Gawai Antu 1992
Finally found, scanned and resized a few photos of a Gawai Antu which I attended for about three days in 1992. The longhouse was about 2 to 3 hours from Kuching. We were fortunate to be invited by a neighbour of my wifes friend and we were treated very generously over the three days of the festival. I am no expert on the Gawai Antu but was told they are a festival for the spirits or ghosts. The festival is only held every 20 to 30 years as they are a very expensive event, there may in fact be spiritual reasons for that timeframe but I do not know.
This longhouse had about 25 family rooms and each household supplied as much alcohol and food as possible. These supplies were displayed prior to the commencement of the festival. During the event elders held processions and drank toasts to the spirits. These processions occurred throughout days and nights and I was told they were not meant to sleep much if at all - I eventually did.
I have included a few photos displaying the processions, dress and weapons. I never took photos of the heads that were taken, as I understand it by some of the elders in the processions (WWII Japanese as I recall). The little children were always keen on showing them to me. That after all is one of the uses of a Mandau. I received much respect and hospitality from these people and would expect that these photos be viewed respectfully as well.
Please enjoy
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