ORAL TRADITION

A storyteller narrates an oral epic about a legendary hero, named lawe. This oldest epic poem in the kayan Dayak tradition was dockumented and translated into Indonesian in 1995.

Lawe poem becomes unique as the recital, apart from telling past history of kayan people, sets up the ritm of oral music that urge listeners to danse without accompaniment and instead sing the poem in unison. Under the commad of ritmic knocking of stick performed by the narrator, poem are re\cited in unison for 3 days long.

Such poem are sung at special ceremony,e.g. death, marriage, moving to new house and in dange ceremony.