Home ATTRACTIONS City/Village Nyobeng Sebujit Gawai Ritual Festival Part 1: Welcoming Guests & Opening Ceremony

Nyobeng Sebujit Gawai Ritual Festival Part 1: Welcoming Guests & Opening Ceremony

December 8, 2015

Location : Dusun Sebujit, Desa Hli Buei, Kecamatan Siding, Kabupaten Bengkayang, Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia.

It’s been 3 years since our last visit (http://bombasticborneo.com/2012/07/nyobeng-sebujit-2012/) here for the same event and this village has transformed drastically with concrete paths, solar street lamps, lounge beside the baruk and most importantly a constant supply of water. It is so much pleasant now to take a stroll around this Bidayuh village.

Borneo adventure, authentic homestay, baruk, bengkayang, cultural tourism, Bidayuh culture, Desa Hli Buei, Traditional event, indigenous native, Nyobeng gawai, paddy harvest festival, palm wine, Rumah Adat Baluk, Siding, skull house, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Sebujit village

authentic village, cultural tourism, Borneo culture, Bengkayang, gawai harvest festival, indigenous, native, Nibakng, nyobeng, Obyek wisata, ritual ceremony, Rumah Adat Baluk, Sarawak, Siding, spiritual healing, traditional event, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Rumah Adat Baluk Sebujit (Skull House)

Villagers here speak a language that is most similar to that of Kampung Tringgus. Same ancestry? Let’s leave it to the anthropologists to find out. Sebujit’s Gawai Nyobeng is still the event to beat in terms of popularity and authenticity. Made more glamorous by the fact that it is a joint celebration with its counterpart Kampung Padang Pan a nearby village in Sarawak. I bet when the road to Dusun Sebujit is completed this event would see a much bigger crowd and perhaps achieve international status just like the Capgomeh celebration of Singkawang. As long as the Ketua Adat of Dusun Sebujit, Pak Amin, his family and his supportive villagers continue upholding this truly remarkable ancient religious practice, this celebration can only grow bigger and bigger.
The actual day’s event started off early in the morning with the Kampung Padang Pan contingent standing by just outside the village waiting for Sebujit’s welcoming team to arrive.

authentic village, ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, dayak bidayuh, Borneo, indigenous native, Bengkayang culture, Kampung Padang Pan, Nibakng, outdoor, Adat Tradisi, Siding, Baruk, spiritual healing, traditional, tribal, tribe, wisata Budaya, gawai, — Sebujit’s welcoming team

authentic event, Bengkayang, Borneo culture, ritual Ceremony, dayak bidayuh, Dusun Sebujit, indigenous, indonesia, West Kalimantan Barat, native village, Nibakng, nyobeng gawai, paddy harvest festival, Siding, thanksgiving, traditional, tribal, tribe, wisata Budaya, — Kampung Padang Pan contingent

authentic, Bengkayang, culture tourism, Indonesia event, gawai, Kampung Gumbang, Padang Pan, native, Nibakng, harvest festival, ritual, Rumah Adat Baluk, Sarawak, spiritual healing, traditional, tribal, tribe, Bidayuh village, Wisata Budaya, — The 2 Ketua Adat annointing each other, Anyan & Thomas

authentic village, Bengkayang, ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, Bidayuh culture, Desa Hli Buei, indigenous, Kampung Gumbang, Kampung Padang Pan, native, Nibakng, gawai padi, harvest festival, Sarawak, thanksgiving, traditional event, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Jamli interviewing Gumbang participants

Meanwhile, Jamli Panago the media guy from Bengkayang was busy interviewing several Sarawak visitors. As per Sebujit’s protocol, egg throwing on the visitors, puppy and chicken sacrifice were performed when Pak Amin’entourage arrived to receive their Sarawakian guests. I must admit all those over enthusiastic handphone cameramen were quite a nuisance to the media and Jakarta photographers. Some kind of barricade should have been put up to allow everyone room to shoot and priority should be accorded to visitors who took so much trouble to come to Sebujit. Jakarta guests had to fly into Pontianak, drive to Seluas, boat ride to Sebujit jetty and lastly ojek ride to Sebujit village. For all that effort and expenses it is only fair that they be given more room.

Welcoming Sarawak contingent

authentic village, Bengkayang, cultural tourism, Desa Hli Buei, Dusun Sebujit, Dayak event, indigenous, indonesia, Nibakng, nyobeng, outdoor, paddy harvest festival, ritual, Siding, spiritual, thanksgiving, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — The egg throwing begins, haha

authentic village, Bengkayang, ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, Bidayuh culture, indigenous, Indonesia event, Kampung Gumbang, Nyobeng native, outdoor, paddy harvest festival, palm wine, Sarawak, thanksgiving, traditional, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Shell shocked but laughing

Bengkayang, Borneo culture, Cultural tourism, Dusun Bidayuh, ijuk tuak, indigenous native, Kampung Gumbang, Nibakng, Gawai harvest festival, ritual event, Sarawak, spiritual healing, thanksgiving, traditional, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Welcome to Sebujit, says Gunawan to Lindsay

authentic village, ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, dayak bidayuh, Desa Hli Buei, indigenous native, indonesia culture, Kampung Gumbang, Nibakng, outdoor, Rumah Adat Baluk, Sarawak, skull house, spiritual healing, traditional, tribal, tribe, wisata Budaya, gawai, — Back to Baruk

Welcoming of the VIPs one hour later was business as usual with the ever charismatic dancer Ujang leading the mobile gong ensemble and VIPs to the baruk to give their speeches.

Official Opening by VIPs

authentic village, ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, dayak bidayuh, Desa Hli Buei, indigenous native, Borneo culture, Kampung Gumbang, Nibakng, outdoor, Rumah Adat Tradisi, Sarawak, skull house, spiritual healing, traditional, tribal, tribe, wisata Budaya, gawai, — Marching to the reception

Borneo adventure, authentic village, Ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, culture, dayak bidayuh, Desa Hli Buei, indigenous, Kampung Gumbang, native event, Nibakng gawai, paddy harvest festival, Sarawak, Siding, spiritual healing, thanksgiving, traditional, tribal, tribe, — VIPs on standby

Bengkayang, Ritual Ceremony, cultural tourism, Bidayuh event, Indonesia adventure, West Kalimantan Barat, Kampung Padang Pan, Indigenous native, Nibakng, outdoor, gawai harvest festival, palm wine, Rumah Adat Baluk, Sarawak, Siding, spiritual healing, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Puppy sacrifice

authentic village, Bengkayang, culture tourism, Dusun Sebujit, indigenous, indonesia event, West Kalimantan Barat, native, Nibakng, nyobeng, outdoor, gawai harvest festival, ritual ceremony, Rumah Adat Baluk, Siding, thanksgiving, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — The most graceful Bidayuh dancer, Pak Ujang dancing all the way to the baruk

authentic village, Bengkayang, culture tourism, Dusun Sebujit, indigenous, Indonesia event, West Kalimantan Barat, native, Nyobeng, outdoor, gawai harvest festival, ritual ceremony, Rumah Adat Baluk, Siding, thanksgiving, tribal, Wisata Budaya, Desa Hli Buei, — Young girls presenting their dance

More animal sacrifices were performed for specific rituals throughout the day.

adventure, authentic village, baruk, bengkayang, cultural tourism, Dusun Sebujit, indigenous, West Kalimantan Barat, Kampung Gumbang, native, Nyobeng gawai, Rumah Adat Baluk, Sarawak, skull house, spiritual healing, traditional event, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Pig sacrifice

authentic village, baruk tradisi, bengkayang, Ceremony, cultural tourism, Bidayuh culture, Dusun Sebujit, indigenous, Kampung Gumbang, native, nyobeng, gawai harvest festival, Rumah Adat Baluk, skull house, spiritual healing, traditional, tribal, tribe, Wisata Budaya, — Cleansing

Ending at about 7pm with the inverted pole climbing competition. 3 years on and Pak Ahem was still the man to beat. Whatever was wrong with all the young studs! Too much alcohol, perhaps.

Inverted Bamboo Pole Climbing