Trading and Migration Routes in the Interior of Borneo
Physical configurations of economic and social networks
Social and economic networks in the region of Southeast Asia have been scrutinized by various historians and social scientists in an endeavour to delineate the nature of trading routes and activities in this part of the world over the centuries. Routes, however, have often been portrayed as abstract embodiments of movements of people and trading schemes. For the most part, the routes of the migrants and traders have been described as a series of locations on a map devoid of their topographical and empirical connotations.
By Christina Eghenter
The idea of focusing on the routes was born out of research on long-distance migrations by the Kenyah and Kayan people who moved from the interior of Indonesian Borneo to the lowlands. Examination of the information collected clearly revealed that the topographical characteristics of the route had been taken into account by the migrants themselves in planning their move out of the interior.In this study, I focus on the physical and social configurations of the routes in the interior of Indonesian Borneo (East Kalimantan). I look at how people have used trading and migration routes, and how social, economic, and environmental circumstances have affected the establishment and use of the routes between the highlands and lowlands over time. The objective is to uncover the causal relations between the activities along the routes of the interior and the physical, economic, and social circumstances of the region. I restrict my attention to a limited number of cases for which a history of the use of the routes can be documented. I collected information on the 'popular' routes linking the Apo Kayan, an isolated mountainous plateau near the border with Sarawak, to the Pujungan River region, and to coastal areas on the Malaysian and Indonesian sides of this border. I have drawn my data from a variety of sources like ethnographic accounts of travel and activities along the routes both old and contemporary, Dutch district officers' reports, other official records, and spatial documentation of the old trails.
In the thick forests and rugged terrain of the interior, waterways provide the most efficient means of transportation and determine spatial directions. High mountains to cross, long, steep trails, rapids fraught with treacherous whirlpools, and flash floods are some of the obstacles that confront travellers across the rugged interior region. The potential courses of the routes are limited and most often take advantage of natural passages such as a river, a valley, or a saddle between high peaks to go from one area to another. The paths follow a major river or trail along part of its course, only to leave this and follow a smaller tributary downstream; at times, the trails stretch across vast, forested territories to reach the headwaters of a river flowing in the opposite direction.
Headhunting expeditions
Most of the routes linking the regions of the interior have served multiple and disparate functions. They were 'peselai' trails used for long-distance trading or work expeditions to the coast. Certain routes were used to reach collection areas of forest products like natural resin and latex. These products were then carried for long distances and traded in the main market places of Berau, Tanjung Selor, or the lower Baram River in Sarawak. Iban people were able to come to the Apo Kayan area from Malaysia to collect forest products. People from the Apo Kayan travelled along the Apo Napu route to the Pujungan River where they traded gongs for salt produced in the Krayan region.In the past, the same paths were used for headhunting expeditions or war raids by Iban parties from Sarawak or Kenyah parties from the Pujungan area. They also served as major portage routes for the Dutch colonial government after the opening of permanent posts in the interior. It was probably one of these routes which was followed by Kayan groups during the Kayan diaspora. After the end of the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia in 1965, the same routes were followed by hundreds of people from the interior who wanted to find jobs with the logging companies on the lower Bahau River, Indonesian Borneo, or in estate and logging camps along the Baluy and Baram rivers, Malaysian Borneo. Most recently, old paths through the forest and along the rivers of the interior of Kalimantan have attracted tourists in search of a pristine state of nature, glimpses of animal life, and contact with the 'traditional' ways of Kenyah, Kayan, and Punan communities.
Hand-drawn map
While topographical and physical features of the routes were important considerations in the minds of the travellers, other factors such as warfare, colonial administration, and economic development clearly influenced the establishment of a particular route and contributed to its popularity with either traders and migrants, or one or the other. The Apo Bawang route going from the Kayan River to the Bahau River, for example, was first explored and documented with a hand-drawn map by the a Dutch contingent under the command of District Officer Gramberg in 1908. It was at that time that local people in the Apo Kayan were actively searching for a new, alternative trail across the watershed to avoid possible retaliatory attacks by Uma Alim groups in Pujungan. Similarly, it was only after the Dutch colonial government established a permanent garrison in the Apo Kayan in 1911 and built a bypass trail around impassable rapids that the Kayan River route became a practicable alternative to the older Apo Napu and Apo Bawang routes. In the case of Malaysia, the choice of a trail depended on the preferred destination, namely the Baluy River or the Baram River on the other side. In the early 1990s, the opening of timber-getting near the border stimulated the development of a new trail along the Bungan River which means that it can now take less than a day from Long Nawang, Apo Kayan, to Malaysia.By combining historical, ethnographic, and spatial information, this study intends to uncover the relations that evolve between the use of the routes and the variable sets of physical, economic, and social circumstances of the users. In doing so, it will endeavour to trace a causal history of economic and social networks by showing possible continuities between past and present. The study also contributes relevant data that can be used in formulating policies for economic development appropriate to local practices and environmental conditions.
Cristina Eghenter, PhD, ESF Fellow, Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull, can be reached at: eghenter@pol-as.hull.ac.uk.
