Iban warrior

Iban people were traditionally brave people. They feared no one and were well known for their bravery. The Iban tribe are a denomination of the Dayaks, the native people of Sarawak and the dominant ethnic group in Malaysian Borneo.

Iban warrior had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successful warring tribe in the past. In the old days, they were truly warriors and they led and were never wanted to be led by other people.

For newly opened region or territory during their head-hunting days, their tuai menoa allocated settlement areas to their followers and their young men who displayed courage in the battlefield were entitled to called bujang berani or “brave bachelor”.

Collecting a head and bringing it back to the village was a sign of masculinity and a highly sought–after trait when it came to marriage and prestige in the community. The Iban believed cutting off the head gave them possession of the spirit which in turn made the collector more powerful.

As soon as the successful warriors arrived back home in their village elaborate reception ceremonies, the head feasts, that surrounded the ritual welcoming of the victim’s head enabled its spirit to become a friend, guardian, and benefactor of the headhunters’ community.
Iban warrior

Iban longhouse

The longhouse is a well-known traditional dwelling of many natives in Sarawak. A Longhouse is the traditional dwellings of many natives in Sarawak such as the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.

Iban people is categorize under the Malay Pronto group which is the same as Sumatera Malay and Peninsular Malaysia. Historically, the Iban originated from Kalimantan, Indonesia. Among the famous legends and history of ethnic inclusion is initially they entered through the Batang Ai, Kapuas, namely the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.

The Iban are one of the groups collectively often referred to as Dayaks (which also includes Bidayuh, Kenyah, Kelabit, Kadazandusun, and many others). The Iban rumah panjai (literally ‘house long’) is still being commonly constructed.

A longhouse is a terraced street of separate dwellings covered by one roof. Each family who stays in the longhouse has their separate room.

In a traditional longhouse, all of these spaces are framed in timber, with hand-adzed timber floors, palm thatch roofs and bamboo or timber wall cladding. The use of local materials and the setting that create harmonization with the local environment and climate contribute to the provision of comfort to the occupants.

Their floors are raised from the ground on timber piles, sometimes a meter or so off the ground and sometimes much higher depending on the topography.

Most of the Iban who live in the longhouse still practice shifting hill-rice agriculture, supplemented by the cultivation of perennial cash crops, most notably rubber.

Longhouse are customarily constructed on areas of elevated ground near rivers and other watercourses, and preference is for a flat floor platform for the entire length of the collective ruai, so their length can mean that a longhouse’s extremities are the equivalent of a few storey from the ground.

Every longhouse is headed by headman called tuai. Every family stayed in the longhouse has their separate room. Communal activities are carried out on the ruai (verandah).

Longhouse are used to being moved periodically when necessitated by shifting cultivation practices, or split because of a dispute over leadership or community direction.
Iban longhouse

Iban people: The largest ethnic in Sarawak

The Iban or known as the Sea Dayak is the largest ethnic group in Sarawak. Almost the entire state is inhabited by the Iban community.

The majority of this community live in groups in the Iban longhouse, typically located near the waterfront and close to the highway to facilitate daily activities and communicate with each other.

Tuai rumah is the person responsible for maintaining the harmony of Iban society in the Long house. They are the responsible leaders in the care of the affairs of the longhouse. This responsibility is inherited from generation to generation by every selected Tuai Rumah who heads a longhouse.

Historically, the Iban originated from Kalimantan, Indonesia. Among the famous legends and history of ethnic inclusion is initially they entered through the Batang Ai, Kapuas, namely the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. At some stage before the 13th century arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia they must have migrated to Borneo, tracing descent today to the Kapuas region in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Nowadays, majority of Iban society adheres to Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam. Nevertheless, there are some who practice paganism. This is because they practice inherited belief hereditary since their period of the ancestors.

Inherited belief practiced by those include various god and perform miring during gawai celebration to ensure paddy harvest being performed by those better.
Iban people: The largest ethnic in Sarawak