1 Iban Burial Customs and Beliefs in Modern Kuching A lecture given on Friday March 18 at Niah Room, Dewan Tun

Razak, Sarawak Museum, by Peter Varney, researching contemporary Iban belief and burial practice. This lecture will examine some of the changes which have followed Iban migration to Kuching and other urban centres, and attempt to determine how faith and practice in the city are different from the rural areas. Interviews have been conducted since my arrival here some four weeks ago. My informants have been almost all Anglican Ibans, both priests and lay members of the cathedral and the other parishes around Kuching. Initially I had planned to include Roman Catholics, Methodists and other Christians to show the differences of approach and belief. After a visit to Sibu and Miri last year I realised this would give me such a wide range of practices that my research would be too broad, and it would lack focus. As an Anglican priest myself, ordained in 1964, and serving in Sarawak in 1967 and 1968, I have had easy access to my interviewees, and I thank them for their willingness to cooperate in this project. I add my thanks to my sponsor here, The Sarawak Museum and Ipoi Datan, the director. Derek Freeman described the Iban as untrammelled individualists and Robert Pringle refers to the noisy, anarchic democracy of the Iban. (Freeman 1970: 129; Pringle 1970: 328). My thesis is that this strong sense of individuality, and the lack of communal leaders, has affected their attitude to religious faith and practice throughout the period of contact with Anglicanism, from 1848 to the present day. Further the attitude of the Anglican Church itself has been flexible, and although many discussions about adat, and codes of practice have been set out, they have not been strictly followed by most church members, nor insisted on by most priests. The cultural importance of rice cultivation to the Iban has often been noted. Two writers in the 70s were Motomitsu Uchibori and Erik Jensen, a naturalised British citizen who set up the Lemanak Development Scheme in the 60s. Jensen (1974: 151-152)states: Rice to the Iban is not just a crop. Hill rice cultivation is their way of life, and has become, for the Iban, their hallmark. ... As the Iban frequently say: Our adat is hill rice cultivation (adat kami bumai) . According to Uchibori, writing in 1978, rice cultivation forms the core of the entire religious system of the Iban. Since these words were written rice cultivation has became uneconomic, too labour intensive or impossible to continue for many rural Iban, and those who have moved to urban areas have found the new religious system of Christianity, although many retain some traditional practices and beliefs. The existing studies of Iban burial and beliefs have focussed on traditional practice, as observed in the Batang Lupar, Saribas, Baleh and elsewhere. Freeman as the pioneer of all research on the Iban, and later Clifford Sather, Vinson Sutlive, Benedict Sandin, Uchibori, Henry Gana Ngadi and many others have given us extensive descriptions of Iban adat and beliefs about life after death and sebayan. My purpose now is to consider transition, change, adaptation and response by those Iban who have migrated to Kuching, and how urbanisation and globalisation are contextualised in this city. My present research plan is to approach the topic in three parts. These are: firstly, before the burial, including sabak and its alternatives; secondly, the burial, including baya, grave goods ;

2 thirdly, the afterlife in sebayan, the semeng-at, usually translated by the English word soul, which continues its existence in sebayan, ending the mourning, ngetas ulit, anniversaries of death and All Souls night. 1 By examining what a family does after a death the beliefs of individual people has became clearer, so I did not first ask those who told me they were practising Anglicans about their beliefs, but rather what they did about such things as preparing baya, grave goods, using sabak singers at the wake, and the preparation of the body for burial. Most people who die in the city now do so in a hospital, this is the first and major change as people living in a rural longhouse would normally have died there. A priest would give holy communion, or sometimes the last rites of holy unction, if a person is close to death and it can be arranged in time. Funeral directors offer their services in the hospitals, and some bodies are taken to the mortuary facilities they provide. The majorty of those interviewed said the body was taken to the persons home, some being placed in containers with dry ice provided by the funeral directors to help preserve them from physical deterioration. Once back at home the preference is to lay the body on a mat, and hang blankets and other textiles around it, similar to the former sapat enclosure on a longhouse ruai. The body is often washed and dressed in fine clothing, complete with jewellery, rings and other ornaments. The period between a person's death and the burial of his body, and the length of the burial ceremonies themselves, has differed considerably from one river to another, and in particular between the Batang Lupar, Saribas and the Rejang. It is therefore common for Ibans in Kuching to be quite flexible about this. Although in the past some families wanted to bury the dead as soon as possible, normally on the day after their death, if the dead person was important, or had relatives living elsewhere, a period of three nights or more would have to elapse before the burial to permit people to travel to the house and attend the funeral of their relative. In Kuching most people have told me that, once some of the relatives have gathered together, they discussed the details of the burial, and how many nights should be kept before burial. Some informants told me that they also assessed the persons adat, considering his achievements, his moral qualities, and his genealogy, as a guide to the length of the morning period. They did not feel under pressure to perform the burial the next day, although they were aware that their Malay neighbours do so. Just as a large gathering from surrounding longhouses would have attended a rural funeral so an urban funeral can attract a crowd of several hundred, and people normally bring with them food, drink and money, for the family members to use towards the costs of the funeral arrangements. (Sather 2003, Interviews Feb-March 2011) Early in the evening of the night before burial a sabak singer would have come prepared to sing the wake thought the night . For Ibans in Kuching it is difficult to find sabak singers, and the few informants who have used them have imported them from the Saribas area. I don't have information for other places but there are some Christian sabak singers in the Saribas who have adopted the story told during the wake to include Christian personalities and places. (Interview Dennis Gimang, 16-3-11) For example, a Sabak singer I met in Ulu

3 Paku told me that she adapts the words of her mourning chant if the dead person is a Christian. She describes their journey past churches, and includes encounters with priests and other church leaders. Once they have reached sebayan they continue to serga, where she describes how they enter a large church, and then reach a beautiful place, with flowers and bright light. I asked her if Jesus Christ was seen but she said she had not seem him in her visualisation, which she put into the sabak chant. (Interview 12-3-11 Ulu Paku). Missionary reports dating from the 1930s refer to similar sabak chants being used by Anglicans who were members of St Augustines church Betong, and the names of missionaries such as Father Linton and Jack Sparrow being included, although in fact after his retirement to the UK Sparrow lived on for several decades. If I had known he had been seen in sebayan I would have asked for his response. What is more standard these days in place of the sabak is that an apparently consistent order of three speeches during the evening before burial seems to be followed. The first speaker describes the nature of the death and the last phase of the persons life. A second speaker goes through the tusut, the family tree, mentions the original longhouse the person or the family was form. The history of the deceaseds family, and his achievements and significant events in his life are mentioned , and the speaker may bemoan the loss to the community that the persons death has brought. The third speaker announces the details of the burial arrangements, and the period of mourning afterwards. In addition to these speakers a priest will attend on the eve of burial, and also the previous evenings, using a short service and leading the gathering in singing well known hymns, in the Iban language and often also in English, and sharing a Christian message. There is an often used order of service for the encoffining, at which point the widow or widower may put their ring on the finger of the deceased. Instead of the conclusion of the sabak the priest , if present, leads the singing of a hymn. Small items of clothing and jewellery are often placed in the coffin, most informants said that this was a suitable way to dispose of these things, and didn't link it with their use in a future life. 2 The burial. The Iban custom of placing baya in the coffin or the grave remains widespread among Christians as well as others. In rural areas clothes, blankets, a betel nut set, eating and cooking equipment might be produced by the non-Christian relatives, for the use of the deceased in sebayan. The Anglican parishes in Kuching jointly manage the cemeteries, and have rules well known to church members about what may be taken to, or left at, the grave, and the priests frequently ask people not to bring baya. Christians may be taken direct to the cemetery for the interment and the funeral service, or the body may first be taken into the church for the first part of the funeral service or a full requiem mass. When the family members can't stay in Kuching for a later requiem or thanksgiving service the requiem is held on the funeral day. At the end of the service the

4 coffin is opened, a glazed cover protecting the body, and people come forward to pay their respects, and then to the waiting family members. (Dean and funeral at St Thomass cathedral, 17-3-11). At the cemetery the closing part of the funeral service is used, the coffin is placed in the grave, and the priest and others throw handfuls of earth onto it. Once the priest has left the grave the majority of those interviewed said they placed other small items on top of the coffin, such as pots, plates and knives. The grave is then covered and a temporary name marker put on it. Sometimes candles are lit and flowers, artificial or real, are left there. In a few cases relatives of the deceased, perhaps mainly the non Christian ones, have also brought to the cemetery other bulky items for the deceaseds use in sebayan a world they consider parallel to this one. In the past these have included bedding, hunting and fishing equipment , these days bicycles, cookers, radios and TVs are sometimes put there. As this breaks the rules for cemetery use at the end of the day such things are moved to a designated area at the edge of the cemetery. Eventually they may be burnt. From the cemetery the family and friends return to the deceaseds house for the beginning of the mourning period, and sharing food and drink. 3 It was the custom in rural areas for Christian and non-Christian relatives alike to keep a period of up to three months mourning to show their severe sense of loss at the death of their relative and to express their love for him. During the period loud noises, singing and dancing were amongst the activities which were forbidden, and some felt that the custom demanded that radios and TVs should not be operated. In Kuching the length of the mourning period is now often determined both in relation to the standing of the deceased, but also for practical reasons as many people have to return to their usual residence some distance away. The length of the mourning period in Kuching, has also been heavily influenced by the customs of their Moslem neighbours, who commonly observe periods of 7 and 40 days, the latter reflecting the decaying status of the body. Ibans in Kuching observe these periods, and also monthly and 100 day periods, the latter imposed by the Brookes as the maximum period, to prevent loss of time for farm work. People were formerly expected to wear old clothes, but it is becoming widespread in Kuching that mourners put on a black cloth patch, as do the Chinese. They recognise this is a practice they have adopted, when Ibans wore no clothing above the waist it could not have been done. In the past ngetas ulit, the end of mourning, would have been held after a head had been brought into the longhouse, later this was replaced by the arrival of a serving or retired field force or other military person. The ceremony included cutting the rattan cord around a box of the deceased's personal items, prepared before burial. In contemporary Kuching the end of mourning is understood by many as a practical rather than religious custom. In the Anglican parishes in Kuching there is a printed order of service for ngetas ulit, when the patch is removed and the priest symbolically cuts and disposes of the hair of the mourners, which they have left uncut since the death.

At the end of the period of mourning tradition demanded that a manang perform the ceremony of besarak bunga, literally the separation of the flower, which reflects the Iban belief that the bilik is a unity but recognises that the dead member of the bilik has now been separated from its living members by his death, just as a flower cut off from its stem also dies after a time. A manang would have symbolically cut a flower stalk, which nurtures the spirit [ayu] of the living and persuaded the deceased to go to the next world. Until besarak bunga is performed the living have, in Iban tradition, the continuing duty of giving things for the use of the dead person, who is not yet regarded as having an independent existence. A langkau, a simple dwelling, may be placed on the grave for the temporary use of the deceased. The current version of this in Kuching seems to be the simple structures placed over the graves at Jalan Chawan cemetery, which have remained for some time. Manangs are not a feature of city life, although two people told me of local manangs, used by all races, but not specifically for this ritual. Sebayan, Life after Death The traditional Iban belief is that the souls or spirits of the departed continue their life in sebayan, the place of the dead. In Iban tradition the dead reach sebayan after crossing a small narrow bridge from which, if they fall, they return to earth to continue their human life or to be re-incarnated, sometimes as a dangerous animal like a snake or crocodile. Once over the bridge existence in sebayan is believed to be similar to that in this world, people are buried with baya (equipment that they will need in sebayan) and the actual place sebayan is traditionally located on Bukit Rabong, on the other side of the mountain range separating Sarawak from Indonesian Kalimantan (Sather 2009).Sather explains the Iban understanding of Bukit Rabong has an invisible counterpart presence in the afterworld as well as a physical presence in the ordinary visible world. Ibans have also believed that there are further stages within sebayan until the soul reaches a state of happiness or blessedness in mandai jenoh (the quiet place). While there it was believed that the spirits of the departed might be able to help the members of their bilikfamily who were still living, perhaps by providing them with rice charms to help their crops to increase. Families which had poor rice crops were believed to have members who had died but were too bad to reach mandai jenoh. From here Jensen, writing after his work in the Lemanak in the 60s, says the Iban believe that the soul may be absorbed by the mists of the morning and complete its cycle by being taken up by the growing rice and consumed by the living members of the bilik-family. (Jensen 1974). Uchibori (1978), researching in the 70s, and in areas largely untouched by Christianity, wrote the rice plant is a reincarnation of their ancestral spirits who return from the Land of the Dead. These sources are now more than a generation ago and contemporary Iban informants have not suggested that life in sebayan ends in this way. There was no clear idea of judgement, or commitment to heaven or hell, in Iban belief, although the bridge to sebayan is believed to be a test for those who find it difficult to cross and thus do not reach the state of happiness in mandai jenoh. Gawai Antu The Iban commonly made an offering to the antu of a dead relative on the anniversary of their death. In one form the spirits of dead Iban were thought to remain in the graveyard of the longhouse until the holding of gawai antu, the ritual celebration which included a food

6 offering, piring, to the antu in commemoration of those who had died since the last gawai antu which may have been held only once in each generation, or at an interval of 20 years or more. The antu were welcomed to the feast, a sabak dirge was sung and special wine, ai jelong, was drunk by those who had taken a life, formerly the headhunters. In the Saribas gawai antu is still held by longhouse communities, often for prestige and when there is sufficient money available. In the Batang Lupar area gawai antu is held less frequently, or has ceased to be celebrated. In the Kapit Division, where the Methodist mission has worked since 1939, gawai ngelumbong, a mourning ceremony for individuals who have died rather than for the whole longhouse, is now held almost every year, and during the last 40 years it has largely replaced the holding of a large gawai antu every generation. (George Wang and Andrew Fowler 1969, Terence Joseph 1964). There is no equivalent to Gawai Antu for those living in Kuching, although those from the Saribas might return to their longhouse area to participate. Gawai Antu marks the end of the period when the deceased are close to the living, and sungkups were erected over the graves. These are not to be found in Kuching, except in the Sarawak museum grounds, unless anyone in present can correct me? In the cemeteries at Bukit Sabun and Jalan Chawan, which are cared for by the SDNU, there are a number of simple langkau, sheds, erected over the graves, with zinc roofs but not with the elaborate carving or decoration of the sungkups. (Visited 21-3-11) Gawai Dayak, introduced by the Sarawak government and celebrated at the beginning of June by all the indigenous people of Sarawak, is rapidly replacing other gawai. It is intended as a Dayak New Year festival comparable to the Chinese, Moslem and western new year celebrations which are also kept as public holidays in Sarawak. The custom of clearing Iban graves has also been introduced in association with the celebration of gawai Dayak. Iban tradition forbids the cutting down of the trees or vegetation in the graveyard but some Iban leaders have recognised that other people in Sarawak, especially the Chinese and Malays, do clear their graveyards regularly and have suggested that Iban should do the same. Iban in positions of authority in Kuching have supported the idea of grave clearing and one said that it showed how Iban culture could develop and change. The Sarawak Dayak National Union, SDNU, organises this regularly at Jalan Chawan cemetery. (Interviews in Kuching, June-July 2010). Translations I will conclude this lecture with two further parts, highlighting the confusion caused by inconsistent translations of significant words about the afterlife into Iban, and how van Genneps rites of passage relate to Iban rites. The Iban translations used for words in English service books, biblical texts and hymn books, which relate to life after death, the soul and the spirit, have not been consistent. A considerable amount of confusion is evident in the minds of interviewees. These seem to be the key words causing misunderstanding: Sebayan, used initially by the first missionaries, to describe the afterlife; The loan words serga and neraka which were added by the early missionaries. The Iban words semengat [semungat], and ati, and the loan word roh [roar].

7 From 1909 and the arrival of bishop Mounsey and Anglo Catholic ideas, Anglicans were taught about purgatory, and this was translated as sebayan in service books and hymns. So sebayan came to be used to translate the ideas of both paradise and purgatory. Anglicans no longer teach about purgatory so the meaning of the word sebayan, which continues to be used in hymns and Anglican service books, has became very confusing. My informants also have many questions about the relationship of the English words spirit and soul to Iban words. Early translations of the bible and Anglican prayer book used roh or ati for spirit, and semengat for soul, but not always consistently. Semengat has also sometimes been used to translate spirit. The other loan word, roh, was introduced to translate spirit, along with ati, used figuratively for inner feelings. An example is the Magnificat, Marys song: Her soul semengat magnifies the Lord, He spirit, ati, rejoices in God her saviour. Recent Iban language burial services have tried to restrict the use of the Iban word semengat to translate soul, and serga for the Christian understanding of life in heaven, and not use the word sebayan at all. Modern Iban Anglicans have suggested to me three ways in with they understand life after death: Our souls, semengat, go straight to heaven, serga We pass through hades, sebayan, on the way to heaven We wait for judgment, and/or the end of the world, before going to heaven. Finally Im glad to refer briefly to Henery Gana Ngadis book on Iban Rites of Passage, who has linked the stages following death, described first by Arnold van Gennep in his Rites of Passage, published in France in 1909 and in English in 1960. Van Genneps stages are: separation from this world, transition, and incorporation of the deceased into the world of the dead. These are well represented in Iban traditions, and to some extent amongst contemporary Ibans in modern Kuching. Transition takes place when the body is moved into its coffin., Incorporation when the sabak is sung, and now when the speeches are delivered and Christian prayer is said and hymns are sung. Separation at ngetas ulit continues to be widely used, although the other traditional rite of beserara bunga has largely fallen into disuse. Conclusion There is more for me to do now in analysing the wide range of information I have collected, and in identifying how the key issues cause confusion. It is right that we think of Sarawak as unique, but we need also to recognise that globalisation and urbanisation have their effects here in Sarawak and S E Asia, but also throughout the world. They are universal phenomena and Iban Anglicans in Kuching are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion which adjusts faith and practice to the changing world. The Anglican

8 church leaders who my informants expect to help them with these changes are themselves caught up in questions of faith and culture which they now seek, once again, to clarify. My thanks to all those who have shared with me during the last few weeks. Like them I will continue to question and respond to the way God is leading. The Ibans and Sarawak remain one of the worlds most fascinating people and places, drawing social scientists from around the world to come here, and I am glad to continue to be amongst you.
Notes on spellings: Both baya or baiya spellings are used in texts and on the internet. Is there a standard spelling? Sebayan is now preferred to sabayan, Semengat to samengat. References: Freeman, J. Derek. (1970). Report on the Iban. London: Athlone Press. Van Gennep, Arnold, The Rites of Passage, 1909/1960, University of Chicago Henry Gana Ngadi. 1998 Iban rites of passage and some related ritual acts : a description of forms and functions Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan, Malaysia

Terence, Joseph. 1964. The Longhouse Church in Sarawak: a study of rural Iban Methodist Church. M Th Thesis: Perking School of Theology
Pringle, Robert. (1970). Rajahs and Rebels . London: MacMillan. Richards, Anthony, An Iban-English dictionary, 1981 Sather, Clifford. (1980) Introduction. In Benedict Sandin Iban adat and augury, pp. xi-xlv. Penang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia. Sutlive, Vinson. H. (1978). The Iban of Sarawak. Arlington Heights, Illinois: A.H.M. Publishing Corporation. Uchibori, Motomitsu (1978). The leaving of this transient world: a study of Iban eschatology and mortuary practices. PhD thesis, The Australian National University, Canberra. --- (2003). 'Transformations of self and community in Saribas Iban death rituals in W. D. Wilder (ed.) Journeys of the Soul: Anthropological Studies of Death, Burial, and Reburial Practices in Borneo. Phillips, Maine: Borneo Research Council: 175-250.

Wang, George and Fowler, Andrew. 1969. Accommodation in an Iban church today. South East Asia Journal of Theology 10 October 1968/January 1969 pp 9-32