Akar Nusa / Shelves / Sarawak

Shelf

Sarawak

Rivers, longhouses and the many peoples of Sarawak.

Sarawak
SarawakBaramKuching

WHERE THE STORIES ON THIS SHELF HAPPENED. SHAPES ARE SCHEMATIC.

Stories on this shelf

16 written, 9 coming soon

Sarawak · 4 min read

Sarawak: 27 peoples on one river system

The rivers shaped who settled where.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Iban: the sea Dayaks of the Skrang and Rajang

The largest group in Sarawak, famed for longhouses and pua kumbu.

1500 to today
Sarawak · 3 min read

Gawai Dayak: harvest and a new year

A festival that ends the rice year, held on 1 June.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Penan: nomads and settlers of the rainforest

A forest people, some still nomadic, living in the Baram and Belaga.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Foochow of Sibu: the Rajang pioneers

A community led by Wong Nai Siong in 1901.

1901 to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

The longhouse: a village under one roof

The longhouse is the home of the Iban and many other peoples.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Iban migration: how they spread across Borneo

Waves of Iban moved along the Kapuas and Rajang.

1500 to 1900
Sarawak · 4 min read

Bidayuh: the Land Dayaks of the hills

Hill farmers of Serian and Bau with the baruk house.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Melanau: sago people of the coast

A coastal people with a wooden-tomb tradition.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Kenyah: the Orang Ulu of the upper Baram

Known for art and carved longhouses.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Kayan: the stratified rainforest people

A people with chiefs, nobles and commoners.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Kelabit: rice from the Bario highlands

Famous for the Bario rice and cool highland farms.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Malay of Sarawak

Coastal people of Kuching and the Sarawak river.

1400 to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew in Sarawak

Three Chinese groups with their own towns and trades.

1850 to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Pua kumbu: the Iban cloth that tells a story

Woven cloth carrying dreams and family patterns.

to today
Sarawak · 4 min read

Cross-Borneo kinship: Kalimantan, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak

Many peoples live across the borders.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Lun Bawang of Lawas and Limbang

Highland farmers sharing a border with Sabah.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Bisaya, Berawan and Lisum

Smaller peoples of the Baram coast.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Sebob, Punan and the forest nomads

Small peoples who still carry old forest ways.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

The White Rajahs and who came

The Brooke family shaped who settled in Sarawak.

1841 to 1946
Sarawak · Coming soon

Niah Caves: swiftlet nests and ancient bones

The nest gatherers of Niah and their ladders.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Mulu: caves, people and sacred places

A UNESCO site with Berawan and Penan neighbours.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Sape and the Orang Ulu songs

The sape lute is the voice of the rainforest.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Sarawak languages: Austronesian voices of Borneo

Borneo's languages show a story of settlement.

to today
Sarawak · Coming soon

Sarawak's Indian and Eurasian families

A small but old Indian presence in the Sarawak towns.

1850 to today

4 family lines linked to this shelf

A line being common in a place does not mean everyone there carries it, and it never settles who anyone is.

Laboratory standards

Our DNA tests are run with our laboratory partners. These are the standards they work to.

What each standard covers