Dayak Writing from Within
Dayak literacy activists and practitioners in an online discussion. Doc. Masri Sareb.
🌍 DAYAK TODAY | PONTIANAK: The history of the Dayak is a vast canvas etched by countless hands, spanning from the time when the first humans crossed from mainland Asia to Borneo.
Today, the descendants of the Dayak navigate the internet, retracing their ancestors' footprints embedded in the rapids and forests.
For over 40,000 years, they have built a civilization that does not unfold in a single, linear path but meanders like the rivers they know better than anyone.
With seven main ethnic branches and 405 subgroups, the Dayak defy containment in a single book, just as a river cannot be bottled.
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Thousands of pages would merely serve as an overture, an opening movement to a long, unfolding symphony. They are not a single hue, a single voice, or a single story—they are ever-moving fragments, a mosaic in perpetual motion.
Narrating the Dayak Story
The deeper one delves into Dayak narratives written from within, the clearer it becomes that the Dayak identity has never been singular. These writings, like fragments of a mirror, capture different reflections from varying angles.
Some see the Dayak through sacred rituals, others trace their ancient trade routes, while some recount their resistance and others document the fine line between myth and history.
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The more stories emerge, the more the Dayak identity unfolds—not merely as a name on a map but as a self-defined voice filling gaps in history long narrated by outsiders. When the Dayak write their own stories, they create sharper, more layered, and multifaceted narratives.
Ultimately, writing is about igniting small flames in the darkness. The more flames that are lit, the clearer the image of the Dayak becomes — a people long observed but rarely truly understood.
Before Tjilik Riwut and Fridolin Ukur published their works in the 1950s, the Dayak voice was faint, often an object written about rather than an author of its own history. They were studied from a distance, their reality filtered through lenses clouded by assumptions and biases.
The Colonial Gaze and the Misrepresentation of Dayak Identity
For centuries, the perception of the Dayak was shaped by outsiders—often burdened with preconceived notions, whether conscious or not. Norwegian naturalist Carl Bock’s The Head-Hunters of Borneo (1881) depicted the Dayak as fierce jungle warriors, primitive headhunters in a world frozen in time, detached from the so-called modern civilization.
Windsor Earl, in another account, framed the Dayak as an entirely separate, primitive race distinct from the Malay world —a view not merely observational but a constructed division between "them" and "us."
Such narratives persisted. This is how colonialism operates—not just by conquering land but by shaping perception.
In foreign texts, the Dayak often appeared as silent subjects, passive figures to be interpreted rather than active storytellers.
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However, their voices, though slow and hesitant at first, began to rise. Tjilik Riwut chronicled Borneo from the perspective of its tributaries, narrating his journeys not as an outsider but as one deeply rooted in the land itself.
Fridolin Ukur’s Tantang Jawab Suku Dayak (1971) explored Dayak identity within broader social and political landscapes—an angle rarely found in colonial-era writings.
Since then, the internal narrative has grown stronger. More voices have emerged, reshaping the Dayak story from within. They are no longer mere subjects of outside interpretation but authors of their own history.
Dayak Writing from Within
Once, the Dayak were narrated, framed, and constructed by outside writers. They were unable to shape their own narrative, and external writings were riddled with biases, misconceptions, and, in some cases, post-truth distortions.
Read Dayak Bukan Berasal dari Yunnan tapi dari Gua Niah: Ini Bukti Ilmiah Uji-karbon 40.000 Tahun Silam
One of the most persistent post-truth narratives is the claim that the Dayak originated from Yunnan, China—an assertion that has been repeated in various academic and non-academic texts. However, scientific research, including carbon dating and paleontological studies, has provided strong evidence that the ancestors of the Dayak have been in Borneo for at least 40,000 years.
The findings from Niah Cave in Sarawak, where ancient human remains were discovered, prove that the Dayak are indigenous to Borneo and did not migrate from elsewhere.
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This truth is crucial: the Dayak did not come from anywhere else. They belong to Borneo. The land, the rivers, and the forests are not just settings in their stories; they are integral to their existence. Yet, for too long, external narratives have attempted to define them, often with little regard for scientific evidence or Dayak perspectives.
Today, the Dayak have reached literacy.
They are writing in their own voices, wielding the power of the written word to reclaim their stories. Digital platforms and writing communities, such as Literasi Dayak, provide spaces for storytelling that were once monopolized by outsiders.
Now, Dayak authors dissect history, challenge old biases, and redefine their identity on their own terms. They are no longer silent figures in someone else’s narrative.
The Dayak are writing and speaking, reclaiming the stories that have long been told about them. This time, they do so with their own pens, on their own pages.
-- Masri Sareb Putra