14 bakun kenyah 04.jpg
Malaysian Dangah Anyit, believed to be 80, sits in Sungai Asap village, in the upriver area in the interior of state of Sarawak on the Borneo island, on December 10, 2003. Dangah belongs to Kenyah, a former headhunting tribe, said to be descendants of Bornean aborigines. The Kenyah, an "orang ulu", a phrase literally means "upriver people", live in a village consists of a 400-yard longhouse built on piles, with a row of family rooms at the back and a wide covered veranda that serves as a general working space and village street. The elongated earlobes and the dense black tattoos on Dangah's arms are marks of great beauty amongst the "orang ulu". Most Kenyah nowadays live in a normal modern ways. The traditional Kenyah economy is based on the cultivation of dry rice in jungle clearings. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Comments and faves
Keo the Younger and shutterhero added this photo to their favorites.
shutterhero (56 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Borneo Traditional Tattoo & Piercing, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
eli.elsadance, whitewalkman81, and เจฟฟรี่ Jeff added this photo to their favorites.
dlumenta (50 months ago | reply)
It should be spelled 'Kenyah (Uma') Bakung'.
She must have migrated fairly recently to Sarawak. There are only two known waves of Kenyah Bakung migrations to Sarawak. The first in 1971 from Metulang (in the Apokayan in Indonesian Kalimantan) to Long Singut (in the Batang Balleh), and the second wave around 1985 when many Kenyah Bakung males (and their families) were invited to work on the Sepakau cocoa plantations owned by Dato' Tajang Laing and were given malaysian citizenship soon after. These latter Kenyah Bakung mostly came from Mahak (Kalimantan). I think their village was set up around Batu 15 from Belaga (please correct me), and probably some may have joined the settlement at Asap.
shutterhero (50 months ago | reply)
wow, u dig these info! thx for sharing, dlumenta.
jajay, dream0fmirrors, spikeyhelen, and +ΖώΦοΣ+ added this photo to their favorites.