om’s Note: This article dealt with themes, theories, had diagrams and other manifestations of Christian thought. I have pulled out the basic reasons why Kenyah became Christian. The Kenyah lived along the Sarawak Indonesian border with most of the people residing in Indonesia. The border was very fluid with the Kenyah moving back and forth. […]
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Current Research about Borneo #14 Malaysia Anti Malaria Certification Endangered The continued preponderance of the P. knowlesi mosquito in Sabah may threaten Malaysia’s quest to become a malaria-free state. The vector seems to be prevalent in areas disturbed for agriculture and land clearing operations. Scientific Reports article# 11810 (2021) In a related case, a major outbreak of
All Creatures Great and Small Read More »
Tom’s Note: This article was hard to read and decipher as well as being long. I read it over three times coming back to sections several times. Please remember these are old beliefs and do not reflect the Melanau of today. The earth is an egg riding on the horns of a water buffalo. When
Melanau Beliefs and Crocodile Stories Read More »
Tom’s Note: When I announced my engagement to my Malay wife, most people wanted to know if was circumcised. I said yes I was, however, the question still kept coming. I finally asked if they wanted to see it. Nobody took me up on the offer. Even after the honeymoon, people asked my wife the
Selako Circumcision Read More »
Early Sketch from Camel’s description Tom’s Note: The people of the Indo/Malay islands already knew about the Tarsier. However, when the white men came, they made the animal known to the western world of science. The story of the Tarsier began in 1705 when a person named J. Camel described the animal from the Philippine
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#12 Current research in Borneo Current Research in Borneo Plates Uplifting When did one ocean plate move under another ocean plate and cause it to rise upwards forming a landmass? Scientists have dated the movement of the Sarawak plate under the Rajang plate to 60-36 million years ago. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35895.1 Barbed Wire Law School in POW Camps
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The Kelabit Harvest The Kelabits are a small tribe inhabiting an isolated highland area of 1000 square miles in Sarawak known as the Kelabit highlands. Local oral history states they have been isolated for 500 years (from 1979). Their raiding and headhunting practices necessitated that they have only suspicious and hostile relations with neighbouring peoples.
Bidayuh Head Ceremony-Katang Tom’s note: Probably the thing that strikes me is the amount of preparation it takes to please the spirits before the actual harvest begins. These notes were made during 1963 in Kampong Sudoh, Singghai. Katang is a festival used to placate the spirits of the heads taken in battle. Previously, this was
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How the Kadayan Tells Time Tom’s Note: This article describes, in the first four and a half pages, an incomprehensible (to me) discourse complete with mathematical equations about how the Kadayan tell time. I have elected to use the second half which shows how nature informs the Kadayan. Buna picula the Loofah flower The loofah
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Toms note: The omen birds are a group of birds that figure prominently in the Kenyah culture. Traditional Kenyah Farming Year When the spider hunter bird (Isit) is seen flying to the right, the omen is favourable and when it is seen flying to the left they had to avoid clearing the land that day
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