Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
About 29% of Sarawakians are Iban, des-
cended from groups that migrated from West
Kalimantan's Sungai Kapuas starting five to
eight centuries ago. Also known as Sea Dayaks
for their exploits as pirates, the Iban are tradi-
tionally rice growers and longhouse dwellers.
A reluctance to renounce headhunting en-
hanced their ferocious reputation.
The Bidayuh (8% of the population), once known as Land Dayaks, live mainly in the
hills south and southwest of Kuching, near the Kalimantan border. Their ancestors are
thought to have migrated from the Sungkong area of what is now West Kalimantan many
centuries ago. As with many Dayak groups, identities and traditions are very local, and
adjacent villages sometimes speak dialects so distinct that people find it easier to commu-
nicate in English or Malay. Few Bidayuh still live in longhouses.
Upland groups, such as the Kelabit, Kayan and Kenyah - that is, almost everyone ex-
cept the Bidayuh, the Iban and the coastal-dwelling Melanau - are often grouped together
under the term Orang Ulu (upriver peoples). The Kenyah and Kayan are known for their
elaborately decorated longhouses and the
kalong
motif, with its sinuous, intertwined
creepers and vines.
Up the Notched-Log Ladder
is Sydwell Mouw
Flynn's memoir of her parents' missionary work
among Sarawak's Dayaks from 1933 to 1950, and
her return to the land where she was raised half a
century later.
Kalimantan
In Indonesian Borneo, the terms Dayak and Dayakism imply pan-Dayak political and eth-
nic solidarity.
In Central Kalimantan, the largest indigenous group is the Ngaju Dayak, who live along
major rivers and do more fishing than hunting. The Ot Danum Dayaks, who live further
upriver, raise fruit, collect natural rubber and make dugout canoes that they sell to down-
river tribes.
Along East Kalimantan's Sungai Mahakam,
the Kutai are the main indigenous group in the
lower reaches, hosting the annual Erau Festival
at their capital Tenggarong.
The Kayan and the closely related Kenyah
are found in the Apo Kayan Highlands, as well
as in Sarawak and Brunei. They are known for
building the most elaborately decorated long-
houses and for having a strict social hierarchy.
Some Dayak societies, such as the Iban and Biday-
uh, are remarkably egalitarian, while others, such as
the Kayan, used to have a strict social hierarchy -
now somewhat blurred - with classes of nobles
(maren)
, aristocrats
(hipuy)
, commoners
(panyin)
and slaves
(dipen)
.
