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.
The Dutch
A Dutch military post was established in Long Nawang, a Kenyah area, in 1911, some eight years after the expeditionary force had surveyed the area. Part of the reason was the forces from Sarawak and Brunei had chased head hunters across the border and had accused the Dutch of harbouring the Kenyah warriors. Although the Dutch had no hope of exploiting the area, they felt a presence in the region would deter the British from coming across the border.
The Kenyah social system was structured with a paramount chief, Long Nawang, as the head leader. The arrival and subsequent building of the fort added a person between the leader and what was “beyond” with a Dutch entity. He was no longer master of his people but had to serve Dutch imperialists. This changed the idea that there was no one above the Long Nawang. In fact, people stopped paying tribute to him.
Headhunting
With the establishment of the Dutch fort, headhunting was banned. Intentional killings between the different tribes of the Kenyah subsided but headhunting continued between the Iban and the Kenyah. In 1924, a colourful ceremony between the Dutch, representatives of the Sarawak Raj, Iban and Kayan leaders was held. Headhunting was finally banished.
The acquisition of freshly taken heads was a crucial element in important rituals. It also allocated the position of men in the tribe. The cessation of headhunting caused a major loss of their traditional culture. There was nothing to replace the void.
The Arrival of Christian Missionaries
George Fisk was an aggressive advocate of Christianity. He sought out important leaders and meaningful contact with key leaders. The conversion of Jalong Ipoy, the paramount chief of the Bahau-Pujungan rivers, was a major accomplishment. The conversion of his entire village to Christianity followed.
The change in the Long Nawang and the elimination of headhunting were two factors that changed the Kenyah belief system Christianity was able to step into the void.
Christianity allowed for most of the Kenyan tribal systems to be maintained
Christianity allowed for the existence of a tribal unit. The group identity of the Kenyah people as one tribe was respected by the Christian church.
The relationship between people in the Kenyah community continued. There was a hierarchy in the Christian church as there was in the Kenyan community.
The role of the children and family was also respected by the Christian Church as it was by the Kenyah people.
Rice remains an agricultural staple in both Christianity and Kenyah culture.
The idea of a riverine community was firmly established by both the Christian and Kenyah communities. The Kenyah would not have to change residences.
The idea of a divine spirit or a god was in both Kenyah and Christianity. However, the many different spirits were eliminated in the Kenyah belief system doing away with the cumbersome rituals.
While many of the Kenyah tribal people converted there were other reasons as well. Juk Apui, a Lepo’ Jalan Kenyah was desponded over the series of poor rice crops and family illnesses. He had a dream whereby he was visited by Bungan Malam. The goddess told him to take courage and things would be better if he rid himself of the burdensome sacrifices and rigid proscriptions of adat practices. He need only to sacrifice a chicken egg before planting the next rice crop. He could pray directly to Bungam Malam. His Kenyah neighbours jeered him and the village chief threatened him with severe punishment if the prophetic dream did not come true. His next rice crop was dramatically successful and his children flourished. Thousands of Kenyans would abandon the local adat and embrace Christianity.
During the Malaysia-Indonesian confrontation, an Ambonese lieutenant stationed in the region was hell-bent on making the Kenyan religious. As a Christian, he did not agree that animism or adat was a religion. With a bullet in one hand and a Bible in the other, he converted many animists to Christianity.
Fr: Kenyah Receptivity and Response to Christianity by William H. Conley in Sarawak Museum Journal December 1974
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