


The Penan of Long Latei’ belong to the Eastern Penan family group. Eastern Penan normally have a group size of 20 to 40 people with an average household size of 4-5 people (Brosius, 1992). The village chief Jangin, reported that they have been settled in a permanent long house style settlement since 1987. They began with 36 bilik (literally “room” in Malay or Iban language) or amin which now have increased to 68 bilik/amin. A bilik or amin in a longhouse setting represents one family unit. The land where they have constructed their longhouse is their ancestral land. Jagin, the village head states that in the 1970s, the Penan in Long Latei’ were still settling in small huts and practising a nomadic life style . Now they have settled permanently in a longhouse with modern amenities such as electricity and running water.
Although they are now settled and begin to plant hill paddy for their staple food source, the older generation still prefer sago to rice. The Penan in Long Latei’ view rice as a supplementary food source. The rainforest still figures prominently in the daily lives of the Long Latei’ community. It is a source of food and medicine, and also of cultural value to them.
The Penan in Long Latei’ hunt primarily using shotguns and blowpipes with the help of hunting dogs. Jangin conveys that in the olden days, hunting was specifically done by the men but collecting jungle produce was a task shared between the men and women. He states that even though some of them now work with timber companies near their longhouse for subsistence, many still go into the jungle to hunt and gather food to supplement their income. Now the Long Latei’ Penan have to travel further into the jungle for sources of food and supplies of traditional medicine. When the men go hunting, the women of the longhouse will occupy themselves with doing craftwork. The women of Long Latei’ are highly skilled craftsworkers. They weave baskets and mats from rattan to sell to tourists and the people who live near their settlements.
With more exposure and interaction with the outside world, there is an increasing opportunity for Penan children and teenagers to participate in primary and secondary schooling. In Long Latei’, some of the young Penan have managed to get secondary education up to Form Five level and they normally go to secondary schools in towns like Long Lama or Marudi. However, one of the constraints faced by the majority of the parents is the financial burden of sending their children to school. Even with government assistance, they still find it difficult to support the material demands (uniforms, text books, school fees and so forth) that come with their children’s education.
As the sedentary younger generation of Long Latei’ children become more exposed to outside influences through primary and secondary education there is a strong possibility that their ancestral skills of living and surviving in the jungle will become lost forever.