Keeping Sarawak tribal spirits safe in their jungle megaliths

Batuh Ritung, located at Pa’ Lungan village in the northern part of the Kelabit Highlands. The megaliths were part of traditional tribal rituals for the dead for generations.

KUCHING: In the distant past, Sarawak tribes used to place corpses in wooden coffins and keep them in their longhouses until they rotted.

The bones were then usually cremated and, along with precious keepsakes, placed in stone structures called megaliths which the tribe built for the purpose. Such resting places were constructed to be permanent.

“Present-day locals will not disturb the megaliths because they believe the ‘ada’ or spirits of their ancestors live in them. They believe that anyone disrespectful towards the megaliths will have nightmares and fall sick.

“They avoid going near them,” Universiti Malaysia Sarawak anthropology and archaeology lecturer Nicholas Gani told FMT.

Nicholas Gani

The megaliths were part of traditional tribal rituals for the dead for generations. The practice fell into disuse following the conversion of the locals to Christianity.

Over time and with jungle encroachment, the location of many megaliths was forgotten.

Locals on hunting trips who stumbled upon a megalith claimed to have heard sounds of wind coming from around the structure, increasing their sense of awe.

These ancient ossuaries are widely found in the northern region of Sarawak and are part of the ancient culture of tribes in the Kelabit Highlands.

No one knows who built the megaliths but the Kelabit people believe it was the Tuked Rini or Upai Semaring tribes, their cultural heroes who, legend has it, possessed supernatural powers and could carve stone with their fingers.

Back then, Gani said, the Kelabit people would hold a feast known as “irau” when the megaliths were built. They would perform animal sacrifices to appease the spirits and drink “borak” rice wine.

Anthropologist Nicholas Gani with villager Walter Paran who helped out during the excavation at Perupun Arur Ritan in Pa’ Lungan in 2014.

Gani, also a member of the Sarawak Heritage Society (SHS), said during excavations at Perupun Arur Ritan and Batuh Ritung, they discovered cremated bones, beads, ceramics and metal objects.

“It was difficult to determine whether the bones are human or animal,” he said.

“But radiocarbon dating found them to be more than 2,000 years old.”

He added that current-day locals are passionate about preserving the megaliths as they represent part of their ancestors’ culture.

He said it is difficult to protect and maintain many of the megaliths because they are deep in the jungle.

Nicholas inspecting a stone jar in the southern part of the Kelabit Highlands.

“Some of the farthest ones can take over eight hours to walk to, but some are reachable within an hour or two.”

The ancient megaliths are also subject to damage due to natural causes such as falling trees and floods, or unintentionally by people collecting firewood.

In more recent times, many have been destroyed by development construction.

Gani is glad the locals want to preserve the remaining megaliths despite being hampered by limited funds provided by the state government.

“It would be good if the government were able to collaborate with the locals to maintain these megaliths,” he said, adding that so far Batuh Ritung is the only one gazetted by the state government.

SHS is a non-profit organisation set up 10 years ago to promote conservation. Its president, Robert Jacob Ridu, told FMT that tribal cultures in Sabah and Sarawak must be protected otherwise they will be lost.

A stone jar damaged by a fallen tree at a site called Long Sebua in the southern part of the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak.

“For the last 40 years, we have been focusing on development, resulting in us losing many of our historical buildings and monuments,” he said.

“It is important to identify and protect those that remain from being destroyed by new construction.”

Fortunately, the present state government is committed to setting up a board to protect the state’s heritage sites. Ridu believes this will contribute to the state’s burgeoning tourism industry.

“The SHS was set up to preserve tangible heritage like our irreplaceable buildings, unique monuments, and of course the megaliths,” he said.

He went on to say that equally important was protecting the state’s intangible heritage such as traditional music, dances and food.

He also suggested that digital technology such as QR codes could allow visitors to use their smartphones as guides when visiting the state’s sights.

Sarawak has a lot of fascinating stories to tell and the remaining ancient megaliths, homes of the spirits, is just one of them. - FMT