Sarawak Culture Sarawak Penan Culture People of the Forest : The Penan

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Main Penan Settlements

Ba' Puak

Ba’ Puak is a nomadic Penan settlement, located in the Long Selulung area, about 3 hours drive from the Kayan settlement of Long Bedian.  The settlement is isolated and can only be accessed using a disused logging road. The Penan settlement in Ba’ Puak  is very different from the  settlement in Long Latei’.

At Ba Puak, the settlement consists of huts called sulap. These huts are made using cut down tree trunks, lashed together using vines, with the roofs made using palm leaves and tarpaulins. Tarpaulins are used because the giant palm leaves are now difficult to obtain The huts are cramped, with no privacy for the occupants. A small hearth or purok is all that constitutes as a kitchen in these huts.

The majority of these huts are built on the spines of steep ridges, with a small stream dividing the settlement into three clusters of huts. The majority of these huts lie abandoned temporarily with most of the occupants away in the dense jungle hunting and foraging for food and jungle produce. Only a few inhabitants stay behind and the foraging parties might be away for a day, a week or even a month2.

Three huts are different from all the others in that they are built using sawn timber planks and have corrugated zinc roofing. However, the design of these huts remains faithful to the traditional layout, as mentioned above.

 
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  • 2 According to Chen (1990, p23), the Eastern nomadic Penan tend to build a main camp which serves as a storage camp and they also tend to build their huts some four to seven feet above the ground. They then move from one temporary camp to another in search of food. The Western nomadic Penan conversely tend to build their huts slightly lower at three feet off the ground and usually settle in a main camp for about two years. In the meantime, they move about in smaller groups leaving behind the children and the old in the main camp. Chen reported that the movements of the nomadic groups occur on average of three times a year. This will vary according to the amount of food available especially the availability of pigs and sago. Once the area is nearly exhausted of its resources, the group will move on to a new place bringing with them their few belongings. Chen also stated that the nomadic Penan have some kind of pattern of movement although it is not necessarily consistent. They practice the concept of molong or conservation. They tend to return to their original site after a certain period. This will allow the sago palms and other jungle produce to regenerate for use again.