DAYAK TRIBE REAL HUMAN TROPHY SKULL DAVID HOWARD TRIBAL ART DAYAK TRIBE REAL HUMAN TROPHY SKULL

The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other
Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much
is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions
to Asia. Little was ever recorded by any voyagers.

The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting.
Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied
by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of
western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted
in death. Confrontation was one of their only means of survival.

The Dayak worship a superhuman power, called Semangat, that rules the
lives of humans, animals, and plants. This invisible life force dwells in many
places including all human body parts, cut hair, shadows, names, the water in which
humans and animals bath, and traces imprinted in dirt. Semangat enters
any body, and it is like a soul that can be destroyed by a more powerful
soul. Dayak souls are inherited from their forefathers. Wooden
carvings host the souls of their dead. All Dayak souls submit to two
divine powers: the sky, whose image is the hornbill bird,
and the land with water, symbolized by a snake.

THE DAYAK TRIBE, FROM BORNEO ISLAND
INDONESIA, CARVE DESIGNS INTO THE SKULLS
OF THEIR HEADHUNTED VICTIMS AND INSERT WOODEN FIGURES.

THE DAYAK, IFUGAO, AND NAGA HUMAN SKULLS ARE HEAD HUNTING TROPHIES.
THE ASMAT, VANUATU, AND PALAWAN HUMAN SKULLS ARE CONSIDERED
"ANCESTOR" SKULLS. THE DIFFERENCE IS; HEAD HUNTED SKULLS
ARE ACQUIRED FROM ENEMY VICTIMS!

ANCESTOR SKULLS ARE COLLECTED AND VENERATED TO REMEMBER
DECEASED FAMILY MEMBERS. THE IFUGAO COLLECT BONES OF DEAD
RELATIVES; WRAP THEM IN TRIBAL TEXTILES, AND STORE THEM IN THE
RAFTERS UNDER THEIR HUTS. HUMAN SKULLS AND SKULL CAPS FROM
NEPAL ARE RITUAL OFFERTORY VESSELS THAT ARE USED AS
DRINKING CUPS IN TIBETAN BUDDHIST CEREMONIES.