What is "hudoq"

Hudoq is a thanksgiving festival of many of sub-groups of the Dayak ethnic group of East Kalimantan province, Indonesia.

According to the traditional beliefs of the Bahau, Busang, Modang, Ao’heng, and Penihing people, hudoqs are thirteen crop-destroying pests, including rats, lions, and crows. In the festival the Hudoqs are symbolized by dancers who wear masks representing pests and jackets made of areca palm or banana tree bark. The dance is finished when two human hudoqs come out and chase the pest hudoqs. The dance duration is 1–5 hours. It is arranged from village to village after people dibble the land to grow dry-field rice paddies in September to October every year. They pray so that their fields will grow abundantly.