Authentic Antique Dayak, Poison Dart Quiver, Borneo circa 1900

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Authentic Antique Dayak, Poison Dart Quiver, Borneo circa 1900:
$609.99

Authentic Antique Dayak, Poison Dart Quiver, BorneoIndonesia, circa 1900! Deep dark brown patina, bamboo and wicker compartments with an exceptional monkey skull trophy lashed to the dart quiver that contains three hand carved blow gun darts. This extra ordinary piece measurements approximately 16 inches long x 7 inches wide x 6 inches deep. Tribal used and signs of wear! Three hand carved wooden darts are included with this spectacular fine example! There are also six different types of hand woven fiber cord that hold the top on to the quiver, decorate the top, and is used as a shoulder strap when hunting. THISIS A RARE AND UNUSUAL PIECE FROM MY GRANDFATHER\'S OLD ART COLLECTION. HE WORKED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, SOUTH AMERICA, AND AMERICA\'S SOUTH WEST IN THE 30\'S. HE TRAVELED TO BURMA, INDONESIA, THE PHILIPPINES, EUROPE AND MEXICO WITH A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHER. HE COLLECTED THIS PIECE DURING HIS TRAVELS. I WOULD KEEP IT IF I DID NOT NEED TO RAISE CASH FOR PASS DUE BILLS. ALL THE BEST TO YOU AND YOURS AND THANKS FOR LOOKING. PLEASE SEE THE OTHER ITEMS THAT I HAVE UP FOR sale.GOOD LUCK TO THE HIGHEST buyer! ALL THE BEST... DAVEIn the past, the Dayak were feared for their ancient tradition of headhunting practices (the ritual is also known as Ngayau by the Dayaks) . Among the Iban Dayaks, the origin of headhunting was believed to be meeting one of the mourning rules given by a spirit which is as follows: The sacred jar is not to be opened except by a warrior who has managed to obtain a head, or by a man who can present a human head, which he obtained in a fight; or by a man who has returned from a sojourn in enemy country. Often, a war leader had at least three lieutenants (called manuk sabong) who in turn had some followers. The war (ngayau) rules among the Iban Dayaks are: If a warleader leads a party on an expedition, he must not allow his warriors to fight a guiltless tribe that has no quarrel with them. If the enemy surrenders, he may not take their lives, lest his army be unsuccessful in future warfare and risk fighting empty-handed war raids (balang kayau). The first time that a warrior takes a head or captures a prisoner, he must present the head or captive to the warleader in acknowledgement of the latter\'s leadership. If a warrior takes two heads or captives, or more, one of each must be given to the warleader; the remainder belongs to the killer or captor. The warleader must be honest with his followers in order that in future wars he may not be defeated. After mass conversions to Christianity, and anti-headhunting legislation by the colonial powers was passed, the practice was banned and appeared to have disappeared. However, it should be noted that the Brooke-led Sarawak government, although banning unauthorized headhunting, actually allowed \"ngayau\" headhunting practices by the Brooke-supporting natives during state-sanctioned punitive expeditions against their own fellow people\'s rebellions throughout the state, thereby never really extinguished the spirit of headhunting especially among the Iban natives. The state-sanctioned troop was allowed to take heads, properties like jars and brassware, burn houses and farms, exempted from paying door taxes and in some cases, granted new territories to migrate into. This Brooke\'s practice was in remarkable contract to the practice by the Dutch in the neighbouring West Kalimantan who prohibited any native participation in its punitive expeditions. Initially, James Brooke (the first Rajah of Sarawak) did engage the British Navy troop in the Battle of Beting Maru against the Iban and Malay of the Saribas region and the Iban of Skrang under Rentap\'s charge but this resulted in the Public Inquiry by the British government in Singapore. Thereafter, the Brooke government gathered a local troop who were its allies. Subsequently, the headhunting began to surface again in the mid-1940s, when the Allied Powers encouraged the practice against the Japanese Occupation of Borneo. It also slightly surged in the late 1960s when the Indonesian government encouraged Dayaks to purge Chinese from interior Kalimantan who were suspected of supporting communism in mainland China and also in the late 1990s when the Dayak started to attack Madurese emigrants in an explosion of ethnic violence. After formation of Malaysia, some Iban became trackers during the Malayan Emergency against the Communist Insurgency and thereafter they continue to be soldiers in the armed forces. Headhunting resurfaced in 1963 among Dayak soldiers during the Confrontation Campaign by President Sukarno of Indonesia against the newly created formation of Malaysia between the pre-existing Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak in 16 September 1963. Subsequently, Dayak trackers recruited during the Malayan Emergency against the Communists\' Insurgency wanted to behead enemies killed during their military operations but disallowed by their superiors.