|
 1) Dayak, ca. 1927. Credit: H.F. Tillema. Dayak woman's hand tattoos. The black spikes that run from the knuckles to the mid-digits are called song irang (shoots of bamboo), the lines that run horizontally behind the knuckles are called ikor (lines), and the design on the wrists is ? It is possible that this is an anthropomorph of some kind and may represent silong lejau (tiger's faces).
|
|
Read more...
|
 borneo is the third largest island in the world. Six major, and numerous minor, navigable rivers traverse the interior and function as trade and communication routes for the indigenous peoples who live here, namely the Dayak. Dayak, meaning "interior" or "inland" person, is the term used to describe the variety of indigenous native tribes of Borneo, each of which has its own language and separate culture.
Approximately three million Dayak - Ibans, Kayans, Kenyahs and others - live in Borneo. Most groups are settled cultivating rice in shifting or rain-fed fields supplementing their incomes with the sale of cash crops: ginger, pepper, cocoa, palm oil. However several hundred Penan, nomadic hunter-gatherers, continue to follow a traditional lifestyle in the jungle, one that is rapidly vanishing.
Aside from a few scattered reports of missionaries, traders, and a handful of explorers in the mid-19th century, almost nothing was known about the Dayak and their customs. To these outsiders only one thing was for certain: that the island was inhabited by "primitive" peoples who worshipped pagan gods and spirits and whose knowledge and skills made this land their home.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 Among the tribes in borneo, tattooing is mainly associated with headhunting (a visible sign of success) for men and the coming of age of women - in some cases it symbolizes their social status. Tattoos are part of the "rites of passage" and next to blackened teeth and long ear-lobes, intricate tattoos on fingers, hands, lower arms, thighs, calves, and feet served as important elements of beauty for women. The darker the color, the better.
Tribes of Borneo
Apo-Kayans - Apo Kayan means the Kayan hill country bordering Sarawak- "A young woman's social position is also indicated, among other things, by the number of rings around the calves of her legs. It appears that originally the significance of the tattooing was as a protective device." (Tillema [ca. 1924-1927] 1989) Actually, it enabled them to travel to the land of the ancestors... see below... |
|
Read more...
|
|
 The practice of tattoos in borneo has a rich tradition going back centuries and still seems to be alive and well. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is a hostile region with few Westerners venturing in. As a result descriptions of tattoos were rare before the start of the twentieth century. There were many accounts of headhunting amongst the indigenous people which put off a lot of people from getting very far but fortunately since the colonization by the Dutch this practice has been outlawed!
The Kayan tribe are the source of most tattoo designs which spread to other tribes such as the Iban and Kenyah. The Kayan style (which means interior or inland person) of tattoos owes its popularity to its wood-block stamp technique. Tribe members would carve patterns into blocks of wood and then transfer it onto the skin. Tribes such as the Iban would then borrow tattoo motifs from the Kayan and others and adapt to suit their own tribe.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 Sharon Guynup
National Geographic Channel
June 18, 2004
In the Indonesian section of the island of borneo, an adolescent boy of the Ngaju Dayak people embarked on a solo hunting adventure, his first. He ventured into the jungle armed with a blowgun and poison darts. He went in search of wild boar or monkey, favorite foods among his people.
The journey was often perilous. The forests crawl with snakes so venomous that a bite can kill within an hour. The rivers are filled with crocodiles. Neighboring tribes might have taken his head if he had stumbled into their territory.
When he returned home safely with a wild boar draped across his shoulders, he had navigated an important rite of passage: He had crossed the threshold into manhood. To mark his achievement, he was ritually tattooed in the longhouse of his ancestors, first with a full moon on his calves, and later with the image of a water serpent that wound along his upper thigh.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 The indigenous Dayak in Kalimantan are known for the art of tattooing, but it is hard to tell whether it is an original tradition orwhether it was introduced from outside.
It is strongly believed that the art of tattooing among the Dayak in Kalimantan, both in Indonesia and Malaysia, originated from China. Based onhistorical record, it is said that the Dayak came from Yunan in the south of China and migrated to Southeast Asia, including Kalimantan. In China, itis traditional for kung fu schools to tattoo their students, mainly on the chest or shoulder, with tigers and dragons to signify the students studiedat Shaolin temple.
Moreover, the art of tattooing is not only common among the Dayak, but isalso typical among Latin American Indian tribes, Japan's Aino, Indonesia's Mentawai and Asmat tribes.
In the old days, almost all Dayak men tattooed their bodies. But in some Dayak subtribes, such as the Dayak Kayaan, it is mostly the women who were tattooed. Not many men were tattooed due to the requirements and restrictions.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
