Masiana Yom, 70, a resident of Badat Baru village, Entikong district, Sanggau regency, West Kalimantan, wears a bracelet inherited from her ancestors on her feet and hands, Monday (14/8).
Some of the Dayak Bidayuh people in Badat Baru hamlet, Entikong district, West Kalimantan, still wear copper bracelets on their arms and legs. In the past, the bracelets were seen as magical objects that boost one’s spirituality and increase one’s beauty and attractiveness.
Badat Baru hamlet in Sanggau regency borders Malaysia. Upon entering Badat Baru on Monday (14/8/2017), what I saw on the verandahs of the local homes attracted my attention. Several elderly people in the village wore golden bracelets on their arms and legs.
Masiana Yom, 70, was one of the locals wearing the bracelets. That Monday morning, Yom was sitting on the verandah of her house with her children and grandchildren. In her old age, there are not many activities she can do apart from enjoying her days with those she loves most.
Yom greets everyone with her warm smile. All visitors in the village want to talk to her to find out more about her unique bracelets.
The diameter of her golden bracelets is around seven or eight centimeters. She wears them on both her arms and legs, from underneath her knees down to her ankles. Each of her arms and legs is adorned with between 10 and 15 bracelets. The bracelets on her arms are called kayep while the ones on her legs are called asukng.
Visitors looking at Yom’s bracelets may think she is in pain. The bracelets on her legs look especially small and tight. Her calf muscles are sunken as she has worn the bracelets for a long time. However, Yom said, she did not feel any pain.
Since her teenage years
“I have worn these bracelets since my teenage years. My parents put them on me. Back then, girls wore kayep and asukng to be more confident and beautiful. It’s like people wearing gold rings and watches nowadays,” Yom said.
There are no special rituals involved in wearing the bracelets. There was pain at first, especially on her legs, as the blood flow was obstructed. However, her parents helped her get used to the bracelets by massaging her legs.
“Our parents used to get the copper for the bracelets from selling their cattle and crops to Malaysia. They walked all day long through the forests on the hills. In return, they got copper. Once they got back home, they process the copper and made bracelets out of them,” Yom said.
Back when the villagers were still collecting human heads, the bracelets were also used in the ritual dances around the human head storages (panca). However, the locals do not do this anymore.
Now, Yom and other women of his age wear the bracelets in the harvest season celebration dances. Their family members who work in Malaysia will return home and join in the revelry that they call gawai. They dance and recite rhyming poems while wearing traditional clothes.
In Badat Baru, there are only five women of Yom’s age left who still wear the bracelets. They are the only ones preserving the ancestral tradition. As the younger generations adopt a different beauty concept, arm and leg bracelets are no longer used to increase physical beauty.
Cultural event
The younger generations in Badat Baru village no longer wear asukng and kayep. Some, however, still wear them on cultural events, such as those held by the government where locals are often invited to perform traditional dances.
“When the younger generation wears the bracelets in arts events, it is not for long. They will take the bracelets off after dancing. Many are in pain when wearing the bracelets on their legs. Some found their legs swelling after the dances,” Yom said.
As time goes by, the younger generations in the village gain new insights on the outside world, leading many to seek education outside of West Kalimantan and work in Malaysia. They wear more modern accessories, like watches and rings. Some still wear bracelets but only on their arms. The bracelets have modern designs.
Dayakology Institute Association head John Bamba said that there was an old saying that went “Bracelets to your elbows and rings on all your fingers”. The saying portrays how copper bracelets and rings symbolized welfare, elegance and beauty in the past.
“It was how we define luxury. Nowadays, it may mean nothing. However, back in the day, [the bracelets] express welfare, elegance and beauty of women,” John said.
Magical spiritualism
Among the Dayak people in other regions in West Kalimantan, bracelets are also used in healing rituals. One example is the bracelets worn by a healing shaman called belian. The shaman wears bracelets on his arms and legs and heals diseases by making certain sounds with the bracelets.
Anthropologist Kristianuk Atok said that, in some regions, accessories tend to have spiritual meanings. The accessories are not worn to be fashionable but to beautify oneself through magical means. “I call it magical spiritualism,” Atok said.
Copper is chosen as it does not get rusty easily and it is deemed as close to the nature and the earth.
There are also accessories using the fangs of wild animals. Usually these are used to symbolize one’s strength.
