Penan

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The Penan are an indigenous people group on the island of Borneo . They are counted among the Dayak peoples. The Penan are around 10,000 strong and live in both the Malaysian state of Sarawak and Kalimantan , the part of the island that belongs to Indonesia .

The Penan are divided into the eastern Penan , who live in the Baram and Limbang rivers , and the western Penan , who live in the Balui (the upper Rajang region ) and the Silat tributary of the Baram .

Originally nomadic hunters and gatherers , today only a few hundred Penan in the eastern part of Sarawak hold on to the nomadic way of life in the tropical rainforest . The majority now live in longhouses .

In addition to hunting, fishing and collecting over 300 different wild fruits, roots and plants, the traditional livelihood of the Penan is the production of sago flour from the sago palm . The sago palm covers the need for carbohydrates .

Young Dayak hunter (collector) in Kalimantan (southern part of Borneo) at the time of the Dutch colonization

Way of life

The Penan settle in simple huts after finding an area with sufficient sago deposits. These huts consist of a platform, a roof covered with sago palm leaves and have no walls. When the sago deposits in this location are exhausted, they move on.

When hunting, the Penan use a blowpipe with which they shoot poisoned arrows. The poison used here , called tajem , is obtained from the sap of the Upas tree (Antiaris toxicaria) and brings the heart of the prey to a standstill. Birds , red deer , monkeys , lizards and wild boars are hunted . Because of the need for minerals , the animals are eaten with their skin and blood. The Penan also keep pets , but they are not killed for consumption. The Penan are considered skilled in the production of wickerwork from rattan and parang (term for a Dayak- typical form of one-handed sword, which is used as a working tool, machete, but also as a weapon).

Most of the Penan are illiterate . In contrast, their knowledge of the biological relationships in the surrounding rainforest is very extensive. According to a study, the Penan know, for example, over 100 different fruit-bearing trees and 50 different medicinal plants, 8 different arrow poisons and 10 plant poisons for fishing .

The Penan society is hardly hierarchical. There are hardly any differences between the sexes. The hunt is done by the men, the extraction of the sago flour is primarily the task of the women. Beyond that, however, there is no specialization. The coexistence is described by observers as relatively peaceful and low in conflict. Private property in our sense is not known. Sharing food and utensils is common. Not sharing is considered the greatest offense. In contrast to other Dayak peoples such as the Iban or the Bidayuh , the Penan were never headhunters .

The culture of the Dayak peoples is exposed to strong pressure to adapt from the government, missionaries and the western way of life of the ethnic groups around them. Most of the Penan today are Christianized , even if mostly only superficially . Originally the Penan have their own ethnic religion and believe in a supreme god, Bungan . The Penan have no concept of time . They do not count days or years, birthdays and ages are unknown. The Penan did not know any maps in our sense, but by naming landscape features after past events they had a kind of mental map of their area in their heads.

Rainforest deforestation threat

However, the traditional way of life of the Penan today is threatened by the ever deeper penetration of logging companies into the pristine rainforest areas. A mere 10% of Sarawak's virgin forests are considered to be reasonably intact, these remaining areas are mainly on the territory of the Penan. The nomadic Penan are dependent on the rainforest, as they are dependent on the wild animals, sago palms and other plants found in it (for their traditional medicine, among other things ). Therefore, the extermination of the rainforest also means the disappearance of traditionally living Penan. The advancing deforestation also leads to increased pollution of the rivers, which is why diseases are spreading among the Penan (as well as among all Dayak peoples who still use unfiltered river water). The Penan's health deteriorated due to malnutrition , the spread of malaria and the disappearance of traditional medicinal plants . The government can only inadequately guarantee the supply of the nomadic Penan with western medicine. Even with the settled Penan, the relationship to the rainforest is still strong.

Network of lumberjack roads for the purpose of "selective" deforestation, eastern Kalimantan, Indonesian part of Borneo; in the upper right corner of the picture: still unforested forest with a dense canopy

With the destruction of the forest and its areas, knowledge of their history and ancestors is also lost. Relationships and a complex name system strengthen cohesion. Today the knowledge of the culture is dwindling, western clothing, canned food, tools and the use of rifles instead of the blowgun are spreading.

The Penan became internationally known for their non-violent blockades of access roads for the timber industry from 1987 to the early 1990s . There were several human rights violations by the government and workers in the timber industry. Many Penan were temporarily detained. To this day, the Penan are fighting for recognition of their land rights and an end to forest destruction.

The Penan gained further notoriety through the Swiss Bruno Manser , who lived with them from 1984 to 1990, adapted to their way of life and supported them in their non-violent resistance. Since May 2000 he has been lost in the rainforest.

literature

  • Wade Davis, Ian MacKenzie, Shane Kennedy: Nomads of the Dawn: The Penan of the Borneo Rain Forest . Pomegranate Art Books, San Francisco 1995, ISBN 0-87654-357-3 .
  • Hartmut K. Hildebrand: The hunter groups Borneos. (= Munich ethnological treatises. Volume 2). Dissertation . Minerva, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-597-10294-8 .
  • Bruno Manser: Voices from the rainforest. Evidence of a threatened people . Zytglogge, Gümligen 1992, ISBN 3-7296-0386-8 .
  • Bruno Manser: Diaries from the Rainforest 1984–1990. 4 volumes. Merian, 2004, ISBN 3-85616-233-X .

Movie

  • The last nomads in the jungle of Borneo . Documentary, Canada, France, 2008, 52 min., Director: Andrew Gregg, summary by arte
    The film accompanies the Canadian anthropologist and linguist Ian Mackenzie during his encounters with the Penan, who have just settled down. ( arte.tv )
  • Tong Tana - Das verlorene Paradies (Original title ( Swedish ): Tong Tana - En resa till Borneos inre ), documentary, Sweden 1989, 88 min., Directors: Björn Cederberg, Kristian Petri. The film shows the Penan a few years after the beginning of their blockades and Bruno Manser living with them. Alec Baldwin could be won as a speaker for the English version .
  • Bruno Manser - Fight for the Rainforest . Documentary, Switzerland , 94 min., Written and directed by Christoph Kühn, produced by Filmkollektiv Zürich , Marianne Bucher. The film shows the fulfillment of the childhood dream of a man who came from a foreign country and managed to be accepted by the Penan and to be remembered by them. ( Page on film )
  • BE 'JAM BE the never ending song (original title: BE' JAM BE et cela n'aura pas de fin. ) Documentary, France, Switzerland, 2017, 85 min., Directors: Caroline Parietti, Cyprien Ponson, production: Les Obliques, DAWAI DAWAI ( page to the film )

Web links

Commons : Penan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files