1983.134 Headhunter's jacket (baju kirai)

The back of this jacket (or war vest) displays several rows of figures and designs. The figures represent a pairing of the protective deity Indu Dara Tinchin Temaga, the daughter of the god of war, and a kneeling male. Between the two figures hangs a prize in the shape of a dangling pendant containing a cross, the symbol of a trophy head. The geometric bands below the figures are “seeds” or “fruits,” also symbols for numerous trophies that signaled the bravery and success of this warrior. It is fitting that such powerful imagery covers the back of a jacket as this is the warrior’s most vulnerable spot.

When this jacket was collected around 1970, it was already six generations old. According to informants, the original owner killed two foes in hand-to-hand combat and captured four slaves (ulon), whom he treated kindly as if they were his own children.

Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, 2013.

Borneo: The Island-Its Peoples  

1980: Steven G. Alpert, Dallas, Texas, collected at Entawau longhouse, Rajang River [1]

1983: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from above [2]

Notes:

The main source for this provenance is the Pacific American Corp. document titled "Dallas Museum of Art: The Steven G. Alpert Collection of Indonesian Textiles" in the Collections Records file labeled Steven G. Alpert—Indonesian Textiles. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[1] The jacket was collected from the weaver Dewou or Dewow, and the succession of inheritance reads: Dewou, Awang ak Dewou, Janda ak Awang, Bol ak Janda, Sangou ak Bol, Lekon ak Sango. Lekon, the last owner, was in his 50s in 1980. The following was related to Steven G. Alpert from Lekon (a conversation in Malay related in the notes in English): "...The jacket of eight Gaji Antu (giant ghosts) for battle against the Kayan. Awang brought eight Kayan children as slaves to his house where he treated them very kindly after killing their parents in battle...This was during the reign of the first Raja, James Brooke, who soon after began to suppress headhunting."

[2] See pages 1-4 of the correspondence between Harry S. Parker and Pacific American Corp. dated October 5, 1983, in the Collections Records file labeled Steven G. Alpert—Indonesian Textiles.

Apply to objects where number equals 1983.134