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5 things to know about Kayan river, North Kalimantan

Published on June 14, 2019

Travel

While in Sarawak we have Batang Kayan river in Lundu, in North Kalimantan they have their own Kayan river too.

North Kalimantan borders the Malaysian states of Sabah to the north and Sarawak to the west, and by the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan to the south.

Although they both flow on the same island of Borneo, both rivers are located at the opposite sides of each other.

Malaysia’s Batang Kayan is at the western tip of Sarawak while Indonesia’s Kayan river flows in the north eastern side of Kalimantan.

Here are 5 things to know about North Kalimantan’s Kayan river:

1.Kayan river stretches for 576km.

Sarawak’s Batang Kayan is 125km long while the one in North Kalimantan province is way longer at 576km. It flows from Mount Ukeng, passing Tanjung Selor city and discharges into Sulawesi Sea.

Tanjung Selor city is the capital of North Kalimantan province and also the capital of Bulungan regency.

2.It is the main transportation route for the peoples in inland regions of North Kalimantan.

Kayan river 2 — River transportations such as this speed boat plays an important role for the people who lived along Kayan river.

Most of the settlements in North Kalimantan are not well connected with road networks. So the communities living particularly in Malinau and Bulungan regencies use river transportation such as traditional boats and speedboats to commute.

The ports in Tarakan offer ferry transportation services to Tanjung Selor around the clock from morning to evening via Kayan river.

Plus, it is the main route for goods and other supplies to enter this inland regions of North Kalimantan.

Otherwise, most of North Kalimantan residents, especially those who live at the Sabah-Sarawak border may rely on trading with Malaysia for supplies.

3.It was named after the Kayan people who live along the river.

Kayan river 4 — The river was named after the Kayan people who lived along the river.

In Kalimantan, the Kayan people live along the upper Kayan and the middle Kapuas and Mahakam rivers.

Meanwhile in Sarawak, they settled along the Baram, Balui, Belaga, Tubau rivers.

4.Along the Kayan river was where the Sultanate of Bulungan reigned.

Speaking of the Kayan people, here comes an interesting story of how the ethnogenesis of Bulungan people was formed.

Long time ago, there was a group of Kayan people from Uma Apan in the interior region of Apo Kayan highlands.

They expanded their territory and then settled down near the east coast of Kalimantan.

Around 1650, a princess of the group married a man from Brunei. The marriage founded a Hindu lineage which settled in Tanjung Selor.
About a century later, the dynasty converted to Islam and the rulers took the title of Sultan.

The last Sultan Jalaluddin passed away in 1958 and the Sultanate was subsequently abolished in 1959. Now the territory is a kabupaten or regency.

5. It is one of the main rivers flowing through Kayan Mentarang National Park

Kayan river 6 — Kayan Mentarang National Park is accessible by longboats via Kayan river.

Located at the border between Indonesia and Malaysia, Kayan Mentarang National Park is one of the few places in Borneo which is densely forested.

It is also a fundamental site to the WWF Heart of Borneo. It is an initiative which aims to protect the transboundary biodiversity of Borneo.

Animals found in the park include Malayan pangolin, long-tailed macaque, Bornean gibbon, clouded leopard, different kinds of hornbills and many more.

So if you are heading to the park via Kayan river, you might be lucky to appreciate some of these endangered species along the way.

Perupun, the mysterious Lundayeh ancient burial tombs of Krayan Highlands

Published on April 30, 2019

Culture

Long time ago, the Egyptian pyramids were built as tombs for the country’s Pharaohs and their consorts.

Here in the central region of Borneo in the Krayan Highlands, the ancient Lundayeh community built perupun to bury their dead.

Both ancient burial tombs have one thing in common, nobody really knows how exactly they were built.

Perupun in Pa Rupai village

Perupun 2 — The hole left by tomb raiders.

According to an elder from Pa Rupai village near Long Midang Murad Baru, 73, perupun means ‘batu yang dikumpul’ or piled up stones.

It takes about 20 minutes’ hike from the main road to reach the only perupun in his village.

Nobody knows whom the tomb belongs to, but as Murad said, “This man must be a man of wealth and most probably some sort of a leader or a nobleman.”

He further explained, “Since he was without an heir, nobody was allowed to take his wealth, and he was buried together with all his belongings.

“In order to protect his wealth from tomb raiders, or his enemies from taking his head off his body, they piled up all of these stones on top of his grave.”

Perupun 3 — Murad standing on top of the remnants of an ancient tomb.

Murad said his grandparents used to tell him that many noblemen back then did not have any heirs. It was believed they were cursed to die without children to carry on their line by others jealous of their courage and wealth.

Over the years, the stone mound at Pa Rupai has been heavily damaged by thieves. Today, there is still evidence of a gaping hole where thieves tried to dig up the tomb.

Accroding to Murad, the perupun was damaged even before his time but he believed that whoever the thieves might be, they must be living a cursed life.

“Anybody who tries to steal from the perupun will experience misfortune until his death. Back then when I was a child, it was even forbidden for us to visit this tomb. But we became lenient over the years, and now everybody can visit these ancient tombs.”

Perupun 4 — Tomb raiders left a big hole in this ancient tomb at Pa Rupai.

Building a perupun

Perupun 6 — One of the stone mounds in Terang Baru was located right next to paddy fields.

“Can you imagine how people in the olden days managed to collect all these more than 100 big stones to build this stone mound?” Murad asked.

They most probably carried these stones from the river about 10 meters away to build the tomb.

Judging by the hole left by the thieves, the perupun could be two meters deep and the stones piled up two meters up from the ground.

“Most probably they took up to two weeks to build it. According to my grandparents, the olden community would come together at this site, cooking here, eating here, while building it.”

Since nobody could inherit the nobleman’s wealth – including his livestock – the villagers would have slaughtered all his livestock and eaten them while building his tomb.

The perupun in Terang Baru village

Perupun 9 — What’s left of this ancient burial tomb are scattered rocks.

In Terang Baru village, there are two perupun. Just like the perupun in Pa Rupai, nobody knows whom these tombs belong to. All they know is that they belonged to noble people because perupun are not built for commoners.

It helps that they found beads in one of the two perupun. According to Krayan native Ellias Yesaya, this particular perupun most probably belonged to a noblewoman.

Unfortunately, time and the natural elements have left both perupun in bad condition. The stones have either rolled away or collapsed and are covered in weeds.

Perupun 13 — The locals found beads buried in this ancient tomb.

A fence surrounds one of the perupun to prevent wandering buffalo from damaging it any further while the other perupun (the one believed to belong to a noblewoman) is located on private property.

Besides Pa Rupai and Terang Baru, perupun can also be found in Long Umung, Pa Raye, Long Layu, Long Api and Pa Kebuan. There are also jar burial sites in the Krayan Highlands which most likely belong to the commoners.

Ellias had two theories on how people in the olden days managed to build these ancient tombs.

“I think our ancestors were way taller and stronger than us. I remember in the 60s when I was still in school, they found bones in old burial grounds. Their bones were very long,” Ellias said.

Another way was that they used their strength in numbers and simply did ‘gotong-royong’ (communal work).

“The community could have come together and built this perupun,” he added.

Perupun 12 — Nobody knows how the olden Lundayeh people managed to carry this stone.

Crocodile mounds, where the headhunting after-party took place in Krayan Highlands

Published on April 29, 2019

Culture

The Lundayeh people of Indonesia had the same reasons to build crocodile mounds or effigies like the Lun Bawang people in Sarawak; to celebrate successful headhunting trips.

In the olden days, it was considered a great achievement for a man to take an enemy’s head.

Upon returning home, they would raise a pole (called ulung) on an earthen mound shaped like a crocodile.

In Krayan Highlands of North Kalimantan province today, these crocodile mounds can be found in places like Long Midang, Tang Payeh, Trang Baru and Long Layu.

Each mound is maintained by the communities who live near the area. However over the years, the shape of the crocodile on these mounds are difficult to distinguish. This is due to several factors such as soil erosion as well as trampling by animals such as buffalo.

Crocodile mounds 2 — Melud standing on top of a crocodile mound.

Crocodile mounds as a symbol of bravery

According to Melud Baru, 73, from Pa Rupai village of Long Midang, the Lundayeh tribe picked the crocodile as a symbol of bravery.

“According to our ancestors long time ago when we still had lamin panjang (longhouse), they made this as a symbol of bravery. They picked a crocodile because it thrives both on land and in the river,” he said.

“My grandfather told us the crocodile was an unbeatable animal. Its scales are impenetrable, it has strong jaws and teeth to bite its opponent, its tail can be used to strike its enemies.”

No other animal could ever beat the crocodile before so their ancestors picked the crocodile as their symbol of bravery.

They are specific ways to build these crocodile mounds. Most of their heads face the river,to protect the community who built them from enemies coming for them from the river.

Crocodile mounds 3 — Melud showing where the head of the crocodle used to be.

A headhunting after-party on the crocodile mounds

Crocodile mounds 4 — This what was supposed to be the head of the crocodile.

The crocodile mounds were where the celebrations took place after the headhunters came back from a successful headhunting trip.

Melud said, “Back then during our ancestors time, if there was a conflict among them, they wouldn’t talk it out like they do nowadays. The young people just gathered and went headhunting to ‘solve’ the conflicts – less talk that way.

“For headhunters who just came back from the trip, they would ‘slash’ the body of the crocodile mound using their parang just to say, ‘We are home!’ Then, they would drink and celebrate.”

The celebrations at these mounds lasted for weeks, sometimes even months.

Crocodile mounds 5 — Due to soil erosion, the shape of the crocodile is no longer can be distinguished.

On top of these mounds, they would erect the ulung for them to hang the heads that they claimed from their enemies.

Before the celebration, they would prepare jars of rice wine or burak. The amount of jars prepared ranged from 10 and above depending on the amount of heads they achieved. Thus, the more heads, the more rice wine they prepared.

“The weird thing is that there are no crocodiles here in Krayan, so our ancestors may have never even seen a crocodile. But they managed to build a crocodile mound. Maybe some of them had travelled far enough to have seen a crocodile,” Melud said.

Crocodile mounds 8 — Melud standing on top of a crocodile mound.

A visit to a salt production house in Long Midang of Kalimantan

Published on April 15, 2019

Travel

When it comes to picking the most ‘health-giving’ mountain salt for your clean diet, forget about Himalayan pink salt. Here in Borneo, we have our very own salt from the central region of the island.

While on Sarawak the side of the Bornean border, salt springs are aplenty in the Kelabit Highlands, Kalimantan’s are located in the Krayan Highland.

Besides paddy planting and livestock rearing, the Lundayeh people of Krayan Highland in Kalimantan rely on salt processing from these springs to boost their income.

Salt production in Long Midang 2 — The humble-looking salt production house in Long Midang.

Salt production in Long Midang, Kalimantan

Located in the Krayan Highlands, Long Midang is the closest settlement across the Malaysian-Indonesian border from Ba Kelalan, Sarawak.

The salt production there has been going on for generations. Its production house is a humble building of wooden planks with zinc roof and cement floor.

There were two salt springs there, but both have been converted into concrete wells. Oddly, flowing next to the salt springs is a small freshwater stream.

According to local guide Alex Ballang, traditional custom requires that any visitors who enter the production house must wash their faces with the saltwater first. Plus, the saltwater is believed to be good for the skin.

Salt production in Long Midang 3 — There is a freshwater stream right next to the salt spring.

Salt production in Long Midang 10 — A first-time visitor needs to wash their face with the saltwater before entering the production house.

Salt production in Long Midang 9 1 — The saltwater is also good for the skin.

Furthermore, visitors are also welcome to dip their fingers into the saltwater, especially those curious about whether the saltwater is really salty.

Salt production in Long Midang — You are welcomed to taste the water from the salt spring.

The Long Midang community comes together to run the salt production. According to Alex, each salt-maker household takes turns utilizing the salt spring for a continuous period of two weeks.

Inside the production house, there are two hearths made from stone and clay where the boiling of saltwater takes place.

Alex said, “They used metal drums cut lengthwise to use as pots. Since they are not stainless, they usually last up to only three months, tops.”

He assured though, that the drums are replaced before they get rusty.

Evaporating, drying and packaging the Krayan Highlands salt

Salt production in Long Midang 7 — The three metal containers made from metal drums.

In Long Midang, three metal containers were used for the salt evaporation process. Each metal container were at different stages of boiling the salt brine.

The farthest container from the hearth opening contained the freshly poured in brine, while the first container near the hearth contained the boiling brine. The middle container where the heat was the highest had the almost saturated brine.

Alex explained that the brine would be transferred from the farthest to the first, then to the middle container where the final crystallised salt was collected.

Salt production in Long Midang 5 — The salt brine being transferred from the farthest container into the first one.

If the family members took turns continuously boiling the brine for 24 hours, they could produce up to 20kg of salt in a day.

After the crystallised salt is collected, they still need to put it under the sun to dry. The drying process usually takes up two hours depending on the weather.

Then came the packaging process. In Long Midang, the salt was packaged in plastic or the traditional way, which is with palm leaves.

Salt production in Long Midang 4 — The opening of the hearth.

The benefits of Krayan salt

Alex pointed out that the salt from Krayan highlands was rich in iodine, hence making it high in demand from the locals as well as neighbouring Malaysians.

Another benefit for the local community is that this salt production is a boost to their daily income.

Although the salt spring seems to never run dry, enabling the Long Midang community to produce salt all-year round, Alex shared that the community was slowly losing their source of firewood.

While there was a constant source of firewood in the past, it has been slowly depleting over the years.

“Perhaps, someone could come up a cost-effective alternative for the locals so that they can continuously boil the salt brine without using wood from the forest,” he said.

Salt production in Long Midang 6 — The family members take turn to keep the fire burning.

DSC 0389 — Alex (right) explaining about the salt production in Long Midang.

Borneo Culture, Heritage, Nature, Lifestyle

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