Pelajau Kaul and The Sambas Connection.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
Pelajau Kaul and The Sambas Connection. |
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Author :
Ann Appleton |
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Abstract:
A connection between Sambas and Melanau communities on the Oya River has long been known. Hugh Low (1848) records a meeting with Pengiran Mahamat Ali, the ruler at Oya, who claimed descent from the Sultans of Brunei and Sambas and from a pagan aristocrat at Pelajau, a former upriver longhouse settlement. And Morris notes that in the 1960s, Melanau on the Oya River continued to differentiate between a Sarawak Malay and a Sambas Malay (Morris, 1991: 7). A connection between Pelajau and the Melanau aristocrats at Oya is also acknowledged by people in the village of Medong. However, the details of those connections have remained relatively muted in the historic and ethnographic record. This article draws on oral history narratives and genealogies collected during collaborative research with individuals and communities on the Oya River over the past year, to tease out the story of these historic connections. Further, this article argues that these connections are collectively remanifested, reaffirmed and revitalised on the 29th of December each year when descendants of the former community at Pelajau return to the long abandoned site to celebrate Pelajau Kaul.
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| DOI: XXXX |
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How to cite:
Ann Appleton. (2011). Pelajau Kaul and The Sambas Connection. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXIX (90): 161-172 |
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References
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