GAWAI DAN REKONSTRUKSI IDENTITAS DAYAK: STUDI KASUS PADA PEKAN GAWAI DAYAK KABUPATEN SINTANG

Abstract

This study investigates the role of Gawai Dayak Festival in Sintang as a crucial arena for the
reconstruction of Dayak ethnic identity. Using a qualitative approach and case study method, data was
collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews with traditional leaders, organizers,
attendees, and visual documentation. The findings show that beyond the usual harvest thanksgiving
celebration, the Gawai Dayak Festival is utilized as a strategic platform for demonstrating both the
sustainability and the evolution of Dayak culture. The festival not only visually articulates ethnic identity
through traditional clothing, dance, and music, but also embodies political and social statements that affirm
Dayak presence and resistance within a context of modernization and cultural plurality. Moreover, Gawai
serves as a cultural stage for negotiating values between tradition and modernity, the sacred and the
commodified, and local and national identity. Thus, Dayak identity is presented not as something static or
fixed concepts, but as a construct that is continuously changing, produced, and negotiated through
cultural practices taking place in public space. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical
understanding of cultural identity as a discursive and performative process embedded within contemporary
social and political contexts. The research recommends the need to sustain such festivals due to their
essential role for indigenous communities in responding to the dynamics of modernity. Further studies can
be directed towards exploring the comparative dimension of this process across various indigenous cultural
festivals in the regional area, to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the construction and
negotiation of cultural identity in a contemporary context.