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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Orang Ulu in Sarawak
The origin of the name is mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a totally modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia) of Sanskrit Root. The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expedition to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them. The History of the migration of Iban people trace back to China where the historians believe that the original Iban people migrated from Yunnan, a province in rural China. The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival. Int hose days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants os Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.
Concentrated mainly on the west end of Bornoe, the Bidayuh's make up 8% of the population in Sarawak are now most numerous in the hill counties of Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, Siburan and Serian, within an hour's drive from Kuching. Historically, as other tribes were migrating into Sarawak and forming settlement the Malays from the neighbouring archipelagos, the Bidayuh's retreated further inland, hence earning them the name of "Land dayaks" or "Land owners". The word Bidayuh in itself literally means "land People" in Biatah dialect. In Bau-Jigoi/Singai dialect, the pronounciation is "Bidoyoh" which also carries the same meaning. The traditional community construction of the Bidayuh is the "Baruk", a roundhouse that rises about 1.5 metres off the ground. It serves as the granary and the meeting house for the settlement's community. Longhouses were typical in the olden days, similar to that of the Ibans. Typical of the Sarawak indigenous groups, the Bidayuhs are well known for their hospitality, and are reputed to be the best makers of tuak, or rice wine. Bidayuhs also use distilling methods to make "arak tonok" a kind of moonshine. The Bidayuhs speak a number of different but related dialects. Some Bidayuhs speak either English or Sarawak Malays as their main language. While some of them still practice traditional religions, the majority of modern-day Bidayuhs have adopted the Christian faith with a few villages embracing the Islamic faith as a minority group within the Bidayuh community.
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| Dayung Bidayuh |
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