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Chapter 1: Introduction to Gawai Antu

Gawai Antu, also known as Festival or Ghost Festival, is a festival that originates from the culture of the Iban community, especially in Sarawak, Malaysia. This festival is a testament to the respect and connection a family maintains to their ancestors and the spiritual world. Gawai Antu is an important event based on the belief and custom of animism, although the practice is becoming less frequent due to the spread of Christianity among the Iban people. According to Henry Gerijih (1998), the birth of the Gawai Antu festival is associated with Sarapoh taught by the spirit of Puntang Raga. This confirms the spiritual and mythological basis of the festival, and highlights its sacred origins. Gawai Antu has gained a respected status among the Iban or Dayak Laut people. This festival is considered to be the most important celebration of those who have passed away, which is also a time to honor and remember the spirits of those who have passed away. The traditional belief of the Iban community states that after a person dies, his soul goes to the afterlife known as Sebayan. Therefore, Gawai Antu can also be considered as a special ceremony to send the spirit of the deceased to the afterlife and help him settle in a "new home", separating his life from his living relatives. According to The Encyclopedia of Iban Studies (1991), two stages occur during the Gawai Antu festival. First, the invitation of the spirits of the dead to come to the longhouse and hold a feast where they will be entertained by their living relatives for the last time. Second, the final rites to sever the ties between the dead and the living.

Therefore, the Gawai Antu festival emphasizes the importance of maintaining ancestral traditions and the eternal relationship between the living and the dead. The Gawai Antu festival is held to honor the spirits of the dead, through very elaborate ceremonies and rituals aimed at appeasing their spirits. This action is believed to ensure a smooth transition or their transfer to Sebayan, as well as maintain harmony between the living and the dead. This celebration must be carried out with careful determination and strict adherence to the prescribed taboos. Failure to comply with festival customs can trigger adverse effects that can disrupt the smoothness of Gawai Antu.

The preparations for Gawai Antu are very thorough and involve the whole community in a longhouse. Each family in the longhouse comes together to plan and host this festival, which may require years of preparation. In addition, the cost is also a barrier because the scale of this festival is quite large. Gawai Antu is considered to be the most complicated type of Gawai celebration other than Gawai Dayak, which is celebrated every year on June 1, as well as Gawai Burong, Gawai Manang, Gawai Mangkung Tiang, and so on.

Gawai Antu is very different from Gawai Dayak because it is not celebrated every year. Sometimes this festival is held in the longhouse about once in every generation which may be around 20 years or more. Gawai Antu also does not have a fixed date like Gawai Dayak, since it requires a relatively long and long period of more than a month to be held. Longhouses that still practice the Gawai Antu festival, especially in areas around Betong, Saratok, Saribas, Krian and so on, hold this festival in December because of the school holidays and Christmas.

According to the original custom or old custom, the Gawai Antu festival commemorates all the longhouse residents who have died since the last time Gawai Antu was held in the longhouse. Those commemorated are non-religious and non-Christian longhouse residents. During this festival, not all families or rooms in the longhouse will participate in this festival. This is because maybe only around 10 to 20 families will commemorate their family members during this festival. However, the involvement in the preparation of the Gawai Antu festival does not only involve the participating families. The entire longhouse community works together to ensure the smooth implementation of this festival. The longhouse became the main feature of the Iban village and served as the location and focal point of the magnificent festival.

Gawai Antu is not only a religious event for the Iban people but also a celebration of the culture and identity of the Iban people. The festival becomes a place for extended families to gather and reconnect with their heritage. For many Iban people, this festival symbolizes the connection with their ancestors and the continuation of ancient traditions passed down from generation to generation. Despite the decline of traditional practices and the growing influence of Christianity, Gawai Antu remains an important cultural festival for the Iban people.