A YOUNG DAYAK
A Dayak, who goes by the name of Keling lived all of his life in the rainforest of Borneo, acknowledging it as the source of all his needs. He held a deep respect for the natural world and understood its ways, much like his ancestry before him. He understood that every creature, from the smallest insect to the largest predator played a vital role in its ecosystem. This connection he had to the rainforest was not merely instinctual, it was the knowledge that had been passed from generation to generation, a legacy of wisdom that was passed down through stories about their ancestral homeland, cultural practices, and hands-on experiences from the elders.
He would often share stories with his only son, who was named Laja about the ancient trees that had witnessed the passage of time and their bloodline coming to this part of the rainforest from the Kapuas Basin in Kalimantan. He would talk to Laja about the rivers that carved their paths through the rainforest and the animals that roamed freely, each with its own purpose in the forest. He would teach his son the rhythms of the seasons and how to identify edible plants and the ones for healing and used in shamanic rituals. These lessons he passed on to Laja were not just about survival, they were about understanding the delicate balance of life, and the importance of living in harmony with the rainforest .. he would also talk about the protection of the longhouse.
His young son, however, was living in a different world during the week. Laja attended a school run by an Irish missionary that took half a day traveling on the river to reach. He was being taught subjects that opened his mind to new ideas and possibilities for a new world that was coming. His father, Keling, knew he would be left behind in his world in the rainforest, he was not prepared to change his ways now, but he wanted his son to know both worlds. With the deep-rooted traditions of their Indigenous culture and the fast-paced world that lay beyond the rainforest, he wanted his son to be provided with the knowledge and skills to strive in both.
Keling, bearing a large prominent scar etched across his left cheek, received this
injury from a dart's poison during his youth.
The story is told like this in the longhouse. Keling was eager to prove himself as a capable hunter to his grandfather, who was the Tuai Rumah [headman]. The wild boar, massive, fierce, and angry from the chase charged at Keling with a ferocity that took him and his grandfather by surprise. However, in the chaos of the moment, a dart, meant for the boar, hit Keling on his left cheek from his grandfather's blowpipe. The dart entered his mouth delivering the potent poison. Keling fell to the ground, grappling with the pain and confusion that surrounded him. His grandfather, realizing how serious the incident was, rushed to his side, his heart pounding with fear and guilt, poured water into Keling's mouth several times, and turned him over so it would wash out. Keling was battling the effects of some of the poison that got into his body. In the days that followed, he was brought to a longhouse two days upriver by his grandfather where there was a known Manang Bali [a shaman who does not conform to gender norms] who was sought after for 'his' healing abilities and interaction with the soul of the sick person. He was there for a week, surviving to tell the story and hunt wild boar with his grandfather again. That scar on his left cheek was a permanent reminder of that day and became a symbol of resilience and survival helped by a Manang Bali. It told the story of a young boy, loved by his grandfather, who faced danger head-on, learned some harsh realities of the hunt, and emerged stronger, albeit marked by the experience.
Keling was not keen on the separation, Laja was the only son in a family of four daughters but the distance by river each day made it impractical for his son to be in the longhouse and attend school upriver, so it was agreed that Laja would return to the longhouse and his family at the weekends.
But
he fretted about the future of his son and his success in a world that
was increasingly interconnected and driven by innovation.
Each time his young son left for school after the weekend, a part of Keling felt a pang of sadness as if the bond they shared was stretching thin. He worried that the lessons of the rainforest he was teaching him might fade in the face of his school lessons and that the stories of their ancestors might be overshadowed by textbooks and a missionary .. but he also recognized he had to give his son a chance for the new world that was coming.
When Laja returned home from school for Gawai Burong, father and son, who acted like they were brothers, were out hunting for wild boar for the festival when Keling noticed a change in his son as they navigated their way through the familiar trails of the forest. Laja was not the 'happy boy' he once was when they had been on previous hunts. Worried about the shift in his son's behavior, Keling gently guided Laja to a nearby fallen tree, the remnants of past logging activities that had left scars on the landscape like open wounds for profit. This situation compelled the
young Dayak and his father to venture further into the rainforest to
hunt the wild boar .. but he also knew that any man could not
replant the rainforest within his lifetime, yet he understood that over time, nature would reclaim its ground, also realizing, not fast enough for him to be able to hunt in
this place again.
They sat together in the sunlight that was filtering through the forest canopy listening to the rustle of leaves and near and distant sounds of birds. After a while, Laja stood up and sat on his hunkers, thinking .. how easy it is to
become a son and how hard it is to be a father. Keling checking his blowpipe and darts said...
''Bisi utai ba runding nuan ti udah mai nuan jauh ari pengawa ngasu?''
[''There is something on your mind that has taken you away from the hunt?'']
The boy holding on to his blowpipe so tight that his knuckles were turning white answered...
''Apai, nuan ngasuh aku besekula awakka aku bisi pengidup ti menyana, tang aku mega meda nuan gaga ati ba jalai nuan ba utan ujan. Aku ba entara dua dunya tu baka ke dini endur pengidup aku jemah ila. Pengelenyau pun kayu enggau pengerusak endur jelu siga ngasuh aku tusah ati. Rimba ujan benung merinsa, nama pengidup aku jemah ila tauka rebak bansa kitai bedau ada.''
[''Father,
you tell me to go to school so I can have a better life,
but I also see you happy in your ways in the rainforest. I am
between the two worlds as to where my future is. The loss of trees and
the destruction of wildlife habitats troubles me. The rainforest is
suffering, what future do I have or the generations of our people yet to
be born.'']
The
father listened intently, realizing his son had given this a lot of thought, and tried to
answer him in an honest way so that he would not lose heart and said...
''Lebuh nuan malik ngelingi nuan ditu ba kampung ujan nuan nemu nuan ba endur nuan, nuan betiun baka Belikan, lalu udah nya bisi utai nyadi, lelaki ke bisi gergaji mindah tama lalu ngambi utai ke dikumbai sida enggi sida. Nya munyi jauh kayu rebah ti didinga kitai ba rumah panjai, munyi nya madahka siti aja utai, enda ngira orang ti diau sereta bepanggai ba kampung ujan. Lebuh tiap pun kayu tumbang, sebilah aku enggau nyawa utan nya lenyau. Nya kebuah aku deka ke nuan besekula.
[''When you look around you here in the rainforest you know you are in your place, you are in tune like the Belikan,
and then something happens, men with saws move in and take what they
think is theirs. That distant roar of a tree falling that we hear in the
longhouse, that sound says one thing only, regardless of the people who
live and depend on the rainforest. When each tree falls, a piece of me
and the forest's soul is lost. It's why I want for you to go to
school.'']
The
boy now relaxing his grip on his blowpipe with that boyish smile returning
to his face realized that his father knew .. also that the days
he was now spending in the rainforest with him might be short-lived. Keling stood up and put his hand on his son's shoulder, his tattoos
taking on a new life and meaning to Laja at that moment.
''Iya begunaka penyepi ba tubuh nuan, tenang dalam runding nuan, sereta bebasaka alam, tang .. enda ngira dini endur ba dunya tu nuan, nuan agi ulih ba endur ti likun enti dunya tu kampung ujan
nuan. Nya kunci pejalai nuan, ambi pelajar putih oren nya, laban sebarang apai ti ngarapka anak iya ngisi endur iya ukai apai ngagai anak iya.''
[''It takes stillness in your body, calm in your mind, and respect for nature, but .. no matter where in the world you are,
you can still be in a safe place if the world is your rainforest. It is your travel key, take the orang putih's education, for
any father to expect his son to fill his place is not a father to his son.'']
The
young Dayak Laja gained wisdom beyond his years in a single afternoon
which will also be the way he wants to remember his father. These
memories will be his guidance and comfort in his own adult life, which
he intends to pass on, in time, to his own son .. and hopefully within the
surroundings of the rainforest.