Pua Kumbu artisans of Rumah Gare

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Skilled weavers from longhouse in Balleh produce exquisite world-renowned craft under charge of grandmaster

One of the programme participants Hii Hong Wee watches Gangging Langkong weaving Pua Kumbu.

THE weavers of Rumah Gare Timbang at Sungai Kain, Balleh in Kapit are renowned for producing top-quality Pua Kumbu – the traditional cloth of the Ibans.

In recognition of the product’s exquisite features, in 2003 the artisans received the ‘G Mark’, the symbol of the ‘Good Design Award’, which has been a sole comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system in Japan since 1957.

I had the opportunity to meet these skilled weavers during a recent trip to the longhouse under the ‘Sarawak Product Experience: Balleh Culture Experience’ programme, organised by Sarawak Tourism Board (STB).

Joining the group of journalists and photographers were Tourism Malaysia Sarawak director Noriah Jaafar, STB digital unit manager Heidi Tay Lian Ai, STB Visitors Information Centre (VIC) Miri personnel Mohd Amirul Bong Abdullah, as well as travel agents and online page promoters.

According to programme’s organising head Prisca Wong of STB VIC Sibu, the SPE was among the nine projects slated this year for three VICs in Sarawak, namely the centres in Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

“The objectives are to discover new areas with tourism potential, to gather and compile new and updated information on tourism products, and to assist tour operators and product owners promote their products,” she said.

Journey to Rumah Gare

We embarked on our journey to Rumah Gare on board four four-wheel-drive vehicles (4WDs) after having the ‘roti canai goreng’, with accompaniments of chicken curry and sambal, for breakfast at Gelanggang Kenyalang.

I was told that one must head to Gelanggang Kenyalang early as this popular dish would be sold out before noon.

Along the way to the longhouse, we stopped for a tour at the historical Fort Sylvia in Kapit.

I took some time studying the memorial stone in front of the fort, which was erected to commemorate the peace treaty between the Ibans of Batang Rajang and Batang Ai, and the Kayans, the Kenyahs and the Kajangs of the Apoh Kayan and Balui River.

The ceremony on Nov 16, 1924 marked the end of the feuds between these two groups, which sparked in 1886 as mentioned on the Dec 1, 1924 edition of the ‘Sarawak Gazette’.

As a token of peace, then-Rajah Vyner Brooke had presented an ancient jar each to Temenggong Koh Jubang who represented the Ibans, and Taman Kila who was the Kenyah paramount chief.

Nur Hazwani Yahya of Borneo Plux Sdn Bhd admires a collection of Pua Kumbu displayed at the longhouse.

We later resumed our journey to Rumah Gare.

I was told that one could also reach the longhouse by longboat, which could take up to three hours depending on the water level.

Our 4WD travelling time from Kapit town, however, was about two hours. The first hour of the drive was along a tar-sealed stretch, while the next was along a logging road.

Two timber-laden trucks went past our convoy not long before we arrived at the 29-door longhouse, nestled on Nanga Sempang, a tributary of Sungai Kain.

There, we were received by state administrative officers (SAOs) Harry Don Bosco and Caroline John Sikie from Song District Office and Kapit District Office, respectively.

‘Indu Ngar’

Majority of Rumah Gare womenfolk are Pua Kumbu weavers, led by a master weaver and ‘Indu Ngar’ (master dyer) Bangie Embol, who is the mother of longhouse chieftain Gare Timbang.

Bangie shows some of her masterpieces.

She was awarded the title of ‘Master Weaver’ by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in 2017 in recognition of her skills in Pua Kumbu-making, which she learned from her grandmother when she was 10.

The matriarch is now 78.

Bangie’s mother passed away when she was just three months old, and her father returned to his original longhouse after that.

Raised by her grandmother, Bangie got married at a tender age of 12 but after 11 years of marriage, her husband died – leaving her to provide for her five children on her own.

This was when she began to redirect her focus on Pua Kumbu-making.

She told us that one day, she had a dream where a spirit told her to be the ‘Indu Ngar’.

“The spirit came to me in my dream three times, and I refused it each time knowing that it would be a heavy responsibility.

“The spirit then cursed me, saying that I would lose in every Pua Kumbu competition.

“For three years, I lost in every competition.

“After that, the spirit came again in a dream and this time, I was told to perform the ‘ngar’ (dyeing) ritual on May 1 and should I refuse the task, our longhouse would burn down.

“My son Gare and I immediately returned to our longhouse from Kapit town. It was already dark, but we managed to secure a longboat ready for ‘ngar’.

“That was the beginning of my journey as ‘Indu Ngar’,” she told thesundaypost.

Bangie checks the colour of the threads dyed using ‘engkudu’ roots.

Apart from the Unesco’s ‘Master Weaver’ recognition, Bangie is also an ‘Adiguru’ (Grandmaster) title holder accorded to her by the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation (Kraftangan Malaysia).

Her weaving skills have brought her from a remote pocket in Balleh to various places around the world where she has met people from different backgrounds.

Working as a community

There is no specific time for the weavers of Rumah Gare to undertake the ‘ngar’, which is a communal work.

However, Bangie said she would be visited by a spirit, who would advise her on the ideal time for such undertaking. Following this, the weavers under her charge would start preparing the natural ingredients used to dye the threads bought from the shops in Kapit town.

Bangie demonstrates to the participants the ‘ngar’ process using ‘akar penawar landak’.

These ingredients, namely the ‘engkudu’ (Morinda citrifolia) roots, ‘tarum’ (Indigofera tinctoria) or also known as ‘daun rengat’, ‘janggau’ (Aporosa confusa), ‘engkerabai’ (Psychotria viridiflora) and ‘akar penawar landak’ (Fibraurea tinctoria), could be foraged from the forests surrounding the longhouse.

“The ingredients are pounded and boiled in a tin to extract the colour. The extract is then poured into ‘belian’ (ironwood) trough, into which the clean threads are soaked.

“Everyone involved in the process would step on the threads to ensure that each strand would absorb the dye. This process would be repeated over and over until we achieve the desired colour.

“After that, the threads would be hung to dry,” said Bangie, adding that the whole ‘ngar’ process could take up to two weeks.

“It is the exhausting part of producing Pua Kumbu. I get very little rest during the ‘ngar’, because I have to be on guard and check the threads from time to time.”

She also said to produce high-quality threads, every weaver must observe strictly all the dos and don’ts as even the slightest mistake could place the entire process at stake.

“Once, we had to repeat the entire process after the spirit told me in my dream that our ‘ngar’ was not done well,” she recalled.

One of the weavers, Baru Lali, ties sections of the threads using raffia strings to conceal them from the dye.

Upholding legacy

There was this one time when Bangie was looking for plants for the dye in the forest when she accidently cut the stem of the ‘akar penawar landak’.

“I saw that the stem was yellow. So I thought to myself: ‘I could try to make yellow dye from this stem’. I brought it home, tested it and as I had expected, the colour came out very nicely.”

Photo shows the natural ingredients used to produce the dye.

According to Bangie, ‘akar penawar landak’ is used as a traditional medicine for the longhouse folks.

“Back in the days when health clinics and hospitals were inaccessible, we used the stem to cure insect sting,” she said.

When asked about the plant’s local name, Bangie said her grandfather was hunting when he saw a ‘landak’ (porcupine) eating ‘tubai’ (Derris elliptica).

For context, the roots of the ‘tubai’ are used as fish poison throughout South-East Asia and the Pacific, while the extract is said to be among the ingredients in making the arrow poison in Borneo.

The powdered form is widely used as an insecticide.

“My grandfather followed the animal and later, saw it chewing the ‘akar penawar landak’. So, the name remains until today,” said Bangie.

With age catching up, Bangie expressed hope the Pua Kumbu heritage would never go extinct.

“If you want to learn how to weave a Pua Kumbu, go and do it.

“It is the only way that we can keep this tradition alive – the same way I, and my fellow weaver, have been upholding and continuing the legacy of our ancestors,” said the grandmaster.