With less than 300 Sihan people in Sarawak (as of 2012), any stories about their legends, customs and histories are very precious and important.As recorded by Benedict Sandin in "Notes on the Sian (Sihan) of Belaga" for the Sarawak Museum journal, the Sihan speak the same language with Punan Bushang
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Numbul and Bedukun, the Bisaya traditional healing ceremonies
Before there were doctors and nurses, the people of Sarawak relied on traditional healing ceremonies to cure sickness. Every ethnic group has its own healing ceremony, for example the Ibans have their pelian and the Melanau turn to berayun and berbayoh to heal the sick. For the Bisaya people in the Sarawak,
The Lun Bawang legend of a giant man named Temueng
Long time ago, there was a giant man named Temueng and his friend named Pengiran who first lived at Kemaloh in Kalimantan, Indonesia. According to legends, these people were believed to be the ancestors of Lun Bawang people. Benedict Sandin in his paper The Bisayah and Indigenous Peoples of Limbang, Sandin recorded
A Bisaya legend of how a sago tree came into existence
A Bisaya legend of how a sago tree came into existence Every culture has its unique legends and most of these legends were used to explain things surrounding them. These legends usually circle around how certain plants or animals were discovered or came into being. Sometimes, they also explain why some creatures or
How the human races were formed according to a Sihan legend
The Sihan people are among the few tribes in Sarawak that are vulnerable to extinction along with smaller tribes such as the Ukit and Kejaman peoples.According to the Borneo Post in 2012, there are less than 300 Sihan people left in Sarawak. Unfortunately, they have been assimilated into other Orang Ulu
7 things Kayan women were forbidden to do when the men left for headhunting trips
In the olden days, Kayan men were renowned as notorious headhunters. Their reputation as fierce warriors spread so wide and wild that they were often mistaken as cannibals. Whenever the men went for headhunting trips, the women were left in the longhouses fending for themselves. These headhunting trips usually took months before
Batu Bejit – an Iban legend of a monkey, a man and a wife turned to stone
The Iban legend of Batu Indai Binjut you might never have heard of
Iban olden customary laws against adultery and elopement
Some people call it love, while others call it breaking the adat (custom). Historically, many cultures consider adultery a very serious crime, subject to severe punishment such as capital punishment, mutilation or torture. This includes the Iban people of Sarawak. According to Iban ethnologist Benedict Sandin, before Sarawak was under Brooke rule, if
