The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

246 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
B. 4. Malanau.
5. Miri.
6. Dali.
7. Narom.
8. Sigalang ] /^Q^n-rlver tribes of Ukit stock).
^ ^
9. biduan )
10. Tutong.
11. Balait.
12. Bekiau (traces of a former practice of tatu
occasionally found).
13. Bisaya.
14. Kadayans.
The patterns once employed by the tribes included in
the second section of this list, most of which have adopted
Malay dress and to some extent Malay customs, are lost
beyond recall. The Land Dayaks display absolute
ignorance of tatu, and aver that they never indulged in
the practice. Maloh and Punan men ornamented with
but they
Kayan tatu designs we have often encountered ;
have no designs of their own, and attach no special
significance to their borrowed designs.^
We may note here that the ornamentation of the body
by means of raised scars and keloids is not known in
Borneo. Both men and women of several tribes will test
their bravery and indifference to pain by setting fire to a
row of small pieces of tinder placed along the forearm, and
the scars caused by these burns are often permanent, but
should not be mistaken for decorative designs. Carl Bock
(2, PI. 1 6) 2 figures some Punan women with rows of
keloids on the forearms, but states (p. 71) that these are
due to a form of vaccination practised by these people.
The Kayans are, with one or two exceptions, the most
tatued race in Borneo, and perhaps the best tatued from an
artistic point of view ; the designs used in the tatu of the
men have been widely imitated, and much ceremonial is
connected with the tatu of the women, an account of which
we give below. Generally speaking, the true Klemantan
designs are quite simple, and it is noteworthy that
although theKenyah tribes most nearly akin to Kayans have
^ Nieuwenhuis also notes (9, p. 451) that men in the course of their travels
amongst other tribes permit themselves to be tatued with the patterns in vogue
with their hosts.
^ These figures refer- to the bibliography printed at the end of this chapter,
vol. i., p. 280.