The Brunei Malays are coastal and riverine people. Only very rarely were they found very far inland or upland. Brunei culture exhibited considerable knowledge and skill in fishing, boat building, sailing and trading. Besides, the Bruneis harvested a variety of natural products. For centuries, they figured prominently in Brunei culture. Important rivers flow into Brunei […]
Brunei Titles and History Read More »
Coastal Raiding and the Iban 1775-1860 Editors note: Most of the below account was presented by western writers. St. John, Keppel, Pringle, Beccari, Kennedy and the Rajah Brookes plus the Singapore Inquiry of 1849 are the only voices we hear in this narrative. Nowhere do we hear the Iban side of the story except for
Iban Headhunting and Coastal Raiding 1775-1860 Read More »
Each plant description has an accompanying detailed drawing like the above. Now swept away by modern medicine, these plants were used by the Borneo people. The indigenous groups and the coastal Malays knew which plants to collect for a wide variety of illnesses. However, the plant is a fickle creature producing its’ cures at various
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Earless Monitor Lizard This article is probably the most unintentionally funny article presented by the museum. Enjoy a good laugh! The discovery of the Earless Monitor Lizard was considered very exciting by anatomists and zoologist because it was thought to be related closely to some extinct lizards and could be a link between snakes and
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Tax Money for Rajah Charles I always wondered where the Rajah Brookes got their money. While going through past copies of the Sarawak newspaper, I noticed that Rajah Charles spent more time in England than he did in Kuching. Knowing transport was expensive, I could not figure out where he found the funds. When I
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Iron Work and Santubong The Santubong delta iron working industry began in 615 AD at the earliest and 900 AD at the latest and stopped around 1380 AD. They used a single Carbon 14 date and associated Chinese stoneware and coins and some religious artefacts of the Buddhists era to date the iron. Both of
Why so many Ibans? The author of this article attempts to explain why there are so many Ibans compared to other groups. He says the Ibans, relative newcomers to Sarawak, predominate in the State. Increase in children does not explain the phenomena. The Iban are below average in natural fertility. They have fewer babies per
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An occasional paper consisting of current research pertaining to Borneo. Pua Kumbu and Title History Using a pua kumbu from Borneo, the author tries to show the title of the piece, Remung, evokes the mythical tiger flying spirit , who, in ritual chants, is supposed to guard the rice bin filled with human heads. Remaung
Melanau Tale On the Oya river, a few bends above Tamin and just below Skuau, there once lived two brothers whose Chieftain father had died. Both were still young, kind to everyone in the village and good at every undertaking. The elder of the two was elected to succeed his father and was acclaimed by
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The Selako are one of the dyak groups living in Lundu between Malaysia and Indonesia on the border. Batang Saka ‘ampat is a cluster of about 20 houses. (1978) After the birth of the child, the umbilical cord is cut off off by the midwife (bidan) with a bamboo splint. (panatak pusat) The child is
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