Seventeen years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo; a ... - Sabrizain.org

DYAK FEASTS 217
been cooked is make into a tiny boat and sent to Hades.
Actually it is thrown away beneath the house, but spiritually,
through the incantation of the wailer, it is carried to
the unseen realm to fetch their dead relatives and friends.
Great is the joy of the spirits when they see this boat,
which by the time of its arrival has grown into a large
war-boat. They are ready to start as soon as the final
summons comes.
The preparations for the feast go on. The hard wood
memorial monuments for the graves are got ready by
the men. The day before the feast, the women weave,
with finely-split bamboo, small imitations of various
articles of personal and domestic use, and these are hung
over the graves — that is to say, given to the dead for
their use in the other world. If it be a man for whom the
feast is made, a bamboo gun, a shield, a war-cap, and
such things are woven ; if a woman, a loom, a fish-
basket, a winnowing fan, etc. ; if a child, toys of various
kinds.
An offering of food is put outside the house for the
dead visitors who may be too hungry to wait for the
food in the house.
The living guests arrive during the day, but the feast-
ing does not begin till the evening. Before the feasting
comes the formal putting off of mourning. The nearest
male relative of the dead person in whose honour the
feast is held comes dressed in an old waist-cloth or
trousers. These are slit through by some Chief, and the
man assumes a better garment. In the case of female
relatives the rotan rings round the waist are cut through
and set aside, and they resume the use of their personal
ornaments and jewellery. The bundles containing the
finery, that were put away at the death of their relative,