Mahakam longhouses

Who he is

Title

Longhouse headmen and war leaders of the upper river (no overall chief)

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

Nothing is written about these river peoples in 1200. The structure is read from geography and from ethnography of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

What it holds

• The rapids and the carrying places above Long Iram
• Passage to the Muller portage
• The sale of forest goods to the lower river

Allies and rivals

Each longhouse deals with its neighbours by marriage, feud and trade; the coastal port deals with whichever longhouses it can reach by boat. No overall alliance is known.

How things stand that morning

Not described for 1200; the longhouses are presumed to be selling camphor, gaharu, rattan, wax, gold and iron-bartered goods to the coast as the geography dictates.

Wealth

Forest goods and gold; no figures.

Military

Boats, spears, blowpipes and shields; headhunting raids in the later record. No numbers.

Threats

• Feuds between longhouses
• Raiding from other rivers
• Forest fire or flood

Places of note

• Long Iram: Head of easy navigation.
• Mahakam rapids: The campaign board's position for the falls above Long Iram.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board's single name 'The Dayak of the Bornean interior' is used here for five river records; 'Dayak' is an outsider's word.

Evidence: Geography and later ethnography only; the campaign board marks it 'likely'. The ethnic names used here (Dayak, Kayan, Kenyah, Iban and so on) are later outsiders' or ethnographic names; the ethnic map of 1200 is not known and differs from the modern one.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Control points (rapids, portages) are drawn as small circles; the peoples' country is in the province records.