The Siteng People
In the olden days, the Siteng people inhabited the upper Baram river in the Fourth Division of Sarawak. While in this area they were attacked and killed by hundreds of wild pigs. Those that survived fled in many directions. Some lived in Julan, a tributary of the true left bank of the Baram river. They moved overland to the upper Tinjar river. They gradually moved down the Tinjar to the Jelatong. After several generations, they moved somewhere near the mouth of the Tubau river, a true left tributary of the Kemana.
Over the years they wandered from upper part of the Tubau River, lived along the Tingang stream, moved overland to the Pandan and then to Semayong, a triuraary of the Bino and then overland to the upper Kakus and later overland to the Usin, Lirai and Liang tributaries of the Balingan river. They continued migrating until they arrived at Penyipa.
Disaster
The story tells of two young boys who went fishing. They were from the Siteng longhouse at Penyipa. One of them caught a juak fish and the other a belakuong. They placed it in their canoe and went to join friends who were swimming. One found the fish and, in a game, decided to find out how much water the mouths of two fish held. The belakuong fish was bigger and held half as much as the juak. The skies darkened and a great thunderstorm appeared with thunder, lightning and hail stones. The boys ran to the longhouse when the whole longhouse turned to rock and the people to stone. That was how the Siteng people vanished.
Another disaster caused the loss of life at Bedengan and Bayan. At that time the Siteng people were immortal. While visiting the Melanau, the Siteng people observed a funeral. Returning home with a large shark, they imitated the funeral complete with a shark acting as the dead person. Soon after, the people died off until the remaining could not bury their dead. The longhouses were abandoned and the few that remained fled to Balingian and Selangu.
The Siteng People at Balingian
At Balingian and after many years, some Punans from Bintulu joined them. They were led by the Orang Kaya and after he joined the Siteng, he became their leader. Then his son took over when he died about the time the Rajah started to rule Sarawak. After four generations, they began to trade with the Malay traders and some converted to Islam. The new converts moved away from the animists and formed the Kampong Majid.
The Siteng people at Kenyana
The Selangu Siteng migrated to Kenyana. After a long time, the Melanau gradually moved up the Mukah river and settled near the mouth of the Kenyana river. Much later came the Iban who settled in the upper reaches of the Mukah river. The Chinese came at a later time than the Ibans. The Siteng have mixed with the Chinese, the Melanau and the Ibans. The Siteng have lost their Siteng culture because there are very few pure Siteng left.
Old Death Ritual
When a Siteng died his corpse was cleaned, dressed and laid out with his upper arms pressed to his body and the with the hands crossed. Knees and toes were bound together with a piece of cloth and the corpse was placed in a special part of the house. The corpse was placed in the coffin after it had been built. During the night, games were played such as wrestling and kicking each others legs.(?)Funeral chants (peretou) and chanting of funeral songs (peranan) were included in the rites.
Before the coffin was taken to the grave on the seventh day, a chicken was slaughterd on the coffin and its blood spread over the coffin. This rite was called pedaa lungun to appease the spirit of the coffin. The wing feathers were taken and tied together with rotan and placed over the door of the dead persons house to scare away evil spirits and the soul of the dead person.
Before the coffin left the house, some men went to the grave yard to dig the grave. A chicken was slaughtered and a the blood spread over the ground. When the men finished digging a pit, word was sent to the house. The coffin was then carried to a decorated boat and was paddled slowly to the grave. All the mats that the coffin had touched were thrown in the river. Banners were hoisted along the pathway of the boat.
After the coffin was buried the boat carried back the people who then dunked into the river at the landing place. The ple salang took place next where the people were covered with soot. After the people had cleaned up, food was served and everyone went home.
From: Some Stories about the Siteng People by Tuton Kaboy in the Sarawak Museum Journal December, 1971
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