THE CULTURES OF WEST KALIMANTAN
There are many kinds of tribes in West Kalimantan as the one of prvince in Kalimantan Island. West Kalimantan’s tribes have many cultures, like festival, traditional dance, and many more. The cultures are developed by their tribes from along time and can still until now. And the majority tribes in this province are Malay and Dayak.
Malay and Dayak have their own popular dance. It is Zapin dance that from Malay tribe and it’s come from Arab. Zapin dance is introduced by muslim missionaries from the middle east. In the old days, the function of zapin dance is for religious ceremonies. But, now the function is to entertain the audience in a festival. While, the popular dance from Dayak is Kancet Papatai dance, this is a dance that is only perfomed by males in their tribe. This dance describes about a hero from Dayak Kenyah who is battling with his enemy. So, the similar name from this dance is Perang dance. Perang dance is accompanied by Sak Paku song and the musical instrument that is used in this dance is Sampe.
The other dance from Dayak tribe is Gantar dance, that describes about a farmer who is planting rice plant. Usually, this dance is used as a welcoming dance for the guest in a festival. This dance is known by Dayak Tunjung tribe and Dayak Benuaq tribe. This dance can be divided into three dance, they are Gantar Rayatn, Gantar Busai and Gantar Senak or Gantar Kusak.
Besides the popular dance, Malay and Dayak also have their own popular festival. They are Robo’ – robo’ from Malay tribe and Gawai Dayak from Dayak tribe. Robo’ – robo’ is a festival that is celebrated in mempawah, on the last Wednesday on Safar. This festival is used to celebrated the arrival of Opu Daeng Manmbon to Mempawah. Opu Daeng Manambon is a founder of Mempawah city. While, Gawai dayak is a festival that is celebrated by Dayak tribe in West Kalimantan every 1st of June. In this day, some people in Dayak tribe will visit their friends and family. But if they can’t visit their family of friend they will send greeting cards. Gawai dayak is used to thanking god for the good harvest.
There is Meriam Karbit festival that from Malay tribe besides Robo’ – robo’. Meriam Karbit is a festival that is celebratednin Pontianak, on Ramadhan until idul Fitri. This festival usually held near Kapuas river, that can make it becomes a popular festival for many people in Pontianak.
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