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Tours
to Apokayan Culture
Wealth in Borneo 's Deep
Dense Jungle
Apokayan
Background
The name Apokayan comes
from "Apoh Kayan", which means 'high plains of the Kayan' as the area
is around the upper stream of the Kayan River. The Apokayan region is
isolated and cut off from the downstream part of the Kayan river due of
rapids. The best way is to reach it overland from the Upper Mahakam,
via the Boh River trekking three to four days to Sungai Barang. Because
of it's isolated position, it took a long time before the first western
influences arrived. The fundamentalistic mission, which has been active
for over 70 years now, has influanced a part of the traditional Dayak
culture here. Because of the inevitable transport problems, the ecology
is still in tact. Who wants to watch birds can best visit one of the
many side rivers of the Kayan. But there are also plenty of wild pigs
and deer, among them the muntjak (the barking deer).
The Kenyah Dayak at Apokayan believe that their ancestors originally
inhabited the area around the Belaga River in Sarawak. They left their
environment early 19 century, as they feared the fierce headhunting
Iban. Scattered living Kayan communities had already settled earlier in
the area and small wars between the new people and the original
population were inevitable. Finally, the Kayan had to subject
themselves to the Kenyah, which overruled them by number and
organisation.
The ethnograpical theory gives another image on certain parts. That
tells that the Kenyah Dayak settled among the Kayan along the Bahau
River, north of Apokayan, before the 18th century. The more developed
and peacefull Kayan civilized them a little. After the Kayan started to
spread out in the second half of the 18th century, the Kenyah slowly
entered Apokayan.
Traces of traditional socal hierachy is still found in Apokayan,
however it is far less clear than before the independence.
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Migration
& Mass Exodus
The population of Apokayan has decreased dramatically in the late 20th
century, and has now only a few thousand inhabitants. The number of
inhabitants in a
village varies between several dozen and several hundred.
Some of them settled around Long Betaoh and Long Musang, about three
days trekking crossing the border to Sarawak. Others migrated in
Kalimantan to villages along the middel-Mahakam and her side-rivers.
Some settlements are Ritan Baru, Bila Tabang, Muara Wahau, Long Segar,
Muara Ancalong, Rukun Damai, and Data Bilang.And about twenty years ago
about 200 families migrated to Pampang, a village about 40km north of
Samarinda.
Apokayan
Today
The people left behind in Apokayan became hopefull for improvement of
their situation when airstrips at Long Apung and Long Dian were built
in the 1970's. Pilots of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flew
the routes regularly. But goods stayed unaffordable. Regular commercial
flights are still not available. DAS (Dirgantara Airline Service) is
flying the route for both freight as well as passengers.But it's hard
to get the available seats, and flights can be canceled for weeks even
months, a reservation one month in advance is recommended but still
give no guarantee. Since there is enough agricultural soil, there are
regular connections and schools built by the government, the exodus
seemed to have stopped. Nevertheless the most remote part of the region
still have big social and economical problems. Like everywhere in the
inlands there is a big shortage of teachers, doctors and medicine.
Because of financial support by the Indonesian government, there is a
start of economical development. Governmental offices are staffed with
local personnel and the 'road system', normally just wide footpaths, is
extended and improved. Probably the most important issue to stop the
exodus are the subsidized DAS flights to the most remote places of the
island.
Apokayan consists of two subdistricts: Kayan Hulu ('Upstream') and
Kayan Hilir ('downstream'). The 5,000 inhabitants of Kayan Hulu are
Kayan Dayak. Hilir only has a few hundred inhabitants, among them even
less Kayan Dayak.
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Daily
Activities (Planting a ladang)
Dry rice-cultures often bring up large amounts of rice. But rice is a
delicate product and drought or early or late rains can devastate the
entire harvest. Starvation is unknown here, because strong crops like
yam and maniok, as well as the sago from the wild sagopalm, will replae
rice in times of need.
Income comes from exports of forest products: damar-raisin (a maximum
of ten tonnes a year), the aromatic aloe-wood (gaharu; about six tonnes
a year) and gold (three kilo's a year). There is more than enough
ratten, but that's hardly exported, because of transportproblems.
The population of these areas have a hard time buying daily needs like
soap, salt, gasoline, baking oil, because they are a lot more expensife
than in the coastal areas.
The Kayan River can be used in the mountains, but it turns into one big
row of rapids more downstream. In the lowlands it flows to Selat
Makassar via Tanjung Selor. The Brem-Brem or Giram Ambun ('Rapids of
the fog') are 33 kilometers long. This foaming and strong barricade was
never broken, not alife. River trade between Apokayan and Tanjung Selor
and Long Bia, the last village where the Kayan could buy cheap goods,
is impossible.
During the colonial time, a two meter wide path was created in the
jungle around Giram Ambon to supply the region. In the 1920's and
1930's, boats from the Dutch government created good transport at both
sides of the rapids. Twelve boats at one time, each with a ton of
goods, moored for Giram Ambon, and the carriers transported the goods
to Long Nawang. Men and carriers were paid well and subsidised
tradegoods found their way through the region. The path was abandoned
after the Second World War and is almost entire overgrown nowadays.
.
Headhunters
History
In 1901, the first Dutchman, a civil servant from the colonial
govenment, arrived on foot and by canoo in Apokayan from the Mahakam
area. The Dutch government feared the territorial actions of raja
Charles Brooke and extension of the British influencial area over
Sarawak. The headhunting trips of the Iban from Sarawak took place, as
assumed, with permission from Brooke.
In 1907 the Dutch founded a temporary outpost in Long Nawang, the
strategical center of Apokayan. In an answer to the accusation of
Sarawak that 'Dutch' Kenyah violated British soil, the Dutch founded a
permanent garrison in Long Nawang in 1911. To minimize the bureaucratic
problems, the head of Long Nawang was named leader over entire
Apokayan, and he also had to stop the headhunting trips.
In 1924, an international peace conference was held in Sarawak.
Representatives from the Dutch government, authorities fom Sarawak and
representatives from Kenyah, Iban and other Dayak populations. The
Dayak voted for ending their brawls and headhunting trips. However
'free-lance' headhunters still beheaded some people, the trips were
stopped officially in 1930.
Christainity
A mission started working in Apokayan in 1929, and five Dutch officers
and seventy soldiers from Ambon, Menado and Jawa were permanently
stationed in Long Nawang. Missionary George Fiske was supported by the
United States Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1929. The protestant
Fiske was very fanatic and his conversion work soon had success.
The fundamentalist mission had little to do with the traditional
religions, in which animism and ancestral honour played an important
part. The missionaries saw the woodcarvings and the rytes from the
Dayak as work from the devil. The confrontation ended up in problems.
Villages fell apart and residents moved out.
The start of the catholic mission in 1967 came at just the same time
that the government officially abolished animism. The Dayak were in
fact forces to adapt a religion which was acknowledged by the
government (catholicism, protestantism, islam, hinduism or buddhism),
branded by a holy book and believe in one leader.
With the eye on unity of entire Indonesia the government was not paying
any attention to local religions. Because of this, the Dayak had the
chance to be compared with the atheist people, synonimous for the
number one enemy of the state: the communist. The result is that the
Dayak from Apokayan are 25 per cent catholic and 75 per cent
protestant. Besides a widespread believe in spirits and several old
uses, there is nothing left from the original culture, a small revival
to be forgotten.
In 1947, one christianized Lepo Jalan Kenyah had a dream, in which the
goddess Bungan Malan appeared. She desired a simplified version of the
traditional religion, without many obligations; the only sacrifices
would be eggs. She herself would become the upper god of the new
religion. The dream lead to the Bungan cult, which proposed a
simplification of the hierarchical social structure. The cult had
little success in Apokayan, but several aristocratic Kenyah and Kayan
from Sarawak got intrigued by the new religion and spread it among
their own people. The Bungan cult became popular among them upto today.
Apokayan
Tourism
The Apokayan Region is an isolated area in the mountain range with the
border of Malaysian Borneo. Tourist who are visiting Apokayan region
are a few, time and costs are the case, flights to and from Apokayan
are a few (ask for the latest updates of flight schedules)and done by
small six seats cesna planes.Reservations for flights have to be done
at least one month in advance.Other possibilties to reach Apokayan area
are by trekking from the Mahakam or Kayan river, estimated travel time
is up to two weeks.
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Along Borneo
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