Fun fact: not all native Sarawakians celebrate Gawai. Technically, only Iban and Bidayuh call it Gawai, but all Sarawakians partake in one way or another bc we share everything and any excuse to drink is good enough for us lol.

Gawai is, in essence, a harvest celebration. Habis menuai padi, ngirup lok! Its original purpose was to thank the deities for a bountiful harvest & to appease the spirits. Nowadays, miring rituals or offerings are usually replaced w a church service/thanksgiving prayer.

Highlights of post-colonial—whoops sorry, post-Brooke Gawai include decorating the longhouse, ngabang, drinking tuak, slaughtering chickens & babi, ngajat performances, & beauty pageants. In Iban they’re called Kumang Gawai (named after an Iban goddess & ideal of female beauty)

But Kayan ppl have our own harvest festival called Do Ledoh. It falls at the end of May, similar to Kaamatan. We decorate our longhouse, ngabang, drink burak, slaughter chickens & babi, perform ngajen & parap, & have beauty pageants (Ratu Keligit). Same same but different.

Side note: this is why it grinds my gears when Gawai ads features sape’ music.

Gongs & percussion: Iban & Bidayuh
Sape’: Kayan & Kenyah

Pls. That’s like releasing a Visit Penang ad but highlighting Ulek Mayang. We share roots but we are not interchangeable. Get it right.

There is an entire pantheon of gods & goddesses in the old Iban religion, not to mention the spirits—good, bad, & chaotically indifferent—that reside in the jungle. The old Kayan religion (Bungan, named after a Kayan/Kenyah goddess) is also similar.

It’s fascinating to me how the What & Why can be so alike, but the How differs from tribe to tribe. Anyway, this musim menuai, let’s remember to appreciate the real meaning of Gawai: being alive, being healthy, being thankful & getting drunk with ur loved ones.

Slamat Ari Gawai, gayu guru gerai nyamai. Sayu Do Ledoh. Kotobian Tadau Tagazo do Kaamatan. Tara tara tara tara ooo-ha, aramaiti!