PENYAHBONGS
(Notes from the Upper Busang River, Central Borneo)
The Dutch officials give this tribe the name of Punan-Penyahbongs; the
Malays call them Punans, seldom Penyahbongs. The Saputans, a neighbouring
tribe, told me that the Penyahbongs and the Punans make themselves
mutually understood. Whether they really are Punans or have been called so
because of their recent nomadic habits is difficult to determine. However,
since they declare themselves to be Punans, in view of all related
circumstances it is safe to conclude that they are allied to that great
nomadic tribe.
According to the Penihing chief in Long Kai the name Penyahbong was
applied formerly not only to the people, but also to the mountain range in
which they were living, the Muller mountains, around the headwaters of the
Kapuas River in the Western Division. The western sides of the Muller
mountains seem to have been their headquarters, and most of them still
live west of the mountains. To one of the tributaries of this river the
tribe owes the name by which they are known among Punans, Saputans, and
Bukats, who call the Penyahbongs simply Kreho.
They are not numerous and so far as my information goes they are limited
to a few hundred. Gompul, the most reliable of my Malays in that region,
and one of the first to arrive in those parts, told me that his mother had
been captured by the Penyahbongs and kept by them for thirty-five years,
until her death. According to his estimate there were over two hundred of
them in the Muller mountains, and they had killed many Malays, taking
their heads. Three chiefs were famous for being very tall.
Fishing with tuba is known to them, also to the nomadic Punans and Bukats,
Saputans, and Penihings. The Penyahbongs believe they were placed in this
world by an antoh. Omens are taken from nine birds and from dreams. When a
house is finished there are two or three hours' dancing in the night by
men and women, one man playing the sapi (native guitar).
The child is born outside of the house. One or two women stand by to take
it, wrapped in cloth, into the dwelling, where for three days it remains
unbathed. Although death at childbirth is known to occur, usually within
fifteen minutes the mother rises and repairs to the house. The umbilical
cord is cut with a sharp bamboo and the afterbirth is not taken care of,
dogs generally being permitted to eat it. When the child can walk the
father and mother give it a name. No abortion is practised, there are no
puberty ceremonies, and sexual intercourse is not practised during
menstruation.
