Buried, twice

by Arpan Rachman

Black and white thinking (Issue II/2022)


The most important festival of the Dayak, the indigenous population of Borneo, is the Tiwah, the second burial. If it does not take place, the Dayak believe that the dead will haunt the family through crop failure or disease. During the first burial, the body is preserved with a secret elixir. At the earliest after one month, but sometimes after thirty years, the bones are then lifted out of the earth again at the Tiwah, accompanied by music, trance dances and the slaughter of sacrificial animals. Today, modern orchestras are often hired as well.

The body is burned and the bones are placed in a sandong, a wooden coffin in the shape of a boat or house. The festival lasts for seven days, or sometimes even forty days for wealthy families. In  this way, the dead reach the land of souls.



similar articles

The hunters and the hunted (Topic: Humans and animals)

“We are bringing species too close to one another”

In conversation with Donal Bisanzio

Zoonotic diseases are pathogens transmitted between humans and animals. How can they be kept under control? A conversation with the epidemiologist Donal Bisanzio.

more


High. Ein Heft über Eliten (Cultural spots)

The Niah Caves in Malaysia

by Graeme Barker

Excavation site, burial ground and nesting site: A glimpse into the Niah Caves on the island of Borneo

more


Black and white thinking (Topic: Culture clashes)

I’m used to feeling unsafe

by Bridget Liang

What “Safe Spaces” mean for people who face discrimination - and how we can make them obsolete.

more


Black and white thinking (World report)

What we don't remember

by Doris Akrap, Jenny Friedrich-Freksa

The war in Ukraine, a pandemic that never ends: This may not be the best time for the new European Capital of Culture cities to present themselves to the world. Novi Sad in Serbia and Kaunas in Lithuania are going ahead anyway. And both metropolises are approaching the question of their own urban histories in very different ways.

more


Tabu (Books)

Fake names and dark secrets

By

The graphic novel “Spit three times” by the artist Davide Reviati recalls Italy in the 1960s - and shows how susceptible people are to prejudice.

more


Black and white thinking (Editorial)

About the culture wars

by Jenny Friedrich-Freksa

Our editor-in-chief takes a look at the current issue.

more