Clouded Leopard

New Species Declared: Clouded Leopard On Borneo And Sumatra

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2007) — Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat. The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland Southeast Asia.

Genetic analysis conducted at the U.S. National Cancer Institute shows that the difference between the two clouded leopard species is comparable to the differences between other large cat species like lions, tigers, and jaguars. Scientists believe the new species of clouded leopard diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago.

"Genetic research results clearly indicate that the clouded leopards of Borneo and Sumatra should be considered a separate species," said Dr Stephen O'Brien, Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, U.S. National Cancer Institute. "DNA tests highlighted around 40 differences between the two species."

The results of the genetic study are supported by separate research on geographical variation in the clouded leopard, based mainly on fur patterns and coloration of skins held in museums and collections.

"The moment we started comparing the skins of the mainland clouded leopard and the leopard found on Borneo and Sumatra, it was clear we were comparing two different species," said Dr Andrew Kitchener, from the Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland and lead author of the scientific paper that described the new species. "It's incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences."

The new clouded leopard species is generally darker than the mainland species, has small cloud markings, many distinct spots within the cloud markings, grayer fur, and a double dorsal stripe. Clouded leopards from the mainland have large clouds on their skin with fewer, often faint, spots within the cloud markings, and they are lighter in color, with a tendency toward tawny-colored fur and a partial double dorsal stripe.

"Who said a leopard can never change its spots? For over a hundred years we have been looking at this animal and never realized it was unique," said Adam Tomasek, head of WWF's Borneo and Sumatra program. "The fact that Borneo's top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasizes the uniqueness of the island and the importance of conserving the Heart of Borneo."

Clouded leopards are the biggest predators on Borneo. Some grow to be as large as a small panther, and have the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any cat. Sumatran tigers are the largest predators on Sumatra.

Between 5,000 and 11,000 clouded leopards are estimated to live on Borneo. The total number in Sumatra could be in the range of 3,000 to 7,000 individuals. However, further studies are needed to obtain better population data. Habitat destruction is the cat's main threat.

The last great forest home of the Bornean Clouded Leopard is the Heart of Borneo, a wild, mountainous region of rainforest the size of Kansas. WWF recently released a report showing that scientists had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants over the past year on Borneo.

Last month in Bali (Indonesia), the ministers of the three Bornean governments - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia - signed an historic Declaration to conserve and sustainably manage the Heart of Borneo.

Borneo poisonous blowpipe

The diverse indigenous Dayak tribes, as well as the formerly semi-settled hunters and gatherers of Borneo (Kalimantan) such as the Punan, Berusu, and Basap have traditionally hunted for wild animals WILD ANIMALS. Animals in a state of nature; animals ferae naturae. Vide Animals; Ferae naturae. with blowpipes and poison darts. The blowpipe, which is about two meters long, is made of ironwood ironwood: see hornbeam.

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ironwood

Any of numerous trees and shrubs, found worldwide, that have exceptionally tough or hard wood useful for timber, fence posts, and tool handles. (Eusideroxylon zwageri), generally known as ulin in Indonesia, or of another hardwood species. Among my collection are also some antique blowpipes cut from bamboo sections.

The 30 cm. long blowpipe darts weigh less than 1 g. The darts exit the blowpipe at a speed (V0) of at least 50 m/see, or about 180 km/h, as ascertained through trials by the author at the German Bundeskriminalarat (German Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice charged with investigating all violations of federal laws except those assigned to some other federal agency. ) in the city of Wiesbaden in 1985 (Zahorka 1986:37). Because of minimal weight and high velocity, the darts' trajectory is flat up to a distance of 25 to 30 meters. Therefore, at this distance, the dart can hit an animal even if only a small part of it is visible or it is shielded by branches and leaves in the dense jungle cover. This would not be possible if using a bow because the flight path of a heavy arrow is not straight but takes on a ballistic curve. Another advantage of hunting with a blowpipe is the nearly soundless shooting.

The agent that brings about the demise of the animal is the poison, not the dart itself. Irrespective of which part of the animal's body the dart hits, the poison diffuses very rapidly throughout the whole body. A two-centimeter segment of the points of the darts used for hunting small animals, monkeys and large birds is treated with poison. The darts for hunting deer (Cervus unicolor u·ni·col·or
adj.
Monochromatic. ), muntjak muntjac, muntjak

Asian rib-faced deer with slit-like scent gland openings on the face and two-tined antlers. Called also Muntiacus muntjak. (Muntiacus muntjac muntjac: see deer.

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muntjac
or barking deer

Any of about seven species of solitary, nocturnal deer, native to Asia and introduced into England and France, that constitute the genus Muntiacus (family Cervidae). ) and wild boar (Sus barbatus) are treated with poison to five centimeters down from the point upon which is affixed af·fix
tr.v. af·fixed, af·fix·ing, af·fix·es
1. To secure to something; attach: affix a label to a package.

2. a sharp head of bamboo, metal or a small animal's pointed tooth.

Because of the depletion of the forests in Kalimantan, the present indigenous hunters need a hunting weapon that can be shot over a much greater distance than the blowgun blowgun, hollow tube from which a dart or an arrow is blown by a person's breath. The arrow was usually tipped with a poison, such as curare, which would stun or kill the struck prey. Blowguns were widely used by prehistoric peoples. . Therefore, some Basap people living on the Mangkalihat Peninsula, Kalimantan Timur, have constructed sophisticated air guns powered by strings of elastic, which shoot these poison darts accurately at a distance of about 100 meters (Zahorka 2004a:10).

The Plant Species Needed to Produce the Dart Poison

The raw material that yields the poison is the latex of the tall tree Antiaris toxicaria (Pers.) Lesch., Moraceae. However, the poison processing is possible only with the use of a young leaf of the small Licuala spinosa Thunb. palm.

1. Antiaris toxicaria (Pers.) Lesch., Moraceae, can grow up to 50 meters in height and to a diameter of up to 1.5 meters or more. The tall branchless trunk is straight; the buttresses are relatively small, and the small treetop is nearly spherical. It is a rare tree that grows from the lowland up into the montane mon·tane
adj.
Of, growing in, or inhabiting mountain areas.

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[Latin montnus, from m tropical forest. Generally, the lower parts of the trunks display numerous scars, which indicate former latex tapping over many decades.

Because of its powerful poison, this tree has been the subject of horror stories for 200 years. Thus, the seventeenth century German-Dutch natural scientist Rumphius wrote: "This tree grows on barren mountains. The soil below it is desolate and singed. Only a horned snake lives under the tree which cackles like a hen and has eyes that glow in the night" (cit. Beekmann 1981 in Zahorka 2000:19, translated by the author). Similarly, the Swedish Borneo explorer Eric Mjoberg reported in 1929: "To stay at a close distance to the tree is life-threatening and an embankment of bones surrounds it ..." (Mjoberg 1929:307, translated from German by the author). Fortunately, this all is pure fantasy. In a more recent book, we can read: "There is a fabulous legend that it is deadly merely to sleep in the shade of the upas tree upas tree (y`pəs): see mulberry. " (Smith 1997:36).

In Java, Sumatra and Malaysia, the tree is widely known as pohon ipoh or pohon upas. However, the various traditional tribal communities in Kalimantan have their own vernacular names for it. Here are some examples which I collected in East and Central Kalimantan between 1976 and 2003:

2. Licuala spinosa Thunb., Palmae, is a small fan palm growing in the tropical forests of SE Asia along the equator (McCurrach 1960). The 3-to-5-meter-high stems grow in tufts. The 15 to 18 leaf segments, which are up to 40 centimeters long and up to 15 centimeters wide are widely used for thatching. The Indonesian and Malaysian name for it is sang.

For the dehydration process of the Antiaris latex, a very young sang leaf, that is still accordion-like folded and not yet spread out, is used. In this original condition, the leaf is absolutely fire resistant and durable. It is this property of the leaf that holds the secret of producing the dart poison over a fire. The young leaf keeps its shape and will not burn even if put into a hot gas flame. A boat-shaped container made with this leaf must be durable enough to hold the latex throughout the prolonged dehydration.

Building the Iban Longhouse

A longhouse in Sarawak; source:www.enicholl.com

"When the longhouse becomes too dilapidated, it is the responsibility of the tuai rumah (leader of the longhouse) to hold a gathering with his people to discuss about a new longhouse. If the head of each family agrees, all males and every family is asked to collect ramu (construction materials) for posts, beams, studs, planks, etc. When all the families report that they have enough ramu, the tuai rumah with the help of the tuai burung (the sage) will fix the auspicious date for the ngerembang, the clearing of the site of the longhouse."


The Tanju, the outdoor communal terrace

"A few days before that date, the tuai rumah goes into the jungle to seek the signs that will reveal the best location of the future longhouse. If the new longhouse is to be built downstream from the old house, the tuai rumah will look for the Nendak bird, to the right of his direction of travel. When he hears the call of this bird, he will uproot a small tree in that area to mark the occasion, , and he will bring home the small tree, known as the tambak burung."

"The next day, the tuai rumah enters the jungle again on a similar mission. When he hears the call of the nendak bird from his right hand side, he will again uproot a young tree to mark the spot and return with the tambak burung. Early on the third day, he again enters the jungle, this time looking for the bird on his left hand side. When he hears the call, he will again uproot a young tree and return with his last tambak burung."


The Panggau and the Ruai, communal living areas in the longhouse

"On the morning of the ngerembang, the tuai rumah will burn the tambak burung in the middle of the new site, before leading the members of the longhouse in the clearing works. When the ngerembang is finished, the families are asked to bring all the ramu that had been collected to the respective houses."


The bilik is the private realm of the family

"After the prayer, the tiang permun (the main post of the house) is placed in the ground, buried together with salt, a small piece of gold, the skin of the langgir fruit and a mumban twig (a small tree commonly found along the river banks). As soon as the longhouse is completed, the tuai rumah and the tuai burung will lead the the families into the new building. But before they finally move to their bilik (rooms), each family must build their own dapur (kitchen)."

Reference: Translated from Malay text reproduced in the Cyber Penom website, including all the photos except the first one.

Iban longhouse

The longhouse faces the river. Each family unit in the longhouse has its own section, consisting of a room (bilik) with a solid door, an equal-width section of the common area onto which all rooms open, and an equal-width section of the porch (tanju) -- which, as you can see, is a rickety affair made of split bamboo laid (not fastened) across supporting logs. We tourists were warned not to go out on the porch because it likely would not hold our weight, and believe me, we were not tempted. In addition to hanging laundry, the porch is used for doing work. An old man spent the morning out there building a door from fresh-looking boards.

Below, you can see some chicken coops on the left side, beneath the living quarters. The people kept a large number of chickens, which strut all around but are chased out if they come into the house. Several dogs and one very small, friendly, flea-infested cat shared the house. The people raise fish to eat in their own fish farm on the river; big bags of tilapia feed are stacked inside the longhouse.

First thing in the morning, most women went out to gather some food. They raise padi rice, vegetables and pepper on the hills above the house. (Black pepper is a major export of Sarawak; we saw pepper plants trained to climb poles in long rows everywhere as we traveled the roads.) The women strap a giant cylindrical basket on their back, put a conical hat on their head, and wearing long sleeves and usually pants, climb up a narrow path to the cultivated fields. When they return, the basket is filled with greenery. They make the baskets from grasses and rattan; the straps are made from tree bark.

One of the two women who cooked for us came in with what appeared to be some kind of tree leaves brimming from her huge basket. Later I realized I had heard a dull pounding coming from the kitchen for a very long time, so I went to investigate. In a small stone mortar she was mashing all the leaves to pulp. She already had a big blue plastic basin full of it. I signaled that I would like to try it and she gestured permission. But she had meant touch and not taste, because as I moved to put a clump into my mouth, both women urgently warned me not to do it. Pointing to the wok on the double-burner gas cooker (same as what most city Malaysians also use), they explained that the pulp had to be cooked. We ate it at lunch that day, and like everything we ate in the longhouse, it was delicious. The texture was heavier than chopped spinach but equally smooth. I don't know if they cooked it in chicken stock or just a combination of flavorings such as soy sauce, but the unique taste of the leaf remained, neither sweet nor bitter, a cross between mustard greens and collards.

Iban - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Religious beliefs and behavior pervade every part of Iban life. In their interpretations of their world, nature, and society, they refer to remote creator gods, who brought the elements and a structured order into existence; the bird-god Sengalang Burong, who directs their lives through messages borne by his seven sons-in-law; and the popular gods, who provide models for living. Iban religion is a product of a holistic approach to life, in which attention is paid to all events in the waking and sleeping states. The religion involves an all-embracing causality, born of the Iban conviction that "nothing happens without cause." The pervasiveness of their religion has sensitized them to every part of their world and created an elaborate otherworld (Sebayan), in which everything is vested with the potential for sensate thought and action. In Iban beliefs and narratives trees talk, crotons walk, macaques become incubi, jars moan for lack of attention, and the sex of the human fetus is determined by a cricket, the metamorphized form of a god.

Though the gods live in Panggau Libau, a remote and godly realm, they are unseen, ubiquitous presences. In contrast to the exclusive categories of Judaism and Christianity, "supernaturals" and "mortals" interact in all activities of importance. In contrast to the gods who are more benevolently inclined towards mortals, Iban believe in and fear a host of malevolent spirits. These spirits are patent projections onto a cosmic screen of anxieties and stresses suffered by Iban: the menacing father figure, the vengeful mother, the freeloader, and becoming lost in the forest. Iban strive to maintain good life and health by adherence to customary laws, avoidance of taboos, and the presentation of offerings and animal sacrifices.

Religious Practitioners. There are three religious practitioners: the bard ( lemambang ), the augur ( tuai burong ), and the shaman ( manang ). Individually or in teams, bards are invited to chant at all major rituals. They are highly respected men, capable of recalling and adapting, as appropriate, chants that go on for hours. The augur is employed for critical activities such as farming or traveling. The shaman is a psychotherapist who is consulted for unusual or persistent ailments.

Ceremonies. Iban rituals ( gawa, gawai ) may be grouped into four major categories: (1) one dozen major and three dozen minor agricultural festivals; (2) healing rituals, performed by the shaman, commencing in the bilik and progressing to the outer veranda; (3) ceremonies for the courageous, commemorating warfare and headhunting; and (4) rituals for the dead. Iban of all divisions perform rituals of the first two categories. Ceremonies to honor warriors have assumed greater importance in the upper Rejang, and rituals for the dead have been much more elaborated in the First and Second divisions of Sarawak.

Arts. The Iban have created one of the most extensive bodies of folklore in human history, including more than one dozen types of epic, myth, and chant. Women weave intricate fabrics and men produce a variety of wood-carvings.

Medicine. Though they have a limited ethnopharmacology, Iban have developed an elaborate series of psychotherapeutic rituals.

Death and Afterlife. Life and health are dependent upon the condition of the soul ( samengat ). Some illnesses are attributed to the wandering of one of an Iban's seven souls, and the shaman undertakes a magical flight to retrieve and return the patient's soul. Boundaries between life and death are vague, and at death the soul must be informed by a shaman that it must move on to Sebayan. Crossing "The Bridge of Anxiety," the soul is treated to all imaginable pleasures, many of which are proscribed for the living. After an undetermined period of revelry, the soul is transformed into spirit, then into dew, in which form it reenters the realm of the living by nourishing the growing rice. As rice is ingested, the cycle of the soul is completed by its return to human form. Gawai Antu, the Festival of the Dead, may be held from a few years to 50 years after the death of a member of the community. The main part of the festival occurs over a three-day period, but takes months or even years to plan. The primary purpose of the festival is to honor all the community's dead, who are invited to join in the ritual acts. The festival dramatizes the dependence of the living and dead upon each other.

Orang utan under threat

In Central Kalimantan, the hunters and poachers have the blood of orang utan on their hands. The forests that are home to these animals are also being cleared at an alarming rate in the name of development. A rehabilitation centre offers some measure of hope, writes AMY CHEW.

NODDY, an orphaned baby orang utan, climbs up a tree and stares into the distance at the Nyaru Menteng Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, his future as uncertain as the existence of the forests which used to be his home.

His mother was killed in the wilds, under what circumstances, his carers do not really know.

But what is sure is that she met with a cruel and violent end -- hacked to pieces, burnt or shot to death -- like so many others before her.

In a forest in Sampit, an animal poacher fires a shot at a female orang utan with a baby in her arms. As the orang utan falls, she clings tightly to her baby.

When the hunter comes over to the dying creature, he is stunned -- he sees tears flowing from its eyes.

Orang utan have emotions just like humans. They can cry, worry and experience sorrow and joy.

"The mother held on to her baby until she breathed her last," recounts Eko Haryuwono, founder of the Nyaru Menteng orang utan rescue unit.

"The hunter was moved by the orang utan's tears and has since stopped killing them."

The hunter now helps the rescue team by informing the unit of orang utan in danger of being killed or poached.

The orang utan, or people of the forest, is our closest relative. Orang utan and humans share 98 per cent of the same DNA.

"They have emotions just like humans. They can cry, worry and experience sorrow and joy just like us," says Eko.

Saving the orang utan will be a demonstration of our humanity, that we are indeed worthy to be called humans, and not beasts.

Headhunters, not pirates

Headhunting for the Ibans is history. But many a question still lingers in the minds of many as to why headhunting was rampant or to some extent ‘cultural’ among them. Part of this article explains why.

“Heads are very important because they are needed for many occasions. If your loved ones die, only the coming of freshly cut heads will stop the mourning period. You know that when we are in mourning, nothing we do will be blessed. Heads are also required to bless our longhouse. The more heads we have, the more plentiful our harvests will be. They will also guard our longhouse from evil spirits. During our many festivals, our women carry the heads up and down the verandahs or galleries to show of the bravery of their fathers and their brothers. No maiden will give you even a glance if you have not obtained a single head.”… Jimmy Donald, Keling of the Raised World pg. 5

Dato Sri Empiang Jabu in her article ‘Historical Perspective of the Iban’ in The Sarawak Museum Journal (December 1989 issue) writes on pg. 25 in support of the above notion. “… The practice of headhunting being the most talked honoured tradition of the Iban of those days was the crowning proof of manhood. Marriage for young Iban then would come easily with the proof that a man has taken heads in war. Coupled with a war-like spirit was a belief in the magical powers of the human heads. Heads were believed to bring strength, virtue and prosperity to the longhouse and it was the object of every young warrior to bring back a head to adorn his longhouse…”

However, the Iban first started headhunting not because they loved to do it or for the sake of treasuring the heads as trophies back home. It was because from time immemorial with the absence of proper law and order with regards to other tribes, people killed one another. Such thing was common elsewhere, in every part of the world when no proper government existed. Fine examples of this were the Jahiliah Arabs (Period of the Dark Ages) before the coming of Islam to the Middle East and the periods of the Warring States in China both during and after Confucius time.

The Ibans, like other brave ordinary people, had to defend themselves. Long-long time ago Ibans were always victims of attacks by another Borneo tribe known then as Kantu but later learned to defend themselves and turned the table against the attackers. Being born brave (or taught to be brave) the Ibans not only killed their enemies in war but took the heads to appease the spirits of those fellow Ibans killed by the enemies.

Even before the Brookes showed up, the Ibans had already engaged in headhunting simply because during the migratory period they met with a lot of hostility. Iban early immigrants from the Kapuas basin in Kalimantan to Batang Ai and subsequently to other parts of Sarawak came into contact with other people who attacked them and fled. Many Ibans were killed in this nature. Prominent among their attackers were the Bukitans or locally known as Baketan, now an extinct tribe.

Empiang Jabu uses the story of Beti nicknamed Brauh Ngumbang (Loud Yell) and a girl named Remampak to cite one example of the Baketan attack. Beti avenged the mourning Remampak for her slain father by killing and taking the head of the killer who happened to be the leader of the Baketans.

This shows Iban deeds were always based on logical and practical reasons. As such this background has given birth to an important, albeit a notorious part of Iban culture. In order to survive, Ibans of old had to continue the headhunting and found in the practice the usefulness of the heads both in their spiritual and their socio-political world.

In another word, headhunting to the Iban was an integral part of survival in the anarchic scenario of ‘kill or be killed’. If they (the Ibans) did not practise the headhunting their enemies (always those who came into contact with them in new territories), then they would be attacked first by the other tribes. Demonstrating their pragmatism, the Ibans preferred to attack first rather than bear the consequences of being unprepared.

For adventurer James Brooke who landed on Sarawak soil on 15 August 1839, it was really a bad timing and unfortunate. Coming to the scene at this particular time – he came uninvited – served him right.

Sir James Brooke, Sarawak’s first Rajah (1841-1868) was the first to use the term pirates upon rebelling Ibans. Though the Dutch rulers of Sambas in Indonesian Borneo and the Brunei Sultanate never referred to the Ibans as pirates, Brooke’s use of the term was to serve his own purpose. Foreign authors such as Pringle, Runciman and others who wrote on the famous Battle of Beting Maru in 1849 termed the Iban war party under Linggir ‘Mali Lebu’(Never without conquest) as pirates, basing their information on records made available to them by the Brookes Government.

Iban side of the story were never told for public consumption. Were they in any sense pirates? Definitely not. There were plenty of pirates in the area then such as the Sulus, Illanuns, Natunans and others but not Iban. To describe Iban practice of headhunting as piratical is an insult to the language.

Some Saribas Ibans did go on headhunting activities searching for their enemies along the coast, sometimes paddling beyond Beting Maru, even as far as Sambas in Indonesian Borneo but it did not merit them to be converted into buccaneers. History supports the fact that Iban boats were too meek for any piratical activities. Linggir and his men were not ignorant of the fact that their boats were nothing compared to those used by the real pirates. And they were not even comfortable with the seas.

*source- mySarawak.org

Courting girls

In the old days,at the age of fourteen, an Iban boy begins to attain his bachelorhood. His parents teach him to behave and speak politely to others. He also learn to court girls together with older bachelors. Courting girls at night (ngayap) has been an Iban traditional dating method to look for suitable partner and pave the way for their future love. Hence, they must learn the polite manners in approaching the girl of their heart.

The bachelors must learn to establish and maintain their good reputation by paying due respect to the girls’ bed. They ought to be considerate with other people who are sleeping without disturbing them from their dreams. In addition, they should walk quietly along the verandah, which was very difficult to do in the dark for the nervous and the inexperienced. The wooden floors surfaces were mostly uneven with a lot of loose domestic items lying around the corners, or hanging from deer antlers tied to the posts or hanging on loose bamboo beams.

This courting activity is also a test of the young boys’ courage and maturity as they have to travel at night through forest, crossing rivers or swamps to reach the girls’ longhouse. In the headhunting days, this kind of travel could be a very risky affair as they could fall upon a band of marauding enemies. So they are trained to exercise extreme caution to keep them on guard against untoward incident. These include keeping themselves adequately armed, be alert of danger and are prepared for action at all time in their travel. They were also taught to properly identify themselves should they meet other people in their journey.

This nightly travel by the bachelors is also treated as an inter longhouse night security petrol by the community. Any sign of danger detected, these bachelors could give early warning to the community. This would give them time to respond to these emergencies and quell any surprise attacks by enemies. For this reason, ngayap was encouraged as part of the Iban culture and treated as an important early learning and social interaction process for their children. Though there is no set of established rules to this tradition, common understanding by the community at large have accepted this traditional courtship as part of the Iban way of life. There has been no reported incident of property stolen or damaged and fatality incident in the history of the Saribas Iban society due to ngayap activities.

On the other hand, for the girls who aim high or those who have been properly counseled by their parents, they will automatically know how to recognise certain behavior of a suitor to be entertained. The boys who have been ill-cultured and talked boisterously are to be avoided as the girls normally abhor boys who have been badly groomed.

In their conversation with girls whom they court, many boys say that they wish to marry them, or tell the spinsters that their arrivals are made through the requests of their parents to ask for their hands in marriage. On hearing such proposals, the girls must think profoundly. Perhaps the declarations can turn to be mere tricks to induce the girls to offer themselves to the boys. At this juncture, many girls like to test the boys by telling them that they have as yet, no intentions of getting married unless these lads have shown their manly qualities like participating in venturing abroad to search for fame and fortune.

In the old days, when there were many enemies around, spinsters usually declared their refusals to get married unless Iban bachelors had killed enemies and taken their heads. Due to such encouragement on the part of the girls, the male Ibans in those days were rarely found not to have gone abroad or joining a war expeditions because they feared that they could not easily obtain suitable wives. Any man who spent his entire life in his own longhouse was usually labeled as a coward who could, as the women termed it, “put on a woman’s sarong”. Hence, they found it difficult to marry high profile (clever and skillful) girls, unless they are not aware of his true qualities.

Moreover, when a girl reaches maturity, and if there is a suitor, her parents will arrange for her to settle down. Normally, an Iban girl marries when she is seventeen years of age. When a girl attains her spinsterhood, her mother teaches her the ways employed to protect her. She must be taught to behave and speak courteously to boys who court her at night. She is aware that it has been a tradition for a boy to court a girl. However, the question of getting her to offer herself to the boy depends very much on the girl herself, because he cannot force her to give consent unless they love each other through his kindness and winning ways. These are secretly explained to her by her mother. The mother also emphasizes the methods in which her daughter can judge whether or not the boy is sincere enough to marry her.

*source

GN Mawar Wordpress

BORNEO TATTOO

The earliest records we have of tattooing in Borneo are from the 19th century. The void before that is probably due to the fact that the interior of the island was considered dangerous territory and the inhabitants were greatly feared. The tribes inhabiting the coasts were better known but their tattoos weren’t very significant. Edwin Gomes, who worked for 17 years as a missionary teacher among the Iban (coastal people), wrote in this connection, “tattooing is practised by most of the Dayak (Iban or coastal Dayak) to a lesser or greater extent. It’s limited to the menfolk though, who often have small tattoos on the forehead, Adam’s apple, shoulders or chest”. It was only in the 19th century, when explorers and missionaries ventured up rivers into the interior, that the West caught a first glimpse of the Borneo tattoos we’re familiar with today. Most of these tattoos probably originated amongst the Kayan, a tribe in the interior belonging to one of the first peoples to settle in Borneo, a branch of the Karen, who inhabited the mountainous regions of Burma and northern Thailand. They are thought to have broken away from the original group to emigrate south towards Malaysia and Borneo around 800 years ago. So it may be that it was the Karen who brought tattooing to Borneo. Excluding aesthetic considerations, women and men in Borneo tattooed themselves for certain precise reasons. For men it was a symbol of virility, heroism, even cowardice (but only rarely). It was a means of identification in battle, a talisman warding off demons and diseases or boosting power, virility and prestige. For women it was primarily a mark of high social standing. It signified group solidarity and ensured them access to the world of the dead. The Kayan believed that a tattoo is like a “torch” in the world of spirits and that without it they would be engulfed in utter darkness. They believed that only tattooed women were able to bathe in the legendary Julan river and collect the pearls that lay on its bed, while the Biajau were convinced that in paradise tattoos turn into gold and take the place of clothing. There’s no doubt that tattooing was thought to confer great beauty. Young Kayan girls were probably comforted – while undergoing the torment of the tattooist’s needles – by the legend of the pheasant, which was believed to have been tattooed, at the dawn of time, by a caucal (a tropical bird similar to a pheasant) and to have become the most beautiful bird in the forest, instead of staying the dull, insignificant creature it originally was. The number of tattoos Kayan women had depended on their standing. A young slave was only allowed a single line along her legs, drawn freehand and called “Ida teloo” (three lines). A young girl, if free but of humble extraction, could wear a slightly more elaborate tattoo, called an “Ida-pat” (four lines), whereas the daughter of a chief would have highly elaborate tattoos on her forearms, on the backs of her hands, on her legs (from the top of the thighs down to the knees) and on the tops of the feet. The whole operation, beginning when a girl was 8-10, usually took around four years. The tattooist, always a woman for the girls, was highly respected in society and paid generously for her services. The tools she used were simple – two or three wooden sticks each with three or four steel needles stuck to the end with resin, and an iron hammer. The pigment was obtained by mixing soot scraped off the bottom of a metal pot, with water and sugar cane juice. Before tattooing the more complicated designs a sort of stamp was used, a tablet of wood delicately carved by the community’s craftsmen. The tattooist smeared the stamp with pigment and “printed” the pattern on the girl’s skin. Then, adding pigment as necessary, she’d follow the out line left by the stamp and perforate the skin by tapping the needles with the hammer. The entire operation proceeded according to precise ritual. The ninth day after new moon was considered a propitious time to start. The girl’s brothers had to be in attendance, taking turns, and special food was prepared every day for the girl and the tattooist. The work was in pre-established stages, often with long intervals between one and another. The back and backs of the hands were tattooed first, then the tops of the feet, the forearms and lastly the thighs to just below the knees. The arms were divided into longitudinal sections, bands containing the following symbolic patterns: concentric circles, spirals, two concentric circles representing two full moons joined together (the most important motif), a series of horizontal zig-zags, entwined tree roots, a tuba, the ribs of a boat and the “Kayan hook”, two linked spirals. Tattoos could vary from person to person but certain figures were always put in the same position. The symbol representing the roots of the tuba, for example, was always placed in the top half of the arm (women used these poisonous roots to catch fish). The design considered most important was the two full moons. Interestingly, each band always contained a small detail preventing it from being perfectly symmetrical. The back of the thigh was usually decorated with a linear pattern, the number of lines making up the pattern depending on the girl’s social standing. The front and side parts were completely covered by the patterns described above, often embellished or modified, including the following: Balalat lukut, Tinggang, Hornbill, Silong, “Tailless dog” (only in the Rajang area). The final leg tattooing session – decoration of the kneecap – was particularly solemn because considered the conclusion of the whole operation. Many sources concur that in the 19th century Kayan men wore few tattoos. Head hunters had tattoos on the backs of their hands and fingers and anyone who took part in such proceedings was allowed to decorate a finger or thumb. Certain small motifs were sometimes tattooed on the wrist, forearm, thighs, chest or shoulders. It was a Kayan custom for men to tie a sacred seed to the wrist as a charm against disease. A symbolic representation of this seed, the Lukut, was often tattooed on the wrist for the same purpose. A stylized rose (rosette) or star was tattooed on the chest or shoulders. The so-called “dog” motif was tattooed on the forearm and thigh. Some anthropologists sustain that the rose and the star are both derived from the dog motif and represent the animal’s eye, others that the spirals that hook up and usually form the centre of the “rosette” and the “lukut” are in fact based on the Chinese yin and yang symbol. Of the “dog” design, Sharon Thomas wrote the following in the Sarawak Museum Journal in 1968: “People tell me that the animal…. isn’t a dog but an animal that’s now extinct. It used to live in the jungle or the river, it was very big and ate men. ….. It would be more precise to call it a dragon”. In this connection, it’s worth remembering that the Burmese (or Shans) used to tattoo themselves with a representation of a monster to ward off evil. Other ethnic groups in Borneo had their own traditional tattoo designs but by the 19th century they’d abandoned them all and adopted the Kayan style. The Kenowit – originally a tribe of pirates inhabiting the banks of the upper Rajng and with a penchant for plundering villages downstream – were extensively tattooed, in a way “strongly resembling armour plating”. The Kenowit used to tattoo their faces as well, like the Bakatan, who belonged to the same ethnic stock as the Kenowit and tattooed the chin and lower part of the cheeks and sometimes a rosette on the forehead for rapid identification in battle. The most original characteristic of their tattooing was that they used to cover their bodies with “negative” tattoos, the patterns being formed by the skin in its natural colouring while the background was a heavy black. This body decoration took years to complete. Every time a warrior distinguished himself for bravery in battle, he would add a new tattoo. So only the bravest got to be completely tattooed. The various motifs used by the Biaijau – another ethnic group on the south west coast symbolized not only courage in battle and successful headhunting but also skills and craftsmanship, such as carving, or success in love. Particularly interesting is the “naga” tattoo on the stomach, with a traditional Chinese dragon’s head, sporting long sharp teeth, tongue out and a horn on its forehead. The Dusun aborigines used to wear a decorated band, two inches wide, from the shoulder to the stomach and on the forearm a perpendicular stripe for each enemy killed. Their neighbours, the Muruts, used to record the number of enemies killed in the same way and would tattoo a black square on the backs of warriors guilty of fleeing from the field of battle. One tribe that maintained their original traditions were the Kelabits, inhabitants of the northern plains. The men limited themselves to stripes on their arms, while the women decorated their arms and legs with geometrical figures, zig zags and Vs. It is thought that the Iban only started tattooing around 1890 but they immediately showed such exuberance in the practice that they were described by the Sarawak Gazette in 1907 as the “most extensively tattooed tribe in Borneo”. Malcom MacDonald has given us the following description of Temonggong Koh, an Iban chief he met in 1947: “Apart from his distinguished expression, the most noticeable physical attribute was the backs of his hands, which were completely blue, from his wrists to the base of the fingernails. This decoration had an honourable meaning, as it showed he was a great head hunter. Originally, hunters were entitled to tattoo one phalange for every head they cut, so with every new head the hunter would colour a new phalange black-blue. Chief Temonggong Koh had all his fingers, including his thumbs, covered with those honourable signs”. We can’t tell for sure if the symbols on his hands gave an exact count of his human victims or whether the community he headed had merely allowed him to exaggerate with those symbols. Anyway, even if the symbols and their positioning didn’t have a particular meaning, the tattoo in itself certainly did. They indicated that the wearer had taken part in a Bijalai, an important custom amongst the Iban, consisting in a journey the men had to make to obtain material gain and social prestige. It might entail spending months in the jungle cutting rattan (used to make chairs, sticks, etc.) or even a number of years working in a distant city. A man returning from his bijalai had to bring home a trophy – such as a gong or a rifle – and thus earned the right to be tattooed, an operation usually carried out before actually getting home. Iban tattoos: - Calf muscle: usually “Kowit” hooks, a sign that indicated the reaching of puberty. - Shoulders: a rosette (“bunga trong”, “tandan buah”, “buah andu” or “ringgit saliling”). - Thighs and arms: a “kala” scorpion, symbolizing a journey. - Back: rosettes, also symbolizing a journey. - Throat: a “katak” frog (derived from the Bakatan “hooks“), an imitation of the “burong lang” (war god) signs on the throat. - Backs of hands: large tattoos or linear decorations. Symbols of success as a head hunter. The Iban “war god” is a symbolic bird called “burong singalang” but it’s masked by “burong lang”, which can be a falcon or a kite with signs on the throat similar to the “katak” of the Iban. Iban women were also tattooed though not very extensively. The most common tattoo was a “bracelet” around an arm, probably indicating having been cured of a illness. They rarely tattooed their throats like men. Tattoos on the backs of their hands indicated skill in weaving, which was considered a worthy enterprise, much as cutting enemies’ heads off was for men. The Ibans’ lifestyle has undergone many changes in recent years. Certain customs, such as the “bijalai”, have survived anyway and some Ibans still tattoo themselves with the sign that represents it. The throat tattoo has stayed the same, like many other Iban tattoo motifs. The same rosettes can be seen today on shoulders and backs and more or less recognizable scorpions on legs and arms. A lot of new motifs have been introduced, including ships and aeroplanes, often accompanied by the names of places visited. Men also get themselves tattoos in the style of the places they visit, where possible. A tattoo on the back of a hand nowadays probably means that a man has been to Thailand on his bijalai and not that he’s cut someone’s head off. by Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone Tattoo Life
		Choose... +++ INDEX ARCHIVE SECTION +++ +++++ ARTIC TATTOOS +++++ +++++ THERAPEUTIC TATTOOS +++++ +++++ TATTOO AND MAGIC +++++ +++++ BORNEO TATTOO +++++ +++++ TATTOOS & PRISON +++++ +++++ SIGNS OF DISGRACE +++++ +++++ SAILOR TATTOOS +++++ +++++ TATTOO & RELIGION +++++ +++++ TATTOO & WAR +++++ +++++ ELECTRIC TATTOOING IN INDIA I +++++ +++++ ELECTRIC TATTOOING IN INDIA II +++++ +++++ POSITIONING TATTOOS +++++ +++++ EROTIC TATTOOS +++++ +++++ TATTOOS ON HANDS +++++ +++++ THE BRITISH +++++ +++++ PEA, SAMOAN MALE TATTOOING +++++ +++++ THE LEGEND OF SAMOA +++++

Punan

Punan Bah or Punan^[1] is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia. They are distinct, unrelated to the Penan and also the other so called Punan found in Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living time immemorial. They do have other names - Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan. But these terms are only used ritually these days.

The Punan (or Punan Bah) have never been nomad. In the old days they base their living on a mixed economy. Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources are the other important factors in their economy.

However, in the late 1980s many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrating to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living. However, they didn't abandon their longhouses altogether. Many would still return home - especially during major festivities such as Harvest Festival / or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan.

Punan is a stratified society of 'laja' (aristocrats), 'panyen' (commoners), and 'lipen' (slaves). This is a fact determine their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.

CEREMONIAL BATHING OF THE CHILD

Following the traditional naming of the child, the parents begin to think of giving the child a ceremonial bath at a river. Unless this is done with offerings, the child cannot yet be merely allowed to be bathed at the river. On the eve of the festival, the child’s father must get his longhouse mates to assemble at his common room, and inform them of the proposed celebration. All the people at the longhouse are requested to be at home the following day to observe the ceremony. Those who stay at their farm huts are also called back for the occasion.

Early the following morning, the longhouse dwellers start to go down to the river in a procession led by a flag-bearer. He is immediately followed by a man who carries a fowl. The two men are chosen from the influential personality of the longhouse because the flag-bearer will be tasked to slice the water with a nyabor sword (other type of traditional sword would be used if nyabor sword is not available) while the man who carries the fowl will recite an invocation prior to the slicing of the water.

Note: Nyabor sword is the ultimate Iban warrior’s weapon that can only be made by those warriors who have killed an enemy in battle. It is considered a taboo for ordinary people to make such weapon. It’s special identity is the “Butoh Kunding” design at the ricasso lower shoulder of the sword.

They are followed by two women, walking in line one after the other. The first lady bears offerings while the second carries the baby in a sling with a hand woven blanket (pua kumbu belantan or lebor api). These two women are also selected from among the most productive and fortunate breed amongst the longhouse ladies. Next in line are the other ordinary people and they are immediately followed by those who continuously beat the musical percussion throughout the event. Their purpose is to drown away any sound made by unfavorable omen birds during the ceremony.

On arrival at the river, the appointed man starts to recite the following invocation:

“Where are you, Seragindi, the maker of water?
Where are you, Seragindah, the creator of earth?
Where are you, Seragindong, the maker of cape?
Where are you, Seragindee, the creator of day?
Where are you, Seragindit, the maker of sky?”

“This morning we are giving so and so (the child’s name is then mentioned at this juncture) a bath in accordance with our tradition. We beseech thee to confer on him fortune, Give him sharp vision, So that he will be fortunate and wealthy in his life.”

“Where are you the king of fish, the king of gemian (a kind of sea fish).
Where are you the king of semah, the king of tapah (two kinds of river fish).
Where are you the king of soft shelled turtle, the super natural king of turtle.
Where are you, the king of barbus macrolepidoius, the king of fish called kulong?
Where are you the king of crocodile, the king of soft-shelled turtle?”

“If in future if this child, grandchildren of ours, happens to capsize and sink, when he is on his journey, We beseech thee to lift him up and keep him afloat, so that he can convalesce and recuperate and free from any danger and risk.”

“Oh Hoi! Oh Hoi! Oh Hoi!
Sa, Dua, Tiga, Empat, Lima, Enam, Tuuuuuuujoh.
Ni kita Seragindi ke dulu ngaga ai ke bepati enda sebaka nanga?
Ni kita Seragindah ke dulu ngaga tanah ke betingkah nyadi kerapa?
Ni kita Seragindong ke dulu ngaga tanjong betuntong dua?
Ni kita Seragindie ke dulu ngaga hari ke terunji petang kelita?
Ni kita Seragindit ke dulu ngaga langit nungkat neraja?

Nyadi pagi tu kami meri bala anak kami mandi.
Kami endang nitih ka pekat, nitih ka adat.
Kami endang nitih ka adat kelia, adat menya.
Kami endang nitih ka adat aki, nitih ka adat ini kami.
Nya alai kami minta sida iya bidik, minta sida lansik.
Kami minta sida kaya, minta sida raja,
Kami minta sida iya jelai rita, tampak nama.
Kami minta sida lantang, minta sida senang.
Kami minta sida iya pandai, jauh pejalai.

Oh Ha!
Ni kita Raja Ikan, Raja Gamian?
Ni kita Raja Tapah, Raja Semah?
Ni kita Raja Adong, Raja Kulong?
Ni kita Raja Genali, Raja Lelabi?
Ni kita Raja Gumba, Raja Baya?

Kami ngasoh kita nyaga, ngasoh kita ngemata,
Kami ngasoh kita meda, ngasoh kita ngila,
Ngasoh kita ngiching, ngasoh kita merening,
Ngasoh kita nyukong, ngasoh kita nulong.
Nyangka ka dudi hari ila anak telesak,
Uchu ambu kami tu bisi bejalai, bisi nyemberai,
bisi karam, bisi tengelam.
Kami minta kita nanggong,
minta kita melepong ka sida.
Kami ngasoh kita nyagu,
minta kita ngintu sida.
Awak ka sida pulai nyamai, pulai gerai,
Pulai lantang, pulai senang,
Pulai nadai apa, nadai nama.”

Upon the conclusion of reciting the invocation, the flag-bearer then slices the water with his knife, symbolizing the child’s life will be blessed, pure and flow continuously until it reaches its final destination. He then slaughters a fowl a bit further upstream from the spot where the woman is bathing the baby so that the fowl blood may flow towards the child.

When the child is being bathed, the onlookers hilariously make a lot of noise. At this juncture, the gongs are not normally beaten loudly but if the children wish to hit them hard, they are permitted to do so in order to drown any of the sounds made by omen birds, which are either ominous or foretell good fortune.

After the baby has been bathed, and if he is a boy, one of the wings of the slaughtered fowl is then hung on to a shaft of a multi-pronged spear (gansai), tied with a red ribbon. If the baby is a girl, the wing is fastened on to a heddle rod used by ladies in their weaving work. Placed near to the wing of the fowl is the offering which is being put inside a rough bamboo basket (Kalingkang), and hung from the top of the bamboo that still bears leaves.

The people return home after the ceremony held beside the river is over. On their way back, the procession maintain the same order as before. The gongs are being played loudly to avoid hearing the sounds made by omen birds.

On arrival at the longhouse, the child, is wrapped up and held by the mother in her lap as she sits on a large gong placed at the middle of the gallery. A Bebiau ceremony then conducted to cast away any bad omen and to bless the child. The child is then sprinkled with water. The water which the child is being sprinkled with is the water of a stone crystal (batu kuai) that possesses the power to wipe out bad omens brought about by the omen birds. This stone crystal is placed on a large antique china plate together with dollars coins, a gold ring and rain water poured on the same plate.

After the casting away of bad omen and the water sprinkling ceremony is over, the people then begin to eat various kinds of food and drinks prepared by the host like buns, rice wine, liquor and other traditional food. Later, a luncheon is held at the child’s family gallery for the guest and this is termed as the child’s bathing ceremony luncheon.

*source ; GN Mawar Iban Cultural Heritage

Bujang Timpang Berang

We drove to Betong for a coffee time one afternoon,just to drink at a different town,than just at a coffee shop in Kuching.

Did some fishing...get a great experience of watching the 'head' of Benak (tidal bore=an abrupt rise of tidal water moving rapidly inland from the mouth of an estuary.), which happens very rare in Btg. Layar,Betong.

And of course,we visited the legendary cannon 'Bujang Timpang Berang' at the District Office.

This cannon was use by the warrior Rentap in battles against the White Rajah army from around 1850's until his last battle at Bukit Sadok in 1861.

The missing 'shoulder',which where it get its name from.

The Journey of Matthew Minarchek

Between 15 August and 25 August 2008, I visited the Iban community of Sungai Pelaik located on the periphery of Danau Sentarum National Park in West Kalimantan and development in Indonesia. What follows is a brief sketch of the community.

I traveled from the coastal city of Pontianak via overnight bus to Sintang, about twelve hours up the Kapuas River. In Sintang, I stopped by the Danau Sentarum National Park headquarters to gain entry permits for the park and discuss the research with park staff. The following morning I took a local minibus for seven hours to Semitau located near Danau Sentarum National Park. From Semitau, I entered the park by speedboat, passing through numerous Melayu villages and eventually arrived at the Sungai Pelaik longhouse.

The Iban longhouse is located on the Pelaik River just upstream from the lakes region, about two hours by speedboat from the Melayu village of Laboyan, depending on water leveis. Sungai Pelaik is a 9-door longhouse with 43 residents, and one family of four lives in a neighboring house. The longhouse was constructed at the current location in 2002 and is situated just a few kilometers from the old site. The residents use Iban adat and the annual gawai is still practiced every July. Most commonly the men of Sungai Pelaik leave the village upon marriage and join the household of the wife and the opposite is true of the women, but one of the male residents had stayed after marrying and his wife moved to Pelaik. At the time of my visit, ten residents were working wage labor jobs in Malaysia and a few of the children were in Lanjak for school. It is common in this community for whole families to travel to Sarawak for work and oftentimes families will move there for up to ten months.

I arrived during the dry season and fishing was the main activity for the residents throughout my stay. Villagers woved fishing traps (bubu ikan), fishing nets (nyala ikan), baskets for carrying the fish, and carved pronged fishing spears (jerpak ikan). Throughout the days, both men and women traveled downstream to the lake to check the fish traps or take dugout canoes out for net fishing, and then returned back to the longhouse to clean their catch for drying or to prepare for dinner. To take advantage of the low waters during the dry season, the community partnered with the Melayu village of Nanga Telatap for jakat. Jakat may be described as the following activity. In the early morning, the villagers of Pelaik loaded fishing nets, food, and drinks into their dugouts and paddled out into the lake to meet the residents of Nanga Telatap. All the canoes then moved into a circle formation around a large pole sticking 15 feet out of the water. After the dugouts were in place and the signal had been given, cheers quickly erupted and everyone paddled their canoe as quickly as possible towards the center pole and then cast their nets into the water. The movement of the watercrafts and pounding of the paddles into the lake caused the fish to flood toward the pole in the middle and all the fisher folks' nets emerged out of the water full of fish. After a few more casts, the nets were emptied into the hull of the dugouts and then the boats slowly dispersed. The Pelaik longhouse residents made their way back to the longhouse and the freshly caught fish were sorted by species and then cleaned for drying and cooking. Delicious fish was then grilled over a small fire in celebration of the catch and eaten with rice and a homemade sambal was another of the main activities within the longhouse and women wove traditional textiles such as pua' and tanun, fabrics used in ceremonies or for clothing. Plant material was collected from the surrounding forest to make dyes for the cotton string that would soon be woven on the wooden loom. Rattan was also harvested and used to make floor mats and baskets for use in the longhouse. Some of the floor mats, weavings, and baskets were being sold to buyers in West Kalimantan and Java for supplemental income.

Due to the remote location of the Sungai Pelaik longhouse, electricity from a central grid network is inaccessible. Two of the apartments own diesel generators and produce electricity in the evenings for a few hours when fuel is available. In 2007, a micro-hydro electricity scheme was built on the Pelaik River just upstream from the longhouse. The project produced electricity for all the apartments of the longhouse for nearly a year. However, at the time of this study, the small-scale hydro project had encountered a few problems and the two operators were working to get the system running again. The operators were two residents of the longhouse who were trained to maintain the system throughout the development process. The project was facilitated by the Center for International Forestry Research and Riak Bumi, a Pontianak- based nongovernmental organization. CIFOR initiated an adaptive collaborative management approach and both organizations continue to work with the local people to repair the project. The alternative energy system provided a renewable electricity source for the community and allowed every apartment within the longhouse access to electricity. At the time of writing the micro-hydro system is producing electricity for the longhouse again and it appears the dry season and the low water levels may have affected the project.

Note: This preliminary survey was funded by a Luce Grant from the Center for International Studies at Ohio University.

Matthew Minarchek

Master's Candidate, Ohio University

Papan turai....a small part

The history of the Iban is committed to memory and recorded in a system of writing on boards (papan turai) by the initiated shamans (lemambang). Elaborate genealogies go back to 15 generations or more with a surprising degree of accuracy. Some genealogies are as long as 25 generations and can still be connected with actual places and incidents. A genealogy (tusut) normally begins with the most remote ancestor and is a list of who married and begat whom. Sometimes, the ancestors are characterised in short descriptions. Other songs contain historical information as well, for example the pengap, a ritual chant sung during each major festival, that recounts deities and the deeds of the ancestors.

According to oral histories, the Iban arrived in western Sarawak from Indonesia about 1675. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local populations of Bukitans and Serus, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the Malay sultans (Brunei). At the same time, Malay influence is felt, and Iban leaders begin to be known by Malay titles like Orang Kaya. Several of the Malays active on the river-estuaries claimed to be descendants of the prophet, like Indra Lela, Sharif Japar and Sharif Sahap. Sharif Ahmit was killed by the Iban. The Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines plundered in Borneo and were fought by the Iban, for example by the famous Lebor Menoa from Entanak near modern Betong. Oral history recounts how Lebor Menoa encountered Chinese traders who came in ships to the Saribas in order to sell cooking pots, brass pots, pottery bowls, shell armlets and cowry shells for padi. Besides that, the Ibans were also engaged with the Orang Ulu of northern Sarawak, the Bidayuh of southern Sarawak, the Kantu and other Indonesian ethnic tribes from eastern Sarawak. They managed to control the eastern coastline of Sarawak.

The Malay leader Indra Lela, brother of Lela Wangsa of Lingga and Lela Pelawan incited the Saribas and Skrang Ibans to warfare against the Sebuyau Dayaks in order to control them. The Saribas were led by Orang Kaya Pemancha Dana of the Padeh, in alliance with Linggir of Paku[1] (Mali Lebu), Bunyau of Entanak and Bulan of Ulu Layar. The Skrang were led by Rentap (Libau), Orang Kaya Gasing and Orang Kaya Ra. About 1834, the Skrang made a raid on Banting Hill, inhabited by Balau Dayaks and Malays, who suffered heavy losses. Three years later, Orang Kaya Pemancha Dana made war on the Undup Ibans who had killed his brother, and utterly defeated them, taking many captives and looting a famous guchi jar that was thought to have magical properties. The surviving Undup Ibans took refuge in the Kapuas valley and Lingga and later settled in the area of Salimbau. Only under the rule of Brooke did they return to Banting hill, which had meanwhile been settled by the Skrang.

The Sebuyau Sea Dayaks under Orang Kaya Temenggong Jugah of Lundu attacked Paku on the Saribas at about the time. He attacked Matop, and most inhabitants fled. Ca. 1838, the Balau Sea Dayaks raided the Saribas, Krian, a place east of the Saribas, and Skrang under the leadership of Lang and his son-in-law Orang Kaya Janting to avenge their previous losses and revenge for their disturbed peace and harmonies lives. As before the Balau Sea Dayak never has make any engagement with any ethnics since they are just a farmers and lives in a peace and prosperity until the attacked of Saribas and Skrang Iban.

The Iban fell under the rule of Rajah James Brooke in 1835. The Iban leader Libau (Rentap) resisted Brooke from his fortress on Mount Sadok. The Ibans of Lingga, the Undup Ibans and the Sebuyau fought for Brooke. Those groups of Iban or sea Dayak are known as traitors to Iban people. Ironically, Rentap received full support from Balau Sea Dayak in his missions against Rajah rather than his own sub ethnics.

Thereafter the Iban became vital allies of the Brooke dynasty, with the defeat of both Rentap and later the last rebel leader Asun. Warfare between Dayak peoples continued to be an intermittent problem for the regime until the Great Peacemaking in Kapit in 1924, when the Rajah Vyner also consolidated the support of the Iban by appointing one of their great war heroes Koh Anak Jubang (1870-1956) Temenggong or paramount chief. Koh became a member of the advisory council of the state, the Council Negri, and converted to Christianity in 1949. He was awarded the Queen's Medal for Chiefs and the Order of the British Empire.

During the Japanese occupation of Sarawak from 1942-5 the Iban also played a role in guerilla warfare against the occupying forces, particularly in the Kapit Division where headhunting was temporarily revived towards the end of the war. At this time Sarawak came under the temporary military administration of the Australian forces, who were particularly prominent in the liberation of Borneo.The Rentap says that he will be anywhere although besides or behind IBAN and be like our god.Like he says"AGI IDUP AGI NGELABAN" and that mean that if he still life, he still attack"

July 22 tsunami, quake warning just a prank

By Emmanuelle Landais Staff Reporter
Published: June 28, 2009, 23:14

Dubai: Bathers and coastal residents need not worry about an e-mail that was circulated on the internet warning of a tsunami that would take place on July 22, 2009. It's a hoax.

Gulf News reader Fatima Lamya, received the e-mail forwarded to her by a cousin. "I was actually 99 per cent sure that this mail is fake. I was not scared. I got this mail from my cousin and I think he got this from his friend. Many fake news is spreading like this," she said.

The e-mail appears to come from someone sincere and caring.

"I just wanted to let you know that please stay away from the beaches all around in the month of July. There is a prediction that there will be another tsunami or earthquake hitting on 22 July 2009. It is also when there will be sun eclipse," reads the e-mail.

According to a forecaster at the Dubai Meteorological Office, predictions like this are totally unreliable as the weather cannot be forecast that far into the future.

"It sounds like a complete load of rubbish. You cannot predict so far ahead and tsunamis are not linked to sun eclipses," the forecaster said.

The e-mail states that Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak, Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are going to be badly hit.

Several websites which serve to quash rumours and suppress urban legends have posted confirmations that the tsunami warning is a hoax.

Snopes.com concludes that scientists who have spent their whole lives studying earthquakes still cannot predict when and where one will hit. Snopes.com says the e-mail started circulating in April 2009 and has been taken from a blog.

Giant wave: Looking back

On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a series of tsunami along the coast of most land masses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in 11 countries.

The tremor, known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, is the second largest earthquake ever recorded with a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3.

Rentap Libau

Rentap or Libau (died 1863) was a famous Dayak (Iban) warrior in Sarawak, Malaysia during the Brooke White Rajahs era in that state. "Rentap" in Iban means "Shaker of the world". He was known as "Raja Darat" or "Raja Ulu". Essentially, Rentap's rebellion was due to the White Rajah's or James Brooke's action of eliminating the Ibans in Skrang because he thought they were pirates. Being a leader of the Ibans there, Rentap took the subsequent action of attacking James Brooke's fort at Skrang River called Nanga Skrang. James' then burnt Rentap's village after he successfully drove James Brooke's side out of Skrang. He retreated to Bukit Sadok and built himself a fort after a defeat at Sungai Lang, Ulu Skrang by James Brooke in the year 1854. There he gained a reputation and thwarted many plans by James Brooke to control the Skrang and Saribas areas. Only after many attempts and with the aid of bigger cannons did James Brooke defeat Rentap in the year 1861. Though defeated, Rentap never officially surrendered. He retreated to Sungai Entabai and died in same place. In Malaysia, he is not only renowned in Sarawak, but he is also a national hero in both Sabah and the Peninsula as both a national hero and a freedom fighter.

A very good book about Rentap by James Ritchie

Another good book by Harry Usup Umbar

Hornbills Buceros in Borneo: Can they continue to co-exist?

Helmeted Buceros vigil and rhinoceros B. rhinoceros hornbills are large, conspicuous birds in the forests of northern Borneo. Both are of enormous importance in local culture, being the subject of legends, ceremonies and beliefs. Tail feathers of both species are used in traditional costumes and dancing. Both are also hunted for their meat. Changes in access, technology and rural lifestyles mean that hunting is causing populations to decline or become locally extinct. The birds breed slowly and occur at low natural densities. Thus, hunting levels must be extremely low to be sustainable. A single team of traditional dancers uses about 400 rhinoceros hornbill feathers, which involves killing 40 birds. To hunt these sustainably, and to re-supply new feathers every five years, about 205 km² of forest is needed. Hunting levels currently exceed this in almost all forests in northern Borneo. A series of measures is needed to ensure that these birds survive in Borneo's forests, and not just in legend and in the form of a few decaying artefacts.

Sex involve in Ngayap?

According to Padoch (1982:p92-3)

“The exact age of Iban at first sexual union is a topic difficult to explore, partially because of the usual reticence of women to discuss the subject, but mostly because of the impossibility of determining precise chronological ages. It is probable that among women in the Engkari region, courtship commences at about sixteen or seventeen years of age, while among men a somewhat later age, of eighteen or nineteen, is indicated. I have found no reason to assume that ages at which courtship begins in Bintulu are different. Whether there has been any change over time in the ages at which young Iban begin to court is uncertain. Several older women assured me that the age at first courting has declined, but there is no possible way of verifying this allegation”.

Gomes (1911)

“The mode of courtship among the Dyaks is peculiar. No courting goes on by day, but at night, when all is quiet, a young lover creeps to the side of the curtain of his lady-love, and awakes her. The girls sleep apart from their parents--sometimes in the same room, but more often in the loft. He presents her with a roll of sireh leaf, in which is wrapped the betel-nut ingredients the Dyaks love to chew. […] This nightly courtship is, in fact, the only way a man and woman can become acquainted with each other, for such a thing as privacy during the day is quite unknown in a Dyak house. If the girl be pleased with her lover, he remains with her until close upon daybreak, when he leaves with her some article as a pledge of his honour, such as a bead necklace, or ring, or a headkerchief, or anything else which he may have about him. This act of leaving some gift with the girl is considered as a betrothal between the two parties, and the man who refuses to marry the girl after doing so is considered guilty of breach of promise of marriage, and liable, according to Dyak law, to a fine”.

Komanyi (1973:p81-2): “An Iban girl may marry when she is fifteen or sixteen years old. Now, however, as educational opportunities improve, marriages tend to occur at a slightly later age, such as eighteen to twenty-two. A period of courtship, called ngajap , which is a uniquely Iban custom, precedes the betrothal”.

Padoch:

“The traditional Iban patterns of courtship (ngayap) , which involve nocturnal visiting of women by men, are a topic mentioned frequently by earlier writers (Roth 1896,I:109-11), among whom there is disagreement on the frequency or occurrence of sexual intercourse during the visiting. A more recent account of the practice (Beavitt 1967), and all informants I encountered, concurred that sexual relations take place often, although not always. It is reported that ngayap is now being replaced among someIban groups, particularly those converted to Christianity, by other forms of courtship not involving sexual union (Beavitt 1967:p409-10). However, the traditional form prevailed in all the communities that were studied during the period of field research”.

“... when a girl reaches maturity, and if there is a suitor, her parents will arrange for her to settle down. Normally, an Iban girl marries when she is seventeen years of age. When a girl attains her spinsterhood, her mother teaches her the ways employed to protect herself. She must be taught to behave and speak courteously to boys who court her at night. She is aware that it has been a tradition for a boy to court a girl. However, the question of getting her to offer herself to the boy depends very much on the girl herself, because he cannot force her to give consent unless they love each other through his kindness and winning ways. These are secretly explained to her by her mother. The mother also emphasises the methods in which her daughter can judge whether or not the boy is sincere enough to marry her”