MALAYSIA The Christians of Borneo celebrate the Harvest Festival with all the color of their tradition

Moment of meeting between the different ethnic groups and Churches of the two Malaysian States of Sarawak and Sabah. Christian communities, formerly animist, combine dances and secular rituals with celebrations in parishes. An opportunity to bring families together and to thank farmers.

Kuala Lumpur () – Between the end of May and the beginning of June, the States of Sarawak and Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, celebrate the annual rice harvest festival. In Sarawak the Dayak indigenous people call it Gawai – which is celebrated on June 1 and 2 – and in Sabah the Kadazandusun indigenous people call it Kaamatan – on May 30 and 31. Both festivals are similar, with brightly colored clothing, ceremonial rites, secular rituals, music, songs and dances. Despite the ethnic and religious diversity of the two States, in fact, common characteristic features can be easily identified, such as this festival dedicated to the fruits of the earth, which is an important event in the calendar of both.

These communities, formerly animist, are now convinced Christians, made up of traditional Catholics and Anglicans, together with Seventh-day Adventists and a strong evangelical community presided over by the Sidang Injil Borneo (Evangelical Assembly of Borneo). However, the annual rice harvest festival unites them again into a single community: each ethnic group celebrates this event in their own homes and churches, even with special liturgical celebrations in local parishes. At St. Anne’s Church in the Diocese of Kuching, an indigenous dance group led the entrance procession on May 24, followed by altar boys and readers along with Eucharistic ministers and lay leaders. The assembly also wore their colorful native clothing, turning the temple nave into a beautiful tapestry. The dance is an expression of gratitude for the abundant harvest that God has granted during the year.

The entire parish choir and the ministers of the Word also participated in the celebrations. Everyone, whether they were Iban, Bidayuh or Orang Ulu, attended the Mass wearing the colors, designs and stripes of their indigenous tribes and clans. In his homily, Father Ramírez invited the faithful to stand and celebrate the harvest festival. “This festival of Gawai is historic,” he stated. “We must thank God that the burden of the pandemic has been eased and now we can celebrate it again with the rich blessings of new rice, just as we have done in previous years.”

In another Eucharistic celebration before the rice harvest festival, on May 14, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of the diocese of Sibu, the faithful came in their traditional costumes and indigenous headdresses. The Mass was celebrated in the local Iban language by Fr. Rafael Samosir. During the entrance procession, accompanied by a gong and drum band called taboh, the celebrant was preceded by a group of indigenous women dancing the ngajat, a traditional slow dance of the Iban community. Before concluding the celebration, Father Samosir blessed the bottles of ai pengayu that the faithful had brought. The bottles contained traditional rice wine or tuak, a bitter-tasting ceremonial drink that is customary to consume to celebrate Gawai and other important festivals of indigenous communities.

A woman from the parish, Trinny Nakai, told : “At Gawai it is celebrated that the Dayak community returns home for that day, those who are close and those who are far away meet again, after a long absence.” He added: “Whether some work in the fields and others are in the city, Gawai is an opportunity to bring the whole family together.” Another parishioner, Stanly Michael, explained: “Even in modern times like today, the Feast of The Gawai Harvest reminds us that we have many reasons to be grateful to our farmers” and explained that the “success of one farmer” is a “success for the entire country”, and that is another reason to celebrate.