Kenyo led the devotional prayer, a solemn and sacred song. JP/Nurni Sulaiman

Kenyo, an 85-year-old blind woman with the stretched earlobes customary among Dayak women, led the devotional prayer, a solemn and sacred song.

She was dressed in the decorative clothing of the Dayak, the typical costume worn when taking part in the tribe’s customary law practice known as Lom Plai.

As part of the ceremony, offerings of bamboo, chickens, eggs, rice and spices were made to the rice gods and goddesses. All the Hudoq dancers, wearing masks that represent pests, and members of the Nehas Liah Bing village community took part in the solemn occasion that concluded with an Amen to Kenyo’s prayers in the closing moments of the Lom Plai, held in the yard of the Nehas Liah Bing village.

Lom Plai is a customary law ritual conducted each year by the Dayak Wehea ethnic community. The monthlong ritual, held between March and May, takes place after the rice harvest and close to the season for rice planting. This year the climax of the Lom Plai celebrations took place last month.

The Dayak Wehea ethnic community lives in the DAS area (the area encompassed by a river) and alongside the Wehea river. The wider community calls this area Wahau and the DAS Telen river. One of these communities is Nehas Liah Bing village.

The entire Lom Plai ritual is a complex series of smaller rituals, involving different sectors of the community in separate tasks.

Ngesea Egung, or the striking of the gong, is carried out by the customary law elders as a sign that the Lom Plai has started, and again to announce the closing of Lom Plai. When the gong is struck, prayers are read entreating the gods to ensure that the next planting season will be free of diseases and pests, that the harvest will be abundant and that members of the village community will always enjoy good health.

“There are some things that can delay the Lom Plai ceremony, such as births and deaths,” Ledjie Taq, the head of Dayak customary law at Nehas Liah Bing village, told The Jakarta Post. “If these things occur before the Ngesea Egung the Lom Plai is postponed. But if the gong has been struck before there’s a death, Lom Plai has to be continued according to schedule.”

Used in the ritual is a Pesyai, an assemblage between 20 and 40 meters long made of guei neakleang or rattan, under which the villagers hang selections from the harvest such as rice stalks, ketupat (a rice cake boiled in young coconut leaves), bananas and other fruit. The rice with its plump grains symbolizes fertility in the next planting season; the fruit is an offering to the rice gods so their hearts will be generous and they will heap blessings on the community.

The event known as Laq Pesyai is when they take the rattan and fruits used for the Pesyai. At that time, they make huts with roofs of leaves, and a dish known as lemang (sticky rice with coconut cream, steamed and wrapped in leaves then grilled in bamboo). Once this is done, they take the Pesyai material home, a trip they make in a Pehket Heluk or decorated boats.

Another event is the Peknai, during which adult women splash water on the customary law elders. The elders then respond with their own splashes of water.

The water splashing ritual is undertaken in the hope that there will be enough rain in the next planting season so that there will be no drought or harvest failure. The Post’s observation of the ritual showed that it is not confined to the customary law elders, but also involves other members of the community and newcomers in a display of joyfulness.

This event continues with face painting using charcoal. For young people especially, face painting with charcoal has become a form of entertainment that builds familiarity among members of the community and friendship toward newcomers.

The Petdeq Leon ritual, which is carried out in the customary law house, is especially for the oldest men from each family. In this event, which takes place in the morning as dawn approaches, the men exchange new rice that has been fried. This ritual symbolizes that the customary law annual cycle of rice has been achieved.

In the Naq Kenan Plai ritual, which is carried out under a pit house, the villagers make dishes from rice makes food using rice.

Unding is a ritual to call the spirits of the rice gods and goddesses; this is done by planting two pieces of bamboo and wood and then making a fence. After the Unding ritual is over, the community is ready to start farming.

The Lom Plai ritual peaks with Naq Jengea and Embob Jengea, where a temporary hut is made with a roof of leaves. These parts of the ritual involve a set of specific steps, among which are Emboss Min and Seksiang, which are conducted at the same time.

Emboss Min, or the cleaning of the kampung by adult women, is undertaken to throw out all the bad luck and wickedness that is in the kampung. In this ritual, all the adult women form a long line and read a prayer while they move from the upper course to downstream of the kampung three times.

When this ritual is being conducted, no person or animal may pass in front of the women lining up in the Dayak Wehea.

While the women are cleaning, the men are on the river, engaged in a battle known as the Seksiang. The men ride in boats, following the river downstream as they carry out the battle.

The ritual of the Hudoq dance is also interesting. The dancers’ costumes and masks are made of banana leaves. At the end of the dance, all the Hudoq dancers, community members, newcomers and visitors gather in the middle of the yard, forming a circle and dancing together.

In this ritual, the village customary law head of Nehas Liah Bing presents a souvenir in the form of a bracelet to newcomers and visitors who have come especially to watch the Lom Plai. The newcomers are given a red thread on which are strung four beads, two red and two black. The red thread is tied around the arm.

“The two red beads symbolize blood, which is meant to give our village guests good health, while the black beads are to ensure guests avoid all types of bad luck and wickedness,” Ledjie Taq explained. “The red thread along which the beads are arranged circles the arm and signifies the bonds of friendship which are not broken.”

At the peak of the Lom Plai ritual, all members – children, adults, old people and customary law elders – of the village community gather for the ritual in the field called Nehas Liah Bing. This year, this ritual was led by Ledjie Taq; the prayers were read by Kenyo, and the handover of offerings was carried out by the customary law secretary Tep Guen, and the customary law elder Wang Pek.

Lom Plai is an integral part of life for the Dayak ethnic community in Wehea. It is based on a traditional legend that holds that the paddy is a reincarnated woman (see sidebar).

“We believe in that legend so that the celebration of Lom Plai is always carried out by the Dayak ethnic community of Wehea,” said Ledjie Taq.

Nehas Liah Bing Village is one of 10 villages in the Muara Wahau subdistrict of East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan. It is home to 2,234 people from a total 589 households. It is remote, requiring a trip of between 14 and 16 hours from Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan. It can also be reached by boat, a trip that takes between two and three days.

The celebration of Lom Plai began to become widely known in 2006, through the Nature Conservancy NGO and the Orangutang Conservation Services Program.

The Nehas Liah Bing ritual has been around for 400 years. In April 2007 the East Kutai Regency head, Awang Faroek Ishak (now the East Kalimantan governor) decreed it to be a cultural village event that had to be conserved.

Photos by Nurni Sulaiman

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