Melanau Tallhouse

The Melanau people make up 5.8% of Sarawak 's population, mostly living in the central coastal region. The Malanaus used to live close to sea and as a result were exposed to many pirate attacks, hence they built sturdy houses some 40ft above ground. Sago is the staple diet of these people, unlike other natives who lived on rice. Originally grown wild, the sago palm was later cultivated by the Melanaus. The process of making sago flour can be seen at the Melanau tallhouse at the cultural centre. Visitors may also savour some of the sago delights that are produced there.

For more Information : 

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MCUL_melanau.htm

Bidayuh Longhouse

Alfred Russel Wallace describes the land or hill dayak houses in the Malay Archipelago which he had the privilege to document the people and their culture in 1850's as' The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often two or three hundred feet long and forty or fifty wide. The floor is always formed of strips split from large Bamboos, so that each may be nearly flat and about three inches wide, and these are firmly tied down with rattan to the joists beneath.

For more information:

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MCUL_bidayuh.htm

The Orang Ulu / Kayan

The Orang Ulu ethnic groups can be located in the state of Sarawak in such areas like Belaga, Bintulu, Miri, Baram, Bario, Lawas, Trusan and Limbang. It was believed that in Kuching alone, the Orang Ulu population numbered up to about one thousand – the community’s urban migration being mostly due to better employment, education and business opportunities available in Sarawak’s capital cities1. The term Orang Ulu literally translates as “people of the upper river”.

For more information : http://donoe.wordpress.com/kayan/history-of-kayan/

Iban Longhouse

The Iban longhouse sits on stilts and normally accommodates the entire village. Unlike the land dayaks, the Ibans or Sea Dayaks position their villages on the banks of accessible waterways. The Ibans are great adventurers and take long sojourns across lands but prefer using the waterways to move about.

The longhouse is inhabited seldom more than 15 or 20years. There are various reasons as to why an Iban community would move. The new site would quite often be in the same tributary or in the same river, within a few miles from the old one perhaps because the good timber and planks are removed from the old longhouse and towed along the river to the new site. As Ibans practice shift cultivation, moving often results from looking for fertile land to till after the existing land has been exhausted. The same area is normally cultivated not more than 4 times at intervals of several years. Other reasons would be from enemy attacks sometimes causing burning of the longhouse, or an epidemic that hit the village or if the villagers have been hit with a string of bad luck or evil omens.

for more information : 

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MCUL_iban.htm

Iban History

The Iban trace their origins to the Kapuas Lake region of Kalimantan. With a growing population, creating pressures on limited amounts of productive land, the Iban fought members of other tribes aggressively, practicing headhunting and slavery. Enslavement of captives contributed to the necessity to move into new areas. By the middle of the nineteenth century, they were well established in the First and Second Divisions, and a few had pioneered the vast Rejang River valley. Reacting to the establishment of the Brooke Raj in Sarawak in 1841, thousands of Iban migrated to the middle and upper regions of the Rejang, and by the last quarter of the century had entered all remaining divisions. The most dramatic changes in the past three decades have been abandonment of longhouses and permanent settlement in Sarawak’s towns and cities. Iban have lived near other ethnic groups with whom they have interacted. The most important of these societies have been the Malays, Chinese, Kayan and, during the Brooke Raj and the period of British colonialism, Europeans. The dynamic relations between Iban and these societies have produced profound changes in Iban society and culture.

For more Information:

http://donoe.wordpress.com/iban/iban-history/

The Penan

Introduction

The Penan are included in the politically coined term Orang Ulu. The Orang Ulu is a complex cluster which includes about 27 indigenous minority groups in Sarawak (Ding Seling and Langub, 1989, p19). The term Orang Ulu literally translates as “people of the upper river”. The Penan are a gentle people with a highly egalitarian society with little gender division amongst them. Whilst tribes like the Kayan and Kenyah have long settled, the Penan are divided into two groups. One group continues to find solace in their nomadic way of life. However an increasing number of Penan are shifting to semi-nomadism or even to a settled existence. Many live within or at the edges of the jungle and take advantage of the jungle as their source of food, shelter and domestic materials.

For more information :

http://www.pustaka-sarawak.com/Pustaka-Sarawak/Sarawakiana/thepenan/Main_Penan_Settlements.html

Sarawak Cultural Village - Malaysia

Rainforest Festival – Santubong

It's no wonder that the annual Rainforest Festival is held at the Sarawak Cultural Village . It's the perfect setting. Mount Santubong rising in the background, casts a cool shadow over the land below. Waves lapping the beach nearby, mangrove forests hugging the coastline and dolphins lopping the waves, gleefully playing in the shallow waters. The environment spells tranquillity. This is where artists come to for inspiration, to get to know or reacquaint with the beauty and bounty of nature.

for more information :

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MCUL_sarawakculturalvillage.htm