Posts

Who are the Punan, Part Three — “The Sitieng Connections”

Image
  It seems any group , linked to Punan was, almost by default, presumed to be nomad. Hence, we were told the Tatau were nomads (see Diman Jarap 1961), and so were the Sitieng (Tuton Kaboy 1971). A succinct measure, the level of the misconception that people’s have about the Punan in Sarawak. Obviously, this was no fault of Punan people themselves. In Borneo, the “Punan” term had become an exonym, being used as a label for groups — the nomads scattered throughout central and southwest of Borneo. For example, in Kalimantan, it is, in fact, a government explicit policy to name all former nomads as “Punan” regardless of what their self-labelling might be (see Shanti Tambiah 2007). But in Sarawak, Punan is also the name of an agriculturalist group. British anthropologist, Dr Edmund R. Leach, proposed to call “ Punan Bah ” — partly to avoid them being confused for Penan that Kayan and Kenyah in Sarawak often labeled  Punan ! Hence, in the literature, they are generally known as “Punan Bah” —
Read more

Punan Madai or Punan Mandai

Image
Map showing locations of Nanga Raun, in Upper Mandai River and the actual Dabai River in Punan ethnohistory Long ago during the rule of Saghe’ (Sagek) the Punan in the Tatau River was raided by Magindanau pirate ( lanon ). The attack sent the people scattered away. Those who could make it to the shelter at the Buan hill (abode hill) were safe. But in the chaos, they lost several girls including the granddaughter of Saghe’. They presumably have been taken away by the pirates. For safety, the entire communities were told by Saghe’ to temporarily shelter further upriver; some sheltered between the Davai and Ava River, others further up the Anap at Muput, Takan – so they were beyond the reach of raiding pirates. The oral history of Punan in Kakus There has never been a Punan Bah group found in Kapuas basin and certainly not in the Mandai River. And as everything related to the term “Punan”, there is always an element of speculation involved - after all there are still very little known abo
Read more

The peacemaking history between Orang Ulu and the Dayak Iban in the Rejang

Image
Photo of the Peace-Making held in Kapit 1924 There were two peace-making ceremonies held between 1907-1924 period at Kapit. The first was held in November 1907. It involved only the Upper Rejang communities and Iban along the Rejang. Among those present were the chiefs of Punan, Kayan, Kajaman, and Lahanan. Here is report by the Resident of Kapit H.S.B Johnson on December 4. 1907 (SG 1907 Dec 4, 1907:266-7): I have the honour to inform Your Highness that a successful peace-making and pig killing was brought off last Wednesday the 30th ultimo between the different Kayan tribes and the Ulu Ai Dyaks. The following Dyaks among others were present at the ceremony and agreed to make peace. Penghulu Meroom, Penghulu Narok, Penghulu Matahari, Kanian, Jimbun, Ayom, Bair, Jalin, Ajut, Pilai, Blikau, Melintang, Inggu, Koh, Kilau, Bawi, Bala. The different upriver tribes were represented by the following: Laki Boh (Kayan), Abun Batu (Kayan), Abun (Skapan), Tama Ludu (Kajaman), Oyong Seng (Lahanan)
Read more

The Kajang of Belaga Sarawak

Image
Penghulu Puso Abun with his second wife   This article is not about the " Kajang tribe of South Sulewasi " nor the Kajang city in Selangor .   It is about tribal peoples of other islands in the South East Asia archipelago. The Kajang concerned here is a grouping of six minorities that include the Sekapans, Kejamans, Lahanans, Punans, Tanjongs, and Kanowits. They are a citizen of Sarawak, one of the Malaysian states on the island of Borneo refer to the Federal Constitution Section 161A(7) [pdf] . Kajang historical background Before 1949, no one knows about ' Kajang ', although the term has a certain currency deep in the interior of Sarawak. It was anthropologist Dr Ronald Edmund Leach who first coined the term in his “Social Economic Survey of Sarawak” report (Leach 1950:54–5). It was social economic survey commissioned by the Colonial Social Science Research Council published by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1950. Leach's sources were the Sekapans of
Read more

Antonia Soriente on Punan and Penan terminology

Image
Latest book on hunter-gatherers that include the Penan of Borneo This is one of the latest books on nomadic peoples around the world. It tells us that Punan (or Punan Ba) language is only 25% cognate with the Penan. And despite being called 'Punan', the nomad in Kalimantan actually had no common ancestry and culturally differed to the Punan Ba of Sarawak.  These revelation is found in a chapter on Penan, " 11 Hunter-Gatherers of Borneo and Their Language " by an Associate Professor of Indonesian language and literature Dr Antonia Soriente .  Obviously, Dr Soriente is familiar with Penan and Kenyah. She is involved in a project on the documentation of two Kenyah languages, Uma' Kulit and Oma Lung. Soriente completed her PhD program in Linguistics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on the classification of Kenyah languages in 2003. According to Soriente, in explaining the terminology 'Punan' and 'Penan' as applied to the hunter-gatherers of Bor
Read more

Kayan River in 2019

Image
  YouTube screengrab of longboat passing through a rapid along Kayan River Kayan River originates on Mount Ukeng. It flows downstream passing Tanjung Selor city and then discharges it contains into Sulawesi Sea. The entire river drainage span 576 km long. This is river that give the Kayan their ethnonym (see  Mika Okushima 2006 ). Into the late nineteenth and early nineteenth century, waves of Kayan migrated northwards (see Jerome Rousseau 1990 ). Today they dominate two major riverine in north Borneo - the Baram and Upper Rejang.  
Read more

Map of Punan villages in Sarawak 2020

Image
Fig 1. Aerial photo of Punan Sama village, the uppermost Punan village along the Rejang. By the end of 2020, there are a total of 14 Punan villages, home to estimated 6,000 people distributed in Kapit and Bintulu Division. This is a six-fold increase from merely 600 people, scattered 7 longhouses in 1950s (see Rodney Needham 1955). Subsequently, Ida Nicolaisen in 1975, also tabulated 7 longhouses with population of 1,750 people - triple Needham's figure. In 1948, Punan Kaku, administratively known as Rumah Keseng, for example, was already a 48 doors longhouse (Leach 1950), with a population exceeding 400 people. But in Needham's estimate, the two longhouses Rh. Gisak and Rh. Keseng in the Kakus population was about 71 persons (Needham 1955).  A much reliable data become available about two decades after Needham. Ida Nicolaisen (1976) estimated total Punan population in 1976 was about 1,750 persons. It should be noted that both Needham and Nicolaisen excluded the Punan
Read more