Background of Penan People

About

The Penan are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. 

Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.

A Penan Lady

Demographics

The Penan number around 16,000 of which only approximately 200 still live a nomadic lifestyle. Penan numbers have increased since they began to settle. The Penan can be broken down into 2 groups which are known as Eastern Penan and Western Penan. The Eastern Penan resides around Miri, Baram, Limbang and Tutoh whereas the Western Penan resides around Belaga.

They can be considered as a native group in their own right, with a language distinct from other neighbouring native groups such as the Kenyah, Kayan, Murut and Kelabit. However, in government censuses they are more broadly classified as Orang Ulu(Upriver People) and Dayak(all of Sarawak’s indigenous people).

Penan men's traditional costume

Penan women's traditional costume

Language

The Penan speaks Malayo-Polynesian which is a branch of the Austronesian language family. It forms an own group within the Borneo branch of the Borneo-Philippines languages. It may be somewhat related to the Kenyah languages and might show some evidence of a non-Austronesian substratum that might be related to Orang Asli type of language.

A Penan family

Long House

Lifestyle

Penan communities were predominantly nomadic up until 1950s. Since 1950, consistent programmes by the state government and foreign Christian missionaries to settle Penan into longhouse-based villages cause most of the Penan to abolish their nomadic lifestyle.

The Penan now cultivate rice and garden vegetables but many rely on their diets of sago, jungle fruits and their prey which usually include wild boar, barking deer, mouse deer and also snakes. Since they practice ‘molong’, they pose little strain on the forest: they rely on it and it supplies them with all they need. They are outstanding hunters and catch their prey using a ‘kelepud’ (blowpipe) made of Belian Tree (superb timber) and carved out with unbelievable accuracy using a bone drill. The darts are made of sago palm and tipped with poisonous latex of Tajem tree. The poisonous latex can kill a human in a matter of minutes. Everything that is caught is shared among the Penan, so there is no such word as ‘Thank You’ because help is assumed. However, ‘jian kenin’ which means feel good is typically used in settled communities, as a kind of equivalent to ‘Thank You’. 

There are very few Penan living in Brunei anymore and their way of life is changing due to the pressure that encourage them to live in permanent settlements and adopt year-around farming.

A Penan people using 'kelepud'

'Kelepud'