A visit to an Iban longhouse offers a unique glimpse of an ancient way of life that-although changing fast-is still fascinating for outsiders. Longhouse life is a microcosm of a well-run society, where a close-knit community lives together under one roof with one chief, or Tuai Rumah, in charge. Within the structure, a kind of horizontal highrise, each family has its own quarters or bilek, where they sleep and eat. The main room is often lined with Chinese ceramic jars much prized by the Ibans. At the rear is the kitchen, where a wood fire provides the heat for cooking, adding a distinctive smokey taste to the food and a dark patina to the surroundings.

CHANGING TIMES

Times are changing in the longhouse. Walls which once held faded photographs of the Brookes and Queen Elizabeth II are now adorned with colour magazine pictures of beauty queens, racing cars and the latest pop icons. Many Dayaks have converted from spirit-sensitive animism to Christianity, and evenings once spent performing tribal chants and sacrificial ceremonies are taken up with prayer meetings. Children who once enjoyed carefree days frolicking in the longhouse and the rice fields are ensconced in schools studying Bahasa Malaysia and physics. Yet still the community spirit lives on.

Longhouse life is hard. Men and women spend long hours working in the fields, planting and tending their crops. Much longhouse activity takes place on the tanju and ruai – from drying cocoa beans to socializing. Cockfighting is a popular male pastime. Animistic beliefs and legendary spirits surround many of the festival cockfights.

Fighting Cock or Sacrificial Pet?

Cocks play an important part in Iban culture, and they are kept and cosseted as pets while being prepared for their first big fight. The men of the longhouse play with them regularly, engaging them in mock battles with their neighbours, but without the razor sharp spurs attached to their rear claws. Those are reserved for fighting days and can bring a lesser fighter to its death in minutes. Before the fight, the cocks are sometimes given small shots of tuak, rice wine, to keep them energized and slightly aggressive.

The cocks and chickens also play an important part in ceremonial issues. Chicken sacrifices are common and the occult powers of a white cockerel are highly respected, in common with many other cultures around the world.

In many ceremonies-for example, in the case of a sick or possessed person – a cock will be sacrificed, and the blood, valued for its purifying quality, sprinkled over a subject. In milder cases, the live chicken is simply waved over the subject or over the ceremony offering plates.