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

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Identification: Penan or Punan?

In the past, the Penan were mainly a hunting and gathering society. According to Sercombe and Sellato (2007, p4), hunter-gatherer refers to groups of people who rely on hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants and fishing for food.  They do not have history of agricultural skills but they are highly skilled hunters and are skilled in surviving in the  rain forest.

The Punans1 on the other hand, are a distinct tribal group with a hierarchical class structure that have settled in the Belaga area. They have been agriculturist and sedentary for a long period. However, Needham states that there are various nomadic Punan groups in Borneo (in Sercombe & Sellato, 2007, p50). 

The Punan Bah are the subgroup of the Kajang people (de Martinour, 1974; I. Nicolaisen, 1976 in Langub 1989, p170). The Punan Bah speak a dialect related to the Sekapan, Kejaman and Lahanan which is not intelligible to the Penan. These groups are also very different culturally. The Punan Bah are a hierarchical society while the Penan are egalitarian (Langub, 1989, p170). An example of the egalitarianism of the Penan is illustrated by the Long Lewe’ villagers. In the past, to select a leader, the group would vote. The uniqueness of this electoral process is that  a fern frond is used in the voting process. The fern frond is held by one person, with each side of the fern blades representing one of the contesting candidates. Each member of the group will pick their chosen candidate by plucking one side of the blade of the fern frond. The candidate that is chosen by the group is the candidate that has the most number of blades plucked.

The Punan Bah are different in their subsistence technology, settlement and social organisation as well. The Punan Bah have been agriculturalists for a very long time while the Penan, were or have until recently, been  practising nomadism (Langub, 1989, p170).

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  • 1 There is still a lack of literature on the Punan peoples. It is probably due to the scarcity of information available that have led many to confuse them with the Penan.