“Revival” of the Dayak Priest-King from a Historical Perspective: The Case of the Ulu Ai’ in Southwestern Kalimantan

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  • Nishijima Kaoru
    Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research, Kyoto University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • ダヤック人祭司王「復活」の歴史的経緯
  • ダヤック人祭司王「復活」の歴史的経緯 : 南西カリマンタンにおけるウルアイ王の事例にもとづいた考察
  • ダヤックジン サイシオウ 「 フッカツ 」 ノ レキシテキ ケイイ : ナンセイ カリマンタン ニ オケル ウルアイオウ ノ ジレイ ニ モトズイタ コウサツ
  • ―南西カリマンタンにおけるウルアイ王の事例にもとづいた考察―

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Abstract

<p>This paper examines how the Ulu Ai’, a Dayak priest-king in the hinterland of southwestern Kalimantan, was “revived” after the fall of the Soeharto regime in 1998. Heir to a sacred heirloom, the Ulu Ai’ was worshipped by the Dayak people in southwestern Kalimantan, but his ritual authority was dependent on the authority of the Matan kingdom, a Malay kingdom in the region that had collapsed at the time of Indonesia’s independence. Since then, the Ulu Ai’ had survived in the hinterland as a shaman giving blessings to the marginalized Dayak people there. Soon after the fall of Soeharto, the Ulu Ai’ re-emerged from the hinterland and was “revived” at a large ritual to ward off evil, in which the Dayak people collectively claimed their customary rights. After the ritual, the Ulu Ai’ fostered a close relationship with the Dayak elites, who had gained power in local politics. The Dayak political elites needed the local authorities in the hinterland to obtain the support of the Dayak people there, while the Ulu Ai’ needed a close relationship with the Dayak political elites to expand his ritual authority among the Dayak people in the hinterland. The interdependence between the Dayak political elites and the Ulu Ai’ brought about the resurgence of the Ulu Ai’ in local politics. </p>

Journal

  • Asian and African Area Studies

    Asian and African Area Studies 21 (1), 36-66, 2021-09-30

    Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University

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