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Iban People

Indonesia is a country that has many provinces. One of the province is West Kalimantan. West Kalimantan is a province in Indonesia that has 2 main tribes in it; Malaynese and dayaknese. Dayak as the native tribe of West Kalimantan consists of 350 subtribes. One of them is Dayak Iban.

The Ibans are a branch of the Dayaknese of Kalimantan.  They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal expansion. In ancient times the Ibans were a strong and successful warring tribe in Kalimantan. They speak the Iban language.

The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Kalimantan. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.

The Ibans were traditionally animist, although the majority are now Christian, some of them Muslim and many continue to observe both Christian and traditional ceremonies, particulary during marriages or festival.

Significant festivals include the rice harvesting festival Gawai Dayak, the main festival for the Ibans. The Iban traditional dance, the ngajat, is performed accompanied by the taboh and gendang, the Ibans' traditional music. Tuak, which is originally made of rice, is a wine used to serve guests. 

Iban music is percussion-oriented  without any accompanying melodic instrument. The typical Iban agung ensemble will include a set of engkerumungs (small agungs arranged together side by side and played like a xylophone), a tawak (the so-called 'bass'), abendai (which acts as a snare) and also a set of ketebung (a single sided drum/percussion).

Iban can be divided into different branches which are named after the geographical areas where they reside. The Kantu, Air Tabun, Semberuang, Sebaru’, Bugau, Mualang, and along with many other groups are classed as “Ibanic people” by anthopologists. They can be related to the Iban either by the dialect they speak or their customs, rituals and their way of life.