Orang Ulu

Orang Ulu is a group ethnics in Sarawak. The various Orang Ulu ethnics together make up roughly 5% of Sarawak's population. The phrase Orang Ulu means upriver people and is a term used to collectively describe the numerous tribes that live upriver in Sarawak's vast interior. Such groups include the major Kayan and Kenyah tribes, the smaller neighbouring groups of the Kajang, Kejaman, Punan, Ukit, and Penan. Nowadays, the definition also include the down-river tribes of the Lun Bawang, Lun Dayeh, "mean upriver" or "far upstream" , Berawan, Saban as well as the plateau-dwelling Kelabits. Orang Ulu is a term coined officially by the government to identify several ethnics and sub-ethnics who live mostly at the upriver and uphill areas of Sarawak. Most of them live in the district of Baram, Miri, Belaga, Limbang and Lawas. The Orang Ulu are artistic people with longhouses elaborately decorated with murals and woodcarvings. They are also well known for their intricate beadwork and detailed tattoos. The Orang Ulu tribe can also be identified by their unique musical sound made by Sape, a stringed instrument similar to a mandolin. A vast majority of the Orang Ulu tribe are Christians but traditional religions are still practised in some areas.

                                                                       


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