Europeans Who Come Home Alive After Entering The Borneo Forest

 Brock's interaction with the Dayak people in the jungles of East Borneo

Dayak Women:Google.com

Brock was impatient and wanted to go straight to the village where the beheading Dayak tribe resided, but the Sultan's confidants and the accompanying guards prevented him on the grounds of danger. In the end, one way...Sultan sent a messenger who understood the customs and how to communicate with Dayak Tring in the forest, an envoy to the location of Dayak Tring by the river. But a week passed without clarity, let alone information about Dayak Tring the envoy was not known how he was doing,

Knowing about the progress of the expedition that was determined, the Sultan ordered to dispatch a large ship leading by the capitan Bugis, possibly the large ship carrying the Sultan's soldiers to save the envoy had not yet returned. looks like war is about to break out.

Fortunately, war and disputes can be avoided, four days later the big ship returned with an additional 40 Tring passengers. The 40 Tring people consisting of 36 men and 4 women, among the 4 women, one of them is a tribal shaman. In the interior tribal tradition, sending so many unarmed people a sign of obedience to the power of the local rulers, in this case, is the Kutai Kartanegara Sultanate.

During the meeting the Tring shaman women allowed Brock to observe and paint her. Bock's attention to the woman was especially focused on the two earlobes on which to hang the jewelry. Giving earrings decoration, the earlobe in the form of rings made of silver begins when a Dayak girl is 5 years old, and one ring will be added each following year.

The tradition of elongating the ears of Dayak women is a symbol of female beauty. The hole in the earlobe at a certain age can stretch so long that it touches her breasts, with several jewelry rings hanging there.

Bock's second concern for the woman is the tattoo painting that contains the woman's body parts. Tattoos on the Dayak tribe are ethnic decorations, the dye that is usually used is charcoal from the resin tree.

Although Europeans also have a tattoo tradition, from records it is known that tattoos have been known in Europe since the 1 -12th century. The notes said that many European soldiers decorated their skin with tattoos. Either because Brock is not used to seeing tattoos on women's bodies or because the tattoo motifs on the Dayak tribe look strange to Brock.

Answering about the cannibal tradition, the female shaman showed Brock both her palms while saying they were the most delicious parts of the human body to serve as food, apart from the forehead, knees, and brain.

It didn't stop there apparently, the Dayak Tring group who met Brock a few days ago shared their experiences with their Dayak brothers who inhabit the same forest.

A few days after the return of the Dayak Tring group, 4 Dayaks appeared at the door of the ward where Brock lived. It turned out that this time it was the tribal chief  called Sibou Mobang who was accompanied by his bodyguards consisting of 2 men and 1 woman.

Bock described the appearance of the tribal chief as a man who seemed agile with a few mustaches and a stiff beard, the look in his eyes according to Brock was terrible. But it turned out to be a peaceful friendly visit, the tribal chief then gave Brock a gift in the form of a pair of human skulls wrapped in banana leaves.

The tribal chief  had told that the tradition of eating human flesh was only carried out by his tribe at certain times. Meanwhile, their daily food is rice from rice grown in their fields.

Dayak man with his prey;Google.com

They also rely on the catch of forest animals, fish are widely available in the river where they live. In addition, eat certain fruit and tree leaves provided by the forest where they live.

In the era of digital cameras, the Dayak people still maintain the traditions taught by their ancestors, living in the forest, obtaining food in the forest from animals provided by nature. They only occasionally come down from the forest to sell the produce they get, usually they barter with peruvian materials that cannot be forested, such as salt, tobacco and some other necessities.

The book describes how impressed Bock was with the visit of the tribal chief of the Tring people until Bock presented the tribal chief with a calico cloth, beads, rice and some money.

Location:

Share :