It's another Mouth Harp Monday! The kuriding is a palm fiber mouth harp played by a handful of groups in ethnically diverse South Kalimantan (the southeast corner of the Indonesian side of Borneo), especially in the upland regions of the Barito river. In this area, various ethnic groups like the Dayak Bakumpai and Banjar people all share a similar myth about kuriding - it can scare off tigers. As the myth goes, a mother tiger gave a kuriding to her child to play, but the kuriding's vibrating tongue broke off and got lodged in the baby tiger's throat, killing it. From then on, tigers have been deathly afraid, and will run at the sound of it. Tigers are often seen as shapeshifting humans or evil spirits, so the kuriding also has a kind of supernatural potency to ward off malevolent forces.

To hear and learn more, check out the new Aural Archipelago post at https://www.auralarchipelago.com/aura...