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Kayan people (Borneo)

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For the ethnic group from Myanmar, see Kayan people (Myanmar).

Kayan people
BERJAYA
"The Tattooing of a Married Kayan Woman," (c. 1896-98), photograph by William Henry Furness III. Illustration from The Home-Life of Borneo Head-Hunters (1902).
Total population
200,000
Regions with significant populations
Borneo:
BERJAYA Malaysia (Sarawak)30,000 (2010)[1]
Languages
Kayan-Murik languages (Kayan), Indonesian, Malay (Sarawak Malay), and English
Religion
Christianity (predominantly), Bungan (Folk religion), and Islam
Related ethnic groups
Bahau • Bulungan • Kenyah

The Kayan people are an indigenous tribe from the island of Borneo, both in Sarawak, Malaysia and Kalimantan, Indonesia. Categorised as a part of the Dayak people, they are similar to their neighbours, the Kenyah people, with which they are grouped together with the Bahau people under the Apo Kayan people group. The Bornean Kayan are distinct from, and not to be confused with the Kayan people of Myanmar.

The population of Kayan people may be around 200,000.[2] They are part of a larger grouping of indigenous people referred collectively as the Orang Ulu (upriver people). Similarly to other Dayak people, they are known for being fierce warriors, former headhunters, adept in upland rice cultivation, and having extensive tattoos on women and stretched earlobes amongst both sexes.[3]

Origins

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BERJAYA
A European man having a discussion with leaders of the Kayan people in Sarawak, circa 1900 to 1940

Based on oral history, the Kayan people originated from the Kayan river in the North Kalimantan province of Borneo, where they lived along the upper Kayan, the middle Kapuas and Mahakam rivers.[4] The group expanded to the south in Sarawak in historic times, generating some conflicts with the Iban tribes that were expanding north at the same time.[4] They have settled in Sarawak on the middle Baram River, the Bintulu River and along the Rajang River,[4] having been pressed back a little during the late 19th century. In 1863, in West Kalimantan, the Iban people migrated to the upstreams of Saribas River and Rajang River and started to attack the Kayan people in those areas and continued doing so northwards and later eastwards. Wars and headhunting attacks have caused many other tribes to be displaced, including the Kayan people, who make up of 1.4% of the West Kutai Regency population.[5] Significant expansion of the Kayan sub-group Uma Apan to east Borneo occurred during the 17th century, which resulted in their conversion to Islam forming the ethnogenesis of the Bulungan people and the Sultanate of Bulungan.[6][7][8]

Language

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The Kayan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.[4]

Main activities and culture

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BERJAYA
A Kayan person using rattan to saw a piece of firewood.
BERJAYA
Kayan people harvesting the sap of a gutta-percha tree (from Hose & McDougall, 1912)

Their basic culture was and is still similar to the other Dayak people in Borneo. The agriculture is based upon shifting cultivation techniques and the cultivation of Upland rice.[9] Other farming such as sago, corn, yams, pumpkin and tobacco are also cultivated. During the years of famine, sago was mined. Traditionally, fishing played an important role,[10] as well as hunting wild animals with sumpitan.[11] They were engaged in breeding pigs and chickens, while dogs were kept for hunting (ngaso') and ritual purposes.

Kayan craftspeople are excellent blacksmiths (the Malat or swords are the main item of exchange), boat builders and carpenters.[12] Loom, weaving, production of tans, arts, wood carving, making of masks and pottery were also developed.[12] Before the arrival of Christian missionaries, the practice of tribal tattooing was still in place. Only women were tattooists and they tattooed mostly girls and women to signify womanhood; the patterns of the tattoos (tedek) were intricate and detailed, while men got their tattoos for ornamental reasons.[13] Both women and men had their earlobes stretched.[14] Furthermore, the older generations of the Kayan people were great storytellers and songsmiths. One of the ways the storytellers entertained fellow villagers and welcomed visitors was through Tekna', now a near-lost verbal art form of storytelling via songs.[15][16] Traditional Kayan songs include "Alam Lening" (Dayak Kayaan Mendalam, Kalbar)[17] and "Lung Kayaan Mendalam".[18]

Some of the practices and traditions have either died out or have nearly vanished due to outside influence and contact with colonialists, missionaries and the modernisation of the Borneo region since the 20th century and onward. Recently, younger indigenous people of Sarawak are making efforts in revitalizing the practices.[13][15][16]

Social structure

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BERJAYA
Kayan wrestling at upper mahakam, central Borneo. Photo taken between c.1898 and 1900

Traditionally, they lived in long houses on river banks. Their settlement consists of one or several long houses as long as 300 meters, which can accommodate up to 100 families (400–600 people) and consist of a common veranda and rooms. Residents of a long house constitute a tribal community. The Kayan people are divided into three endogamous estate groups; "house owning group" or aristocrat (ipun uma, maren, or keta'u), community members or commoners (panyin) and slaves (dipen).[19][20] Among some Kayan, there is a fourth estate, the lower aristocrats (hipuy ok). Among the nobility, marriages are usually outside of the community, sometimes with other ethnic groups; while community members and slaves usually marry within the community. The leader is usually elected from the nobility class (in the 19th century, he also served as a military leader). The settlement is bi-localized, and the filiation is bilateral.[21]

Religion

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The Kayan people developed a religion and a complex cult (bounty hunting and human sacrifices[22] that disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as shamanism).[23] The core event was the feast of collected heads, during which warrior initiations and funeral ceremonies were held.[24] In the 20th century, some Kayan people were converted to Christianity,[25] while others developed an indigenous religious reform after World War II, Adat Bungan. This reform started with the Kenyah Lepo' Tau of Long Nawang.[26]

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ William W. Bevis (1995). Borneo log: the struggle for Sarawak's forests. University of Washington Press. p. 152. ISBN 0-2959-7416-8.
  2. ^ Kayan in the Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 14 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on 12 August 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
  3. ^ Monthly Packet, Volume 12. J. and C. Mozley. 1857. p. 370.
  4. ^ a b c d Richard Ibuh (2014). The Kayans. Partridge Publishing Singapore. p. 8. ISBN 978-14-828-2683-8.
  5. ^ Michaela Haug (2010). Poverty and Decentralisation in East Kalimantan. Centaurus Verlag & Media KG. ISBN 9783825507701.
  6. ^ Anthony Milner (2011). The Malays. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-14-443-9166-4.
  7. ^ "The Rise And Fall Of Bulungan Sultanate, A Muslim Kingdom With Kayan Roots | KajoMag". 7 June 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  8. ^ K., Dian (June 2017). "Kisah Bulu Tengon: Kalimantan Utara". ISBN 978-6023946914. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  9. ^ Jérôme Rousseau (1990). Central Borneo: Ethnic Identity and Social Life in a Stratified Society. Clarendon Press. p. 134. ISBN 01-982-7716-4.
  10. ^ Kathy MacKinnon & Gusti Hatta (2013). Ecology of Kalimantan: Indonesian Borneo. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-14-629-0505-8.
  11. ^ Odoardo Beccari; Enrico Hillyer Giglioli; F H H Guillemard (1904). Wanderings In The Great Forests Of Borneo Travels And Researchers Of A Naturalist In Sarawak. London, A. Constable & co., ltd. p. 264. OCLC 933143659.
  12. ^ a b Frank M. LeBar & George N. Appell (1972). Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Andaman Islands, and Madagascar. Human Relations Area Files Press. p. 170. ISBN 08-753-6403-9.
  13. ^ a b "The Fascinating Stories Behind Sarawakian Tribal Tattoos". www.sarawaktourism.com. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  14. ^ Monthly Packet, Volume 12. J. and C. Mozley. 1857. p. 370.
  15. ^ a b c Dahodwala, Nafisa (11 April 2019). ""At 19, I am one of the youngest surviving tribe members who practice the ancient art of 'takna' and 'parap' in a dialect never heard before..."". Humans of KL. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  16. ^ a b c d e "A New Kayan Journey In Old Song | Sarawak Tribune". 7 March 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  17. ^ "Alam Lening, lagu Dayak Kayaan Mendalam". YouTube. 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Lung Kayaan". YouTube. 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Great Britain. Colonial Office". Colonial Research Studies, Issue 1. H.M. Stationaery Office. 1950. p. 72.
  20. ^ David Levinson, ed. (1993). Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 5. G.K. Hall. p. 134. ISBN 08-168-8840-X.
  21. ^ David Levinson, ed. (1993). Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume V: East And Southeast Asia. G.K. Hall & Company. p. 134. ISBN 0-8168-8840-X. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  22. ^ Monthly Packet, Volume 12. J. and C. Mozley. 1857. p. 371.
  23. ^ Robert P. Gwinn (1987). The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia, Holderness - Krasnoje, Volume 6. Encyclopaedia Britannica. p. 773. ISBN 08-522-9434-4.
  24. ^ Frank M. LeBar & George N. Appell (1972). Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Andaman Islands, and Madagascar. Human Relations Area Files Press. pp. 171–173. ISBN 08-753-6403-9.
  25. ^ Peter Metcalf (2009). The Life of the Longhouse: An Archaeology of Ethnicity. Cambridge University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-11-394-8170-0.
  26. ^ Rousseau, Jérôme (1998). Kayan religion: Ritual life and religious reform in Central Borneo. Leiden: KITLV Press. ISBN 90-6718-132-3.
  27. ^ Toyat, Jude (15 August 2016). "Francisca buat persediaan rapi ke pentas akhir" [Francisca made neat preparations for the final performance.]. Utusan Borneo (in Malay). See Hua Marketing Sdn Bhd. Pressreader.com. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  28. ^ "Adrian Jo Milang | PARAP and Takna' Performer". Borneo Bengkel. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  29. ^ The Tuyang Initiative (2020). Happy 82nd Birthday to one of our elders, Hureng Emang!. www.facebook.com. Retrivied 2026-04-19.
  30. ^ "Tuesday Tales #1 : Long Ditut". adrianjomilang.com. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  31. ^ Junang, Robin (18 February 2019). "Ekspresi Warisan Dengan Sulaman Manik - Malaysiaaktif". Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  32. ^ "Pusat kraf tangan harus ditubuhkan di Bintulu". www.utusanborneo.com.my (in Malay). 24 July 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  33. ^ B Kapong, Kedung (13 October 2023). "Budget 2024: Better facilities, internet access among S'wakian grassroots chiefs' wishes". Borneo Post Online. Retrieved 19 April 2026.

Further reading

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