Ethnohistory of the Kayanic peoples in northeast Borneo (part 1): evidence from their languages, old ethnonyms, and social organization (1).

The Bulungan Sultan called for Segai (here, Kayanic peoples) (2) soldiers from Berau and Bulungan and sent them to the Sebuku basin several times, until all the villages of the Sumbol Tidung (3) were abandoned. Successive wars then broke out all over the neighboring regions even as far away as Simunul Island under the Sulu Sultanate. The Bulungan army force, the Segai as well as the Sumbol Tidung (of Nunukan), including Maharaja Pahlawan, (4) went altogether to fight against the Sulu (Tausug), and they nearly defeated them. However, the Segai, who were not used to life on the water, attempted to take a rest on land. So, the armies collected at the south end of Tawi-Tawi Island, a coast with pure white sand and rocks, during the ebb tide. There, they met the Bajau (Sama) inhabitants, subjects of the Sulu, who counterattacked against them. Due to the tide flooding, the Bulungan armies could no longer return to their ships, and were finally killed by the Bajau. Thus, the Bulungan armies retreated from the Sulu islands, thereby determining the boundary with the Sulu as far as the Tawi-Tawi coast. This happened in the reign of the Sulu Sultan, Tigal Bina Tala. (5)

Oral History of the Sumbol Tidung, Kalabakan (Tawau)

Introduction: Impact of Kayanic Peoples on Northeast Borneo

The challenges of conducting a historical study of northeast Borneo--the ethnic and political buffer area from the east coast of Sabah (Malaysia) through the northern parts of East Kalimantan (Indonesia)--are not only due to a scarcity of written sources owing to the lateness of colonial involvement in the region, but also to other reasons. As some historians have suggested (Irwin 1955:153, Warren 1985:84-92), there have been frequent changes of, and confusion over, place names and ethnonyms. Because the names of places and peoples have changed over the years, it is difficult to identify current places and peoples from names that were used in the past, like "Camcones," "Tirun," "Tidong/Tidung," or "Segai/Segai-i [s[??]gai:]," "Kejin/Kindjin," or "Kayan." In addition, names have changed not only through time and across local dialects, but have been intentionally altered as people have sought to differentiate themselves from their rivals. The two dominant powers of the area, the coastal Tidung and the inland Kayan or Kayanic peoples, were once well-known to their neighbors for their war skills and trade in forest products. However, they were never recognized as local rulers, but, rather, were disdained as cruel, disobedient "pirates" and "headhunters," seemingly because of their non-Islamic practices including headhunting.

The Spanish, British, and Dutch colonial governments encouraged the confusion referred to above. These governments recognized only those who had the Islamic title of "sultan" as local sovereigns, and only made trading contracts with such sovereigns. Hence they supported the sultans of northeast Borneo in conflicts with the other local men of influence, just as they did in other regions. However, Westerners, too, found the situation confusing in the absence of a single centripetal polity. The Spanish considered the area as having been ceded from the Brunei to the Sulu Sultanate. The latter started to send expeditions to the area, as the homeland of their enemies, the "Tirun" or "Tidong," at the end of the seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century (see Majul 1973:180-83, Warren 1985:86). During this same period, the English obtained rights to the area because of Dalrymple's freeing the Sulu sultan from captivity (Darlymple 1793, Dewall 1855:426, Hageman 1855:101). The Dutch, too, claimed northeast Borneo under the name of "Barrow," "Berow," or "Berau" as a cession from Banjarmasin, and thus stressed oral histories that asserted that the Berau Sultanate once reigned over all the area, as far as the northern end of the island (Hageman 1855:75, 79-80, 101). In the nineteenth century, however, these colonial governments realized that the "Tirun" and "Berau" geographical areas were much smaller than had been supposed, in accordance with the rise of new local sultanates, such as Bulungan, Sambaling and Gunung Tabur. This ambiguity of ethnic and political boundaries persists even today, as can be seen in current international border disputes between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines (for details, see Okushima 2004, 2007).

As I have written elsewhere (Okushima 2002, 2003a, 2003b), the reduction and fragmentation of "Tidong" and "Berau," or, more precisely, Tanah Tidung ('Tidung Land') and Berayu ('kingdom of the ancestor Berayu'), resulted also from the ethno-cultural strategies of the Tidung following their defeat by the Sulu. These Murutic peoples converted to Islam in the middle of the 19th century and moved their polities from coastal islands such as Tarakan, Mandul (Sembakung), and Pulau Panjang (Berau) to more inland areas, like Labuk (Sandakan), Sebuku, Malinau, and Bulungan, so as to ally themselves with inlanders, especially the warlike Kayanic peoples, to defend their forest-product trade in the hinterlands from other traders. Some of the Tidung, who were mixed with the Berau and Bulungan, even emphasized new names and identities as Berau or Bulungan Malays, or as the descendants of Brunei, Arab, or Kayanic nobles. Thus the Sulus were forced to retreat from northeast Borneo in the 19th century, after the area suffered a long, drastic depopulation, with all of their important trading centers destroyed by the Segai (Warren 1985), or, more precisely, by the joint forces of Tidung and Kayanic soldiers of the Bulungan sultanate. The Dutch and British governments dared not take effective control in this chaotic area until the second half of the 19th century.

In fact, the Kayanic peoples had a great impact on northeast Borneo during these several centuries. Having migrated across the central Borneo Massif, they rapidly expanded over the area, including the Kayan basin, which they renamed Kaya:n or Kejin ('our place') (6) in place of its older name of Bulungan (see the oral history in Section 3). They also gave new names to other settlements, for example, Meka:m, Mekiam, Mahkam, Mahakam ('ocean,' or 'a broad water surface') to Kutai River, as well as to one of the tributaries of the Segah. The Kayanic peoples thus modified not only the place names, but also the ethnic distribution and hierarchical structure of the area, in driving out, allying with, or annexing the old settlers. The Tunjung-Benua' who had once lived all over the Mahakam were pushed downriver by these newcomers. The hunter-gatherers of the Mahakam headwaters, like the Ot Danum, Bukat, and Punan, fled to West and Central Kalimantan, or followed the Kayanic peoples to the mainstreams. The Burusu' of the Kayan and Sesayap basins were also driven to the coast. Even the Tidung, Sulu, and Bajau of Sabah, where Kayanic peoples never settled, still remember furious attacks by the Segai. Furthermore, the Kayanic migrations also triggered those of their relatives and neighbors in northeast Borneo, such as the Kenyah and some Murutic groups (see also Knappert 1905; Sellato 1986, 1995, 2002; Kaskija 1992; Yap Beng Liah 1977; Whittier 1973:24). Consequently, not only the Tidung but also the local sultans were obliged to rely on the Kayanic peoples and connived to win their alliance, because of their control over virtually all inland communication and trade in forest products, owing to their well-ordered social and political organization (Dewall 1846-1847, 1855:447-48; Belcher 1848; Hageman 1855:99; Tromp 1889; Spaan 1902:530; Vossen 1936:262-64). The only crucial weakness the Kayanic peoples had was in maritime knowledge and technology, as we saw in the opening oral history.

My study aims to reconstruct an ethnohistory of the Kayanic peoples in northeast Borneo during this period of destruction and changing political and ethnic boundaries. Here, in Part One, I discuss the background of the Kayanic peoples, namely, their general situation, language, ethnonyms, and characteristics of social organization. A later paper will deal with Kayanic and other oral historical texts (Part Two). The first section below begins with a demographic outline of the present-day Kayanic peoples. These peoples once attacked others all over northeast Borneo, but soon most of them moved back to their villages in inland Kutai, Berau, and Bulungan (including the Malinau), except for some who settled in the lowlands of Kelai and Bulungan or became assimilated into coastal Malay society. Since 2000, the local administrative divisions of East Kalimantan have been drastically changed under Indonesian decentralization, but for the sake of convenience, I will retain the terms "Kutai," "Berau," and "Bulungan" to indicate the regions that were formerly included in these three regencies/sultanates.

In Section 2, I examine Kayanic dialects, which originally consisted of three linguistic and cultural subgroups, the Ga'ay, the Kayan, and the Bahau. These three subgroups share a great deal of similarity, not only with their relatives, the Kenyah, but also with past neighbors like the Tidung, Lun Dayeh, and some other Muruts of East Kalimantan, Sabah, and Sarawak, and even with the coastal Bulungan and Bintulu Malays. This confirms local oral histories that state that the early Kayanic migrants to the middle-lower Kayan and Berau (mainly Ga'ay and Bahau subgroups), whose languages contain many Murutic and Malay words, largely originated in an area comprising northern Baram (Sarawak) and northwestern Sabah, and that the later migrants to Apo Kayan (some Ga'ay and Bahau, and Kayan subgroups), who were strongly Kayanized and accompanied by numerous Kenyah allies, had probably lived in the southern Baram region, including the Tinjar and Baluy basins. The Ga'ay, the most hegemonic subgroup among them, have a phonetic system that is very distinct from the others, with features such as clustering (diphthongized/triphthongized) and nasal vowels.

The close relations between the Kayanic peoples, the Kenyah and Muruts will be further illuminated in Section 3. There I describe some vague but valuable data on their earliest ethnohistorical situation during their old settlements in the Baram basin. A terminological dichotomy used to exist between the hegemonic Ga'ay and their subject Kayan and Bahau, or the proto-Ga'ay and proto-Kayan and Bahau, who were the last to arrive in the Baram and pushed the latter to northeast Borneo, and the Ken'yeah, Ken'yah, or Kenyah ('inlanders', 'barbarians'), who consisted at that time not only of the Kayan and Bahau but also of other inland groups. Through migration, however, the people of the two categories were gradually assimilated until they came to create new identities such as Kejin, Kaya:n, Bahau, Wehea, etc., being named after their different settlements in the Kayan basin. Later they began to use the term Ken'yeah or Kenyah for latecomers to the Kayan, thus emphasizing their higher status and alliance with the Ga'ay. Alliances and trade between the Kayanic peoples, Kenyah, Muruts, and Malays very likely existed for a long time under Brunei sovereignty, as suggested by their oral histories. This may be one reason why the Tidung and Kayanic peoples put up such a furious resistance against the Sulu, Bugis, and other rivals.

Finally, in Section 4, I examine the hegemony of the Kayanic peoples who developed a corporate but flexible social organization based on three principles of grouping, namely: (1) stratification into three basic strata (nobles, commoners, and slaves), originating from a differentiation of "householders" and others, (2) a dual village organization that acted to divide and reunify the inhabitants quickly and effectively, for example, from a single longhouse to plural farming groups (daleh), or from an apartment family to plural nuclear families, and (3) dwelling disposition according to closeness of kinship. With these principles, the Kayanic peoples succeeded in maintaining both corporateness and mobility for farming, trading, migration, and war. Here, we also see that their social organization was probably developed and standardized through assimilation. Even the Bahau, who consider themselves to have been originally unstratified and less cohesive, like their old neighbors the Murut, eventually established a hierarchical society. However, there are local variations; some Kayanic subgroups have no term or concept of daldh, while others developed chiefly stratum (maran, maren, paran, originally an adjective 'sacred,' 'noble '), a chief's assistant or elder stratum (peguwe', etc.), and so on.

1. Population and General Situation

Some earlier studies have mentioned the population, village location, and subgroups of Kayanic peoples in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia (cf. Sellato 1980, 1995, 2001; Guerreiro 1985, 1996; Rousseau 1990; Okushima 1999). Table 1 shows their general situation during my research in 1996-1998, with some administrative reorganization that occurred aider 2000. There are some differences in the names of villages and subgroups based on Indonesian spelling and Kayanic pronunciation, such as Tering/Tri:ng (no. 1-4), Dabek/D Bek (no. 40), or Mara/Bala (no. 54) (for linguistic details, see Section 2).

Under Indonesian decentralization following 2000, the four regencies (kabupaten, former sultanates) of the province, Pasir, Kutai, Berau and Bulungan, together with the capital Samarinda and the oil city Balikpapan, were reorganized into 9 regencies and 4 autonomous cities/municipalities (kotama@a) (see Okushima 2004:Map 1, 2). The former Kutai regency was divided into three separate regencies, Kutai Barat, Kutai Kertanegara, and Kutai Timur. In the northern part of East Kalimantan, the regions of the upper Kayan basin, Apo Kayan, joined the Malinau regency, rather than Bulungan. Some industrialized centers like Tarakan and Bontang also became kotamadya. The number of districts (kecamatan) was also increased from 34 to 47 (excluding Samarinda and Balikpapan, see Kalimantan Timur 2004) in changes made both before and after 2000. New districts were also made in regions containing Kayanic peoples, such as Long Hubung, Tering, and Melak in the middle Mahakam, and Tanjung Palas Utara and Barat, and Peso Hilir in the lower Kayan, and Malinau Utara, Barat, and Selatan in the Malinau, because the former districts were too broad and deep to allow access to coastal areas.

As shown in Table 1, the Kayanic peoples inhabit over 70 administrative villages (desa), including annexed villages with different subgroups as well as other ethnic groups (such as Tering Baru, Long Hubung, Long Melaham, etc.), as well as those that have been newly opened since 1970 for logging, mining, and RESPEN (resettlement projects or transmigration) (Memahak Tebok, Nehes Liah Bing, Long Beluah, Long Telanjau, and Long Kendai). I visited about fifty of these villages from 1996-1998, but the census data are not complete for some of them. The total population of all the villages at that time was approximately 35,000 to 40,000, or 1.6 % of the total population of East Kalimantan (about 2.45 million in 2000). There are also numerous Kayanic peoples who have moved to urban centers, like Samarinda, Tenggarong, Balikpapan, Melak, Tarakan, and Tanjung Selor, as well as to other islands in Indonesia.

This ethnic mosaic of Kayanic villages resulted from struggles for chieftainship, which are typical of Kayanic peoples. Because village chiefs and nobles frequently split their villages into political factions, they often brought in manpower from other villages (see Section 4). Almost all of the Kayanic villages were recognized as administrative villages by local sultans, then by the Dutch colonial government, and finally by the Indonesian government in the 1950s, although the villages were often quite small, containing less than 100 persons in some cases. This seems to have resulted from the influence and independence of the Kayanic peoples.

Under the influence of the Catholic church since the beginning of the twentieth century, the Kayanic peoples have been able to preserve parts of their culture, such as rituals, customary laws (adat), and other traditions. However, longhouses have been gradually replaced by family houses since World War II and have totally disappeared after the mid1980s. The subgroups of the Berau and Bulungan were converted to Protestantism. Also, some Kayanic villages became Islamized during colonial times, like those of Belayan and coastal Berau (see Dewall 1848-1849:25, October 1848; Spaan 1902:516), as well as in the 1970s like those of lower Kelai (Guerreiro 1985).

The Kayanic peoples were greatly affected by changing circumstances after Indonesian Independence. The anti-communist policy and obligation to choose among five national religions (agama) caused their animism and undemocratic stratification system to become taboo. Their migration, village territories, and land use rights were also restricted from the end of the 1960s, first due to the logging boom (banjir kap) but also due to policies of resettlement and transmigraton in the 1970s. The young generation flowed out to the middle and lower regions as well as to coastal cities for schooling, wage jobs, and medical care.

In the 1980s, national policy focused much on tourism (Republik Indonesia 1983), and the people of East Kalimantan were encouraged to rediscover their past cultural practices such as epics, songs, dances, folk music instruments and costumes. Cultural festivals and contests began to be held at the local and national levels. Thus, the Kayanic peoples also tried to collect, and partly edit, arrange, or shorten the old chants, epics, and rituals, which used to be memorized by the traditional priests and nobles. Although, in the late 1990s, there were many interruptions such as uprisings, the Indonesian monetary crisis (crismon), the president's resignation, and the long drought and fires, these efforts to recover their cultural heritage still continue under decentralization. Today, some people are returning to the inland regions, due to the increase in employment in the new local governments, universities and other schools, new mining (especially of Berau), and improved transportation.

2. Linguistic Subgroups: Kayan, Bahau, Ga'ay, and Some Related Groups

   We Mengga'ay once lived in Kong Kemul, (7) together with the Wehea,
   Basap (Lebbo'), and others. There was an enormous tree on this
   mountain, which our ancestors cut down in order to drive out the
   cruel hawks nesting on the top. They found a lot of mushrooms
   springing up on the trunk of the tree, and they ate them. They
   became intoxicated from eating the mushrooms and became
   tongue-tied, as can be heard in our Mengga'ay dialects of today,
   and they could no longer understand each other. Thus, they were
   obliged to split up and migrated away from Kong Kemul ... It is
   only the Bahau who were not deeply intoxicated, and so they
   preserved the pronunciation of the original dialect used in
   Kong Kemul.

Origin Myth of the Mengga'ay, Segah

   The Kayan (here, 'Kayanic peoples') scattered over the Bulungan
   coasts, driving out the local inhabitants such as the Burusu and
   Tenggalan. There, the Kayan allied and mixed with the
   Petaning, (8) both of whom were assimilated and later became the
   Bulungan Malays. This is the reason why the Bulungan Malay dialect
   includes several Kayan words, as seen in some place names. For
   example, the region of the Bulungan palace, Tanjung Palas, means
   Purified Cape, where the Kayan had once held a purifying ritual
   of the land. (9)

Oral History of the Bulungan Nobles, Tanjung Palas

As we saw above, the Kayanic peoples originally consisted of three subgroups, the Ga'ay, Kayan, and Bahau. By comparing their dialects, migratory routes, and inter-ethnic relations, we can sketch the following outline of their assimilation and differentiation. Before settling in the Kayan basin, the proto-Kayanic peoples once lived in northwest Borneo, specifically in an area that today extends from northern Sarawak to western Sabah. The proto-Bahau subgroups seem to have been scattered mainly in the Baram basin and the northern ranges such as Apo Duat (Da'a) and Kerayan, while the proto-Kayan subgroups were gathered in the southern tributaries of the Baram and also the headwaters of the Baluy (see also Sellato 1995, Okushima 1999). These two groups were partially mixed with each other. The Ga'ay arrived in the Baram sometime later, and became the main impulse behind the Kayanic migration to northeast Borneo, driving out or absorbing their neighbors, including the proto-Bahau and Kayan as well as some Murut and hunter-gatherers. In this process, all these groups were culturally and linguistically assimilated with each other, creating various mixtures such as the Kayanized Murut (the present-day Kayan Meka:m/Mahakam Kayan, Uma:' Urut, and Bang Kelaw of upper Mahakam) and the Bahau-ized Mahakam natives (the Hwang Temha:, Hwang Meka:m, and Uma:' Luhat of the middle Mahakam, and the Long Tung Nang of Wahau), until they came to replace their ethnonyms with names of their new settlements, "Kejin, Kaya:n" and "Bahau." In reverse, some of the proto-Kayanic peoples split off and later formed new ethnic groups, such as the Kenyah. Others were further mixed with coastal groups of northeast Borneo like the Tidung and became the Bulungan Malay.

Many Bahau subgroups consider themselves to have originally lacked a noble stratum and hereditary chieftainship, just like their Murut neighbors. They also share a set of terms for "eldest/younger sibling" with the Tidung, Murik, and some others. On the other hand, the proto-Kayan seem to have been much more cohesive and corporate under their chieftains, as in the cases of large villages scattered today in different provinces like the Uma:' Tua:n, U. Suling, and U. Aging. Their social cohesion is also suggested by the homogeneity of their dialects. This might be one reason why many Kayan subgroups chose not to follow the Ga'ay migration to northeast Borneo, unlike the latter numerous Bahau subjects, and later moved back to Sarawak or even to West Kalimantan.

In contrast, the language of the Ga'ay subgroups is very distinct from other Kayanic peoples, as it includes diphthongs and triphthongs (ae, aw, oue etc., see below), nasal vowels (a, u, etc.). The clustering vowels are one of the most typical features of the Ga'ay, who are often described as "twisted" or "tongue-tied" by other Kayanic peoples, as in the oral history of the Mengga'ay given earlier. Even the Ga'ay descendants who had already assimilated into the Kayan or Bahau generations ago are still recognizable by this feature in some cases. Guerreiro suggests (1996) that the Ga'ay dialects show some similarity with the Chamic languages of Central Vietnam.

The development of the Kayanic dialects was promoted along with the migration process as follows. Early migrants to the Kayan basin, who had entered mainly from northern Baram and settled first in the middle to lower Kayan and Segah, largely consisted of Ga'ay and Bahau subgroups, such as the Mengga'ay, Long Way, and Ga'ay-ized Wehea of today. Through long-term alliances and living together, their dialects became strongly assimilated. However, the late migrants to the Kayan basin, especially the Ga'ay and Kayan subgroups, came instead from the southern Baram including the Tinjar and Baluy to the headwaters of the Kayan (see Section 3-2). Thus they gradually spread over the Kayan basin, and also around the headwaters of the Segah, Kelai, and Mahakam. Some of these migrants later moved back to the Baluy and Baram, and then split further to the upper Kapuas (West Kalimantan), seemingly because the Kayan basin was already fully occupied, and because intra- and interethnic struggles for hegemony became more prevalent in concert with the advance of Malay and colonial rule in northeast Borneo.

The fact that not only the Bahau subgroups but also the other Kayanic subgroups share linguistic and cultural features with the Murut supports the view that the migrations of the Kayanic peoples started from northwest Borneo, including northern Baram and Brunei, where various Murut subgroups have been living for a long time. In fact, diphthongs and triphthongs are still also shared among the Long Kiput or Berawan subgroups of lower Baram (see Blust 2002), where the Ga'ay no longer live. A strong assimilation of dialects between the Ga'ay and Bahau (such as the Wehea, Merap, and Hopan) also suggests that the early Kayanic migration was mainly conducted by these two subgroups. Then, after emigrating to the Kayan basin, the Kayanic peoples came into contact with local Muruts, such as the Tidung, Burusu and Tenggalan of the Bulungan regions, as demonstrated by their vocabulary. Thus a mixture of Kayanic and Murutic languages is still found in coastal Malay, as can be seen in the Bulungan and even Bintulu dialects (especially words of the Ga'ay, Bahau, and Tidung living in the Bulungan and Berau regions). There are also the Kayanized inland Murut like the Kayan Meka:m above who preserve similarity with the Lun Dayeh and Kelabit. We will explore those features below.

Even today, the Kayanic peoples use the term Kenyah or Ken'eah not only for the so-called Kenyah, but also for Kayanized subgroups, meaning 'not pure Kayanic,' or 'not original Ga'ay.' For example, the Long Glat and Busa:ng of upper Mahakam state that the Kayan Meka:m did not originate from the same group as the Busa:ng, but rather that they seem to be Kenyah. The Lutan of the middle Mahakam consider themselves to be "like the Kenyah" in comparison with their Bahau neighbors. The Long Way of the middle Kelinjau still call their Wehea neighbors Ken'eah, or Lembueh as a less pejorative term, although the latter dialects are strongly assimilated with their own.

2-1. Kayan (Kaya:n, Busa:ng, Urea:' Away)

The Kayan subgroups originated largely in the southern Baram, where some of them already had older endonyms than "Kayan." For example, those of the upper Mahakam, Busa:ng, named themselves after the Busa:ng tributary in the upper Baram, where they were formerly allied with the Long Glat. Also, some Busa:ng state that they originated in "Uma:' Away" (away, 'salient'), their oldest village whose chief was a descendant of the legendary female chief, In Ine: Aya' (or Inay Aya').

The present-day Kayan in general consist of subgroups whose names contain the term uma', 'longhouse,' 'village.' In the Bulungan region, there are the Uma:' Laran and U. Heban in the lower Kayan (part of the U. Heban split into the Kelai), while their neighbors, the Hopan or U. Apan are actually Kayanized Bahau. These subgroups were willing or forced allies of their Ga'ay neighbors, such as the Ga'ay Long Ba'un and Ga'ay Gong Kiya:n/ Seloy. The U. Lekan (including the U. Lasa:n and U. Taliva U. Data: Liva:) were split between the Kayan, Mahakam, Belayan, and Wahau basins.

In the upper Mahakam, the oldest settlers are the Kayan Meka:m, Bang Kelaw, U. Urut, U. Pala:' and U.Tepay/U. Tepe, almost all of whom were Kayanized Murut and other groups such as the Mahakam natives. Sometime later, the original Kayan subgroups joined the Mahakam, such as the Busa:ng (the U. Tua:n, U. Lekwe , U. Mehak, and U. Wak subgroups under the direction of their sovereigns, the Long Glat), U. Suling (now split into the villages of Long Pahangai, Data Suling, Long Isun, and Long Lunok), U. Palo', U. Sam, and U. Asa:. The U. Palo' were assimilated into the U. Suling. The Long Glat who had already annexed into their villages the Busa:ng, later also absorbed the Bang Kelaw, U. Urut, U. Pala:' and U. Tepay. The U. Luhat of middle Mahakam are Kayanized Mahakam natives, namely, the proto-Penihing of Seratah, on the headwaters of the Mahakam (see also Sellato 1986: 305).

Except for the Kayanized groups named above, the Kayan subgroups in general show a high level of homogeneity in language. As shown in Table 2, there are slight phonetic changes between subgroups, chiefly between the Busa:ng of Mahakam and the U. Laran of Kayan; the U. Suling belong lexically to the Busa:ng, though they use vowels like the U. Laran. For example, -ay/-ey/-e: (tay <US, UL> / te: <UT>, 'to go'), -aw/-ow/-o: (daw / do:, 'day'). (10) Also, the consonant -n can be replaced with -l and -r (mayun <UT, UL> / mayul, mayur <US>, 'to float') (cf., manyun in Sarawak, Blust 1974:183; Southwell 1990:151).

Differences between the U. Laran and the Busa:ng are quite similar to those between the Long Atip and the U. Juman (see Blust 1974), or the Baram and Baluy types. The U. Laran use peculiar words such as iling ('ear') and kelanhi: ('to hear'), just as the Long Atip do (Blust 1974:182), while the other Kayan subgroups of East Kalimantan, instead, use apang and ngering. On the other hand, the Busa:ng, who originated in the southern Baram and moved to the headwaters of Baluy and Kayan, have almost the same dialect as the Baluy type. The U. Suling seem to have been once related with some subgroups of the Baram type when they were still in the Kayan basin or the Baram. Furthermore, the U. Suling have some distinctive words like maving ('left') in place of ul:, uley, or luy, which are used by the other Kayan subgroups (maving is seemingly from the Murut or Bahau of Sarawak, such as the Tering, Bario, Lun Dayeh, and Saban. See Blust 1984). The dialect of the U. Lekan is said to be almost the same as that of the U. Suling.

The subsections below describe the Kayanized Kayan Meka:m, U. Urut, Bang Kelaw, and Hopan. The origins of the Kayanized Mahakam natives, U. Pala:' and U. Tepay, are obscure. (11) I myself did not research the linguistic details, but Guerreiro suggests (1996) that the U. Pala:' dialect has some similarity to Kayan Meka:m.

2-2. Bahau (Baw, Bao:, Hwang Baw, Tembaw, Etc.)

The Bahau dialects contain much more diversity than the Kayan dialects. This probably resulted from the fact that the Bahau used to be scattered between much smaller villages than today, without a noble stratum or hereditary chiefs (see also Section 4). Hence, they were easily assimilated by the Ga'ay, as well as by the Kayan, both of whom had hierarchical societies with a stratification system and strong chieftainship.

Most of the Bahau subgroups use the endonym Baw (or Bao:, Bahaw, Wehea), adding the term Hwang, or 'the people of,' in some cases, like Hwang Baw and Hwang Tri:ng. It is not clear whether they obtained this term after migrating to the Bahau, a northern tributary of the Kayan basin, or if they carried it from the Baram. The Hwang Tri:ng/Tering of middle Mahakam suggest that the term Tri:ng came from a highland of the Baram, Apau Tri:ng, their old homeland (Devung 1978). Some other Bahau subgroups who were formerly allied with the H. Tri:ng are also known as "Tembaw," which is another endonym 'we Bahau' (Tembaw = ita:m Baw). The Bahau subgroups of the Bulungan regions are also called Ngorek (or, Ngorik, Murik), although this seems to be a pejorative exonym given to them by the neighboring Kenyah (see Sellato 1995).

Today, the Bahau live in the middle to lower Kayan, for example in the Kayanized Hopan/U. Apan, Ngorek/Kayan Long Pulung, and the Pua' (partly also in Malinau); the Ga'ay-ized Merap are in the middle to upper Malinau, a tributary of Sesayap. In the Mahakam, there are the H. Anah, H. Dali:' /Dalih, H. Tri:ng (including the Muyub and Tukul), H. Patak, H. Siraw, H. Boh, H. Temha:/Latah, and H. Meka:m, all of whom were once allied with the Ga'ay like the Melean (Melan), Long Glat, and Keliway in upper Kayan. They later came to call themselves "Hwang Sa'" or "Bahau Sa'" (sa ' = sah in Malay, 'real,' 'original'), seemingly in order to distinguish themselves from their neighbors of upper Wahau, the Ga'ay-ized Wehea (Wahau). The H. Boh, H. Temha: and H. Meka:m are said to be Bahau-ized Mahakam natives. On the other hand, the Laham, Lutan, and H. Huray of middle Mahakam are not considered to be Hwang Sa'. The Laham seem to have been originally some Kayan subgroup, or partly Kayanized, at least. The H. Huray are said to have come from upper Belayan, in following their Ga'ay sovereign people, Long Bleh. The Lutan were likely Bahau-nized Murut or Kenyah.

The Bahau shared some peculiar words with the Murik of Sarawak (see Blust 1974), such as hanah, panah, 'hot' (Table 3))2 Some Bahau subgroups also have the terms like tangah <M, H, N> ('head') and bayu:, bayaw <H, N, P, HT> ('wind'), all of which are seen in the Murik dialect (Blust 1974:181-84). Some phonetic interchanges are seen between the Bahau and the other Kayanic subgroups, especially h(/f)/s, like kihing, keheang, kihie <B> / kesing &ltK&gt ('to laugh'), or, ho', ho: ',fo" hdw' <B> / aso' &ltK&gt, saw' <LG, LW> ('dog').

Nevertheless, the Bahau dialects vary according to migration and alliance. For example, the "Hwang Sa'" subgroups above are in fact quite Kayanized in their vocabulary (Blust 1984), seemingly because of the interactions with their neighbors, the Busa:ng, or also with other Kayan subgroups in the upper Kayan. The Bahau of the Bulungan region (Kayan and Malinau) are the most distinctive in their terminology. It is not clear whether it is the original terminology of the Bahau/proto-Bahau, or whether they borrowed it from neighboring Muruts or other groups. This question is explored below.

It is known that the Kayanic peoples, like other Austronesians, use pronouns for several persons (3 to 10 persons, in both inclusive and exclusive forms) by introducing the numeral "3"; i.e., telo' <US, UT> / tlo:' <HT> / tla <W> / telow <GLB> / kelow,<MLA> / kaw <LW> ('we several' in inclusive form), kam telo' / kamih tlo: '/ emtla / melow / mekelow / mekaw ('we several except you'), and pelo' / ikah tlo:' / tela: / kiem / sekaw / kekaw ('you several') (see also Guerreiro 1983:99, Southwell 1990:480). However, there are four Bahau subgroups in the Bulungan regions, Hopan, Ngorek, Pua' and Merap, who introduced the term "4" only in the inclusive form of 'we several,' instead of "3," seemingly meaning 'we 3 plus you (equals 4)'; pa:t <H>/ ipa'N>/ ipat &lt;P&gt; / pa ': <M>.

Moreover, the four Bahau subgroups also share the same means of distinction between siblings, namely by dividing them into eldest and others. The Kayanic peoples usually use a single term to refer to all siblings, both real brothers and sisters as well as cousins, harin <US, UT, UL, HT> / arin <GLB, MLA> / weluen <LW> etc. (see also Guerreiro 1987:6, 9), in addition to some adjectives like 'elder,' 'younger,' 'real' and 'remote' (for example, harin aya' and harin uk). In contrast, the Hopan, Ngorek, Pua', and Merap have a special set of terms for the eldest and other siblings, such as hika'--harey' <H> / hike'--aye' <N> / hikan--harin (uk) &lt;P&gt; / kie'--haray' <M> ('eldest sibling'--'others'). This distinction can also be seen among the neighboring Tidung (Okushima 2003a:252, Table 4), Punan Malinau (ike'--arik), and Punan Lejuh (ike'--dih), as well as among the Bisaya and Murik (Peranio 1972, Blust 1974:182). I will mention this point again in Section 4.

Being old allies or vassals of the Ga'ay, the Wehea borrowed much from them in terms of language. Some other Bahau subgroups also use Ga'ay loan words, for example, ngaw <M, H> ('cat'), riga' <HT> ('already'), or cen &lt;P&gt; ('wild animal'). The Merap preserve the most Ga'ay pronunciation, in the use of clustering vowels (/aue/, /oue/, /aie/, etc.), nasal vowels (e.g., hue', 'they,' nyalae, 'path,' hay, 'who?'), and the omission of the first syllable, just as is heard among the Long Glat (see Guerreiro 1996). The Hopan and Ngorek also use clustering vowels, where a single or long vowel is used by other Kayan and Bahau, such as in manoue'<M> / manuek <H> / manuk, manok <other K and B> ('bird'), or, maraie <M> / marieng <H, N> / maring, mari:ng <other K and B> ('new'). In some cases, nasal vowels in Merap are interchanged with -n used by the other Kayan and Bahau subgroups, for example in hawae <M> / hawa:n <K, B> ('spouse'), or, kapa:e <M> / kapal, kapa:l, kapan, etc. <K, B> ('thick'). Moreover, the Merap use also -ng in place of -n of the other Kayanic peoples, like lihiung <M> / lisun, lihun, so:n, suwan, soan <K, B, G> ('smoke'), or emlung <M> / bulun, bulo', blun, beloyn etc. <K, B, G> ('feather').

We can deduce the main impulse of the great Kayanic migration as the proto-Ga'ay and Bahau of the Baram basin, especially of the northern regions, from the facts that diphthongs and triphthongs are shared among the Ga'ay and their Bahau neighbors as well as other groups of the Baram such as the Kiput (see Blust 2002), but these clustering vowels do not exist, at least today, among the other Bahau, Kayan, and Murut.

2-3. Ga'ay (Mengga'ay, Menggae)

There are two versions of oral history regarding the ethnonym Ga'ay/ Mengga'ay. The Mengga'ay themselves suggest that they were named after swords (gay in Ga'ay), or after their frequent headhunting using these swords. In fact, their iron tools, including excellent swords, are well-known throughout Borneo (see Section 3-1). On the other hand, some Kenyah state that the Ga'ay originally lived in regions lower (ba'ay in Kenyah) (13) than other Kayanic peoples, including the Kenyah themselves, while in the Baram basin (see 3-2). Whichever etymology is correct, those characteristics of the Ga'ay, as a warlike people living downriver, are widely recognized by the Kayanic subgroups as well as other neighbors. However, after some powerful Ga'ay subgroups differentiated themselves from their rivals with names of their new settlements, like Long Way and Long Glat, the term Ga'ay/Mengga'ay came to refer only to those of Bulungan and Berau.

The Ga'ay's strong preference for hegemony often split the villages and brought in subjects from other Kayanic villages as well as from other ethnic groups, which seems to promote their linguistic diversity. Today, the Ga'ay consist of the following subgroups: In lower Kayan, the Seloy/Ga'ay Gong Kiya:n ('Ga'ay at the mouth of Kayan') settled and absorbed the neighboring Hopan. They were in rivalry with the later-arriving Ga'ay Long Ba'un, who were allied with the U. Laran, U. Heban, Ngorek, and others. The Mengga'ay or Menggae living in the Segah and Kelai are said actually to have been the assimilated slaves of the Long Way (Spaan 1901). Those Ga'ay subgroups of the Bulungan and Berau regions were also known as Segai/Segai: to the coastal Malay as well as to the colonial governments, as I noted in the introduction. Living in the Mahakam are the Long Way (Long Bentuk and Long Tesak of Kelinjau, Long Bleh of Belayan, and also Long Lesa:n of upper Kelai), Long Nah (partly became Punan Kelai), Melean / Melan (mixed with the Long Jengean in the Kelinjau), Long Glat (of Long Lunok, Long Tuyo', and Ujoh Bilang), Long Huvung/Hubung, and Keliway. All these subgroups accompanied their allies to the Mahakam.

As mentioned above, the Ga'ay dialects are quite distinct from those of the other Kayanic subgroups, with some crucial features like clustering vowels (e.g., tenoa', tenea', tenea' <G> / tana:' <K, B>, 'earth'). Omission of the first syllable is also seen in their dialects as in, for example, poy, powa etc. <G> / apuy, api <K, B> ('fire'), or tow', tew', etc. <G> / kuto', kito' <K, B> ('louse'). Some peculiar terms of the Ga'ay are considered to be their ethnic markers, such as kiw, kewe: <G> / ipan, ipa',nyipan, jipan <K, B> ('tooth') (except for the Ga'ay-ized Merap, tongkow); segun, segu:n, seguen, seguyn <G> / hawa:n, hawa ', hawae <K, B> ('spouse'); lip, liep, seliep <G> / pida:ng, pindang, penetie, luda:ng <K, B> ('flower') (except for the Ga'ay Long Ba'un, da:'); or, ing, pteng, pte:ng <G> / ja:m, njam, ncae, tuto:, tutow <K, B> ('to know,' 'to be able to'). Guerreiro suggests (1996) that the Ga'ay dialects show some similarity to Edde/Rade, a Chamic language of the Central Vietnam highlands. The Ga'ay themselves believe their language sounds like Chinese, on account of the lack of r (except for GLB, see below): They replace r with 1, as in ngela:n, nglean, etc. <G, W> / ara:n, hara:n, ra:e <K, B> ('name'), and mahling, mahleyng <G and W> / roaring, mari:ng, marieng, maraie <K, B> ('new'). Also, the interchange of b/v/w often happens between the Ga'ay and the other Kayanic subgroups; wok, woak, waok, ewok <G> / buk, bok, baue' <K, B> ('hair'), wetaw, weta:, etaw <G> / bato' <K, B> ('stone') (cf., mataw <M>), or Tweang, Twaeng, Twa:ng <G> / Tava:ng <K, B> ('Tabang River' in the Belayan).

Some local variations can be seen among the Ga'ay. For example, the Ga'ay Long Ba'un replace l with r, the consonant which is lacking in general among the Ga'ay, as in ngera:n ('name'), row ('day'), and deru:, ('far'), probably a result of the influence of their allies, the Ngorek, Uma:' Laran, and so on. Also, the Mengga'ay of the Segah and Kelai use c [t[integral]], which may have been introduced by the neighboring Muruts (see below). Also, the Long Glat have nasal vowels (suyn, 'rain'; hangoy, 'river,' 'water'), as well as -ny in the word-final position, instead of the -n or -ng that the other subgroups use (uluiny <LG>/ bula:n, weluyn, welu:n etc. <others>, 'moon'; peiny <LG> / ping <others>, 'to own,' or a female name) (see also Guerreiro 1996).

In terms of lexical differences, we can divide the Ga'ay subgroups into two groups, namely, the subgroups of the Kayan and Berau basins (GLB, MLL, MLA), and those of the Mahakam (LG, LW); for example, keleas <GLB, MLL>, keles <MLA> / saw' <LW>, sa:w <LG> ('dog'), or pahoang <GLB, MLL> / ngan <GLB, MLL, MLA> / puen <LW>, and puyn <LG> ('big'). Also, the Ga'ay of the Kayan and Berau replace the first syllables with "g-, gu-" in some cases, such as gutan <GLB>, guta:n <MLL, MLA> ('eye') (matan, mata ', matae, emtan, and metan <other K, B, G>), and, gulung <MLL>, gulong <MLA>, and gurung <GLB> ('nose') (lung, guang lung, rue, urung, uruong, and urong).

Today, the original dialects of the Long Huvung, Keliway, Melean, and Seloy are almost extinct, as the result of long assimilation with other groups. Nevertheless, the Long Huvung are said to have used a relatively emphatic pronunciation like the Long Way. The Keliway and Melean are related to the Long Glat, from a time when these subgroups were still living together in upper Kayan and Mahakam. The Seloy, one of the earliest Kayanic subgroups to settle in the lower Kayan, were mixed with the Hopan.

2-4. Relations with Murutic Groups and Others

The relations between the Kayanic peoples and the Murut are not well elucidated in earlier studies (partly suggested in Blust 1984; Kaskija 1992; Sellato 1995, 2002), probably because the Murut are broadly scattered over the northern half of Borneo island and speak various dialects, and also because the Kayanic peoples of today rarely have direct contact with them. Nevertheless, the Kayanic/proto-Kayanic subgroups have interacted with these neighbors for a long time, since the latter were living in the Baram basin. After migrating to the Kayan, some of them mixed with coastal Muruts such as the Tidung and Burusu', a mixing that later produced the Bulungan Malay (see Okushima 2003a:249, Table 3). There were also some inland Muruts such as the Kayan Meka:m, U. Urut, and Bang Kelaw, who became Kayanized and then followed the Kayanic peoples to the Mahakam as mentioned above.

The Bahau subgroups, such as the Hopan, Ngorek, Pua', and Merap of the Bulungan regions as well as the Hwang Tri:ng of the Mahakam, seem to have interacted the most with the Muruts. Also, the Uma:' Laran and Ga'ay Long Ba'un of the lower Kayan show some similarities with their neighbors the Tidung, or, more precisely, the Sesayap-origin subgroup of the Tidung (Okushima 2003:242-46; see also Appell 1986 on Burusu' words). As shown in Table 4, those subgroups use Murutic terms, for example, ngerikin <H> ('to count'), asil <HT> ('sand'), hilet <M, UL> / hilet <N> ('narrow'), and gawah <H> / (pe)gawah <UL> / gawas <GLB> / mawan &lt;P&gt; ('wide').

In addition to the terms above, some regional words are shared among the Kayanic and Murutic groups (Burusu', Lun Dayeh, etc.) of the Kayan, Malinau and Segah basins. These include the use of the term gong, 'river mouth,' (e.g., Gong Solok on Malinau, Ga'ay Gong Kiya:n etc.), instead of long, which is used by the other Kayanic peoples, and awa:k/ aweak / ava:k / haba:k (stranger, Malay) (14) in place of halo / halo:'

In contrast, the Kayanic subgroups of upper Mahakam share some terms with the inland Murut, including groups such as the Lun Dayeh and Kelabits of Sarawak. In comparison with the Blust word list (1984), the language of the Kayan Meka:m is quite similar to the Tering (Long Terawan), Bario, and Lun Dayeh, with words like nanguy, 'to swim' (nyatung / huweak / jua' / jea' / enjo' in the other Kayanic dialects), ihlat, 'wing' (kapit / kbeit / kpet / kpeit etc.), and bara, 'sand' (hait / het / e:t / nait / ait / anay / ene, etc.) (see also Coomans n.d.; Barth 1910). The dialect of the U. Urut was already Kayanized, but they state that they originated from Mount Murut (Unit) in Sarawak and migrated together with the Bang Kelaw.

Another feature is the use of c [t[integral]] mainly among the Merap and Mengga'ay, in words such as cow <M> ('hand'), pancoue <M> ('foot,' 'leg'), cue, ca:e <M> / cin <MLA, MLL> ('rain'), co' <MLA> / co:' <MLL> ('small'), and ce" <MLA> / co', cico' <MLL> ('to count'). This consonant may also have come from the Murut, as I have written elsewhere (Okushima 2002:157, 2003b:246-48). The Sumbol Tidung, a Sebuku-originated subgroup, use the fricative consonants c and j, where s and d are used by the other Tidung subgroups (e.g., encaduy <Sumbol T.> / ensaduy <others>, 'to swim' lajum <Sumbol T.> / ladom <others>, 'sharp.' In Sarawak, the Sa'ban and the Tering also use c, in place of the s, j, d or k of neighboring dialects (e.g., bucak 'flower,' ciek, 'small,' etc., see Blust 1984:116-21). The Kayan Meka:m of upper Mahakam also use c, as in, for instance, ucu ('hand '), but this use might have come from their neighbors, the Penihing.

We can find similar mixtures of Kayanic and Murutic words in coastal Sarawak. As I mentioned above, the pronunciation of the Long Kiput is very likely to have been Ga'ay-ized, just as the Merap of upper Malinau, but they still preserve more Murutic terms than the latter (see the word list of Blust 2002). Also, the Bintulu Malay seem to be Islamized Kayanic people, or at least the related groups like the Kajang and Punan living in Bintulu do (see Rousseau 1990:329), as in the case of the Bulungan Malay. There has been controversy over categorization of the Bintulu dialect, as it is not that close to that of their coastal neighbors such as the Melanau, Kanowit, or local Malay (see Bibi Aminah 1992; Kroeger 1998). Table 5 shows that the Bintulu have similarity especially with the Ga'ay and Bahau subgroups of the Bulungan and Berau regions (Ga'ay Long Ba'un, Mengga'ay, Merap, Hopan, Pua' etc.). In fact, Bums reports (1849:140-44) that the Kayans of the Baluy practiced interior trading with the peoples of the Kayan River, being also called Tidung ("Tidun" or "Tidan"), as well as with the peoples of Kutai and Banjarmasin, and that one of the Kayan chiefs even collected tribute from the people of Bintulu. The latter dressed in Malay style but were not yet Islamized. Hence, the Bintulu had already established inland trading networks with the Bulungan, or likely with a much wider number of peoples in northeast Borneo, by the middle of the 19th century.

3. Old Ethnonyms, Topology, and Cosmology Before Migration to the Kayan Basin

   Kayanic peoples, as well as we Kenyah, all originated from
   Tiongkok, namely, China. Among the five kings of Tiongkok, the king
   Akalura (15) ordered his people to send two ships to Kalimantan.
   One of the ships arrived safely in the Brunei kingdom, and our
   ancestors (the Kenyah Leppo' Taw) settled in the Baram basin, and
   later moved up to Da'a (=Apo Duat) ... the latest comers to Brunei,
   the Ga'ay, also entered the Baram, where they found our ancestors
   already occupying the upper regions. That is why they became known
   as Ga'ay, a name derived from the term ba 'ay, or 'people of the
   downriver.'

Oral History of the Leppo Taw Kenyah, Lower Kayan

   "My brothers," asked the Kutai Sultan, "can you remember the reason
   why our homeland, the Kayan River, came to be called 'Kayan'?"Among
   a number of local Dayak chiefs sitting around the Sultan, the
   Kenyah one replied: "perhaps, it is the namesake of the Kayan
   people, who once lived there." "No, actually," said the Sultan,
   "our ancestors met a river by chance in the past on the way to
   search for a new settlement location. They saw the basin was almost
   unpopulated. They held a meeting to discuss what name should be
   given to that river, and finally they agreed to call it
   Kejin/Kaya:n, namely, 'our place.' Then they started to bring their
   villages there." In this way, the sultans of Kutai used to enjoy
   talking about the old stories with our ancestors (= the Long Way)
   during diplomatic meetings in the palace, because the sultans
   themselves were also descended from us, as the result of
   intermarriage through the generations.

Oral History of the Long Way, Kelinjau (Eastern Mahakam)

Just like the Tidung and their territory, the ethnonyms and place names relating to Kayanic peoples make historical and oral historical studies difficult. Although the Kayanic peoples have been known most generally by the name "Kayan," they also had, as we have seen, numerous endonyms, exonyms, and subgroup names. The Berau and Bulungan sultanates used to call them "Segei," or "Segai-i," while the Kutai called them "Modang." Both names were originally derived from powerful Ga'ay subgroups, 'people of the Segah basin' and 'Ga'ay, the surprise-attackers,' from whom the local sultans suffered attacks but relied on at the same time for their war and trading skills. Moreover, the term "Ken'yeah" or "Kenyah" referred not only to the present-day Kenyah, but also to the early non-Ga'ay subgroups or the proto-Kayan, Bahau, and Murut, as we saw in the last section.

Ken'yeah was a generic and pejorative name for Bornean inlanders from the perspective of the early Ga'ay. However, old Kayanic ethnonyms including Ken'yeah are also rich sources of information on past times, reflecting former topology and cosmology. In fact, oral histories before migration to the Kayan basin are scanty, except for those of later migrants such as the Long Glat and Busa:ng (see 3-2). These histories also mention the ancient kingdom of Brunei, memories of which remain among the Kayanic peoples as well as their neighbors. The great Kayanic and Kenyah migrations seem to have been related, at least to some degree, to the fall of Brunei following its occupation by the Portugese. Some Kayanic migrants had already arrived in northeast Borneo before the beginning of Sulu rule, and there, according to oral histories and epics, they allied themselves with Brunei nobles.

3-1. Early Ga'ay and Their Neighbors: Downriver--and Upriver Peoples, or Warriors and Barbarians

Many Kayanic oral histories agree on the point that their oldest settlements were in the Baram basin. Some subgroups (Long Glat, U. Tua:n, U. Lekwe:, U. Suling, Long Huvung, H. Tri:ng, H. Dali:' and Pua') clearly remember their origin in this basin, using its old name Tela:ng Usa:n <K, B> or 'Rain River,' or even using the names of tributaries and mountains such as the Julan River (see 3-2) and Apo Dalih. Others, such as the Hopan, Merap and Long Nab, state that they moved from somewhere in Sarawak to the Kayan basin across the Iwan and Bahau tributaries.

It is also commonly heard that the ancestors of the Kayan and Bahau subgroups as well as those of the Kenyah and Murut were already settled in the Baram by the time the proto-Ga'ay arrived. The contrast between these old and newcomers is reflected in their early ethnonyms as "upriver peoples" and "downriver peoples." The proto-Ga'ay called the old settlers of the Baram, and not only the proto-Bahau and Kayan, but also Kenyah and Murutic groups, Ken'yeah <LW> / Ken'yah <LG, LN, W>, 'people of the upriver,' 'inlanders.' This term originally meant a 'mountain,' 'frontier,' or any other wild lands, as in u:n ken 'yah Kejuyn <LG> ('virgin headwaters of the Kayan') or suenken 'yeah Yaeng <LW> ('the wild mountain Yaeng'). (16) Some Kenyah also state that the original name of the Bahau, "Baw," indicates that their settlements were in the highlands (baw, bo:, 'high' <K, B>). In a similar way, the Bahau of middle Mahakam used to call the Ga'ay Hwang He'oh, or 'people of the downriver.' Their neighbors, the Long Glat, also agree on this point, according to their old endonym, Lun Lod (he'oh, lod, 'downriver'). Some Kenyah also insist that the term Ga'ay came instead from ba'ay as we saw above.

Besides the term Ken'yeah connoting disdain for the Baram natives, with its implication of "barbarians," the Ga'ay also used a less pejorative name, Lembueh <LW> / Lembuih <LG> / Lembus <LN, W>. (17) This attitude of the Ga'ay probably resulted from their social and cultural advantage, as exemplified by their tight organization under a hereditary chief, especially in comparison with the unstratified proto-Bahau (see 2-2), and by their famous iron industry, which produced the swords well-known as "parang ilang," or in their own tongue, ila:ng layah, (18) which is of the best quality seen in Borneo (see Belcher 1848; Niewenhuis 1904:287-88; Hose and MacDougall 1912:vol. 1159-160; Christie and King 1988). It is seemingly the Ga'ay who first brought this sword to the inland regions and came to obtain the ethnonym "Ga'ay/Mengga'ay," allegedly derived from gay or sword.

In fact, the cosmology of the Ga'ay is oriented to coastal regions where racy had contacts with the local rulers. The Ga'ay use the expression Neak Mekiam <LG, LW> for a big river, which means 'child of the sea,' 'large surface of flow,' in contrast with other Kayanic subgroups as well as their neighbors, who are oriented to the upper regions or sources of the rivers as the origin of life, e.g., Tela:ng Usa:n (Baram, 'Rain River,' Kelima:n ('the river to life alter death,' 'Fountain of Youth'). We can see this in the names of the main rivers of East Kalimantan, Mahkam as a tributary of the upper Segah, and Mahakam of the Kutai. (19)

Furthermore, the Ga'ay were characterized as polygamists or illicit lovers from the perspectives of the proto-Kayan and Bahau. This seems to have been due to their frequent temporary intermarriage alliances, and also from the rudeness of their powerful chiefs and warriors. Some Bahau suggest that they also used to call the Ga'ay Hwang Keroh, (20) or 'people who trifle with women' (roh <HT> 'woman,' 'girl'). The Ga'ay marriage custom of live-out husbands, especially of nobles who intended to make intermarriage alliances with many villages, seems to have been quite shocking to the proto-Bahau and Kayan. In fact, Ga'ay men also practiced 'male girl-hunting at night' (enkeap <LW, W>), which sometimes involved near-rape. "Adultery" and other "evil intercourse" between the early Ga'ay and their neighbors was symbolized in a legendary chief, "Dale Long Mala:ng <K, B>," (21) who appears in some of the oral literature of the Kayanic peoples.

The old terminology changed when the proto-Kayanic peoples found a broad river-basin and named it Kaya:n <HT, P> / Kiya:n <MLL> / Kejin <LW> / Kejuyn <LG>, 'our place,' 'residence,' 'territory,' (22) as we saw in the oral history of the Long Way (on the term Kejin, see also Dewall 1848-1849:25 October 1848, Tromp 1889:286, KV 1896, Engelhard 1897, Spaan 1901:11). This naming may have followed the practice of their new neighbors in northeast Borneo, such as the Tidung, Burusu' Tenggalan, and Lun Dayeh, all of whom call their territories 'our place' (Ulun Pagun in the Tidung dialect, Orang Benua in Bulungan and Berau Malay, Lun Bawa:ng in Lun Dayeh).

Settled in the Kayan basin, the Ken'yeah peoples were more or less assimilated into the Ga'ay and finally replaced their old ethnic label with the terms "Kayan" and "Bahau," emphasizing that their status was higher than their relatives living outside the Kayan and those who had migrated more recently. Hence the ethnic category Ken'yeah was reduced only to the Kenyah of today. This is the reason why the present-day Kenyah share many socio-cultural characteristics with the Kayanic peoples. There is also an explanation that their ethnonym came from a kind of traditional dance of the same name, kenyah, specifically a round, mass dance performed to set verses. However, this seems unlikely because Ga'ay dialects clearly distinguish this performance from the ethnic category Ken'yeah, with the term ken'iah, both of which are translated as "kenyah" by the Kayan and Bahau.

Rousseau suggests (1990:14, n. 6) that there is an early colonial term, Pari/Pare (Veth 1854, Engelhard 1897, Nieuwenhuis 1904, etc.), which referred to the Kayanic peoples as well as their neighbors. This term may have been based on Ga'ay-centered ethnocentrism. If the term is derived from pari: &lt;K&gt; or 'random,' 'irresponsible,' the people who were called pari: or pari:-ari: could be considered 'unimportant peoples' for the Ga'ay, and for some Ga'ay-ized subgroups. In fact, the term Pari/Pare referred to the Bahau, Kayan, and Penihing, in combination with the term Ken'yeah (e.g., "Pare-kenya-Behan" and "Pare-kenya-Blare" in Engelhard 1897:473-74). It also referred to people of Pasir and West Kalimantan (Veth 1854:166-67).

Then, as their population increased and assimilation occurred, the Kayanic peoples started to differentiate themselves by reference to their settlements in the Kayan basin, using names like Long Way, Melean, Long Ba'un, Gong Kiya:n, Hopan, Apo Suling, and so on. As warriors under the Bulungan and Berau sultans, they also gained exonyms like Segai/Segai-i. On the other hand, some Bahau subgroups who stayed for a long time in the upper Kayan and Malinau came to be called Ngor6k and Merap by their neighbors, the Kenyah. Those who migrated to the Kutai Sultanate developed further distinctions, including Modang/Bahau Modang (the Ga'ay, especially the Long Way), Bahau Busang (the Busa:ng of upper Mahakam), and Bahau Sa'/Hwang Sa' (the Bahau of middle Mahakam), seemingly because the Kutai Malay had the first contact with the Wehea and other Bahau migrants, who settled in the region extending from the middle Mahakam to the Wahau tributary, not far from the coast. The term "Modang" is said to have come from an old expression, Ga'co, medang downg long <GLB>, or Ga'ay 'who wield swords under the screen of night,' 'Ga'ay surprise-attackers.'

3-2. Ga'ay Exploration of the Headwaters of Baluy and Tinjar

Unlike the early Kayanic peoples who migrated from the Baram basin to the lower Kayan and Segah, some Ga 'ay subgroups such as the Long Glat and Keliway, instead, stayed longer and advanced to the southern Baram region. There they gained power through alliance with many Kayan villages and villages of other ethnic groups. For example, the Long Glat who had once settled in Busa:ng, a tributary of the upper Baram, came to subjugate the local proto-Kayan or Busa:ng subgroups living in Napo Ban Biha: Tela:ng (see Okushima 1999: 84, Table 2).

One of the famous Ga'ay epics, Tekna' Po' Jenayng, also describes the situation in the Baram in the old days. The hero of this epic, Jenayng <LG> (or, Jening <W, K>), is said to have been a noble of low status (peguw e' / hepoy so ', see Section 4-1), whose descendants are the present-day Keliway and Long Glat. He was also a well-known war chief throughout the Baram basin, where he often headed groups of allies who came from twenty villages. Among the village names were place names such as Jeli:n (Juan River of the upper Baram), Beloy (Baluy River), and Sepi:n (probably Seping River of upper Baluy). The villages of Jenayng and of other Ga'ay people were located mainly around the Julan basin, while the other villages were seemingly scattered over the headwaters of the Baram, Tinjar, and Baluy.

Besides those villages, Jenayng and his villagers had contacts with local trading centers on the coast near Baram. For example, Jenayng and his party visited akowng puyn or 'a town,' 'big village' (with numerous longhouses or other dwellings), which was under a female chief Bo:ng Lo:ng Liyo' (seemingly a Kayanic chief). (23) They admired the scale of the settlement and the number of inhabitants. There were also some Halo' or Malay traders who regularly visited Jenayng's village wearing the hats of Betawe: or Batavia-style hats. Because they were so wealthy, the nobles of the village wanted their daughters to marry these traders. If this story is accurate, the Ga'ay people still lived in upper Baram in the eighteenth century, apart from their relatives who had already settled in the Kayan basin by this time.

Futhermore, Jenayng and the Ga'ay of upper Baram came to discover, or re-discover, the older inhabitants of the Tinjar headwaters in this period. The son of Jenayng, Kenseang, (24) as well as some other nobles of the village were kidnapped by Dlay Kenay, (25) the half-divine chief (26) of a hideout village in the Semtuyn River, and they were cared for there until they reached marriageable age. Then, Dlay sent them back home, saying: "I will tell you the way home. Our Semtuyn River is a tributary of Senie, (27) and Senie is a tributary of Jemleyn. The Jemleyn is the main stream flowing straightaway into the sea, without any other tributary. So, just go up the Semtuyn to the highest point and pass across the mountain. Then you can see the Julan River." Thus, the village of Jenayng learned about the villages of upper Jemleyn and became allied with them. Jemleyn is probably an old name for the Tinjar.

It is said that those Ga'ay moved to the upper Kayan some time after Jenayng's death. Shortly thereafter they migrated further to the upper Mahakam, probably because the Kayan basin was already occupied by then by other Kayanic peoples.

3-3. Shadows of Brunei

The Brunei kingdom is often mentioned in oral histories of the Kayanic peoples as well as those of the Kenyah and Murut, in combination with China or Tiongkok in the local tongues, as the oral text from the Leppo' Taw Kenyah suggests above (see also Okushima 1999:77-78). Brunei, one of the oldest and most powerful trading centers in Asia, is said to have been located originally around the mouth of the Lawas River in Sarawak and to have thrived for a long time through trade in forest products such as camphor and gold (Nicholl 1980). Hence, both the northwestern and northeastern parts of Borneo formed a broad hinterland of this kingdom, where the proto-Kayanic peoples and related groups were engaged in collecting forest products and exploiting the frontier lands.

The fall of the Brunei kingdom after its occupation by the Portuguese, along with the fall of its partner kingdoms like Johor in the early 16th century, must have contributed to the great migrations of the Kayanic peoples to northeast Borneo. Nevertheless, some early Kayanic migrants were already present in the area before the advance of the Sulu sultanate according to local oral histories. For example, Tidung and Bulungan nobles state that one of their ancestors, an Arab man named Sech Abdurrahman Al-Magribi, fled to the Sulu islands during the Portugese occupation of the Johor, but later moved to coastal Bulungan around the middle of the 16th century. (28) There, his party allied itself with the local peoples through the marriage of his son with a daughter of Datu Mancang/Datu Lancang and the female chief of the Hopan (see the genealogies in Okushima 2002:154, 2003b: 13).

Datu Mancang was a famous Brunei prince who came to make an inspection of the northeastern coast (see also Akbarsyah 1997; Sellato 2001), and who was allied with the Malinau Tidung and also the Hopan living in the Bahau basin by that time. Some other Tidung and Kayanic subgroups also seem to have been associated with the Brunei, because they have old epics of their ancestors that were composed in the local Malay dialects (allegedly Brunei). Thus the Sumbol Tidung recite the epic of Yaki Betawel (also Bitawel, Betawol) and his wife, Dayang Dedalit, who migrated from Sebuku River to Batu Tinagad (Tawau), while the Merap remember their first noble ancestors with rhetorically refined names like Blaley' Layang Tenggong and so on.

Northeast Borneo, as part of Brunei's hinterland, was also its intermediate trading center to the eastern islands, such as Sulu, Sulawesi, and Halmahera. The Tidung still remember that their ancestors used to travel back and forth between these islands; they were probably the guards of the Brunei defending the east coast, just like the Bisaya were over northwest Borneo (Nicholl 1980). Even some Kayanic and Kenyah peoples state that some of their ancestors migrated to North Sulawesi and became (or assimilated into) the "Manado Dayak," namely the Minahasa.

Supposing that these old memories are reliable, we can imagine how the Tidung, Kayanic peoples, and related groups dared to resist the Sulu, Bugis, and other rulers, rather than recognize them as their new sovereigns, by considering themselves as being of high status as a result of their long alliance with Brunei. On this point, further investigation is needed.

4. Development of Social Organization for Power and Mobility: Stratification, Dual Village Organization, and Neighboring Rule

   The Uma:' Suling and the U. Palo' settled together in Long Isun (a
   tributary of Mahakam) and built as many as three longhouses (uma:')
   in the village (ukung), because they were many in number. Sometime
   later, they added one more longhouse as their population increased.
   Then, they came to split into several farming groups (daleh), first
   in order to utilize a maximum amount of land in their territory.
   Later, however, some of these groups also made their own longhouses
   near the regions of the daleh, and became independent villages. On
   the other hand, the others gathered in Long Pahangai and rejoined
   their longhouses in Dutch colonial time.

Oral History of the Uma: Suling, upper Mahakam

   Ningah (a Kayan chief who is the hero of this epic) pretended to be
   a Punan (the hunter--gatherers), wearing humble and dirty clothes.
   Then he visited the village of (his lover) Lalang. Because the
   Punan were not allowed to enter a longhouse from the central stairs
   (stairs to the amin aya' or 'chief apartment'), he climbed an edge
   of the longhouse (uvang uma: '). The apartment of Huku: Buring (Old
   Buring) was at the end of the longhouse. Ningah saw this old woman
   sitting alone in her shabby apartment, although the other
   inhabitants of the longhouse were busy preparing for the marriage
   of Lalang and Ningah (because this woman, probably an old widow of
   quite low status, was paid less attention to by the others). Ningah
   asked her if he could take a rest in the apartment. Meanwhile, one
   of the daughters of Buring, who was married and living in another
   apartment, came to invite her mother. Ningah lied to this daughter:
   "I heard that the chief Ningah has already died in his village.
   Could you please inform the nobles of the amin aya '? ..."

Epic "Takna Ningah," Upper Mahakam

As we saw in the Introduction, the Tidung and Kayanic peoples of northeast Borneo were never recognized as the local rulers by Westerners because they lacked an Islamic political system including the title of "sultan." Nevertheless, the Kayanic peoples came to establish actual autonomy over inland northeast Borneo, especially by controlling communication and forest--product trade in their territories and by making expeditions into parts of Sabah, South and West Kalimantan and even the Sulu Archipelago as forces of the sultanates of Kutai, Berau (Gunung Tabur and Sambaliung), and Bulungan. In other words, they succeeded because they adapted themselves to life in the broad and inaccessible inner areas of northwestern Borneo. They organized into corporate but flexible communities, gathering peoples for construction, rituals, and defense, and dividing labor during fanning, trading, migration, and surprise attack on the basis of a well-balanced combination of three grouping principles, namely, social stratification, kinship, and residence. From an analysis of terminology, we can see the development of these principles through migration and assimilation, such as the formation of a strata of chiefs/nobles (hipuy, hepoy, paran) and the reorganization of farming groups (daleh) as subunits of the longhouse or village.

4-1. "Householders" and Others: Development and Diversification of the Kayanic Stratification System

It is said that the Austronesians widely share an impulse to differentiate subgroups within society. The leaders and nobles claimed, and still partially claim, their position and status by reference to genealogies, origin myths, taboos, and supernatural sanctions (Blust 1976, 1981; Fox 1996; Bellwood 1996). Bellwood suggests (1996:28-32) that a "founder-focused ideology" of the Austronesians inspired the junior members of society to move out and establish their own senior founding lines and was a strong motivation to explore and expand over Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Among the interior groups of northeast Borneo, there are two main stratification systems which seem to be based on this ideology, namely, "good people/elders" and others, and "original person(s) of a place/householder(s)" and others. The elders of the first type of stratification, which exists both among the Kayanic peoples (keluna:n aya' lun puen, lun lun kehea, etc., see Table 6) as well as the Murut (lun do:' lun mesangi, lun mego:t, etc.), are said to be descended from those who achieved fame mainly by their personal skill or talent, such as warriors, mediators, curets, or priests. On the other hand, the "householders" of the second type, which is very characteristic of Kayanic peoples, were particularly religious persons who ensured the protection of the village through their contacts with spirits. In fact, the dichotonomy between "householders" (hipun urea: 'hipuy, hapoy, etc.) and others, that is, nobles and commoners (panyin, pengin, etc.), is shared by all Kayanic subgroups (see Table 6).

The second type of leadership has a greater potential for becoming hereditary, in association with religion, although neither type was originally crucial for the development of chieftainship. In fact, many Bahau subgroups consider themselves to have had no hereditary chiefs in former times. They seemingly introduced chieftainship through intermarriage with the Ga'ay and Kayan. This drastic change is symbolized by the offering of eggs (tapo' <K, B>) (29) (Photo 2), as found in the origin myths and oral histories of the H. Tri:ng, Hopan, Merap, Pua', and Ngorek (see also the intermarriages of the H. Siraw and Hopan with the local sultans in Adham 1979:126; Akbarsyah 1997:8-9).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Householders" were indispensable for the construction of longhouses because they conducted a series of complicated rituals that preceded house building. Therefore, Kayanic peoples who had lost their "householders" in war were obliged to join another village, or to call for another "householder" from somewhere else. Thus, the development of Kayanic stratification is likely to have started through the elevation of "householders" into a noble stratum and from this stratum creating hereditary chiefs. This noble stratum seems to have developed in three stages, as follows: The original and most basic version of the term, pu 'un uma ', tumbun uma' (pu 'un, 'origin,' 'trunk of tree,' 'source'; tumbun, 'a sprout'; uma', uma:', 'a longhouse,' 'village') and hipun uma:' (hipun, 'to own') are used largely by the Bahau and Kayan of the Bulungan region, as well as those of the Baram (see Uyo 1989: 69). The term pu'un is said to be typical and essential in Austronesian systems of differentiation and ranking (Fox 1996:6-7). (30) The term can be applied not only to nobles, but also to individuals of any other stratum, for example, pu 'un amin (the original members of an apartment from the first founder), or pu 'un sekuit Long Glat (the oldest ancestors of the Long Glat).

The second version of the term, hipuy or hepoy, is commonly used by the Ga'ay and Kayan subgroups, including some Ga'ay-ized or Kayanized Bahau (such as the H. Tri:ng and Wehea of Mahakam). This term is derived from the verb hipun <K, B>/ peiny <LG> / ping <LW> ('to own,' 'have'), and has the same meaning as the term hipun uma:'/pu 'un uma' above. It also became a personal name for female nobles, (H)Ipuy / (H)Ipi: / (H)Iping / Ping / Peiny ('The Wealthy'). The third version of the term, paren, is an adjective form of aran, aren <K, some B> ('sacred,' 'prestigious'), which often modifies the term for chiefs, nobles, or their apartments, e.g., hipuy maran ('chief or 'the noble(s) of the highest status'), or amin aya' maran mesa:t (the most sacred chiefs apartment). This term has also become a personal name for Kayanic male nobles, Paran/Paren or 'The Holy.'

The change above is likely to have been promoted through the process of establishing local hegemony. To further differentiate the chief from other nobles, the Kayanic peoples came to use the adjectives "big," "high" and "small," "low," according to descent, as in hipuy aya' and hipuy uk <K, B of Mahakam> / hepoy puyn and hepoy so ' <LG> / hepoy ngan and hepoy co' <MLL, GLB> / paren and paren ja: &lt;P&gt;. As a variation, the H. Tri:ng use the term "longhouse" in place of "big," for example, hipuy uma:' and hipuy uk. The Long Way categorize their nobles into three ranks, hepoy puen, hepoy keyn, and hepoy so '. Some Kayan of upper Baluy even distinguish maren from other nobles (hipuy uk) as a new, independent stratum (Rousseau 1990:165-72). This is very similar to the case of the Kenyah as well as some Muruts (e.g., Kelabit), who use paran/paren as the chiefs stratum.

Besides the nobles, the Kayanic peoples specified men of influence from commoners, or "good peoples," "elders," also as pegawa', peguwe', pengera', hukang, lun kehea (Table 6). Some of these terms are borrowed from Malay words like pengawa/pegawai ('officer,' 'manager') and pengeran ('prince,' 'deputy,' 'chief). In fact, men of influence are often included with the nobles, but the people still call the latter hipuy etc., except for those who have mixed with commoners for generations. The Long Glat and their Busa:ng allies interestingly developed a stratum of the chiefs right-hand men, peguwe', ranking between nobles and commoners.

Next to the noble stratum, the Kayanic peoples seem to have stratified slaves. The most commonly shared terms, which do not necessarily demarcate a stratum, are halut, halowt, salut, salu:t ('captive(s),' or, something pulled out like transplanted rice and vegetables), and hula'and hlue '('orphan'). (31) In fact, these terms often indicate in oral histories the nobles being "pulled out" of other villages or ethnic groups, by capture or kidnapping, who were cared for in the chief's apartment and later married the chief or nobles in order to strengthen their blueblood. However, the terms evidently used for slaves as a labor force are dipan, ripan, meguy, all of which are absent among the less-Kayanized Bahau. (32) The H. Tri:ng also use a variation, amin ('apartment'), because slaves belonged to their apartment hosts. Here, we can roughly conclude that the slave stratum may also have been developed like the noble stratum in conjunction with Kayanic expansion, or with a boom in slave trading.

Once a stratification system with a strong chieftainship was established, not only the Kayanic peoples themselves but also the Kenyah and some Muruts, like the Kelabit, adopted it to seek higher status. Some developed a 4th and a 5th stratum as local variations, while others kept the original dichotomous stratification, adding at most slaves (see also for Sarawak, Rouseau 1990:163-215, Tsugami 1988:119, Uyo 1989:69). Nevertheless, the stratification system did not remain stable, and did not always ensure the position of a chief and nobles. It often happened that Kayanic nobles who were defeated in competition left the village and took close families and friends with them to build another village and become its chief. The commoners also had some choices. Oral histories suggest that the Kayanic peoples ran away from their chief or nobles when the latter caused trouble or violated adat and taboos. They also took one of the nobles' children to be a new candidate for chief, or joined another village (see the case of the Long Way, Okushima 1999: 92).

4-2. Dual Village Organization: Ideological and Practical Houses

Dwelling is another important principle of grouping among the Austronesians (see, for example, Blust 1981, 1987; Macdonald et al. 1987; Fox 1993), but especially for the Kayanic peoples who had determined the village chiefs as being elected from the "householders."

As known today, a typical Kayanic longhouse (uma: ', uma' <K, B> / amin, min, lemin <HT, LG, LW, W, GLB>) consists of an aggregate of apartments/family houses (amin <K, HT>, moa <M> / mesow <LG, LW, W> / masin <MLL, GLB>) arranged in a straight line (joh <K, LG> / tenjowng, tenjong, jaeng <LW, MLL, GLB> / bata:ng (uma: ') <US, P>), starting with the chief's apartment and extending to the right and left (see Table 7). The Ga'ay of the Mahakam basin had a unique form of longhouse in which the chief's apartment was separated from both wings (see the picture in Rousseau 1990:105). Some subgroups make no clear distinction between longhouse and apartment, and so extend the term for apartment to the longhouse, as in amin aru: ', bata:ng amin <N, P> / masin jah <MLL> / moa raw <M> ('longhouse'). But, in any case, the chief's apartment (amin aya' <K, B> / mesow puyn, mesow puen <LG, LW> / masin ngan <GLB>, 'big apartment') used to be larger and more highly decorated than the others, because it was the site of village rituals and a meeting place as well as a reception area for outside guests.

Hence, Kayanic longhouse/village membership was quite binding in the past, not only because it obliged inhabitants to live side-by-side, but also because it imposed numerous religious restrictions for which the people had to follow the "householder's" direction. Some grand rituals required the inhabitants to stay within the village and were mostly conducted in the chief's apartment as well as in other parts of the longhouse. Commoners' apartments were also believed to possess ancestral spirits, and so all the members of a family had to practice smaller-scale rituals in their apartment and to put offerings in the kitchen or the doorway on specific occasions. It was even taboo for the members of an apartment family to go on trips separately, in opposite directions, on the same day (peleka' &lt;K&gt;), for instance, upriver and downriver. Otherwise, they would be in danger of parting forever.

Because longhouses were considered to be sacred, just as were "householders," the Kayanic peoples could not extend their apartments with additional apartments or build a new longhouse without permission from the chiefs. The most usual case was that they had to wait for the population to grow, making do with existing apartments or provisional huts (see 4-3), until the chiefs decided to form a new longhouse in the village and to nominate who would move into it, as well as who would be its new "householder." This also occurred by annexation with other villages or ethnic groups. The extension of a house/village signaled, and still signals today, happiness and prosperity to Kayanic peoples, and so they distinguish villages with multiple longhouses from those with a single longhouse, with the terms ukung &lt;K&gt; / akowng <LG>, ekowng, akung <KW, ML, W>, maowa akong <GLB> / tukung, tukuwong <N, H>, and tukue <M> / lepo' &lt;P&gt; ('big village,' 'town'). The H. Tri:ng use uma:' to refer to the village, with amin referring to a longhouse.

At the same time, however, the Kayanic peoples had to make adjustments to their villages so as to survive various circumstances, for example, having to farm in a mountainous area, fight in deep forest, look for forest products in distant regions, and so on. Thus, they developed a dual village organization to unite the people so that they could perform both cooperative tasks, like those required for grand rituals, house construction, and defense against enemies, and individual tasks requiring mobility, such as farming, trading, migration, and pincer- or surprise-attacks. In fact, farm lands and farmhouses had fewer restrictions, except for rules and taboos about rice. The Kayanic peoples formerly practiced group farming (daleh &lt;K&gt; / laleh <HT> / leleh <LG>), in which they built their farmhouses (lepaw, lepo: <K, B>/paw <LG, LW>) (33) side-by-side in a single location (see Okushima 1999:99). However, if the farming location was too small for all the villagers to farm together, they divided between several locations for convenience. This also became a strategy during war or migration, as we learn from the oral history of the U. Suling above. Even in their daleh, the Kayanic peoples had at least one noble, one war chief, and other elders. In the same way, an apartment family, whose members usually formed a single farmhouse, could divide into multiple farmhouse units, or into nuclear families (jaha:n, na 'an, ni'in <K, LG>, 'a part of,' 'a unit'), according to their needs. For example, the apartment families which contained many jaha:n automatically provided the other villagers with additional labor and food materials when mutual help was needed. And in each jaha:n or na 'an, the members were led by a married couple.

The everyday residences discussed above served two purposes: they allowed the Kayanic peoples to separate themselves for practical convenience, but they also functioned as a balance to social pressures within the longhouse/villages, especially to the power of the "householders." An isolated farmhouse sometimes indicated a quarrel or a violation of adat, in which the inhabitants argued and split from an existing apartment or longhouse, sometimes staying on their own for years. In the past, some Kayanic chiefs or nobles were segregated from their village and forced to live in farmhouses or huts because of adultery or possession by an evil spirit. Inversely, commoners might run away from a village where the chief/nobles committed adultery, incest, or any other religious violation (see Okushima 1999:91-92).

Therefore, powerful Kayanic chiefs sought to control the gap between these ritual/ideological and everyday/practical houses so as to unify their followers, and they did so by emphasizing the importance of the ideological house (see also Rousseau 1977:136-37; Devung et al. 1992:94, 105; Whittier 1973:67). Often, when a rival of the village chief split off to form another daleh, he took his party away to form a new longhouse; or this party, instead, joined another village where the chief was more powerful and just.

4-3. Neighboring Rule: Dwelling Disposition According to Kinship

The dual life between ideological and practical houses described above also defined the disposition of these dwellings, namely the way apartments/farmhouses are arranged to form a longhouse/daleh. In addition to stratification and dual village organization, kinship still functions as a grouping principle among Kayanic peoples in terms of the disposition of dwelling units. I provisionally call this preference a "neighboring rule."

The Kayanic peoples used to build dwellings according to closeness between the inhabitants and this remains true in part even today. The degree of closeness was determined by consanguinity, intermarriage, friendship, and alliance. No non-kin was allowed to live between the dwellings of close relations, for example, parents and children, sisters and brothers, and so on, without the latter's permission. This rule seems aimed at insuring that people will be able to obtain the help of their closest relatives and friends when in need, for example, to borrow something, to obtain help in caring for children and domestic animals, talking about troubles, or protecting themselves against attacks by enemies. Hence, before construction, they negotiated and first came to a consensus about the disposition of apartments and farmhouses. If a person wanted to extend his/her apartment or farmhouse with an additional dwelling, he or she would usually have to wait until the next season of village or daleh planning, rather than simply build it at one end of the existing longhouse or farm hut. In some cases, members had to wait a long time, especially for the planning of a new longhouse, and while waiting, they lived in provisional huts built in front of their original dwelling.

Thus, the location of dwellings in a Kayanic longhouse or daleh reflected the closeness of relationships between its inhabitants. There was a rough correspondence between dwellings and kin groups, as shown in Table 7. Some Bahau subgroups like the H. Tri:ng have many levels of kin groups, with the names of the groups based on consanguinity and locality, as in hina' ('mother and children,' 'nuclear family'; hina:n, 'a mother') and kapo:ng (kampong, 'village' in Malay). On the other hand, some hegemonic Ga'ay like the Long Way seldom use the terms for family groups larger than the nuclear family (hena') or a married couple (hewa'). Rather, they prefer genealogical expressions, such as kesoy' and ketiw ('stem of a plant'). The notion of descent can also be seen among the Kayan, as in hula:n or 'descendants,' 'ethnic group,' which is the plural form of hula', 'orphan,' 'survival' (Section 4-2).

[TABLE 7 OMITTED]

Through the neighboring rule based on kinship, dwelling disposition also reflected to some extent strata and ranking, from the chief's apartment at the center to the more modest dwellings of lower-status people at both ends of a residence structure. Because the chief and nobles occupied the center of a longhouse or daleh, naturally his closest relatives joined their apartments to both sides of it. The others then followed in the same way. As a result, the people living in the apartments near the amin aya' tended to be proud of being men of influence or prosperous individuals, even though they themselves were not nobles. In contrast, those at each end of the house (uvang uma:' &lt;K&gt;) were often more modest, for example, small-scale apartment families, migrants from other villages, or even from other ethnic groups. Such a ranking is implicit in oral histories as well as in some rituals and adat, for instance in the manner by which hunter-gatherers may enter a Kayanic longhouse, as shown in the Takna' Ningah epic as told by Kayan subgroups in the upper Mahakam.

The priority of stratification over other Kayanic grouping principles may have diminished some of their older socio-cultural features, for example, the importance of seniority in the order of age among siblings, like the distinction of hika'-harey' ('eldest'--'younger sibling') in Section 2-2. In fact, Kayan subgroups still preserve these terms in the old epics and chants. (34) Neighbors of the Kayanic peoples, the Tidung as well as the Rungus, Idahan and Bisaya, who originally had no hereditary chieftainship based on stratification, also distinguish between the eldest and other uncles and aunts (see Okushima 2003a: 252-254).

Concluding Remarks

In this paper, we have examined the ethnohistorical background of the Kayanic peoples, who, together with the Tidung and other local groups, possessed the power to reorganize ethnic distributions and political rule in northeast Borneo in early colonial times. Their languages, dialects, and old ethnonyms suggest their long-term alliance and assimilation with Murut and other related groups in northeast and northwest Borneo, supporting a theory that the proto-Kayanic peoples started migrating mainly from the northern regions of the Baram basin and then expanded to the southern Baram and upper Baluy. Social organization as the source of their power and mobility seems to have developed and been elaborated through this migratory process, until a system of stratification, dual village organization, and a dwelling disposition rule were established on the basis of chieftainship of "householders." In this way, the Kayanic people came to trigger dramatic changes in northwest Borneo during the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. In a subsequent paper, we will investigate several different periods and movements of these Kayanic migrants to northeast Borneo though their oral historical texts and epics.

References

Abbreviations

BKI= Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land en Volkenkunde; NBH= British North Borneo Herald;

BRB= Borneo Reseach Bulletin; KV= Koloniaal Verslag; SMJ=Sarawak Museum Journal;

BG= Tijaschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land en Volkenkunde; TNAG= Tijaschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap

Adham 1979 Salasilah Kutai (Vol 1). Kutai: Pemerintah Daerah Kutai Kalimantan Timur.

Akbarsyah 1997 Birau di Tanjung Selor, Kemasan Atraksi Seni-Budaya Daerah Tingkat H Bulungan dalam Era BIMP-EAGA. Bulungan: Pemerintah Kabupaten Daerah Tigkat II.

Appell, Amity C. P. 1986 The Bulusu' Language of East Kalimantan: Ethnographic Profile and Basic Word List. BRB 18(2): 166-75.

Barth, J. P. J. 1910 Boesangsch-Nederlandsch Woordenboek. Batavia: Landsdrukkerij.

Belcher, Sir E. 1848 Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, during the Years 1843-46 (Vol. 1 & 2). London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve.

Bellwood, Peter 1996 Hierarchy, Founder Ideology and Austonesian Expansion. In: James J. Fox and Clifford Sather (eds.), Origins, Ancestry and Alliance: Explorations in Austronesian Ethnography. Canberra: Australian National University.

Bibi Aminah Abdul Ghani 1992 The Bintulu Dialect: An Introduction. SMJ 63-64:321-42.

Black, Ian 1985 The Lastposten: Eastern Kalimantan and the Dutch in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Journal of the Southeast Asian Studies 16-2:281-91.

Blust, Robert 1974 A Murik Vocabulary: With a Note on the Linguistic Position of Murik. SMJ 2243:153-89.

1981 Early Austronesian Social Organization: The Evidence of Language. Current Anthropology 21-2:205-47.

1984 The Tring Dialect of Long Terawan. SMJ 33-54:101-35.

1987 Lexical Reconstruction and Semantic Reconstruction: The Case of Austronesian "House" Words. Diachronica 4-1:79-106.

2002 Kiput Historical Phonology. Oceanic Linguistics 41(2):384-38.

Burns, Robert 1849 The Kayans of the North-West of Borneo. The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia: 140-52.

Christie, J. W. and V. T. King 1985 Metal-Working in Borneo: Essays on Iron- and Silver-Working in Sarawak. Centre for South-East Asian Studies, the University of Hull (CSEAS Occasional Papers No. 15).

Coomans, M. C. n.d. Kamus Bahasa Melayu-ayan (1 & 2). Samarinda (typed manuscript).

Devung, Simon G., et al. 1992 Kearifan Tradisional Masyarakat Pedesaan dalam Pemeliharaan Lingkungan Hidup di Kalimantan Timur (1991-92). Samarinda Departmen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

Dewall, H. van 1846-1847 Extract Civile Gezaghebber van Kutai (Jan. 1846-Jul. 1847). Jakarta: Arsip Nasional. (Manuscript).

1848-1949 Derde Reis van de Civiele Gezaghebber voor Koetei (Mei 1848-Aug. 1849). Jakarta: Arsip Nasional. (Manuscript).

1855 Aanteekeningen omtrent de Noordoostkust van Borneo. TUB 4- 1:423-58. Engelhard, H. E. D.

1897 Aanteekeningen Betreffende de Kinjin Dayaks is het Landschap Baloengan. BK/ 39:458-91.

Fox, James J. 1996 Introduction. In: James J. Fox and Clifford Sather (eds.), Origin, Ancestry and Alliance: Explorations in Austronesian Ethnography. Canberra: Australian National University.

Fox, James J. (ed.) 1993 Inside Austronesian Houses. Canberra: Australian National University.

Guerreiro, Antonio J. 1983 A Note on Pronouns in the Long Gelat and Busang Languages. BRB 15(2):98-105.

1985 An Ethnological Survey of the Kelai River Area, Kabupaten Berau, East Kalimantan. BRB 17:106-20.

1996 Homophony, Sound Changes and Dialectal Variations in Some Central Bornean Languages. Mon-Khmer Studies No.25:205-26.

Hageman, J. 1855 Aanteekeningen omtrent een Gedeelte der oostkust van Borneo. TBG 4-1:71-106.

Harrisson, Tom 1961 Belaga Book. Kuching; Sarawak Museum (retyped and numbered by J. Rousseau).

Hose, C. and W. MacDougall 1912 The Pagan Tribes of Borneo (vols. 1 &2). London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. (Reprinted 1966.)

Irwin, Graham 1955 Nineteenth-Century Borneo. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya.

Kalimantan Timur 2004 Kalimantan Timur dalam Angka 2003.

Kaskija, Lars 1992 Sejarah suku Merap. Yogyakarta (Typed manuscript).

1995 Punan Malinau: The Persistence of An Unstable Culture. Unpublished Filosofie Licentiate Thesis in Cultural Anthropology, Uppsala University.

Knappert, S. C. 1905 Beschrijving van de Onderafdeeling Koetei. BKI 58:575-654.

Kroeger, Paul R. 1998 Language Classification in Sarawak: A Status Report. SMJ 53-74:137-73.

Lumholtz, C. 1991 Through Central Borneo. Singapore: Oxford University Press (first published in 1920).

Macdonald, Charles, et al. 1986 De la Hutte au Palais: Soceites "Maison" en Asie du Sud-Est Insulaire. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Majul, Cesar Adib 1973 Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Press.

Nicholl, Robert 1980 Brunei Rediscovered: A Survey of Early Times. Brunei Museum Journal 4(4):219-37.

Nieuwenhuis, A. W. 1904 Quer durch Borneo (I). Leiden: Brill.

Okushima, Mika 1999 Wet Rice Cultivation and the Kayanic Peoples of East Kalimantan: Some Possible Factors Explaining their Preference for Dry Rice Cultivation. BRB 30:74-104.

2002 Commentary on the Sebuku Document: Local History from the Perspective of a Minor Polity of Coastal Northeast Borneo. Sophia Asian Studies (Sophia University, Tokyo) 20:149-72.

2003a Ethnic Background of the Tidung: Investigation of the Extinct Rulers of Coastal Northeast Borneo. Sophia Asian Studies 21: 233-60.

2003b Bulungan-oukoku no Arab-jin (The Arab Migrants of Bulungan Sultanate: A Short History on Islamization of Northeast Borneo from the Oral and Written Sources). AMS News 27:6-14.

2004 Kita-Kalimantan-shu bunritsu undou no kigen (Origin of North Kalimantan Province: The Experiences of an Indonesian-Malaysian Borderland in the Era of State Making). JAMS News 29:12-25.

2007 Indonesia chihoubunkenka-go no bunka-kanko seisaku to kizoku no kattou (Struggle and Challenge of the Nobles Under the Indonesian Policy of Tourism and Culture after Decentralization). In: Jun Nishikawa (ed.), Shakaikagaku wo saikouchiku-suru (Reconstructing Social Sience). Tokyo: Akashi-hoten.

Republik Indonesia 1983 REPELITA IV 1984/85-1988/89 (Rencana Pembangunan Lima Tahun Keempat).

Rousseau, Jerome 1977 Kayan Agriculture. SMJ 25:129-56.

1990 Central Borneo: Ethnic Identity and Social Life in a Stratified Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Sellato, Bernard 1980 The Upper Mahakam Area. BRB 12(1):40-46.

1986 Les Nomades Forestiers de Borneo et la Sedentrarisation: Essai d'Histoire Eonomique et Sociale. Ph.D. Dissertation of Ecole des Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

1995 The Ngorek: A Survey of Lithic and Megalithic Traditions in the Bahau Area. In: Culture & Conservation in East Kalimantan 3, Recording the Past: Historical and Archaeological Studies. Jakarta: WWF/IP.

2001 Forest, Resources and People in Bulungan: Elements for a History of Settlement, Trade, and Social Dynamics in Borneo, 1880-2000. Jakarta: Center for International Forestry Research.

2002 Innermost Borneo. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

Southwell, C. Hudson 1990 Kayan-English Dictionary. Kuching: Sarawak Literary Society (2nd edition).

Spaan, A. H. 1901 Een Landreis van Berow naar Samarinda. TNAG 18:7-33, 199-224, 1012.

1902 Reis van Berouw naar Boelongan. TNAG 19:515-34, 959-76.

Tromp, S. W. 1889 Een reis naar de bovenlanden van Koetei. TBG 32: 273-304.

Tsugami, Makoto 1988 Borneo, Kayan-shakai no sonraku to sono-ideoogy (Village and Ideology of Kayan Societies, Borneo). Malaysian Societies Collection (Vol. 1). Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute of Asian and African Languages and Cultures.

1998 Soto no me to uchi no me (Outside Eyes and Inside Eyes). In: Koji Sato, ed., Sumai ni Tsudou (Gathering in the House). Gakugei-shuppannsha.

Uyo, Lab Jau 1989 Kayan People of Sarawak, SMJ 40-61:57-88.

Vossen, P. 1936 Naar en in Apau-Kajan (1 & 2). Koloniaal Missie Tijdschrift 19:229-34, 262-78, 294-307.

Warren, James F. 1985 Sulu Zone 1768-1898. Quezon City: New Day Publishers.

Whittier, Herbert L. 1972 Social Organization and Symbols of Social Differentiation: An Ethnographic Study of the Kenyah Dayak of East Kalimantan (Borneo). Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University.

Yap Beng Liah 1977 Orang Bajau di Pulau Omadal berasal dari Johor. Sarina 2(19 Oct.): 126-35.

(1) Research was conducted from 1996-1998 and for short periods of time from 2002-2006. I would like to express my gratitude to Professors B. Sellato, A. Guerreiro, J. Rousseau, C. Sather, Simon G. Devung, C. Eghenter, M. Uchibori, M. Tsugami, L. Kaskij a, Ch. Gonner, and H. Sasaki for their advice and information; to local historians Amir Hamzah and the late Sayyid Idrus al-Idrus, and to all my informants in Indonesia and Malaysia.

(2) The term "Segai" varies according to context: The Kayanic peoples originally used this term only for their subgroups in the Segah basin of Berau (Segai = people of Segah), while the Berau and Bulungan Malays used the term to refer to all the Kayanic peoples; some Tidung extended it further to Murutic headhunters like the Tenggalan.

(3) A Tidung subgroup who originated in Sumbol, a tributary of the Sehuku (Nunukan Regency, East Kalimantan). For details, see Okushima 2002, 2003a.

(4) A war chief of the Sumbol Tidung of Nunukan Island. In the second half of the nineteenth century, his party migrated to Kalabakan (Tawau, Sabah); he was still alive in 1904, as the representative of the Kalabakan chief, Pengeran Temanggong (see BNBH 1904 1 Jul.:67).

(5) The details regarding this sultan are obscure.

(6) The phonetic description used in this paper follows Guerreiro (1996:26, appendix 3). Ex. /e/:[[??]], /e/:[e], /[e]/:[[??]], /aw//ay/, /a/:[a] /u:[u] (nasalized vowels) /:/: length of the precedent vowel, /'/:[[??]] (glottal stop in all positions).

(7) The mountain is located between the headwaters of the Kelai and Mahakam.

(8) Unknown group who once lived in the Petaning Delta, at the mouth of the Kayan, seemingly a coastal Murut group like the Tidung and Burusu.

(9) The termpelas/pelah/pela: means 'to make a ritual to purify the land.' The consonants -s / -h / - : (long vowel) are interchangeable between Kayanic subgroups (see Okushima 2003a:248-50).

(10) Abbreviations: K = Kayan subgroups, B = Bahau subgroups, G = Gay subgroups, US = U. Suling, UT = U. Tua:n, UL = U. Laran, ULW = U. Lekwe.

(11) The dialect of the U. Tepay is also said to be close to that of the U. Palo who came from upper Kayan after the U. Suling.

(12) Abbreviations: M = Merap, H = Hopan, N = Ngorek, P = Pua', HT = H. Tring, LG = Long Glat, LW = Long Way, W = Wehea, GLB = Ga'ay Long Ba'un, MLA = Mengga'ay Long Ayan, MLL = Menga'ay in Long La'ay, LN = Long Nah, KW = Keliway.

(13) The Murut also use the term bay for 'low,' 'downriver.'

(14) The Kayanic peoples explain that this term came from a Malay word awak ('you').

(15) The details of this king are not mentioned.

(16) On this point, Engelhard (1897:473-74) correctly notes on kenyah: "the inhabitants of the highland Kenja (=Kenyah), fixedly known as the Kindjin (Kejin, Kayan) today." His mention of an oral history from the Kenyah ofApo Kayan, which holds that the term kenyah is derived from Kina- of Mt. Kinabalu, also seems logical in the sense that it indicates a wild mountain. Alternatively, we can speculate the inverse, that the term ina- is derived from the Kayanic term ken eah, because the proto-Kayanic peoples as well as their neighbors, the Murut, must have been the pioneers of the wild lands of Mount Kinabalu and the Kinabatangan basin.

(17) The derivation of Lembueh is unclear (lun bah, 'upland farmers,' or lun Baw, 'Bahau people').

(18) The term seems to be a personal name, but the details are unknown. This type of sword is not like an ordinary bushknife, but rather it has a blade beautifully incised, with other decorations on the handle and sheath.

(19) The Ga'ay distinguish this tributary of the Segah, which they settled during an early stage of migration to the Kayan basin, from the Mahakam River, or Mekiam Puyn <LG> / Mekiam Puen <LW> / Meka:m Aya' <K, B> ('big Mahakam'), which they found later to be much larger and longer than the Mahkam.

(20) Lumholtz spells (1991:439) it as Hu-van-ke-raw.

(21) Also, Dlay Long Meleng <LG>, Dlay Dung Melaeng <LW>, etc.

(22) Those terms are derived mainly from the dialects of the early Kayanic migrants, Bahau and Ga'ay, while the Kayan subgroups say mostly manga:n (or anya:n <UL>); e.g., gueng kejin <LW> ('one family in the same apartment'); kaya:n Tri:ng <HT> ('village territory of the H. Tri:ng'); hino:' ngaya:n? &lt;K&gt; ('where do you come from?').

(23) The location is unclear; at the mouth of Baram, or around Lawas where the old Brunei capital was located (Nicholl 1980), or some area to the south, like Bintulu?

(24) Also, Kensaeng <LW>, Kensing <LN, W> etc.

(25) The name Dlay ('thunder') is translated as Dalye Blalye <B> or Blare &lt;K&gt;.

(26) Such an expression often connotes that the person was not a pure Ga'ay, but rather some Ken'eah. This chief was likely proto-Kayan or Kenyah by origin.

(27) This name is usually translated as Seneo in Kayan and Bahau dialects.

(28) The reign of his son varies as 1540-1570, or as 1551-1571 (originally Hijrah calendar), according to the oral histories.

(29) The Kayanic peoples make this tapo' offering of eggs on top of bamboo sticks during ritual purification of the land, after bloodshed, or incest.

(30) The Ga'ay Long Ba'un also use hepoy sepun (sepun= original, ancestral), in place of hepoy ngan.

(31) The Ga'ay Long Ba'un use the term neklo' to refer to slaves. This is probably an abbreviation of nak hlo' ('orphan child').

(32) Meguy may be derived from guy ('hand' <G>), meaning right-hand men (of the master). Cf.) demulun, lun dey 'difar etc. in Murutic.

(33) In Sarawak, some Kayan also make a larger type of farmhouse, pura/purah, which contains multiple apartments for an extended family or close relatives (see Rousseau 1974:23; Tsugami 1999:31, n. 5).

(34) For example, the prayers of Kayan priests contain classic expressions like hikin hike', hike" hiki', and so on: Tekulung hike' hiki' huling hule', puhu: men Lake Blare'... (the eldest descendants like the tip of a banana leaf/descendants from the earliest ancestor, descendants from the Thunder God...).

Mika Okushima

Kanda University of International Studies 

Chiba 261-0014, Japan

[e-mail]

Table 1: Population of Kayanic Peoples in East Kalimantan

                                   Popu-
Regency, District, Village         lation   Kayanic subgroup, others

(1) Kutai Barat

     Tering (since 2004)

 1 Muyub Ulu / Muyut                  205   H Tri:ng / Tering (B)
                                            + Patak (B)

 2 Tukul                              553   H Tri:ng + H Patak + others

 3 Tering Lama Tri:ng                1230   H Tri:ng + H Patak + others

 4 Tering Baru                        438   some H. Tri:ng + Busa:ng/
                                            Busang subgroups K + others

     Long Iram

 5 Anah                               310   H Anah (B)

 6 Long Daliq / Dali:'                344   H Dali:' (B)

 7 Keliway                            284   Keliway / Keleway (G)

 8 Ujoh Halang #                      120   U Luhat (Kayanized
                                            Penihing)

 9 Kelian Luar Long Kelian #          377   U Luhat + others

     Long Hubung (since 1998)

10 Memahak Teboq#                    1216   some U Mehak (K) + Lutan +
                                            others

11 Lutan                              661   Lutan (B) + H Siraw (B)

12 Matalibaq Uma:' Data: Liva:'       520   U Lasa:n (K) + others

13 Long Hubung / Long Huvung         1006   L Huvung (G) + H Boh (B)
                                            + H Meka:m (B) + H Temha:
                                            (B) + Penihing

14 Muara Ratah Ma'aw #                224   some H Meka:n & H Temha:
                                            + others

15 Laham #                            826   Laham (K-B) + Kayan
                                            Meka:m (K) + Busa:n

     Long Bagun

16 Long Huray #                      n.d.   H Huray (B) +  U Asa: (K)

17 Long Melaham #                    n.d.   Kayan Meka:m

18 Memahak Besar Memahak Aya' #      n.d.   U Mehak + others

19 Ujoh Bilang                       n.d.   some Long Glat (G) +
                                            Busa:ng + others

20 Long Bagun Hulu                   n.d.   U Wak (K) + Penihing +
                                            Malay etc.

     Long Pahangai

21 Long Tuyoq                         459   Long Glat / Gli:t (G) +
                                            Busa:ng (U Tua:n / Thuyn,
                                            U Pala:', U Tepay /Tepe:

22 Liu Mulang                         133   U Lekwe: (K)

23 Long Pahangai 1                    794   U Suling K + U Palo' (K)

24 Long Pahangai 2                    248   some U Suling + Malay etc.

25 Nara Aru                           221   U Suling

26 Long Isun                          485   U Suling + Punan Merah

27 Data Nata                          210   L Glat + U Tua:n + others

28 Lirung Ubing                       161   U Suling Kelivu:ng

30 Long Pakaq #                       897   Kayan Meka:m + Ping
                                            proto-Penihing)

31 Delang Krohong #                   161   Kayanized Malay

(2) Kutai Kertanegara

     Kembang Janggut

32 Long Beleh Modang #               1031   Long Bleh / L Bilah (G)

33 Long Beleh Haloq #                1934   some Islamized L. Bleh +
                                            Kutai Malay etc.

(3) Kutai Timur

     Muara Ancalong

34 Long Nah                          1679   Long Nah (G)

35 Long Tesak                         640   Long Tesa (G) + H Tri:ng
                                            + H Anah + H Dali:' + Laham

36 Melan / Melean                     653   Melean (G) + Tujung etc.

37 Long Bentuk                       1209   Long Way (G)

     Muara Wahau

38 Nehes Liah Bing / Selabing        2052   Wehea (G-B) (in L Wehea) +
                                            Kenyah + Kutai Malay etc.

39 Jak Luay / Dia' Luway              303   Wehea

40 Dabek / Dea Bek                    122   Wehea

41 Diak Lay                           205   Wehea

42 Benhes                             497   Wehea

43 Miau Baru                         3324   U. Lean (K) + others

     Other Urban Centers: Samarinda, Tenggarong, Balikpapan, Bontang,
                 Tering Seberang Long Iram Melak etc.

(4) Berau

     Sambaliung

44 Tumbit Daya Long Gemit            1045   Mengga'ay

45 Long Lanuk                         661   Mengga'ay

     Muara Lesan

46 Merasa #                           791   some U Heban K + Kenya

47 Muara Lesan / Long Lesa:n          249   Mengga'ay + others

48 Lesan Dayak #                      130   Mengga'ay

     Segah

49 Long Ayan                          372   Mengga'ay

50 Long Laai / L. La'ay               489   Mengga'ay

     Other Urban Centers: Tanjugn Redeb, Gunung Tabur, Sambaliung etc.

(5) Bulungan

     Tanjung Palas Utara

51 Pimping #                         1737   Hopan (B) + some Pua' (B)
                                            + Kenyah U. Lasa:n, Respen

52 Antutan                           1953   Hopan + Kenyah (U. Lasa:n,
                                            Respen)

     Tanjung Palas Barat

53 Mara Satu / Long Bala'            1332   Hopan + Gung Kiya:n (G) +
                                            Kenyah Lppo' Taw & Lppo'
                                            Jalan (Respen) etc.

54 Long Sam                          1225   some Long Ba'un (G) +
                                            Kenyah U. Lasa:n + Bulungan
                                            Malay etc.

55 Long Beluah #                     2208   some Long Ba'un + Kenyah +
                                            Javanese + Bulungan Malay
                                            etc.

     Peso Hilir

56 Long Tungu                        1044   some Long Ba'un (in L.
                                            Lembu') (G) + U. Laran K +
                                            others

57 Long Telanjau Long Tajau           594   U. Laran + Punan Brun
                                            Respen etc.

58 Naha Aya                           706   Ngorek (B) + U. Lekan (K +
                                            Punan Benyaung (Respen) etc.

     Peso

59 Lepak Aru #                        509   Ngorek (B)

60 Long Lasan                         405   Pua' (B) + Kenyah + Punan
                                            Lasa:n (Respen) etc.

61 Long Buang                         244   Long Ba'un'

(6) Malinau

     Pujungan

62 Long Pua #                          74   some Pua'

     Kayan Hilir

63 Data Dian #                        403   U. Lekan (K)
     Malinau Utara

64 Sembuak Warod / Long Kendai #      562   some Merap /H Baw (B) +
                                            others (Respen)

     Malinau Barat

65 Sentaban #                         145   Merap + H Tembaw (B) etc.

     Malinau Selatan

66 Paya Seturan #                     123   Kenyah Leppo' Koda (B?)

67 Long Adiu #                        110   Merap (B)

68 Gong Solok #                       175   Merap U. Liya:ng Kalu:ng

69 Nunuk Tanah Kibang #               114   Merap + H Tembaw (both
                                            in Long Ran)

70 Laban Nyarit #                     179   Merap

71 Sengayan                           196   Merap

72 Langap                             406   Merap

73 Tanjung Nanga                      534   Pua' B + Keny. (Respen)

Other Urban Centers: Tarakan, Tanjung Selor, Malinau Kota etc.

[Abbreviations]

K= Kayan, B= Bahau, G= Ga'ay, H= Hwang (B), U= Uma:' / Uma' (K, B),
L=Long (G, B), n.d.= no data, # = not directly researched

[Census data]

Kutai Barat: Kecamatan dalam angka 2000 (Long Iram, Long Hubung, Long
Pahangai).

Kutai Kertanegara: Kecamatan dalam angka 1998 (Kembang Janggut).

Kutai Timur: Kecamatan dalam angka 1997 (Muara Ancalong),
district office data in May 1998 (Muara Wahau).

Berau: Kecamatan dalam angka 2004 (Sambaliung, Muara Lesan, Segah).

Bulungan: Kecamatan dalam angka 2004 (TanJung Palas, Tanjung Palas
Utara, Peso Hilir, Peso), district office data in August 1998
(TanJung Palas Barat).

Malinau: Kecamatan dalam angka 2004 (Pujungan, Kayan Hilir, Malinau
Utara, Malinau Barat, Malinau Selatan).

Table 2: Dialects of Kayan Subgroups

                U Tua:n   U Suling   U Laran

'to go'         te:       tay        tay
'day'           do:       daw        daw
'to drink'      dui:'     dui:'      du:'
'to cry'        nangi:    nangi:     nange:
'to float'      mayun     mayul,     mayun
                          mayur *
'left (side)'   ule:      maving     ulay
'ear'           apang     apang      iling
'to hear'       ngering   ngering    kelanhi:

[Note] * Used only by the Uma:' Suling Kelivu:ng (in Lirung Ubing
village)

Table 3: Bahau Dialects (Compare with Murik Word List, Blust 1974)

                Bahau                        Other Kayanic

'hot'     panah <H, N, P, M>                 peneah <LW>
          hanah <HT>                         emnas <W>

'cloud'   abun <H, N, P, HT>                 abun <UL>
  * (1)   bawng <M>                          bahewon <W>
                                             hewoyn <LW>

'wind'    bayu: <H, N, P>      ke'beh <N>    keveh, di: &lt;K&gt;
  * (2)   bayu:, kebeh <H>     ke'baih <M>   kueas <GLB>
          bayaw, keveh                       kuyas <MLL>
          <HT>                               kuweas, eheo
                                             <MLA>
                                             whhie <W>
                                             waih <LW>

'head'    tangah <H, N, M>     ku:ng <HT>    kuhung &lt;K&gt;
                               kong          tekhong <GLB>
                               &lt;P&gt;     tekhong <MLA,
                                             MLL>

           subgroups

'hot'     lasu:' &lt;K&gt;
          lesu:' <GLB>
          leso' <MLL>
          also' <MLA>

'cloud'   ap <UT, US>
  * (1)   ba:p <MLA>
          bo:p <MLL>
          buap <GLB>

'wind'
  * (2)

'head'    dew' <LW>
          du' <W>

[Notes]

*  (1:) The Hwang Tri:ng and Long Way bo: b, bap refers to 'fog.'

* (2:) The subgroups that use keveh (kebeh, waih, etc.) use the
term to refer mainly to a wind that makes a noise when blowing
through grass or hollow trees, while they call a windstorm
bahuy or bayu. &lt;K&gt;, etc.

Table 4: Tidung-like Words in Kayanic Dialects

             Kayanic peoples

'to count'   muja:p <K, HT>        ngerikin <H>

             tasap, pasap <N, P>
             lapay <M>
             ce', co', cico'
             <MLA, MLL>

'sand'       hait, het &lt;K&gt;         asil, e:t <HT>
             heat <GLB>
             et <H>, yie: <M>
             nait, ait <N, P>
             anay <MLA, MLL>
             ene <LW>
             belngin <W>

'narrow'     patit <UT, US>        hilet <UL, M>
  * (1)      tedah, uk <H1>        hilet <N>
             kesat <H>             tatip &lt;P&gt;
             emok, mengemok
             <LW, W>
             kedel <GLB>
             co' <MLA>
             co:' <MLL>

'wide'       laya:ng <UT, US>      gawah <UL, H>
  * (2)      bera:ng <HT>          gawas <GLB>
             aya' <N>              mawan &lt;P&gt;
             ngan <MLA, MLL>       waie <M>
             leyayng, belieng, hewayn <LW>

                         Tidung

             Sesayap        Bengawong Sumbol

'to count'   ngerikin,      engtob,   engira
                            engira
             engunteb                 enyampet

'sand'       agis           agis      pasig

'narrow'     silot, silet   kasip     kasip
  * (1)

'wide'       gawas          gawas     gawas
  * (2)

[Notes]

* (1:) The terms co', 'co:' <MLA, MLL> also mean 'small.'

* (2:) The terms ngan <MLA, MLL> also mean 'big.'

Table 5: Kayanic-Murutic Features in Bintulu Dialect (Sarawak)

English          Bintulu            Kayanic peoples

(1) Kayanic words

'left side'      bulay              bulay<HT>, ulay, ule:, luy
                                    <others>
'nose'           uRong              urong <H,N,P>,
                                    urung &lt;K&gt;,rue<M>

'woman'          Re'du              ledoh <LG, LW, W>, doh &lt;K&gt;

'snake'          Ripa               nyipa' &lt;K&gt;, 'i a' <UL, HT>

'fish'           nj[member of]n     cen <M>, sen <N, P>

'sand'           R[member of]t      et <H>, da <HT>, het <UL>,
                                    heat <GLB>, hait &lt;K&gt;
'bad'            ja'as              ja'ak &lt;K&gt;

we (three)'*     telew              telow <GLB>, tla <W>,
  (inclusive)                       telo' <UT, US>, telo: <UL>

we (three)'      melew              melow <GLB>, emtla <W>,
  (exclusive)                       kamtelo' <UT, US>, kamlo:
                                    <UL>, kamlow <H>

'they (three)'   selew              seklaw tey <MLL>, sela' su <W>,
                                    hlaw <GLB, M>, sekaw <LW>

'who'            say                hay <M>, hey <H>,hey'
                                    <LW, W>, hi:' &lt;K&gt;

 (2) Kayanic-Murutic words

'already'        penga              nga' <LG, LW, W, GLB, HT>

'dog'            anew               Aso', aso: &lt;K&gt;, saw'<LG, LW>
'cat'            s[member of]ng     sing, se:ng <K,W>, se' <N>
'head'           ulew               dew' <LG, LW>, du' <W>
'right side'     tu'u:              ta'o: <K,GLB>, aw <other G>
'to lie down'    lu'bi'             ubeh &lt;P&gt;, HE <M>,Lubean
                                    <H, N>

'thick'          meqaban            kapan <H, N, P>, kapan <UL>,
                                    kapa:l <UT, US, HT>

(3) Murutic words
'to hit'         memb[member of]'

'belly'          tina'i'
'to swim'        peRingoy           (nanguy <KM>)

to fight'        Bedalow
  (quarrel)

English          Murutic peoples
                                         Other Muruts and
                 Tidung subgroups        related groups

(1) Kayanic words

'left side'

'nose'           (idung, adung <T>)      roe &lt;K&gt; (idhung

'woman'                                  <BR, LD> etc.)

'snake'

'fish'

'sand'

'bad'

we (three)'*
  (inclusive)

we (three)'
  (exclusive)

'they (three)'   (sile('), ile &lt;B&gt;,
                   ilo <TS, TSD>

'who'            (si, sun <TS, TSD>      ney &lt;K&gt;, ay <S> (i:h <B>,
                   se &lt;TB&gt;)              ie &lt;TR&gt;, idd <LD>)

(2) Kayanic-Murutic words

'already'        penga: <BN>,
                 pango <other T>

'dog'            asu <T>

'cat'            using, usi' <T>

'head'           uru <BN>                uluh <TR, BR, LD>, lew <S>

'right side'     (kemangot, beget <T>)   tu'uh &lt;TR&gt;,
                                         tuew &lt;K&gt;,
                                         oh <S>

'to lie down'    perubit <BN>            selubit &lt;TR&gt;, selubid
                                         <BR>,
                                         telubid <LD>

'thick'          kapar <T>               mekapal <LD>, kapal <TR, BR>,

(3) Murutic words

'to hit'         membeng <BN>,
                 memban <TS>

'belly'          tina <T>                tira y, tera <Ida'an>

'to swim'        manguy <BN>, ensaduy,   pelanguy &lt;TR&gt;, pelangoy
                 encaduy <T>             &lt;K&gt;, langoey <S>,
                                         leman uy <BR, LD>

to fight'        (bebakaw <BN>)          kedalauh &lt;TR&gt;, pedaluh
  (quarrel)                              <BR>,ekedaluh <LD

[Sources] (Partly modified by the author) Bintulu: Bibi Aminah 1992.
Tering&lt;TR&gt;, Bario<BR>, Lun Dayeh<LD>, Sa'ban<S>: Blust
1984.Kiput&lt;K&gt;:
Blust 2002. Ida'an: Moody and Moody 1989. Tidung (<T>; Tidung Sesayap
<TS>, T. Bengawong &lt;TB&gt;, T. Sumbol-Dengusan <TSD>, Bulungan <BN>)
and Kayanic subgroups: Okushima field data.

Table 6: Social Stratification of Kayanic Peoples
in East Kalimantan

stratum                   1: P, M        2: H, N, UL        3: HT

noble       higher      (paren ja:)                      hipuy uma:'
           / chief                      pu'un uma' <H>
                           paren        hipun uma' <N,
                                        UL>              Stratified

            Lower                                         hipuy uk

commoner    higher
           / elders                                      pegawa'
                                        panyin <UL>
                          panyin        panyen <H, N>    Stratified

           ordinary                                         payin

slave                 hula',            ripan,           dipan, amin
                      salut &lt;P&gt;   salu:t <H>
                      hlue' <M>         hula',
                                        salut <UL>
                                        hula' <N>

stratum               4: UT, US, ULW       5: LG       6: LW

noble       higher      hipuy aya',     hepoy pyun   hepoy puen
           / chief      hipuy maran
                                                     Stratified
                                                     hepoy keyn

                        Stratified      Stratified

            Lower        hipuy uk       hepoy so'    hepoy so'

commoner    higher    keluna:n aya' /   peguwe'      lun kehea,
           / elders   pegawa' <UT>                   lun puen,

                       pengera' <US>                 pengin downg
                       hukang <ULW>                  Stratified
                        Stratified

           ordinary       panyin        pengin         pengin

slave                  dipan, halut     meguy,         meguys,
                                        dipan          haloet

-------: Stratified.

- - - -: Loosely categorized