Bintulu

The Melanaus : An Overview

Old Bintulu town

HISTORY AND RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS

Historically, the Melanau race like any other ethnic groups in Sarawak had no consciousness of belonging to a certain ethnic group. In history, a Melanau did not identify himself as a Melanau but in terms of his settlement (leboh or kapong) and the river system along which the settlement is found. A 'Likou Uya' implies all the inhabitants of the River Oya, whereas a 'Likao Medong' refers to the people of that village. On a map published in Italy 1595, the world Malano is written along the coast roughly where the rivers Oya, Mukah and Balingian run. The inhabitants of that area, however, say that they have never called themselves a Melanau.

Common to indigenous groups in Sarawak is their cognatic or bilateral social organization. This refers to a "kinship system in which the ascription of statuses is based on kinship ties traced equally through both the maternal and paternal sides, or which allows a choice to be made in affiliation between the father's and the mother's kin.". For example, descent in indigenous societies in Sarawak is ambilateral and so is residence after marriage.

The close historical cultural affinity of the Melanau with the Orang Ulu groups is found in their material culture. Their (Melanau) archaic home stood in a groove of coconut trees. In some respects it appeared like a Kayan longhouse and in others like one built by Ibans. Its most curious feature, however, belong to neither Kayan nor Iban architecture. The common-room running its length had family apartments leading off on both sides, not only on one. The Melanau longhouse has no exterior verandah, but a long, wide central corridor serves the purpose of like Iban exterior verandah. They stayed in longhouses of 40 to 50 families.

LEGENDARY CHIEF

Before the coming of Islam around about the 15th century, the Melanaus were all Pagans and were ruled by their own chiefs. The most famous chief was the legendary Tugau, who lived in the Retus, a tributary of the Igan River. Tugau, harboring under illusions of grandeur, one day decided to challenge the Brunei Sultanate and demanded tribute and submission from Sultan Mohammad. It was a foolhardy challenge.

The Melanaus were badly beaten in two decisive attacks and Brunei claimed its territory from the Tutong to the Igan as part of its empire. The Melanau chiefs where later replaced with Brunei Pengirans and a good deal of inter-marriages took place between the Brunei noblemen and the Melanau women. Their descendants are to be found in many of the coastal areas to this day.

Although the group northeast from Bintulu was not usually regarded as Melanau, it was recognized that in some not very well defined way, they were related to the Coastal Melanau and other groups on the Upper Rejang, the Balui, the Tatau and the Tinjar Rivers. These groups showed connections with the coastal Melanau, even though, unlike the coastal people, most of them were shifting cultivators and not sedentary farmers growing the sago palm.

SAGO IN THE MELANAU LIFE

Sago is the starch extracted from the pithy centre of the sago palm tree which grows in coastal swamps. Sago plays an extremely important role in the life of Melanaus and to pay tribute to this major produce, the Melanaus have a special dance dedicated to it.

The entire process of processing sago flours is depicted in the movements of this dance called 'Tari Mengarang' - from the stage when the felled sago palm trunk in sawn and scrapped, and then trampled for its flour content to the final step when it is made into final step when it is made into edible sago pearls.

The co-operation between the Melanau men and women in this vital work, a spirit that spills in to their daily lives, also comes across very strongly in the dance.

Penakub, a little village east of Mukah, has several sago production factories which are mainly run by Chinese towkays. Labor at the mechanized albeit primitive factories is provided by the Melanaus. But life at Penakub is so informal that it is difficult to tell Chinese towkay and the Melanau laborers especially when the constant exposure to the harsh sun has turned the skin of most the Chinese there into a leathery brown.

Perhaps sago was also the staple food for Orang Ulu belonging to the Endo-Bornean groups, though it is not exclusive as sago is known to other groups. For the Melanau, sago culture is most lasting and developed. It has enabled them to live a semi-sedentary life.

MARRIAGES

Amongst the Melanaus, there is a system of rank and every person belongs to a certain rank or 'bangsa'. Marriages between members of different 'bangsa' were generally frowned upon. The Melanaus also have an interesting dowry system based on these ranks. For the first rank, a damascene sword and 30 pikuls of brassware were regarded as the appropriate dowry; the second rank, a damascene sword and nine pikuls of brassware; the third rank, a damascene spear and seven pikuls of brassware; the fourth rank, a plain spearhead and five pikuls of brassware; and the fifth rank, a plain spear of cloth and varying weights of brassware ranging from one to four pikuls. Today, land, gold or cash are given in lieu of the brasswar.

The present day Melanau are increasingly getting mobile. This lies with the poor swampy areas that the Melanaus are found in. Dependence on a mono-cash crop made the Melanau highly vulnerable. Machinization in the sagoindustry have reduces Melanao to mere cultivators of sago. Modernization has also accelerated the social relationship of the Melanau. For example, education gives rise to rural-urban migration. With migration, contact with other ethnic groups consequently increases inter-ethnic marriages. Thus, there is a progressive aspect in a multi-ethnic society.

Source : Berita Binda