Why did tribes take the heads of their enemies? What purpose was this in the after life? Why was this so important to have the whole body when burying the dead? Off the coast of Indonesia is an island that is part of Borneo. White rajahs ruled it some 200 years ago.
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| The tribe Dayak with the heads of their enemies displayed above |
On the Island was a tribe called Dayak, which were ruled by the white rajahs. A group member of the headhunters is actually a descendent of a white rajah.* The Dayak tribe was only one tribe on the island; there were others who practiced this headhunting as well. The Kayans, Kenyahs, ad Ibans also used this practice and therefore it was a ritual in war against one another. There has been speculation as to if the Nasca headhunted because of war or if they were mere trophies of the dead. There is a big similarity with the way the Nasca display their head and how the Dayak display their trophy heads and thus this may be an indication of a similarity in purpose.
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| A Dayak man with heads waiting to be mounted onto a displayer in the village |
When tribes in Borneo went to war there would be rituals for the wining side. To show that they conquered their enemy, the Dayak and other tribes in Sarawak would bring these heads back to their tribe and show the women that they were worthy. In this culture, a man would be brave and bold by taking the head of their enemy and proved to the women that they could do their part for the tribe. Although we do not know for sure if this was a gift to women as an offering for marriage but it was definitely encouraged by the women of Iban and other tribes.
Unlike the Nasca, we know that these tribes did this decapitation of their enemies as a trophy and sign of success. After a battle there would be a station where all the heads of their enemy would be hanging by strings. Here is an example of one:
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| A visual drawing of a Dayak head displayed |
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| Here is the display of heads to show how strong the tribe was towards other tribes. each one of these heads are representations of how the Dayaks have taken other people's souls so that they cannot "rest in peace" |
The dead whose heads were captured by their enemy are never put to because their soul is apart of their head. If a Dayak found another Dayak, dead from battle, they would drag the dead body to another location, take off the head and bury it somewhere else so that at least they knew another tribe could not take their fellow tribesmen’s head.
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Fun fact from the TV show “The Office” about headhunting:
Pam Beesly: Do you have any leads on a job?
Michael Scott: Pam what you don't understand is at my level, you don't just look in the want ads for a job, you are headhunted!
Jim Halpert: Have you called any headhunters?
Michael Scott: Any good headhunter knows that I am available.
Dwight Schrute: Any really good headhunter will storm your village at sunset with overwhelming force and cut off your head with a ceremonial knife.
Much of the public is misinformed about the definition of what headhunters really are. Dwight is an example because he believes headhunters are always savages who have no reason for doing this chaos and would chop off anyone’s head. Headhunting is a ritual done in a culture because it is their way of living; it is not the wrong way to live it is just a different way.
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| Dwight |
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*Hi, my name is Mandy Russ and I am the great, great, great granddaughter of the 2nd white rajah of Sarawak., Charles Anthony Brooke. Charles married a woman named Mastiah who was the daughter of a leader in the Dayak tribe. They had a child together named Esca. Normally this child should have become the 3rd white rajah, but because his mother’s skin was darker and the white rajahs are to rule over the people of Dayak, Charles didn’t think it would be a good idea to keep up this marriage. Tia (Mastiah) and Charles divorced and Charles married a woman wealthier. Since the child was half Caucasian and half native he was more of a hassle then anything else so he was banished to England. There a deacon who was a friend of the 1st white rajah raised Esca. His name was Dakin. Esca inherited the name Dakin and when he was older moved to Canada. There he married Edith Beatrice and had four children. Their only son is my grandmother’s father. His name was Cyril. He had but one daughter who migrated to the United States. Barbra was her name. The she married William Falls and had three children. One of these children’s names is Kathleen who married Brian Russ and had a child name Amanda. And that is the story of my ancestors.
Reference:
Fabricius, Karl.
"In Search of the Headhunting Tribes of Borneo." Popular | Environmental Graffiti. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/headhunting-tribes-borneo/20773>.
Henry Longhurst (1956)
The Borneo Story: The History Of The First 100 Years Of Trading In The Far East By The Borneo Company Limited. Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd. London and Bradford.
Peter Metcalf (1984)
A Borneo Journey into Death: Berawan Eschatology from Its Rituals by
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 223-224
Reece, Bob (2004)
The White Rajahs of Sarawak: a Borneo Dynasty. Singapore: Archipelago, 2004. Print.
The Office Quotes. The Office, 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. <http://www.theofficequotes.com/season-5/two-weeks>.
