Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
opportunity to show the Dayaks that he meant business - he promptly executed the crim-
inal.
Headhunting, to the extent that it continued, flew under the government's radar until
WWII, when British commandos found the practice useful for the war effort - so long as
the victims were Japanese. Many of the heads that now adorn longhouses date from this
period.
These days, sensationalised accounts of inter-ethnic conflict in Indonesian Borneo often
describe the violence as latter-day headhunting. If press descriptions are to be believed,
the last '
tête
offensive' (so to speak) took place in Kalimantan in the early years of the
21st century, when migrants from the island of Madura who settled, or were resettled by
the Indonesian government, in Dayak and Malay areas, were the victims.
As Borneo's indigenous people embraced Christianity and rejected traditional animistic
superstitions, many longhouses dismantled their dangling skulls. Though if you ask
around, you'll quickly learn that the heads haven't actually been tossed away - that would
just be bad luck!
Native Land Rights
When a tract of forest is cut down for timber or
to make way for a dam or oil-palm plantation,
animals are not the only ones who lose their
homes - Borneo's forest-dwelling indigenous
peoples are also displaced.
The Penan have been especially hard hit by
logging and forced relocations. In Sarawak, the
government has tried to quash Penan protests -
ongoing in 2012 - and often responds to any sign of civil disobedience with arrests. Legal
challenges to the government's refusal to recognise traditional land tenure are continuing.
In Kalimantan, migrants from other parts of Indonesia have encroached upon the
Dayaks' traditional lands, producing a sometimes violent backlash.
At the Sarawak Cultural Village near Kuching, you
can visit four Dayak longhouses - including the
only remaining Melanau longhouse - constructed
using just traditional materials and techniques. No
tin roofs or satellite dishes!
Visiting a Longhouse
According to longstanding Dayak tradition, anyone who shows up at a longhouse must be
welcomed and given accommodation. Since almost all longhouses were, until quite re-
cently, a considerable jungle trek or longboat ride from the nearest human settlement, this
custom made a great deal of sense.
