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Category: Melanau

Human Bone Storage among the Melanau

Jerunei:  The Coffins and Slaves of a Tribal People. A jerunei is a large pole or monument used by the Melanau (a people living on the coast of Sarawak).  Jeruni poles are almost always hollowed out to receive the bones of the deceased. It may or may not be carved,

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September 25, 2022 No Comments

The Kut: Connecting the Egan and Oya Rivers

Tom’s Note: Connecting the upper Oya and Egan rivers in Sarawak is a man-made canal called a Kut. It was first built in the late 1790s and has been modernized and dredged since then. Here are a couple of stories telling the origins of the Kut. Early History of the

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July 13, 2022 No Comments

Melanau Beliefs and Crocodile Stories

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

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June 23, 2021 No Comments

Melanau Poison Tale

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

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January 26, 2021 No Comments

Melanau Healing

For many generations now, the healings of various dukuns, bohmohs, Chinese medicine men and others have been relegated to the antique shops and their cures to historians like myself. Modern doctors and nurses have taken their place as most everyone is within reasonable traveling distance to modern medical care. There

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January 20, 2021 No Comments

Bisayah,Tabun,Tagal, and Murut

The Bisayah, Tabun, Tagal and MurutThe Bisayah“The Bisayah are the indigenous people in Sarawak’s Fifth Division. Living side by side with them are the Kedayan and Pa Balat people. The Kedayan settled along the coast while the Pa Balat people fished in the sea and lower parts of the rivers

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January 20, 2021 No Comments
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