Lidung Jelo (also known as Lidong Jelor) is a remote Kenyah's longhouse settlement in the mountainous interior located by the Plieran river bank, Belaga division of Sarawak. There are many local fruit trees like durian, alim, terap, rambutan and langsat which still grows wild in these old settlement areas.
Sarawak is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Kalimantan to the south, and Brunei in the north. The capital city, Kuching, is the largest city in Sarawak, the economic centre of the state, and the seat of the Sarawak state government. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu. As of the 2015 census, the population of Sarawak was 2,636,000. Sarawak has an equatorial climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park. Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia; Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in Sarawak.
This place is very important in Kenyah oral history because it is one of the earlier settlements that is used to be the most strategic and stronghold for the Kenyah in the Plieran area.
History
Lidung Jelo, at Usun Apau Plieran (Pliran / Plieran / Pleiran / Peliran) is a Kenyah Badeng old village settlement in 1920s, Belaga district. This place was visited a few times in the late 1930s, 1940s, 1977, 1980s, 1989 and 2006 by a few groups of Kenyah Badeng to verify the old longhouse sites. Due to the great pressure from the Baram Resident Officer, in 1891, practically all the inhabitants of the Baram had accepted the Rajah's government and acknowledged it by the payment of any tax, called door-tax of two dollars per family. The Kenyahs, do not feel needed of any such protection, were less ready to accept the Resident's proposals. First of all, they desired peace, or at any rate less warfare, and it was possible to convince them that this result might be achieved by pointing to other districts such as the Rejang and Jenalong (Tubau), with whose affairs they had some acquaintance. Most of them eventually start to move from Lidung Jelo go to upper Plieran and entered the Medang river (a tributary of the hulu Plieran river) adjacent to the river that flows into the Teboken river then Data river and settled at the confluence of the so-called Long Teboken. Three (3) years later they went to Long Benalui (not far from Mudong Alan) another tributary to Data river and not far from the Silat river in Baram district.
Usun Apau Plieran is a remote abandoned Kenyah Jamuk, Badeng and Lepu Aga' village settled in 1860, Belaga district. To be exact, Usun Apau Plieran is located at the upstream of Sungai Plieran and Sungai Tiyut. The highest peak that close to this area are Bukit Busing 1300m and Mudung Batu Bora about 1450m. There are a few old longhouse sites in this area such as Long Metalon, Long Ampan Aing, Long Bora, Long Taa, Ka Laeh, Lidung Jelo and Lolau Mabo.
The Kenyah people are an indigenous, Austronesian-speaking people of Borneo, living in the remote Baram, Data Kakus, Data Surau, Senap River, Long Dungan, Long Busang, Long Beyak, Bintulu, Miri, Asap River resettlement for Bakun Dam, Long Bulan, Long Jawe and Belaga regions in Sarawak, Malaysia and the remote Apau Kayan, Bahau (Bau), Benua Lama, Benua Baru and Mahakam regions in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Although the whole area was thickly covered with undergrowth we can easily find several of the old pile upright in the ground and painted most of it in yellow. The site was more than 350 feet long with large fruit trees to mark the ends of the settlement. In those days the Kenyahs buried their dead in hollow tree-trunks twenty to thirty feet high, on which they craved patterns called 'uduk'. The dead man's body with all his earthly treasures would be placed inside and a heavy stone laid on top. It is easy for the trunks to fall as there was no one looking after the burial site for a long time.
During our recent expedition to the village site in Lidung Jelo, Usun Apau Plieran, we found more than three upright piles (a real hardwood called 'kayu merang') of old houses in a straight line still remained in the ground.
Pile #1 of an old house found in Lidung Jelo, Plierana pile #3 of an old house in Lidung Jelo, Plieransmall boat & water levels rise after heavy rain overnight at Lidung Jelo
The Rajang River is a river in Sarawak, Malaysia. The river is located in northwest of Borneo and it originates in the Iran Mountains. The river flows approximately 563 km into Kapit, and then to the South China Sea, making it the longest river in Malaysia.
Punan Ba or Punan is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia and in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Punan Bah people are distinct and unrelated to the semi-nomadic Penan people. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living since time immemorial. They do have other names: Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan. But those terms are only used ritually these days.
Belaga is a district in Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located on the upper reaches of the Rajang River, some 120 kilometers northeast of Kapit as the crow flies but considerably further on the river and slightly less than 100 kilometers from the South China Sea coast near Bintulu. It is located within the Hulu Rajang parliamentary constituency.
Marudi is a town on the Baram River in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Marudi is a quiet town situated inland from Miri, similar in size to Kapit though nowhere near as busy. Its main attraction is another of the Brooke outposts, the beige wooden Fort Hose. It is the cultural heart of Sarawak's highland tribesfolk, collectively called Orang Ulu. Before Miri was founded, Marudi was the administrative centre of the northern region of Sarawak.
The Kenyah languages are a group of half a dozen or so closely related languages spoken by the Kenyah peoples of Borneo. They are:
Long Moh is a longhouse settlement in the Marudi division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 551.6 kilometres (343 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Anap is a longhouse and settlement in the Marudi division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 525.2 kilometres (326 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching, in the upper reaches of the Baram River.
Long Apu is a longhouse in the mountainous interior of the Marudi division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 527.5 kilometres (328 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Selatong is a Kenyah longhouse in the Marudi division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 531.2 kilometres (330 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Julan is a Kenyah longhouse in the interior of the Miri division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 524.6 kilometres (326 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Lio Matoh is a remote Kenyah Badeng longhouse settlement in the mountainous interior of the Marudi division of Sarawak, Malaysia, not far from the border with Indonesia. It lies approximately 572.6 kilometres (356 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Laput is a settlement in the rural interior of the Marudi district of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 514.3 kilometres (320 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Selaan is a settlement in Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 553.9 kilometres (344 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Sarawak's population is very diverse, comprising many races and ethnic groups. Sarawak has more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. This makes Sarawak demography very distinct and unique compared to its Peninsular counterpart.
The Baram Dam, also known as Baram 1 Dam, is a proposed gravity dam on the Baram River in Sarawak, Malaysia. The site of the dam is 250 kilometres (160 mi) inland from Miri, the second largest city in Sarawak. The dam is part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy and, if completed, would support a 1,200 MW power station. In November 2015, the Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem announced that the Sarawak government had decided to shelf the Baram Dam because the people in Baram did not welcome the plan.
Data Kakus is a remote Kenyah Badeng village settlement in the hilly interior of the Ulu Kakus Tatau division of Sarawak, Malaysia elevates to 650 metres, not far from Tubau and Belaga district. To be exact, Data Kakus is located at the upstream of Sungai Burok and Sungai Nyabet. The highest peak in Ulu Kakus is called Gunung Lumut about 828m located on the peak of Lumut Range not too far from Sungai Bekuyat and Sungai Kakus.
Guy Arnold is a British explorer, travel writer, political writer and specialist in north-south relations who writes mainly in the areas of African history, politics, and international affairs. He is based in Marylebone, London.
References
Vom Roy; Tan Chee Beng (1993). The migration of Kenyah Badeng or Madangs: A study based on oral history, Institute of Advanced Studies Universiti Malaya.
Hose, Charles; McDougall, William (1912). The pagan tribes of Borneo; a description of their physical, moral and intellectual condition, with some discussion of their ethnic relations, vol.2. Macmillan and Co. Ltd. p. 279. Archived from the original on 1 July 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Arnold, Guy; Longhouse and jungle (1959): An expedition to Sarawak Guy Arnold p.115, p.122 (map), p.123, p.124.
Hose, Charles (1900). IN THE HEART OF BORNEO (1900): Geographical Journal London By Charles Hose p.40-p.52 (1900).
Arnold, Guy (1959). The Usun Apau Plateau Guy Arnold p.167, p.170, p.172 (the map - figure 3), p.173, p.175 (a.excavations), p.176.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
