Origin Themes in Orang Ulu Ethnohistorical Traditions.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
Origin Themes in Orang Ulu Ethnohistorical Traditions. |
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Author :
Allen R. Maxwell |
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Abstract:
The origin of human beings is one of the recurring subjects of ethnohistorical oral traditions. The Book of Genesis in the Bible represents only one well-known example of this theme. In many traditional societies such accounts often describe the origin of human beings, or the origin of the ancestors of a particular ethnic group. An account of the historical origins of a particular group providesa people with a spiritual and emotional anchor, not only in their natural environment but also for their social relations with other ethnic groups. A number of Orang Ulu groups, the Bisaya, the Sekapan, the Lun Bawang, the Kayan, and the Melanau possess origin myths which commence with the first humans either falling from the heavens, coming out of an egg, or a combination of both these themes, to found humanity on the planet. These tales often focus on a single male figure of heroic stature. The origin accounts of two groups, the Lun Bawang and the Bisaya, appear to be intimately connected with the themes of the origin of the Brunei Sultanate (Harrisson and Harrisson 1956; 285, Sandin 1980: 165—168). Both of these origin themes, the emergence-from-an-egg as well as the falling-from-the-sky, are also found in the origin accounts of the Sultanate of Brunei. By examining published accounts which are currently available as well as unpublished accounts, it is possible to show the existence of ethnohistorical themes shared bya number of different ethnic groups in Borneo.1 The possession bya number of quite different groups of these common threads suggests they participate in a common heritage, and that this heritage unites both Orang Ulu and Malay groups in an orientation to the past.2
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| DOI: XXXX |
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How to cite:
Maxwell, A. R. (1989). Origin Themes in Orang Ulu Ethnohistorical Traditions. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XL (61): 231-250 |
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References
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