page_title: Demographics of Sarawak
section_title: Iban people
hierarchical_section_title: Demographics of Sarawak / Dayak people / Iban people
caption_attribution_description: English: Sea Dayaks (Iban) women from Rejang, Sarawak, wearing rattan corsets decorated with brass rings and filigree adornments. The family adds to the corset dress as the girl ages and based on her family's wealth. English: They are Sea Dayaks (Iban) from the Rejang district of Sarawak, and immensely proud of their rattan corsets gleaming with brass rings and filigree adornments.Note as the dress is not a uniform, as a common idea, but grow by degrees of the girl's age and grow by the wealth of her family.Story: The maidens of village (or long-house?) meet the guests in the hope of marriage. The two youngest maidens are shy. Any of the maidens smile to a European big nose. English: A ring-fenced garden of girls in the flower of youth.They are Sea Dayaks (Iban) from the Rejang district of Sarawak, and immensely proud of their rattan corsets gleaming with brass rings and filigree adornments.Note as the dress is not a uniform, as a common idea, but grow by degrees of the girl's age and grow by the wealth of her family.Story: The maidens of village (or a long-house?) meet the guests in the hope of marriage. The two youngest maidens are shy. Any of the maidens smile to a European big nose.The background to the story is that as the girls have to be pregnant to get married. And to get pregnant so they need a visit from a man from another family.The consequence of this behavior is that the girls have to be brave and stand up when a man visiting. This means that the ideal woman is to be brave, that she dares to stand in the first place, as opposed to a girl who is hiding. Partly understood the girls on the guest by preen with great jewelry, and here corsets of cane. The mature but unmarried girls are daily, dressed as a bride in a different culture.
context_page_description: Sarawak's population is very diverse, comprising many races and ethnic groups. Sarawak has more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. This makes Sarawak demography very distinct and unique compared to its Peninsular counterpart.
context_section_description: The Ibans comprise the largest percentage (almost 30%) of Sarawak's population. Iban is native to Sarawak and Sarawak has the highest number of Ibans in Borneo. Formerly reputed to be the most formidable headhunters on the island of Borneo, the Ibans of today are a generous, hospitable and placid people.
  Because of their history as farmers, pirates and fishermen, Ibans were conventionally referred to as the "Sea Dayaks". The early Iban settlers migrated from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo south of Sarawak, via the Kapuas River. They crossed over the Kelingkang range and set up home in the river valleys of Batang Ai, the Skrang River, Saribas, and the Rajang River. The Ibans dwell in longhouses, stilted structures with a large number of rooms housing a whole community of families.
  An Iban longhouse may still display head trophies or antu pala. These suspended heads mark tribal victories and were a source of honour. The Dayak Iban ceased practising headhunting in the 1930s.
  The Ibans are renowned for their Pua Kumbu (traditional Iban weavings), silver craft, wooden carvings and bead work. Iban tattoos, which were originally symbols of bravery among Iban warriors, have become amongst the most distinctive in the world. The Ibans are also famous for a sweet rice wine called tuak, which is served during big celebrations and festive occasions.
  The large majority of Ibans practise Christianity. However, like most other ethnic groups in Sarawak, they still observe many of their traditional rituals and beliefs. Sarawak Iban celebrates colourful festivals such as the generic all-encomposing Gawai Dayak (harvest festival) which is a recent invention and thus held by all Dayak tribes including Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu regardless of their religion. The major festivals of the Iban people are Gawai Bumai (Rice Farming Festival) that includes at least four stages i.e. Gawai Batu (Whetstone Festival), Gawai Benih (Seed Festival), Gawai Ngemali Umai / Jagok (Farm-Healing Festival), Gawai Matah (Harvest-Starting Festival) and Gawai Basimpan (Paddy Safekeeping Festival), Gawai Tuah (Fortune Festival) that comprises Gawai Namaka Tuah (Fortune-Welcoming Festival), Gawai Tajau (Jar Festival) and Gawai Pangkong Tiang (House Post Banging Festival), Gawai Sakit (Healing Festival) including Pelian by a manang shaman, Renong Sakit and Sugi Sakit by a lemambang bard, Gawai Antu (festival of the dead) to honour ancestors and the rarely celebrated but the most elaborate and complex Gawai Burong (Bird Festival) with nine ascending stages in the Saribas/Skrang region or Gawai Amat (Real Festival) in the Baleh region with eight degrees as listed by Masing.
  Due to the natural culture of bajalai (sojurn) among Ibans mainly in search of jobs, there is a thriving Iban population of between 30,000 and 40,000 in Johor, found mostly in the area between Pasir Gudang and Masai on the eastern end of the Johor Bahru metropolitan area. Sizeable Iban communities are also present in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, likewise seeking employment. Most will return home during the Gawai Dayak.
caption: Sea Dayaks (Iban) women from Rejang, Sarawak, wearing rattan corsets decorated with brass rings and filigree adornments. The family adds to the corset dress as the girl ages and based on her family's wealth.
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