Selamat Adau Gayoh! Members of the Dusun community gathered once again to celebrate Adau Gayoh, the tribe’s festival of blessing and gratitude for the year’s bountiful harvest, with this year’s lively two-day festival taking place in the centrally located Tutong District Community Hall Complex in Tutong proper. Members of the Dusun and wider community enjoyed a wide programme of activities including hands-on demonstrations of traditional machinery like a sago-processing grater called a garutan; there were also plenty of Dusun crafts and culturally important foods like weaved rattan and long grass hats, bags and baskets, a leaf herb called ‘Rencah-rencah’ and pickled fruits, that showcased the depth and richness of one of Borneo’s original peoples.
The younger Dusun, who are at increasing risk of losing their culture due to modernisation and lack of practice, were impressively out in full force, and there were many lovely moments of groups of children happily crowding for photos in their traditional dress, and wholeheartedly performing the dances and songs of their culture on stage for the invited guest.
Adau Gayoh is evidence of Brunei’s beauty and wealth of cultural heritage, Acting Tutong District Officer Muhammad Usamah bin Haji Sarbini, pointed out in his speech at the opening ceremony, “The festival showcases the uniqueness of tradition, food , music, dance and clothes tht reflect the Dusun community’s identity”.
