Precolonial Dayaks inhabited the shore lines until Malays migrated to the region, forcing the indigenous peoples to relocate into the mountainous interior. Muslim Malays set up permanent settlements on the coast, ruled by a wealthy sultanate (Brunei). By the mid-1500's both Spanish and Portuguese and later English and Dutch explorers reached the coastal areas but had little to no direst contact with the Dayaks living in the interior. These interaction with foreign powers greatly weakened the sultan's power which led to lawlessness and piracy in the trading route. Pre-interaction with Europeans, the Dayaks were known for their tribal conflicts with the Malays as well as other Dayak tribes in which the heads of their enemies would be taken as ritual trophies. The head-hunting parties would go out and hunt for various reasons including: they believed it gain fertile soil during harvest, fresh heads gave they supernatural strength, atonement for wrong doings, pre-marriage dowry, gave they protection from enemy attacks, and heads were collected as a symbol of power.
While the Brunei sultanate's control was diminishing Christian missionaries began embedding themselves into the native tribes. In 1839 James Brooke, a British subject, arrived in the Brunei sultanate to offer military advising in putting down the Dayak rebellions and revolts in western Borneo. As payment for his service the sultan gave Brooke a huge portion of land and named him the raja of Sarawak. Brooke set up a provisional government and sought to end the piracy and head-heading traditions while spreading Christianity. Sarawak became a British territory in 1888, while the Dutch ruled most of the island up until World War II. The Dayaks who have been treated as inferior, both politically and numerically sought to gain recognition from Great Britain. When their efforts failed a majority of Dayaks broke out into a rebellion. To regain peace West Kalimantan was established in 1957. Later the next year the Indonesia government labeled the Dayaks as atheist and thus to some European and American nations, gaining a communist label. During the Cold War West Kaharingan went there many outside interruptions on account of Cold War ideology creating the need for the mainly Dayak state to proclaim a national religion. In the early 1970's West Kaharingan was recognized by the Indonesian government was having Kaharingan as a national religion.
In the latter part of the twentieth century many of the natural resources such as rain forests have been destroyed on account of logging and mining industries. Thus to confront this deforestation Dayaks in cooperation with their Indonesian counterparts have created a network to protect the common interests of those inhabiting Sarawak. Today, the once polarized tribes have a sense of community spurred by the want to protect their homeland.
List of References
- Minahan, James. Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.
- Rigg, Jonathan. Southeast Asia: A Region in Transition. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. Print.
