EXCERPT
Dr. Clifford Sather is known for his ethnographic works on the Iban in Sarawak and the Bajau in Sabah. His Seeds of Play, Words of Power (2001) is a major work on Iban shamanic chants. The book under review here is about an Iban healing ritual called the Sugi Sakit. Such a ritual had died out about 28 years ago. In 2003, Dr. Sather was lucky to get Renang anak Jabing, an Iban priest bard, to perform the Sugi Sakit for a record. This is a labour of love that involves tedious work of recording, translating, analysing and writing. Only a very committed ethnographer would spend so much effort to finally produce this book of more than 500 pages, which contributes greatly to preserving a fascinating aspect of Iban cultural heritage.
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