Balui Reconnaissances: The Sihan of the Menamang River

The Sihan now live mainly in a single longhouse on the Menamang River, a tributary of the Balui River, in the Seventh Divis'ion of Sarawak.1 It is just a few hours walk overland from the district seat of Belaga (that is to the inexperienced, to the experienced,an hour's walk),on the opposite bank of the Balui River. The village of Rumah Sihan lies at the bottom of a small valley just a few score meters from the river. The present longhouse was built sometime around 1980. Before this the Sihan lived in individual houses and one or two smaller longhouses on the same site. The current longhouse is built in the Balui style with two living stories above ground level.2 Clumps of banana plants and citrus trees are growing close by, and a number of stands of sago palms can be seen in the vegetation on the low hill immediately in front of the longhouse. The track from the village to the bathing and washing area on the Menamang leads along a well-beaten path through secondary vegetation and more sago to a beautiful shaded section of the stream. The river traverses under the overhanging forest canopy which shelters the water and diffuses the bright tropical sunlight to provide a cool shaded refuge from the heat of the midday sun.