Festival highlights waning popularity of Dayak blowguns

By Indra D. Himrat

JAKARTA (JP): Mention Dayak and some people think about traditional weapons, such as the sumpit (blowgun). A sumpit, made of hard wood, is cylindrical and long, like a rifle barrel.

Today, it is used especially for hunting in the forest, but in the past it was used in wars between Dayak groups. However, the sumpit is becoming increasingly separated from the Dayak community, at least those living in the Greater Jakarta area, as seen in the recent Dance and Sumpit Festival in the Center Kalimantan pavilion at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.

The sumpit contest attracted 25 participants, both Dayaks and non-Dayaks. The winner was Popi Baeng, a Dayak who now lives in Jakarta, but the second and third place finishers, guards at the Central and East Kalimantan pavilions at Taman Mini, are Javanese.

"They were both trained to use the sumpit because they work at the pavilion," said Yos Budiono, an executive of Yayasan Burung Enggang, a foundation for the preservation of Dayak arts and culture.

A number of women also participated in the competition. Their presence gave a certain prestige to the festival, because the weapon is not traditionally used by women.

The use of the sumpit requires strong breathing, so that the sumpit dart can reach the target, however far it may be. Traditionally the Dayaks in Kalimantan's inland areas are trained to use the blowgun.

One has to train continuously to use the weapon in order to perfect one's aim, even in difficult situations.

It could be seen in this festival that many participants were not skillful in handling the sumpit. Most of the darts leaving the weapon missed the target, a black circle 10 meters away from the participants.

"It is hoped that this sumpit festival will make the younger (Dayak) generation get acquainted again with the weapon, that in the past was used by their ancestors when they were hunting in the forest," said Budiono, a Javanese who is married to a Dayak.

Budiono also plans periodically to hold a sumpit festival.

The festival at Taman Mini attracted an audience of about 300 people, mostly Dayaks.

Budiono also said that the low number of participants in the festival was due to the short preparation time, only two weeks. Another limiting factor is that the number of people from the Dayak community in Greater Jakarta who own a sumpit is very small. All four of the blowguns used in the festival belonged to Budiono.

More people may own sumpits, but perhaps only as collector items. It is clear that there is no place to use them in Jakarta, and even if there was somebody to make sumpits, the materials are very difficult to get.

"The hard wood is difficult to obtain here. A substitute for the wood is possible, but the gabus (cork) attached to the dart can only be found on riversides," said Yos Budiono.

The gabus is made of a kind of reed that grows on riversides. It cannot be replaced by other material. Therefore, it makes sense that not many people own a sumpit, and that the weapon is a rarity. Besides, Dayaks in Greater Jakarta have no use for the sumpit, so the weapon of their ancestors is no longer considered important.

Even in Kalimantan, where the raw materials for the weapon are easily obtained, the sumpit eventually could become less popular. The traditional weapon has lost the competition with air rifles. "Now people can use air rifles for hunting. The rifles are more accurate and have a longer reach," a Dayak recently told The Jakarta Post.