the Austronesian language family. It is thought that the homeland of the Malayic languages is in western Borneo, where the Ibanic languages remain. The Malayic branch represents a secondary dispersal, probably from central Sumatra but possibly also from Borneo. The Iban people speak basically one language with regional dialects that vary in intonation. They have a rich oral literature, as noted by Vincent Sutlive when meeting Derek Freeman, a professor of anthropology at the Australian National University who stated: Derek Freeman told me that Iban folklore "probably exceeds in sheer volume the literature of the Greeks. At that time, I thought Freeman excessive. Today, I suspect he may have been conservative in his estimate (Sutlive 1988: 73)." There is a body of oral poetry which is recited by the Iban depending on the occasion. Nowadays, the Iban language is mostly taught at schools with Iban students in town and rural areas in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Iban language is included in Malaysian public school examinations for Form 3 and Form 5 students. Students comment that questions from these exams can be daunting, since they mostly cover the classic Iban language, while students are more fluent in the contemporary tongue. Iban ritual festivals and rites Significant traditional festivals, or , to propitiate the gods, can be grouped into seven categories according to the main ritual activities: Farming-related festivals for the deity of agriculture, Sempulang Gana War-related festivals to honour the deity of war, Sengalang Burong Fortune-related festivals dedicated to the deity of fortune, Anda Mara Procreation-related festival (Gawai Melah Pinang) for the deity of creation, Selampandai Health-related festivals for the gods of Shamanism, Menjaya and Ini Andan Death-related festival (Gawai Antu or Ngelumbong), including rituals to invite dead souls to their final separation from the living Weaving-related festival (Gawai Ngar) for patrons of weaving For simplicity and cost savings, some of the have been relegated into the medium category of propitiation called . These include Gawai Tuah into Nimang Tuah, Gawai Benih into Nimang Benih and Gawa Beintu-intu into their respective nimang category, wherein the key activity is the timang incantation by the bards. Gawai Matah can be relegated into a minor rite simply called matah. The first dibbling () session is normally preceded by a medium-sized offering ceremony in which (a paddy's net) is erected with three flags. The paddy's net is erected by splitting a bamboo trunk lengthwise into