The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

THE SOCIAL SYSTEM 6^
of the old house, together with all their personal
property.
The Kenyahs form a less homogeneous and
clearly defined tribe than the Kayans ; yet in the
main their social organisation is very similar to
that of the Kayans, although, as regards physical
characters and language as well as some customs,
they present closer affinities with other peoples than
with the Kayans, especially with the Klemantans.
The Kenyah tribe also comprises a number of
named branches, though these are less clearly
defined than the sub-tribes of the Kayan people.
Each branch is generally named after the river on
the banks of which its villages are situated, or were
situated at some comparatively recent time of which
the memory is preserved. In many cases a single
village adopts the name of some tributary stream
near the mouth of which it is situated, and the
people speak of themselves by this name. Thus it
seems clear that the named branches of the Kenyah
tribe are nothing more than local groups formed in
the course of the periodical migrations, and named
after the localities they have occupied.^
The foregoing description of the relations of
a Kayan chief to his people applies in the main to
the Kenyah chief. But among the Kenyahs the
position of the chief is one of greater authority and
consideration than among the Kayans. The people
voluntarily work for their chief both in his private
and public capacities, obeying his commands cheer-
^ All the Kenyahs of the Baram are known as Kenyah Bauh. On the
watershed between the Batang Kayan and the Baram are the Lepu Payah and
the Madang. In the Batang Kayan basin are the Lepu Tau, the Uma Kulit,
Uma Lim, Uma Baka, Uma Jalan, Lepu Tepu. In the Koti basin are the
Peng or Pnihing ; in the Rejang the Uma Klap. These are the principal
branches of the pure Kenyahs ;
each of them comprises a number of scattered
villages, the people of each of which have adopted some local name. In
addition to these there is a number of groups, such as the Uma Pawa and the
Murik in the Baram, and the Lepu Tokong and the Uma Long in the Batang
Kayan, the people of which seem to us to be intermediate as regards all
important characters between the Kenyahs and the Klemantans. (For discussion
of these relations see Chap. XXI.)