Benauq Dayak ritual | Tanjung Isuy
MTDateHeader>August 18, 2010
Olympus OM-2N | Ilford Delta 3200 | Agfa MCC
There was a sick baby so this doctor was brought in to dance for 9 days while the men of Tanjung Isuy drummed. The women and children stayed as long as they could, but dropped out faster than the men. The ceremony went on until 1AM every morning. I wasn't aware of that when they offered me coffee, and as a non-coffee drinker I demurred, "oh, I shouldn't, it's already 8PM."
The ceremony was definitely not intended for tourists. I was the only one in town and no one had thought to mention it to me previously--the day I saw it was already the 8th day of dancing. Shorni was the one who'd found out about it. Not Dayak himself, he didn't feel comfortable observing, so he simply walked me to the ceremony and left.