Julius Boy Bidayuh
Dayak tribe has its own architecture in making custom homes, the concept of traditional house is usually very close to the culture and nature, the shape is elongated like a house on stilts with poles high so it looks the bottom under him. This traditional house has several names, among others, house betang, long house or lamin, and the other term is Long House because of the long house form.
The Betang House is a traditional Dayak house located in various parts of Kalimantan and is inhabited by Dayak people, especially in the river area. In certain Dayak tribes, the manufacture of a betang house must meet some requirements of which the upstream part must be facing towards the sunrise and the downstream towards the sunset. It is considered a symbol of hard work to survive from sunrise to sunset. All Dayak sub-tribes except for the Dayak punan tribe who live wandering, originally settled in togetherness live at home betang.
Particularly in West Kalimantan, Dayak customary people call this house with Rumah Betang. This house is characteristic of the Dayak people who live in West Kalimantan area, because the house betang is a social picture of people’s lives and at the same time become the center of their culture, because that’s where all activities and life processes run from time to time.
Apart from being a place to live, the betang house is also used as the center of all the traditional activities of the community, this place becomes an effective means for the Dayak community to foster intimacy with each other. Here also they can talk to exchange ideas about experiences, knowledge and skills
“The replica of Pontianak betang house located on Sutoyo street is an asset of West Kalimantan provincial government built around 1977 design by Dayak Yacob Lomon who was then a member of West Kalimantan DPRD,” said Herman Ivo, a Dayak community leader from Bengkayang Regency, Kalimantan West in an interview with Severianus Endi, Journalist Tribun Pontianak published in Kompas.com January 22, 2010.
Until 2012, in May every year Rumah Betang Sutoyo becomes the place of the Dayak Gawai Day in West Kalimantan Province. Given that this betang house was unable to accommodate the public interest that participated in the event, a new and larger custom house, now known as Radakng House.
This betang house is not only a center for cultural development, but also a place for people to channel art and creative culture aspirations. Dayak art studios still use this house as a place of dance, sound, and other arts.
Most of the buildings are made of ironwood / belian materials ranging from poles, floors, walls, to the roof, still maintained and preserved. Now Betang House on Sutoyo Street still stands firmly among modern buildings in Pontianak City.
