Bidayuh Wedding Hat

Though it is an elegant variation on a traditional Bidayuh hunter's cap, hats such as this are now generally worn to weddings.

"Bidayuh" is the collective name for several indigenous peoples found in southern Sarawak that are broadly similar in language and culture. The name "Bidayuh" means 'inhabitants of land'. Originally from the western part of Borneo, the alternative collective name of "Land Dayaks" (as opposed to Iban, or "Sea Dayaks") was first used during the regime of Rajah James Brooke.

Though the majority of Bidayuh are now Christian, the wedding ceremony recalls far older communal traditions. The bride processes with her family to the groom's longhouse, where the men of his family are adorned with symbols of their more warlike past, such as hats like this one, the teeth of animals, and antique beads that would have originally been attained through plunder. After the couple is ritually sprinkled with yellow rice and beads and has prayers of guidance spoken over them, the wedding feast and entertainment takes place, and the newly married couple is assigned "parental" status and the new titles that accompany it.

Straw, thread; 11.5 x 26cm.