Sarawak Culture PELAH HAWA Traditional Kayan Wedding

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The Wedding

If the groom succeeds in fulfilling the jai requests or succeeds in breaking through the blockade without having to give away any jai, the next process is te'kaka, the symbolic ritual of going to the farm to do work.

As observed in Long Laput, this was done symbolically whereby the couple walks out of the longhouse and the groom pretends to cut the firewood, the bride assists in collecting the firewood and brings it back to the bride's amin. A Maren wedding will see the couple going through this process eight times while for other classes four times will be sufficient. On the way back to the amin, they are asked how the journey along the way was. This is to check if they came across dangerous animals and lethal snakes or other bad omens. This is done eight times. If a bad omen was encountered, the marriage would be called off or the couple are to be separated. In the olden days, the couple actually goes into the forest to literally collect firewood and collect vegetables. Following the class structure, they either went out for eight days (for the Maren) or four days (for the other classes). At anytime during this period, if a bad omen was detected, the couple were to be separated. This separation process is called pehelut jaki.

If all is well, the wedding will then continue.

In a traditional Maren wedding, there are eight men and eight women accompanying the bride and the groom. The couple is seated on the tawak with the woman sitting on the left of the groom. Nowadays, this is when the jai has to be presented to the parents. The groom has the shield held above his head to provide protection. For the woman, a hat decorated with 16 feathers of honorific birds (hornbill / manuk tingang) prepared by the bride's family is held over her head as protection. The others will hold a similar hat but without the feathers. For the Maren Uk, there are four accompanying men and women for each.

For a Panyin wedding, the couple will be seated on a decorated wooden bench or ladong with four attendants. Commoners cannot sit on the tawak during their wedding ceremony as it is associated with the aristocrats.