Kayan (Borneo)

Kayan children in festive clothing with earrings and elongated earlobes (around 1925)

The Kayan are a people from Borneo . They live mainly in the interior of the island to Malaysia belonging to the state of Sarawak and to Indonesia belonging Kalimantan . They are counted among the Dayak peoples. The Kayan are often combined with the Kenyah to form the Bahau ethnic group. Traditionally they live in long houses and grow dry rice on arable land that is obtained from the jungle by means of slash and burn .

Kayan man (around 1925)

Their origin is believed to be in the region of the River Kayan in Eastern Kalimantan , but they also settle on the middle courses of the Mahakam and Kapuas . They also immigrated to Sarawak in historical times. There they colonize the rivers Baram , Bintulu and Rajang . Since the Iban expanded northwards at the same time, conflicts arose mainly in the Rajang area, with the Kayan being pushed back a little.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , their number is estimated at around 27,000 people. As a rule, they are counted among the Orang Ulu , which can be roughly translated as "people living upstream". Similar to other Dayak peoples, the Kayan were mainly known for headhunting in the 19th century . Like neighboring peoples, they wore tattoos and elongated earlobes in both sexes.

Their language belongs to the group of about 16 languages, the Kayan-Murik languages, and thus belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages , a branch of the Austronesian language family .

The basics of their culture are essentially similar to that of other Dayak peoples in Borneo. Traditionally, they live in their variant of the long house, which is common throughout Borneo, on a river bank. They grow dry rice on fields that are obtained by slash and burn, which led to shifting cultivation . They also cultivated sago and went hunting and fishing. Their society knew nobles. They are also known for their wood carving and metal work.

Web links

Commons : Kayan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Into the Art of Borneo: The Kenyah-Kayan Tradition ( Memento from July 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• The Pagan Tribes of Borneo by Charles Hose and William McDougall from 1912.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kayan in the Encyclopædia Britannica , viewed August 12, 2006, from the Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.

literature

• Jean-Yves Domalain: Panjamon - I was a headhunter . Piper, May 1998. ISBN 978-3492113830