This ethnic group also used feather hats, tattooed, lived in stilts, worshiped dragons and birds, etc. like the ancient Vietnamese inhabitants of the Hung Kings period.
Borneo Island , the largest island in Southeast Asia in the territory of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia is home to the Dayak ethnic group – a community of people with an ancient and unique culture. According to historical research, the Dayak are the oldest indigenous peoples of Borneo . Their ancestors migrated from the Asian continent to the island more than 3,000 years ago. Dayak society began to flourish when metallurgy was introduced to this island about 2,450 years ago, corresponding to the Hung King period in Vietnam.
The Dayak community consists of hundreds of different ethnic groups scattered throughout the island of Borneo, including more than 200 other small tribal groups such as the Dayak Ngaju, Dayak Iban, Dayak Baritos, Dayak Kayan, Dayak Benuaqs, Dayak Embaloh (Maloh)… Each small tribe has a different and easily distinguishable language, culture, laws, and customs. They speak hundreds of different dialects but all belong to the Austronesian language family. In Vietnam, there are many ethnic groups using this language family, such as Cham, Ede, Gia Rai, Ra Glai and Churu.
The Dayak people first appeared on the island about 3,000 years ago and possess one of the oldest languages on the planet. Dayak society began to flourish when metallurgy was introduced to the island of Borneo about 2,450 years ago. Two large Dayak ethnic groups, Bakumpai and Buki t, reside mainly in southern Borneo.
Most of the Dayak people live by farming in riverside wet rice fields, farming, and palm plantations on low hills… They also work in handicrafts, pottery, brocade weaving, casting, hunting, and fishing. net.
The religion of the Dayak people is Kaharingan , a form of Hinduism that has localized to polytheism in Borneo. They especially worship the image of a dragon and a bird, two mascots in the legend of the birth of the Dayak people. This feature is quite similar to the ancient Vietnamese inhabitants of the Hung Kings period, who considered themselves “the Dragon, the grandson of the Fairy” and honored the image of the lost bird as the symbol of the country.
The Dayak people also have many folk customs similar to those of the ancient Vietnamese such as tree-building, marriage, re-burial, and traditional beliefs. A similar custom of the ancient Vietnamese and the Dayak people, rarely seen in other ethnic groups in the region, is the custom of tattooing.
For the Dayak people, tattoos represent a connection with spirits, gods or ancestors and are intended to ward off diseases and disasters, as well as a ritual marking maturity, recognizing class and status. within the tribe or distinguish friends from enemies. The dress of the Dayak people is also very similar to the Hung Vuong residents, that is, they use hats decorated with long bird feathers, like the human figures on the Dong Son bronze drum pattern.
Young men before becoming a warrior must undergo a ritual of tattooing at a traditional house, after which they will be able to hunt.
Traditionally, Dayak tattooing is performed as a solemn ceremony in the presence of a large number of members of the tribe.
During the ceremony, the tattoo artist begins by killing chickens and birds and then sprinkling their blood to sacrifice the ancestors’ souls. Usually, the woman in the tribe is in charge of tattooing. The tattooing takes 6-8 hours and is very painful.
Dayak women’s costumes vary from region to region, but are all brocade dresses decorated with vibrant patterns. They even wear elaborately decorated hats on special occasions. Dayak women often stretch their earlobes with heavy metal bracelets. This is the same way of beauty as ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam such as Ede, Bana, M’nong, Ma, Stieng…
Traditionally, many generations of Dayak people live together in houses on stilts with a length of more than 50m, a capacity of 30-40 families and meticulously carved patterns. The long houses are also the place where the Dayak people gather, make offerings, beat drums and gongs, and dance in traditional festivals. The colors in the drawings and carvings in this house have its own meaning. Unfortunately, these houses are gradually disappearing according to the rhythm of modern life.
The Dayak people have a custom known all over the world, which is headhunting between the tribes . This is the way to protect the inhabited territory and assert the strength of warriors and tribes. The main weapons in headhunting are spears and shields. The skulls will be kept at home and used in various rituals. Few people know that the Co Tu ethnic group in the central region of Vietnam used to have a similar headhunting custom. This is noted by French scholars, according to which, hunting blood and taking the head of another village is a great task to sacrifice to the gods in order to pray for a good harvest, free from disease and calamity.
The most important weapons of the Dayak warriors were the metal mandaus (mandau) with a hilt made of deer horns and a wooden shield covered with deer skin. When they go to battle, they wear demon masks and shout to frighten their enemies.
The most important weapon of the Dayak warriors was the mandaus.
In the Dayak Iban people, they believe that the soul is at the head. Thus, taking the head of the enemy means taking the soul, talents, and strength of the victim. That talent and strength ensures the success of the tribe’s cultivation and reproduction. The Iban people often organize headhunting and after each hunt, they tattoo a new tattoo as a “memorial”.
The Dayak practice of head-taking, which lasted until the 1970s, has now completely ceased. Artistically, the Dayak people are famous for their ngajat dance, which is inspired by the fighting of warriors. They also create a variety of traditional musical instruments.