The Dayak Ngayau

Ngayau is a tradition of the Dayak tribe who inhabit the island of Kalimantan, both Dayaks living in West Kalimantan and other Kalimantan. The Iban and Kenyah tribes are two of the Dayak tribes who have the Ngayau custom. .In the true tradition of Ngayau, Ngayau cannot be separated from the victims of human heads from the enemy. The most popular images of Borneo so far are those related to head hunting (Ngayau). .Carl Bock's work, The Head Hunters of Borneo, which was published in England in 1882, contributed much to the image of the Dayak as "head hunters". The practice of head hunting is a complex form of social behavior and has provoked the emergence of various explanations from various authors, both from “explorers” and academics. .for the Ngaju Dayak tribe in Central Kalimantan, the tradition of headhunting for the benefit of the Tiwah ceremony, which is the largest sacred ceremony of the Ngaju Dayak tribe to deliver the soul or spirit of a deceased human to the seventh heaven (Riwut, 2003:.203).according to Lebar (1972: 171), among the Kenyah people, head hunting is important in relation to Mamat, namely the head-cutting feast, which ends the mourning period and accompanies the initiation ceremony to enter the status system. stratified, Suhan, for the soldiers of war. Successful headhunters are entitled to wear panther teeth in their ears, a hornbill feather headdress, and a specially designed tattoo...the headhunter's attacks were carried out by small groups of ten to twenty men who moved stealthily and suddenly. .they pay close attention to omens, especially birds.after being used in Mamad ceremonies, the heads are hung on the veranda of the longhouse, opposite the living rooms where the head of the longhouse lives. .In the past the Iban Dayak were reported to be the most famous head hunters in Kalimantan. The Iban Dayak tribe performs a head hunting ceremony called Gawai. .this ceremony is not only religious in nature, but also involves a large party with drinks and fun (Lebar, 1972: 184). Miller, who was an explorer, for example, wrote in his Black Borneo (1946: 121), stated that the practice of head hunting could be explained in terms of supernatural powers that the Dayaks believed to be in the human head. .For the Dayaks, the dried skulls of humans are the most powerful magic in the world. A freshly decapitated head is strong enough to save an entire village from the plague. .a head that has been spiked with herbs when properly manipulated is strong enough to produce rain, increase rice yields, and ward off evil spirits. .if it turns out to be not strong enough, it's because the strength is starting to fade and a new skull is needed. .Meanwhile McKinley describes the headhunting ritual as a transitional process, in which people who were once enemies become friends by integrating them into the everyday world.