‘Blowing 'cross the crest of Mount Galeng’: winds of the voice, winds of the spirits

An enclave of animists in a predominantly Muslim nation, Temiars of peninsular Malaysia forge ingenious techniques to convert the commodities, concepts, and technologies that assault them towards their own religious and ideological uses. These aboriginal forest‐dwellers, a Senoi or Orang Asli people known in the anthropological and psychological literature for their techniques of dreaming, use songs received in dreams for healing purposes. Temiars are Austroasiatic‐speakers in a now Malay‐dominant nation. Battling colonial and neo‐colonial pressures in the Malay postcolony and the global economy, the members of this small‐scale society take refuge in montane forests, yet they have long interacted with Malays, British colonists, Chinese and Tamils brought to work in British mines and plantations, and communist guerillas in the aftermath of the Second World War. The key element in their survival is a technique economically combining music, medicine, and culture. This medico‐acoustic armature crafts the winds of breath, life, and voice into song. I explore how Temiars call on spirits through song, dance, and ceremony to address both individual and social wounds, as they craft their dances of healing and survival across the proverbial winds of history. Comparative materials on music, medicine, healing, and the environment from Africa, Europe, and elsewhere are examined.