Borneo-Dayak CRAFTS
indonesia exporter of dayak tribe's handmade crafts & tribal arts

Borneo's Dayak handicraft, the beauty of ancient tribal arts and handmade crafts

Traditional Life: Sickness and Shamanism

Sickness is caused by a malevolent spirit who abducts and retains the human soul or part of its mana, or dwells in the patient's body. A ritual specialist, the shaman - male or female, according to local customs - is in charge of restoring the patient to health. Called manang by the Iban, balian by the Barito groups, dayung by the Kayan, they often must follow special taboos.

The shaman first establishes a diagnostic on the whereabouts of the patient's soul and the identity of the spirit causing the disease. Relying on the shaman's ability to release his or her soul to deal directly with the spirits, treatments are often called balian, wadian, or pelian. These relate to the term bali, referring to supernatural forces. Balian then simply means "getting in direct contact with the spirit world".

Art in traditional life: People at home, Household arts and crafts, Clothes and textiles, Personal adornment, The wider world, The fields, River and forest, Trade, War, headhunting, and sacrifice, Traditional religion, Of Gods and men, Life and ritual, Sickness and shamanism, Death and funeral art, Primary funerals, Secondary funerals, The living and the death.