Tiwah (Ceremony of the Dead)

Tiwah is a ceremony which is held by those who still adhere to the indigenous faith

of the Dayaks called Kaharingan which means "That Which Sustains".

This ceremony is carried out when the Dayaks remove the bones of their dead relatives

from graves and put the bones in a special place called “sandung”. Sandung is a human

statue, either man or woman, made of iron wood, erected on both left and right side of

Sandung. “Burung Piak Liau” on the top of Sandung symbolizes completeness of life in

Heaven as well as an indicanon that Tiwah had been held to the Soul concerned.

”KAMBE RABIT” carving symbolizes that the death of man is cause by disease and evil

spirit.

Yellow flag in front of Sandung is a symbol of Greatness of Supreme God.

Sandung is a place to keep the bones through a ceremony called Nyakean, that is an

inherent part of the Tiwah.

The ceremony normally takes at least 25 days, and it can be found only in Central

Kalimantan.Sandung is usually made of iron wood with typical Dayaks carvings on it's

walls and pilars.

During the tiwah ceremony people sing and dance with the remains of the dead

during the night. All the people participate, men and women, old and young. The

ceremony reaches its most dramatic stop during the slaughter of a buffalo as a sacrifice. If

only one buffalo is killed, it is done a day before the cremation. If there are several, the

killing maybe done either at once, or a day before cremation or one or a few at a time,

until cremation takes places. The buffalo is killed with spears, by several people, taking

turns. The animal is tied to the animals pala, called sapundu and cannot escape, while it's

executioners aim their spears at its head and body. The person who has the obligation to

throw the first spear is the brother of the deceased. If he is indisposed, he can be

represented by a cousin. After the buffalo is dead, members of family trample on the

carcass later, the meat of buffalo will be shared. Commonly, the ceremony of cremation

is held a day after the ceremony buffalo killing. A cleansing ceremony is held three of

seven days after tiwah ceremony, to drive all the evil spirit away. All the utensils used in

the tiwah are thrown away, because they are considered to be attached to those evil

spirits. The cleansing ceremony is led by a balian.

Name : Muhammad Nashiruddin

Kelas : XI IA 5