Asian Artefacts:

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People: Iban people (Sea Dayak), Proto-Malay.

Linguistic Family: Malay dialect, Austronesian language

District or Village: Third Division, Kapit, Sarawak, Borneo. Kapit is on the Batang Rejang.

Collected: Collected in the Kapit area of Sarawak and brought to Kuching in 1992.

Description: The cylindrical bark container has a wooden disc floor and a wooden dished lid with a bark skirt and glass knob. A double row of cane beading is laced to the container to provide strength and an interweave decorative effect. Squatting figures with elbows on knees and atop wedges are strapped to the side. Made with the bark of a hardwood tree. Overall dark brown patina, erosion of container floor, and native repairs all indicate age and use. Stated to be 60 to 70 years old at the time of acquisition.

Box Content: The medicine box contains the following manang amulets: Chinese porcelain bottle with wooden stopper; five small cloth bags, each containing a stone; small glass bottle with wooden stopper and toggle and containing rice grains; small glass bottle with wooden stopper containing root or fibre material; a number of stones and a root knot; tree seed pod; three charm figures; a number of boar teeth; and porcelain spoon.

Size and Material: Bark, wood, cane, glass, bone, shell, cloth, stone, vegetable matter, tooth and tusk; diameter: 170mm; height: 230mm and width: 230mm.

Provenance: Acquired by LukLuk Gallery from a tribal art gallery in Kuching in 1995.

Function: The Shaman or manang generally possess some knowledge of herbal medicine but details are not known; except that they chew certain leaves for external application (retat) to the patient. They depend mainly on their rituals and invocations, and on a collection (rajut) of amulets (batu) which they carry in a bag (puntil) and kept in a box (lupong). The amulets protect their bodies when in a trance (luput) and their souls when away searching, give them clear sight and make them invisible to evil beings. When a manang visits a house for the first time he is given beads to be "eyes" (mata manang) to see with in the other worlds his soul visits. As a preliminary to treatment, a manang examines his patient by palpation (besudi'); minimal treatment may consist only of this. Before further treatment, he may consult (betabas) with other manang, as to proper procedures. Manang treat one patient at a time, either briefly and informally for minor ills or with full rites (pelian, saut).

Reference:

Graham, Penelope. IBAN SHAMANISM - An analysis of the ethnographic literature. Australian National University, Canberra, 1994.

Freeman, Derek. REPORT ON THE IBAN. University of London, London, 1970.

Taylor, Paul Michael and Lorraine V. Aragon. BEYOND THE JAVA SEA. Art of Indonesia's Outer Islands. The National Museum of Natural History, Harry N. Abrams Inc, New York, 1991. Page 163 (for comparison).

Old Catalogue No.: BRN015; AS0033.

Map 1: Sarawak, Borneo and the region of the Iban around Kapit on the banks of Batang Rejang