Punan Bah or Punan is an ethnic group found in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The Punan Bah people are distinct and unrelated to the semi-nomadic

Penan The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such p ...

people. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living since time immemorial. They have other names including Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan but those are used only ritually nowadays. The Punan (or Punan Ba) have never been nomadic. In the old days, they based their living on a mixed economy – Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting, especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources, are the other important factors in their economy. However, in the late 1980s, many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrated to urban areas such as

Bintulu Bintulu is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. Bintulu is located northeast of Kuching, northeast of Sibu, and southwest of Miri, Malaysia, Miri. With a population of 114,058 as of 2010, Bintulu ...

Sibu Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of , the city is positioned at the conf ...

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

and

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in search of better living. However, they didn't abandon their longhouses altogether. Many would still return home, especially during major festivities such as

Harvest Festival A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...

or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan. Punan is a stratified society of 'laja' (aristocrats), 'panyen' (commoners), and 'lipen' (slaves). This determines their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.

Relation to sub-ethnic Punans

There is this common misunderstanding that all the so-called Punan on the island of Borneo are related and belong to the same tribe. In

, for example, there is the confusion between Punan and

. On the other hand, throughout the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, the term Punan was often indiscriminately used during colonial times to refer to the then (unknown or yet to be classified) tribes as such as Punan Busang, Penihing, Sajau Hovongan, Uheng Kareho, Merah, Aput, Tubu, Bukat, Ukit, Habongkot, Penyawung as Punan. This heritage from colonial times still remain until today. As a result, there are now more than 20 different tribes or ethnics with the name Punan that may be related or unrelated to one another in the island of

. These tribes include: * Punan Aoheng or Pnihing of

East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...

* Punan Aput of

* Punan Basap of

* Punan Batu of

* Punan Batu 1 of

* Dayak Bukat of

and

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan () is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital and largest city is Pontianak. It is bordered by East Kalimantan and Central ...

* Punan Busang * Punan Habongkot * Punan Hovongan of

Kapuas Hulu Regency Kapuas Hulu Regency is a regency in West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. Located around the upper drainage area of the Kapuas River, it has a total land area of 31,318.25 square kilometres or around 21.3% of West Kalimantan province's area. Th ...

** Punan Bungan of

* Punan Kelay / Kelai of

Berau Regency Berau Regency (, Berau: ''Barrau'') is the most northern of the seven regencies in East Kalimantan province in Indonesia. The capital is the town of Tanjung Redeb. The regency has an area of 36,962.37 km2 and had a population of 179,079 a ...

* Punan Lisum * Punan Merah (Siau) of

* Punan Merap of

* Punan Murung of Murung Raya,

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...

* Punan Nibong of

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

and

* Punan Panyawung * Punan Sajau of

Bulungan Regency Bulungan Regency, formerly known as Bulongan, is a regency of North Kalimantan Province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 13,181.92 km2 and had a population of 112,663 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 151,844 at the ...

North Kalimantan North Kalimantan () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. North Kalimantan borders the Malaysian states of Sabah to the north and Sarawa ...

* Punan Tubu of

* Punan Uheng Kereho / Keriau of

* Punan Ukit / Bukitan / Beketan of

and

Ethnic classification

Officially, as under the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance, Punan is group under Kajang together with Sekapan,

Kejaman The Kejaman people, also known as Kajaman, are an indigenous ethnic group classified under the Orang Ulu of Sarawak, Malaysia. They are part of the Kajang ethnolinguistic cluster, which also includes the Punan, Sekapan, Lahanan and Sihan sub-grou ...

, Lahanan and Sihan. Unofficially, they are also included in the politically coined term

Orang Ulu Orang Ulu ("people of the interior" in Malay) is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia with populations ranging from less than 30 ...

– popularised by a political association known as Orang Ulu National Association or (OUNA). The association is a Kayan and Kenyah dominated association which they established in 1969.

Genetics

Schematic summary of population settlement in Insular Southeast Asia

Research on Northeast Bornean Punan communities revealed them to display strong genetic ancestry connections to each other, and that they form an outgroup to other Austronesian-speaking groups. The results of a 2023 study "support long-term occupation of Borneo by Punan-related people" predating the arrival of other Austronesian-speakers from which they diverged earlier.

Punan longhouses

Punan are mostly found around

, Sarawak. Punan peoples can only be found at Pandan, Jelalong and Kakus in

Bintulu Division Bintulu Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia. It has a total area of , and is the third largest division after Kapit Division and Miri Division. Bintulu Division consists of two districts which is Bintulu ...

; along the

Rajang River The Rajang River () is a river in Sarawak, northwestern Borneo, Malaysia. The river originates in the Iran Mountains, flows through Kapit, and then towards the South China Sea. At approximately , the river is the seventh-longest in Borneo and th ...

, their

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from lumber, timber and ...

s dotted areas spanning from

Merit Merit may refer to: Religion * Merit (Buddhism) * Merit (Christianity) Companies and brands * Merit (cigarette), a brand of cigarettes * Merit Energy Company, an international energy company * Merit Motion Pictures, an independent documentar ...

District to lower Belaga town. The Punan are believed to be one of the earliest peoples to have settled in the central part of Borneo, the Rajang River and Balui areas together with the Sekapan, Kejaman and Lahanan. However, the mass migrations of Kayans, subsequently followed by the warfaring

Ibans The Iban are an indigenous ethnic group native to Borneo, primarily found in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Brunei and parts of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. They are one of the largest groups among the broader Dayak peoples, a term historically ...

into Rejang and Balui areas approximately some 200 years ago, forced the Punan communities living in these areas retreating to Kakus and subsequently to Kemena basin. As of 2006, there were more than 10 Punan settlements (

s) found along the Rejang, Kakus, Kemena and Jelalong river. These settlements (longhouses) are: * Punan Lovuk Sama, * Punan Lovuk Ba, * Punan Lovuk Biau, * Punan Lovuk Meluyou, * Punan Lovuk Lirung Belang (name by Rumah Bilong before and now as known as Rumah Ado) * Punan Lovuk Mina, * Punan Lovuk Pandan (also Rumah Nyipa Tingang), and * Punan Lo'o Buong (Jelalong also known as Rumah Adi. The total Punan population is estimated to be around 3000–5000 people.

Language

Punan speak the

Bah-Biau Punan language Bah-Biau Punan is an Austronesian language spoken by the Punan Bah and Punan Biau people of Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national ce ...

, one of the

Punan languages The Punan languages or Rejang-Sajau languages are a group of mutually intelligible isolects spoken by the Punan and related peoples of Borneo in Indonesia and Malaysia. Classification Smith (2017) classifies Punan dialects as follows: *Seru lan ...

. Although often confused with

, Punan is closer to the language spoken by the Sekapans and Kejamans. Here are some words spoken in Punan:

1. Nu denge? - How are you?
2. Nu ngaro no? - What is your name?
3. Piro umun no? - How old are you?
4. Tupu koman si - Do you have your lunch/dinner/breakfast?

Religion and beliefs

Punan traditional religion was a form of

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

known as "Besavik". The Brooke era saw the arrival of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

missionaries, bringing education and modern medicine into Sarawak. But the Punan communities remain with their traditional religion of Besavik and subsequently adopting a cult religion - Bungan brought by Jok Apui, a Kenyah from Kalimantan. However, the late 1990s showed an increase in the number of Punan converting to Christianity. This is partly due to more and more Punan becoming educated and modernised. As of 2006, almost half of Punan are now Christian, leaving only the elderly, less educated still remain observing "Bungan" religion. The Punan have a unique burial custom. In the early days they did not bury their aristocrats or ''lajar''. Instead they built a pole known as ''kelirieng'' of 50-meter height to lay down their beloved leaders. In Sarawak it is estimated that there are fewer than 30 ''kelirieng'' left standing. The Punan still practise a secondary burial ceremony, whereby the dead body is kept at their longhouses for at least 3–7 days. This is partly to give more time for far-away relatives to pay their last respects to the deceased.

Current associations

There are two Punan associations in existence today: * Persatuan Kebangsaan Punan (Punan National Association), Malaysia. * Yayasan Adat Punan (Punan Culture Foundation), Indonesia.

References

External links

Nicolaisen, IDA
1976. ''Form and Function of Punan Bah Ethno-historical Tradition'' in ''Sarawak Museum Journal'' Vol XXIV No. 45 (New Series). Kuching.
Punan National Association
* Leigh, Micheal. 2002. ''Mapping the People of Sarawak''. UNIMAS. Samarahan.
The Official Punan Community site

New York Times. {{Authority control Ethnic groups in Indonesia Ethnic groups in Sarawak Dayak people