A few weeks ago, I got a call from one of the guys I know in Tringgus. He asked if I’d be interested to attend their gawea (ceremony), which was held last week. Me being me, how could I turn down such invitation! In fact, he shouldn’t have asked me that question. He should have said “There’s a gawea in Tringgus next week! Come!” and I’d be there! But I asked him the reason for the gawea and the protocols that I should adhere to. He told me that they were transferring the skulls from the old place to their panggah (ritual/head house) in Tringgus. He said the people there will explain to me when I’m there. The gawea starts on Thursday 26 April and ends on Saturday 28 April. I told him I won’t be able to make it on the first day (Thursday) because of the dreadful disease called ‘work’ that I that I have to attend.
That Friday morning I decided to skip ‘work’ and go to Tringgus. I told myself I must be stupid to miss out on this gawea, something that would not probably happen again in my lifetime! That early morning I picked up Zahid, who agreed to come with me, and we both left for Tringgus at 8.30am. Zahid knows the people there as well because he’s currently doing his linguistic research with the Tringgus community. When we arrived in Tringgus about an hour later, we went over to see our friends to hang out. A while later, we decided to go to Pengkalan Tebang to get some ’supplies’. Pengkalan Tebang is a village not far from Tringgus and it used to be an important trading center for the people living in the upper reaches of Sg. Sarawak Kanan (or Pedia, as the local named the river) and also traders from the settlements on the Kalimantan side. When we were in one of the shops, we met some more Tringgus people drinking beers behind the shop. Our natural instinct told us we should join them. So, we did.
After the gulping 3-4 cans of beers, we tapau some more Tigers for us to be brought back to Tringgus. As I drove into the village, the thumping sounds of the long drum and gongs were heard in the near distance. “The ceremony has started”, said the Tringgus headman, who was sitting in the backseat. Actually, the ceremony had started the day before but on this second day, the sacred ritual of transferring the old skulls to its new abode is the most significant. We stopped at the panggah where the villagers were already gathered. Four ritual leaders or tua gawea took out the skulls, carefully wrapped in white cloth, from the rattan basket and carefully placed it on the platform. Chants were performed and some food was sprinkled on it. Then, clad in their red loincloths with leopard fangs decorating their necklaces, the four ritual leaders went up the panggah to the beat of the drum and gongs, and called we who gather below to join them upstairs.
The panggah
We went up the stairs, passing by the old skulls that were still left on the bamboo platform for all to see. There were three blackened broken skulls belonging to an adult and one small skull that I thought was a bit too small to be a human skull. Even a baby’s skull would be bigger than that but why would anyone behead a baby, right? I’ve never heard of beheading babies in any headhunting stories before. So, I assumed that small skull belonged to a monkey. Then again, why would a monkey be revered that its skull is put side-to-side with the three skulls of slain enemy warriors? Anyways, I didn’t ask them about it because I thought my question would sound stupid. For all I know, it’s a skull of one of the warrior’s favorite pet macaque and thought it would be appropriate for it to die together with its owner. Who knows?
I did not participate in the frenzy of taking photos especially of the skulls. For me, it’s being culturally respectful as one Sarawak indigene to another, even though the headman told me it’s okay to take photos of it. Well, he had a couple of beers before this and he’s not a ritual leader. So, I refrained.
The ritual leaders who performed the gawea were from Siding (a.k.a. Botok), a village settlement in Kalimantan. The people in Tringgus and Siding share similar cultural history and probably even origin, and since the last ritual leaders from Tringgus died a couple of years ago, there was no one from Tringgus that possesses this knowledge now.
Before the head skulls were taken up to the panggah, there was an elaborate preparation of food to ‘feed’ the skulls when it is taken upstairs. This preparation, which consumed the whole morning, could only be carried out by the ritual leaders. An adult village pig was sacrificed with its blood poured on the big gong. Several chickens were slaughtered and its blood was sprinkled around the panggah and some of the people’s forehead was smeared with it. The blood is to be fed to the skull once it is placed in the panggah.
Sacrificed
We went up the panggah and there were already people inside, some of whom were photographers and an anthropologist from UM. I entered the panggah and found a spot to sit amidst the sounding of drums, gongs, people shouting, dancing, drinking, talking, etc. It was a lively atmosphere! During this time no one was allowed to get out of their houses or the panggah nor were they allowed to walk around the village or work in the farm in the next hour. I was told that this was the time when the spirits would roam the area and anyone found breaking this rule would receive its injurious consequences. The skulls were taken up to the panggah and placed in the space between the ceiling and the roof. This was to be its new abode.
Keeping the skulls in its new place
