There is nothing greater and more influential than the longhouse that can bind the Iban folk together.
To this very day, longhouses remain the greatest uniting factor for Iban community. Politics, religions and other factors that at one time or another, especially in the mid 80’s, had disturbed and broken many longhouses, are no longer able to disunite longhouse residents.
In the early 80’s no less than three longhouses in Bintangor and Sarikei areas broke into two units each due to religion whereby half of the longhouses’ residents embraced Islam and the other half remained Christians or pagans. This trend stopped there and no such religious conversion was known to break longhouses.
During the upsurge in politics of 1986 and 1987, including Iban in the longhouses – some refer to this as Dayakism – a few longhouses in Sarikei and Julau broke into two or more units.
In our Melupa, Saratok neighbourhood, Mendas longhouse, from where my sister-in-law Sinong Langie (my elder brother Jon @ Chandi’s wife) originates, which was formerly Saratok’s longest longhouse with 48 doors, is now broken into four units.
The longhouse on stilts which survived as one for more than 50 years disintegrated into four short ones following various disagreements on certain issues, the main one being the proposed celebration of Gawai Antu, Iban grandest celebration.
Difference in politics was also a culprit but only in a small way. By the time a Gawai was held in the original Mendas longhouse, only about 20 out of the 48 households celebrated it while the others abstained by moving from the longhouse and built new longhouses nearby.
These three longhouses are now called Mendas Asal (Original Mendas) for being relocated just about 100 metres from the original longhouse; Mendas Baruh about a kilometre away and next to the Mendas Primary School as well as Mendas Atas which is by the roadside of the Pan Borneo Highway.
Recently it mourned the loss of longhouse chief Tuai Rumah Imong, who was named after the weird Manang Imong of Kedap, a subject of my former article. TR Imong was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road from his longhouse.
This disintegrating of longhouses by political differences and other issues is history. Now, the allegiance of Iban folk to their longhouses is so strong and indestructible that it has become the strongest unifying factor among them.
The obvious testimony of this strong loyalty is the big number of Iban from the cities and towns going home in cars or express boats (along rivers such as Rajang, Baram and Kemena) during festivities such as Gawai Dayak and Christmas.
Such big movement from the urban centres to longhouses in the rural area is the equivalent of “balik kampung” for Muslims in Kuala Lumpur and other urban centres in Semenanjung Malaysia during Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.
This strong unity among longhouse residents have been attributed to other factors apart from just Gawai and Christmas celebration. Other everlasting binding factors include kinship among the residents who still share the ownership of land as well as fruit trees.
Apart from sharing such ownership, longhouse residents also share with each other fruits from communal orchards.
Fruits such as durians, mangosteen, rambutan, langsat, temedak (jack fruit), “kemayau” and its cousin “dabai”, “puak”, “cheriak” and others are plucked whenever they are ripe. These are equally divided among the shareholders and others who join the fruit plucking session.
During hunting trips, involving mostly men, games caught during the trips are also equally shared. Guns and dogs involved in such trips are also given appropriate shares.
This reminds me of two uncles, both in their early 80s who used to share their food (served on leaves) with their dogs with half of the leaf for their dogs and the other half for themselves.
They would not be angry when others scolded their children but would be angry if others insulted or scolded their dogs.
During farming season such as “nebas” and “nebang” (cutting and felling of trees) that are the starting acts for the hill paddy shifting cultivation, Iban families from the same longhouse and at time from different longhouses normally perform the “beduruk” (mutual assist) whereby each household will host the mutual assist act for day one and another family will be the host for the next day.
Sometimes when up to ten families are joining the group, it could mean only one turn each would be able to get the farming activity done.
For example the felling of trees would be done just in a day for one family. And so is the “nugal” or the sowing of seeds and other seasonal acts such as weeding as well as harvesting.
Members of the Iban community consider this “beduruk” truly a manifestation of their unity. Without such mutual support they would not be able to complete each farming season fast.
Sometimes the weeds of one’s farm would never be totally and fully cut and taken care of if not for such mutual assistance. Such farms are considered a waste for paddy would not grow well if the weeds are not cut or killed (in the modern case of using weedkiller).
Due to these various issues tying the longhouse residents together plus the strong faithfulness of city and town Iban to their community dwellings, the longhouses, no politics, no religions, no individuals or demons can break them anymore. Longhouses will remain intact as they are for such unbreakable allegiance is set to unify them everlastingly.
