Location : Kampung Gumbang, Bau, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Morning

The morning program consisted of :

The official welcome ceremony back in the jungle

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan,copper ring lady, Indigenous, people
Briefing
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan,copper ring lady, Indigenous, people
Ketua Adat of Gumbang Mr Anyan throwing of the yellow rice
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Set for the egg throwing,
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Anyan leading the pack

The speeches delivered by officers from both sides of the border Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Under the hot sun

The bamboo chopping to test the warriors’ strength Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Bamboo chopping

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan, bamboo

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan, bamboo
Inverse climbing demo

Afternoon

The afternoon session began at 2pm with the pig sacrifice as thanksgiving to the Bidayuh God and the spirits that guard the village. This was immediately followed by mass healing with leaves called ‘daun peringat’.

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Pig sacrifice event
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan, healing
Healing with daun peringat
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan, healing, alternative treatment
Mr. Apat doing healing
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan,copper ring lady, Indigenous, people
Sungkung lady decides to take over the gong
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan, headhunter, skulls
Some of the skulls hanging in the baruk

The day event ended with the dancers circumambulating at the tanju. Modern music and dancing took over during the night at the community hall and of course for those who wanted to try their luck at ‘holo’ game it was always available.

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Circumambulating at the tanju

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan

Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
More crowds
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
Deputy president of DBNA Mr Yunus Apok (right) & Dr. Patau Rubis (left)
Nyobeng, Borneo, Culture, Traditional, Bidayuh, Gawai, Land Dayak, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, Sebujit, sungkung senebe, ritual, kuching, native, malaysia, indonesia, bau, gumbang, Padang pan
With Penghulu Sungkung Satu, Jakius Moong (left) and Frans Wijaya (right)

Third day was departure day and another long long walk back to Senebe. Next year, Gumbang folks will have to make good the reciprocation and do the same challenging trek…..shudder!

It is a good sign to see that more Gumbang locals especially the kids are more participative. Gumbang will have to put in lots more effort before this event gets more outside attention in order to make its way into the State tourism calender. Their organising team will have to come up with more innovative program to attract their own neighbouring villages around Bau. Perhaps, one of them could be an intervillage dancing competition for the younger generation. Food & craft bazaar should replace the ‘holochim casino’ during the night.

There was one glaring shortcoming in this year’s event that I would like to point out, with apologies, of course. The poor guests were made to stand under the hot sun, some bare footed as officials made speech after speech. That just isn’t the right way to treat your guests especially after they have trekked more than 12 hours the day before. Just set up one more bloody canopy for them. How difficult or expensive is that? Perhaps, Gumbang guys should learn from Kpg Sadir how they pamper their Indonesian guests like VVIPs. I hope in future Gumbang will strife harder to offer a more memorable hospitality for their guests to bring back to Indonesia.

To see more photos, please click at our FACEBOOK PAGE

Also please check out our posts on

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.