Category: Bidayuh

Bidayuh Kampong Life

Tales from the Countryside by Luke Pihee JohengReview by Tom McLaughlin Borneohistory.net A Bidayuh Journey Tales from the Countryside is a beautiful book about the origins and coming of age of a Bidayuh resident in Kampung Stass and the history of the Malaysian Indonesian Confrontation. Chapter one tells of the

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Bidayuh Vegtable Farming

A History of Bidayuh Vegetable Marketing The Sekeduk Bidayuh adopted the idea of vegetable marketing from the Chinese living closer to Kuching in Beratok and Tapah. They at first used the trial and error method of growing vegetables. Later, the early Bidayuh adopters played as experts in the Bidayuh community.

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Former Bidayuh Customs

Tom’s Note: This piece was written in 1978 about the Gawai Mpijog Rantau Festival for the first clearing of the padi (rice) fields. It was supposed to be filmed by Professor Geddes who made a contribution of pigs, fish, eggs etc. worth RM1000 but the camera broke down. The article

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Borneo plants used in medicine and ritual

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

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Love Potions and Sea Cows

Along the coast of Sarawak there were dugong or sea cows. In Malay, they were called sea women. They are extinct or nearly extinct. These animals were thought to be the source of mermaid stories among the Malay fishermen. The Tears of the Mermaid or Minyak Senyongyong are considered to

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A Dayak Love Story

We begin this series with a Dyak love story. The people were not half crazed lunatics charginging into the villages to take heads and drink blood, but were sensitive humans who took a head for the purpose of presenting it to his loved one. This poem, from the Sarawak Museum

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