Dayak Orang Ulu

The phrase Orang Ulu means upriver people and is a term used to collectively describe the numerous tribes that live upriver in Sarawak's vast interior. Such groups include the major Kayan and Kenyah tribes, and the smaller neighbouring groups of the Kajang, Kejaman, Punan, Ukit, and Penan. Nowadays, the definition also includes the down-river tribes of the Lun Bawang, Lun Dayeh(mean upriver/far upstream), Berawan, Saban as well as the plateau-dwelling Kelabits. The various Orang Ulu groups together make up roughly 5.5% of Sarawak's population. The Orang Ulu are artistic people with longhouses elaborately decorated with murals and woodcarvings. They are also well-known for their intricate beadwork and detailed tattoos. The Orang Ulu tribe can also be identified by their unique music - distinctive sounds from their sape, a stringed instrument not unlike the mandolin.

A vast majority of the Orang Ulu tribe are Christians but old traditional religions are still practiced in some areas.

Some of the major tribes making up the Orang Ulu group include :

* Kayan

There are approximately 15,000 Kayans in Sarawak. The Kayan tribe built their longhouses in the northern interiors of Sarawak midway on the Baram River, the upper Rejang River and the lower Tubau River, and were traditionally headhunters. They are well known for their boat making skills, which they carve from a single block of belian, the strongest of the tropical hardwoods.

Although many Kayan have become Christians, some are still practise paganistic beliefs, but these are very rare today[citation needed].

* Lun Bawang

The Lun Bawang are indigenous to the highlands of East Kalimantan, Brunei (Temburong District), southwest of Sabah (Interior Division) and northern region of Sarawak (Limbang Division).Lun Bawang people are traditionally agriculturalists and practise animal husbandry such as rearing poultry, pigs and buffaloes. Lun Bawangs are also known to be hunters and fishermen.

* Kelabit

With a population of approximately 3000, the Kelabit are inhabitants of Bario - a remote plateau in the Sarawak Highlands, slightly over 1,200 meters above sea level. The Kelabits form a tight-knit community and practise a generations-old form of agriculture. Famous for their rice-farming, they also cultivate a variety of other crops which are suited to the cooler climate of the Highlands of Bario. The Kelabits are closely related to the Lun Bawang.

The Kelabit are predominantly Christian, the Bario Highlands having been visited by Christian missionaries many years ago.

* Kenyah

There are few findings on the exact origin of the Kenyah tribe. Their heartland however, is Long San, along the Baram River. Their culture is very similar to that of the Kayan tribe with whom they live in close association. The typical Kenyah village consists of only one longhouse and the people are mainly farmers, planting rice in burnt jungle clearings. With the rapid economic development, especially in timber industry, many of them work in timber camps.

* Penan

The Penan are the only true nomadic people in Sarawak and are amongst the last of the world's hunter-gatherers.[2] The Penan make their home under the rainforest canopy, deep within the vast expanse of Sarawak's virgin jungle. Even today, the Penan continue to roam the rainforest hunting wild boar and deer with blowpipes. The Penan are skilled weavers and make high-quality rattan baskets and mats. The traditional Penan religion worships a supreme god called Bungan. However, the increasing number who have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle for settlement in longhouses have converted to Christianity.

* Sebob/Chebob

One of the least known tribes in Sarawak and be found in upper Tinjar river. Sebob are the first Tinjar settlers along the Tinjar river and it is said that the other tribes came later(migrated) The sebob/chebob tribes occupies up to 6 six longhouse in Tinjar namely; Long Loyang, Long Batan, Long Selapun, Long Pejawai,and Long Subeng.(All these names come from small stream where they lived) Amongst the longhouses, Long Luyang is the longest and most populated Sebob/Chebob settlement.It comprises almost 100 units. Most of these people have migrated and found work in the cities.