak
[3] A. Dorall, ‘No, Kaamaran And Gawai Are Not Interchangeable,’ The Rakyat Post, May 30, 2020. Accessed on May 25, 2021. [Online.] Available: https://www.therakyatpost.com/2020/05/30/no-kaamatan-and-gawai-are-not-interchangeable/
