Borneo Parangs

Dinggat · 1st January 2006, 10:38 PM

Asking my mother...
If it would be so simple I wouldn't take the effort to google through half of the internet to find informations

No, the problem is, that she simply doesn't remember. She lives here since three decades and although she still has a strong bond to Malaysia, she can't remind about the swords.
And next to that, I don't think, that these Parangs come from "my" longhouse. The swords they have there have another style than the ones I have, but I also have to say that I only know the working parangs and not the ritual ones (if they exist at all).
It's also possible that my father has bought these Parangs or got them as a gift. He is a doctor and back in the 70's he was a "Flying Doctor" in Malaysia who was flewn from longhouse to longhouse by helicopter and helped the people who were to far away from "civilisation". It's possible that some of the longhouse-inhabitants have given him one of their parangs out of thankfulness. He also can't remember exactly

And his job as a Flying Doctor was not limited to Iban-longhouses, so these Parangs can come from nearly every tribe living in Sarawak.

VANDOO · 2nd January 2006, 02:13 AM

THAT DOES COMPLICATE THINGS. THE ONLY THING I CAN SUGGEST THAT MIGHT GIVE YOU SOME LEADS AS TO WHERE YOUR DAD WENT WOULD BE TO LOOK AT HIS OLD FLIGHT RECORDS IF THEY ARE STILL AROUND. THERE MAY BE SOME INFORMATION THERE, LOOK FOR RECORDS FROM THE YEARS HE WAS MAKEING TRIPS TO LONGHOUSES AND VILLAGES IN DAYAK TERRITORY.THAT WILL GIVE YOU SOME IDEA AS TO LOCATIONS AND TRIBES WHO MIGHT HAVE MADE THEM. THAT WILL ALSO HELP PIN DOWN THE AGE TO NO MORE RECENT THAN THAT PERIOD AND PERHAPS OLDER. MOST WEAPONS USED FOR PRESENTATION ARE TOP QUALITY NEWER ONES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN USED OR OWNED.BUT OF COURSE THAT ISN'T ALWAYS TRUE AND HE MAY HAVE TAKEN SOME AS PARTIAL PAYMENT OR TRADE WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN A OLDER USED WEAPON CONSIDERED VALUABLE ENOUGH TO PAY BACK A DEBT OWED. IF YOUR FATHER CONSIDERED THEM AS A COLLECTION HE MAY HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING DOWN SOMEWHERE ABOUT THEM BUT IF THEY WERE JUST GIFTS OR PAYMENT THERE PROBABLY IS NO RECORD.
I WOULD GUESS THAT WHEN HEADHUNTING WAS THE CUSTOM YOU USED YOUR MANDAU FOR WORK,WAR AND CEREMONY. SINCE THEN I SUSPECT THAT THEY WOULD USE A MORE ORNATE ONE FOR CEREMONYS AND A PLAIN ONE FOR CHOPPING PLANTS ECT. JUST AS THEY WEAR A FANCY COSTUME FOR IMPORTANT CEREMONYS AND REGULAR CLOTHES FOR WORK.GOOD LUCK

1st January 2006, 10:38 PM	#1
Dinggat Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 29	Asking my mother... If it would be so simple I wouldn't take the effort to google through half of the internet to find informations No, the problem is, that she simply doesn't remember. She lives here since three decades and although she still has a strong bond to Malaysia, she can't remind about the swords. And next to that, I don't think, that these Parangs come from "my" longhouse. The swords they have there have another style than the ones I have, but I also have to say that I only know the working parangs and not the ritual ones (if they exist at all). It's also possible that my father has bought these Parangs or got them as a gift. He is a doctor and back in the 70's he was a "Flying Doctor" in Malaysia who was flewn from longhouse to longhouse by helicopter and helped the people who were to far away from "civilisation". It's possible that some of the longhouse-inhabitants have given him one of their parangs out of thankfulness. He also can't remember exactly And his job as a Flying Doctor was not limited to Iban-longhouses, so these Parangs can come from nearly every tribe living in Sarawak.

2nd January 2006, 02:13 AM	#2
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	THAT DOES COMPLICATE THINGS. THE ONLY THING I CAN SUGGEST THAT MIGHT GIVE YOU SOME LEADS AS TO WHERE YOUR DAD WENT WOULD BE TO LOOK AT HIS OLD FLIGHT RECORDS IF THEY ARE STILL AROUND. THERE MAY BE SOME INFORMATION THERE, LOOK FOR RECORDS FROM THE YEARS HE WAS MAKEING TRIPS TO LONGHOUSES AND VILLAGES IN DAYAK TERRITORY.THAT WILL GIVE YOU SOME IDEA AS TO LOCATIONS AND TRIBES WHO MIGHT HAVE MADE THEM. THAT WILL ALSO HELP PIN DOWN THE AGE TO NO MORE RECENT THAN THAT PERIOD AND PERHAPS OLDER. MOST WEAPONS USED FOR PRESENTATION ARE TOP QUALITY NEWER ONES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN USED OR OWNED.BUT OF COURSE THAT ISN'T ALWAYS TRUE AND HE MAY HAVE TAKEN SOME AS PARTIAL PAYMENT OR TRADE WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN A OLDER USED WEAPON CONSIDERED VALUABLE ENOUGH TO PAY BACK A DEBT OWED. IF YOUR FATHER CONSIDERED THEM AS A COLLECTION HE MAY HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING DOWN SOMEWHERE ABOUT THEM BUT IF THEY WERE JUST GIFTS OR PAYMENT THERE PROBABLY IS NO RECORD. I WOULD GUESS THAT WHEN HEADHUNTING WAS THE CUSTOM YOU USED YOUR MANDAU FOR WORK,WAR AND CEREMONY. SINCE THEN I SUSPECT THAT THEY WOULD USE A MORE ORNATE ONE FOR CEREMONYS AND A PLAIN ONE FOR CHOPPING PLANTS ECT. JUST AS THEY WEAR A FANCY COSTUME FOR IMPORTANT CEREMONYS AND REGULAR CLOTHES FOR WORK.GOOD LUCK