Indonesian Gold (10 page)

As Jonathan Dau approached his village, he passed between
guardian figures strategically placed along all paths leading to the Longhouse, to deflect evil
spirits that might bring sickness to the isolated community. These sentinels took the form of
both human and animal shapes, many carved deliberately displaying grotesque eyes and teeth, to
intimidate intruders, and repel malevolent spirits. In this land overlooked by modern
civilizations, Gods and spirits continued to play important roles in Dayak societies – the rivers
and forests revered as hosts to these.

Gargoyle-like images stared down from the thatched roof as
Jonathan climbed the steps leading up to the timber structure, a communal village raised three
meters above the ground and more than a hundred and fifty meters in length, held together by
massive, ornately carved, wooden beams. The elongated building housed more than a hundred
families, each living in their own, separate apartment, joined to their neighbors' by a central,
wooden corridor, which served as the village ‘street'. Jonathan's family quarters, and unofficial
office, lay centered amongst this maze adjacent to the community meeting room. The traditional
‘gallery' that once housed the most sacred of artifacts and enemy skulls, relics of another time,
lay discreetly hidden from any visitor's view.

Jonathan made his way through the Longhouse, stopping
briefly to converse with other men, most preoccupied with their own chores, whilst the women
tended the fields. He entered his quarters and changed into more appropriate attire, then
summoned his daughter, Angela, who had been waiting eagerly for the moment to arrive.

****

Angela's constant companion, a two-year old
orang-utan
by the name of Yuh-Yuh, held her long, reddish-brown arms open wide demanding
she be lifted.

‘No,Yuh-Yuh, not now!'

Rejected, Yuh-Yuh rolled on the wooden planked floor and
clucked.

‘Best you leave her behind, this time,'
Jonathan recommended.
‘We must leave now.The first full moon will soon
cross the horizon, chasing the sun's tail through the sky.'

Angela understood. That month would both commence and
close with full moons, auspicious signs, that could not be ignored. She called for a friend to
restrain Yuh-Yuh until they were well out of sight then followed her father outside.

Angela had little difficulty in maintaining her father's
grueling pace as they followed familiar trails through the emerald rain forest. Since her mother
died, Angela had been a frequent visitor to this magic realm and, under Jonathan Dau's doting
eyes and patient guidance she had learned to embrace this magnificent environment. As a child,
she learned to share her father's attention with other village children on outings, collecting
wild honey, or in search of medicinal herbs, and never felt the need to compete – for Angela knew
how deeply Jonathan Dau loved her and she understood that her father's responsibilities demanded
that he be fair.

Angela had excelled in her primary studies, the Longhouse
schoolteacher incapable of accommodating the girl's thirst for knowledge. Before the age of
twelve, Angela had revisited every book in their meager library at least twice, and when she was
not studying the written word, she dedicated hours listening to short-wave radio broadcasts, even
when it was obvious that she did not understand the many languages that filled the air. Within
time, she mastered the rudiments of English; her stilted attempts to communicate in that medium
encouraged by her father, whose own knowledge of the language had remained reasonably intact. At
fourteen, Angela was given even greater advantage over her peers when she was sent to further her
studies in the provincial capital, Samarinda.

Angela's attendance at high school provided her with
access not only to the capital's limited libraries, but an abundance of magazines and newspapers,
which fed both the domestic and foreign readership base, resident in Samarinda. She learned to
appreciate the extent of natural wealth that was being exploited across Dayak lands. She saw,
first hand, the harvest from Dayak, traditional forests when these were seized and surrendered to
powerful timber groups, the tens of thousands of huge rafts of precious timber creating
unbelievable log jams along the Mahakam River. Her understanding of how the real world revolved
became painfully apparent as she became increasingly aware of the Indonesia's thuggish, ruling
elite, and Jakarta-based tycoons who enriched themselves, at the Dayak population's
expense.

And, as Angela became older and more venturesome, so, too,
did her horizons grow. She visited government offices under guise of seeking information for
school projects, devouring material across a wide spectrum covering commerce, politics and the
environment, her knowledge of social and ethnic issues profound, in her mind. She ventured into
the city's growing slums where young, Dayak women, many still in their early teens, wandered the
squalid streets soliciting, and she was shocked that this could be so, concerned, even at her
tender age, that she was looking through a window in her people's future. By the time graduation
arrived, Angela Dau had blossomed into a mature, intelligent, and very determined young woman,
convinced that unless the Dayak people could achieve some semblance of autonomy within the near
future, they were doomed. She returned to her village and appealed to her father for the
opportunity to study at the Institute of Technology, in Bandung, arguing that it was imperative
she advance her studies there – Jonathan, at first, uncertain that sending her to Java would be
the correct choice. When the villagers learned of her wish they gathered to support Angela,
pledging as a community to provide the funding to enable her to attend. Reluctantly, the chief
finally agreed, insisting that his daughter remain under the care of an old friend in Bandung,
his approval also conditional on the understanding that she undertake the shaman initiation
ceremony before departing. Few amongst the Longhouse community had even considered that Jonathan
Dau might be contemplating passing his mantle to Angela. Although there were some whose hopes
were dashed when it became apparent that he would do so, none begrudged her right to succeed
their chief, particularly as she had so clearly demonstrated that she had inherited at least some
of her father's powers.

With only two days remaining, Jonathan and Angela embarked
on their demanding trek to the secluded, ancestral cave. Now, as she followed her father's
footsteps up the difficult terrain, Angela's excitement grew, for this day she would realize her
dream – the right of succession, a claim, which until that time, had only been granted to the
male line in her family.

****

Angela followed her father's footsteps as they ventured
deeper and deeper into the virgin forest, stopping upon silent command to view long-tailed
parakeets, or the occasional macaque gobbling leaves high in a canopy draped with creeping lianas
and fern. They made their way through the jungle environment, as the land continued to rise. Five
hours into their journey Jonathan finally stopped and pointed towards a rocky outcrop a few
meters further up the slope.
‘We'll enter through there.'

Angela squinted, unable to identify anything against the
late afternoon sun's rapidly fading light, and was virtually upon the natural, limestone caverns
before the entrance became apparent.

‘Come, Angela, follow me.'
Responding to her father's encouragement, she stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the
cavern's dark and cold interior and her pulse rose, reminded that it was here, in this setting,
where generations of shamans had conducted similar initiation rites, bestowing powers on an heir
apparent.

Angela remained standing while Jonathan unpacked his
haversack, the cave coming alive when he lit a circle of candles placed at the base of a heavily
carved, altar-shaped rock. Stalactite-formed, candle flows attached to the rock evidenced past
visits, Angela's thoughts on those who had gone before her wondering if they, too, had been as
apprehensive at what lay ahead. Her eyes wandered the cave's irregular walls, curious as to which
of her ancestors had been responsible for the art forms depicting forest creatures and game.
Angela accepted that her ancestors originally came to earth from the Seventh Heaven, in the form
of hornbills, and also believed that life was continuously controlled by the spirits of her
ancestors, and that these spirits were often reincarnated in all living forms, such as deer, the
beloved hornbill and even snakes and frogs – all of which were depicted here.

Deeper into the cave where the shadows fell darkest Angela
detected a narrow passage.
‘Papa.Where does that lead to?'

Jonathan lifted one of the candles, level with his head,
his features severe in the half-light
. ‘You will learn what lies there, later. Come, kneel
with me – we shall offer a prayer then go outside to wait for the moon to rise.'

She moved to his side where Jonathan sprinkled drops of
fragrant water into her hands then his own, each touching their faces gently, in a gesture of
cleansing. Then, together, they crouched before the stone altar to join in the familiar chant
asking for divine protection, whilst expressing their gratitude to the spirits.

****

Father and daughter stood in harmonious awe as the moon
reached the fullness of its white gold, nocturnal bloom, casting a spell across the verdant
landscape, giving life to the soft layers of mist, blanketing rivers and valleys, far
below.

‘It's time.'
Jonathan's
voice brought Angela back from the hypnotic panorama.

Filled with a reassuring calm, she smiled peacefully.
‘I'm ready, Papa.'

The shaman took Angela and held her lovingly, by the
shoulders.
‘You must always remember, my daughter, that your soul is your inner guide, and
that you are a manifestation of your soul in the physical and material sense. During the
indoctrination process, you will become aware of a powerful light, at which time your soul will
disconnect from its physical form and take you to the Supreme Being. Do not fight against this
light, but relax and merge with it. Do not be frightened – you will think that you are alone, but
this will not be so.Your guardian will be at your side.'

‘Is that you, Papa?'

‘No,my child,your guardian,or spiritual guide was selected
back in time,and takes the form of the hornbill. Once you are fully committed to the latihan
trance, the scenes of your life will unfold and you will be transported through these images to
places of extreme horror, as a test.The hornbill will carry you through safely. Do not be
afraid.You are about to commence the most enlightening experience of your life.'

‘Thank you, Papa.'

Jonathan Dau's arms dropped to his side.
‘Then we
should proceed.'

Angela closed her eyes, drawing the crisp mountain air
into her lungs, then followed her father slowly into the candle-lit cave where the ritual would
be held. She knelt on her knees, head bowed and hands clasped together, senses heightened as
flickering shadows danced against stone-carved walls and incense drifted through their sacred
surrounds.

‘Are you ready, my daughter?'
And with Angela's response, the shaman sprinkled sacred dust he had gathered, over her
head.

‘Say as I say,'
he
directed, shifting his role to that of
dukun
and the young woman obeyed, repeating the
words her father articulated, the rhythmic hum of their mantra resonating throughout the chamber
as the initiation process began, carrying both into trancelike state, through the door of the
spirit world.

Angela floated, her mind filled with promise as she parted
with her physical presence. Unburdened by weightlessness and enveloped by a climate of well
being, Angela soared into the heavens through space and time until her spirit was touched by the
Supreme Being and endowed with the powers of a
Kaharingan dukun
. Then, escorted by
guardian spirits, she was taken to the holiest of shrines where her head was taken from her body
and her eyes washed, so that she could see her own death – the process of being dismembered and
born again. Angela witnessed her skeleton being dismantled with her flesh cut up into pieces and
thrown to the four corners of the world, to be eaten by the demons of sickness, so she would know
these diseases and have the power to combat them, her dismemberment strengthening the right to
cure. When the spirits rebuilt her body one small bone was deliberately discarded, to reflect her
human imperfection.

Finally, she fell, descending into the depths of hell
where she came face to face with the master of the Deep Worlds, so she would recognize this
challenger when confronted in future battles for the souls of the dead, in determining their
final dwelling place. She summoned her inner strength and called upon her guardian, the divine
bird spirit to carry her away from the evil abode, the giant hornbill answering her call,
transporting Angela back to rejoin her earthly presence, as the initiation was done.

Angela returned from the induced state, accompanied by her
father's reassuring chants, filled with wonderment at the passage she had made – and the gift
that had been bestowed upon her.