Betang House, Kanayat'n Dayak Culture and Tradition Center

Kanayat'n Dayak

Helloindonesia.idDayak tribe has its own architecture in making homes. The concept of a traditional Dayak house is usually very close to culture and nature. Like the Dayak Kanayat’n tribe, for example, which has houses with elongated architecture with elongated shapes with high columns. The traditional house has several names, among others, betang house, long house or lamin, and other names are Long House because of the long house.

Kanayat'n Dayak
Kanayat’n Dayak

Location of the Kanayat ‘Dayak tribe

The location of the Dayak Kanayat ‘house is located in the Dayak Kanayat’ Hamlet, Saham Village, Tengah Kemila District, Landak Regency. This house was built around 1875 and only underwent rehabilitation in 2012. This house has a ladder made of large wooden trunks and is given curves to make it easier for the feet to step up. However, because there are already age-consuming, there are some stairs that are replaced with modern stairs like now.

Seeing the shape of the Betang house from the spatial side, the shape of the building, accessories such as sculptures, carvings, knick knacks, and the arrangement pattern has its own architecture. This is illustrated from how the patterns of life, mindset, philosophy and culture that occur in the Kanayat ‘Dayak tribe.

Kanayat'n Dayak
Kanayat’n Dayak

The form of betang houses belonging to the Dayak Kanayat’n tribe consists of long buildings and only one unit in one village. Head of Kanakun Dayak Hamlet, Shares Village, Tengah Kemila Subdistrict, Landak Regency, Jonianto, explained, “This house has 35 doors, with each door that can accommodate 2-3 families. Uniquely, this house is very unusual, because it is different from betang houses from other Dayak tribes. Usually other Dayak betang houses do not exceed 5 units. Jonianto said to the Indonesiakaya.com team who met him directly in Kanayat Hamlet Dayak.

The shape of the betang house has a characteristic that is high-berth, with a height of up to 4 meters from the ground surface. Empty space below the house serves as a place to store rice yields. House bodies (walls) in some houses have jengki architecture with elongated gable roofs. The space structure of the Betang house has a porch, where each door has a porch that is not insulated from each other. Then, this house also has a family room, kitchen room, and bedroom.

The kitchen has a view directly into the family room. Like most kitchens, this room is only 1x2m in size and only to put a fireplace for cooking. Above the fireplace there is usually a place for storing supplies of firewood. The architecture of the kitchen at Betang House is very simple and only functions for cooking.

Jonianto told, the Dayak Kanayantn tribe had some expertise for example, playing music, gongs and lutes. According to him, this art is to maintain the culture of the people here. The Kanayat’n Dayak tribe also has an art studio, this studio is intended as a means of maintaining culture and for regeneration purposes.

Another tradition is the Kanayat Dayak tribe

In addition, Dayak Kanayat’n residents are adept at making webbing. The weaving of the leaves is then arranged into a capling hat and a backpack to carry agricultural produce. “Dayak Kanayat’n residents have a livelihood from farming by nyorek or taking rubber and planting rice. Every time they go to farming, the Kanayat ‘Dayak tribe has several rituals, one of them praying in a special place to pay their respects, “said Jonianto.

Kanayat'n Dayak
Kanayat’n Dayak

Besides in the fields and forests, Dayak tribe activities are mostly carried out in the house whether it is social activities, culture, or even the center of power to regulate community life. “In other words, the betang house for the Dayaks is the cultural center and the heart of their tradition. Therefore, the existence of a betang house must be maintained. Even though it is no longer occupied, at least it remains used as a conservation building because it has high historical value for the Dayaks, “said Jonianto closing the conversation with the Indonesiakaya.com team.

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