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

218 DYAK FEASTS
are brought forth, and the string tying them cut through.
As the feast is in honour of several who have died since
the feast was last held, this kind of thing goes
several of the rooms at the same time.
on in
The professional wailer sings her song of mourning
(see p. 228), beginning in the evening. The journey
from Hades is so long that the dead do not arrive till
early dawn. And then occurs an action in which the
dead and living are supposed to join. A portion of tuak
(rice spirit) has been reserved in a bamboo as the peculiar
portion of the dead. It is now drunk by some old man
renowned for bravery, who is not afraid of so near a
contact with the spirits of the dead. This " drinking
of the bamboo," as it is called, is an important part of
the festival, and is greeted with shouts of joy.
The morning after the feast, the last duty to the dead
is performed. The ironwood monuments, the bamboo
imitation articles, and food of all kinds are arranged upon
the different graves. Having received these gifts, the
dead relinquish all claim upon the living, and depend on
their own resources. But before the Gawai Antu they
are supposed to come to the house and take their share
of the food and drink.
According to ancient custom, this feast could not be
held until a new human head had been procured, but this
ghastly ornament to the festival has now generally to be
dispensed with.
4. A superstitious people like the Dyaks, living in
constant dread of unseen powers, naturally hold a feast
whenever anything unusual takes place. As the gods
and spirits are supposed to communicate their wishes to
human beings by means of dreams, it naturally follows
that if a man dreams that some spirit is hungry and