Langub, J.

Unimas Institutional Repository

Making Sense of the Landscape: Eastern Penan Perspectivesl Jayl Langub Institute of East Asian Studies Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Introduction This paper explores the ways the Eastern Penan2 establish their relationship with the landscape, sculpting it in the process, to make a living, and maintain a long-term relationship. As they move across the landscape, they establish a series of campsites (lam in) which they leave behind as la'a (old campsites) representing their 'footprints' (uban). The la'a often associated with events, such as deaths, births, even humorous occurrences, become significant uban of both the group and individuals linked to these episodes. Movements across the landscape within an area or specific river systems are motivated by the cycle of resource availability. As they harvest resources they establish tenure (olong) over them to ensure systematic management and husbandry. Thus, what appears as a natural environment is, in fact, one that has undergone the process of human activities by way of methodological sculpting. As Brosius (1986: 174-178; 2001:134-139) noted some years ago, what appears to be an empty space is instead a landscape that encapsulates history and way of life. In numerous conversations with Pen an, they often express the view that they are part of the landscape as much as the landscape is part of them; thus what is territory is a space of belonging, our space, okoo ami'. Within the context of this human-environment interaction, the relationship of the nineteen Eastern Penan settlements - six nomadic, six semi-settled and seven settled - located in the area between 1 This paper is based on work carried out between 2007 and 2009 among nineteen Penan settlements between Mulu National Park and Pulong Tau National Park for the research project "The Cultured Rainforest: Long-Term Human Ecological Histories ofthe Kelabit Highlands" of which a grant from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, U. K. is gratefully acknowledged. I wish to thank Professor Graeme Barker, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, and Dr Monica Janowski, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, for inviting me to participate. I also wish to acknowledge the support of the Director of IEAS, UNIMAS to this jOint research project, and assistance rendered to me by staff of the same Institute during the period of research. Several people read, commented, and offered useful suggestions to this paper: Dr Ann Appleton and Dr Daniel Chew, Institute of East Asian Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak; Kelvin Egay, Faculty of Social Science, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak; Khoo Khay Jin; and my wife, Ann Armstrong. I wish to thank them all. I want to thank all the Penan of the nineteen settlements for their friendship, and for giving time to talk with me. Special thanks must go to Ayat Lirong of Long Nen, Layun River, Baram, Sarawak, for the way he explained and made me understand the meaning and value of tawai. The maps are drawn by Ms Kyoko Sakuma for which I am grateful. Needless to say opinions and interpretations are mine. 2 The Penan of Sarawak are traditionally a nomadic people. They comprise 16,000 people, inhabiting the most interior of northern Sarawak, in the headwaters of two major rivers, the Rejang and Baram. On the basis of dialect, Rodney Needham (1972) divides the Penan population into Eastern Penan and Western Penan. The Eastern Penan comprise all those Penan living roughly to the east of the Baram River while the Western Penan are located around the watershed of the Rejang River, and along the Silat River in Baram District. There are also some Penan settlements along the Tinjar River in Baram District, along the Jelalong River and coastal area of Bintulu District, and in Suai-Niah area of Miri District. In linguistic terms, these groups appear to be closely related to the Western Penan. There are some minor dialectal differences between the two divisions, but broadly speaking in way of life and socio-economic tenus they are similar and consider themselves, and are recognized by others, as one people. 1 

Making Sense of the Landscape : Eastern Penan Perspectives

http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/4040/1/Making%20Sense%20of%20the%20Landscape%20%20Eastern%20Penan%20Perspectives.pdf

Making Sense of the Landscape : Eastern Penan Perspectives

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Unimas Institutional Repository