Abstract
This article discusses the origin, nature and significance of the nabau, which I gloss in English as ‘water dragon’. I show how there are clear indications that the nabau is regarded by the Iban as protective. The nabau has been woven into pua cloths, skirts and strips of cloth called labong Bungai Nuing. The nabau on labong Bungai Nuing are regarded as manifestations of a culture hero from the parallel semi-spirit world of Panggau Libau, Bungai Nuing, and they are used as protective amulets. This is the clearest demonstration of the protective nature of the nabau. I suggest that the significance of the nabau should be understood in the context of its association with water and with beliefs about the flow of cosmic power and fertility through water. The use of the figure of Bungai Nuing hints, I suggest, at the nature of beliefs about the flow of cosmic power, kuasa, and the ways in which humans engage with this.
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