Lun Bawang Customs

00:00:02mo, uih cerita' ratnan puun-puun tepun kai
I'm going to tell you about our ancestors

00:00:05tinan, taman kai mulun tunge' Ba Kelalan maun
about our mothers and fathers who lived here in Ba Kelalan in the past

00:00:09kian nan duwa' anak beruh ngitun
maybe some of our children will ask

00:00:11kudeng peh tepun tauh nih nenaru' lati' nih maun
how our ancestors made farms in the past

00:00:15tepun kai nih naru' lati' nih maun
our grandparents made these farms many years ago

00:00:18na inan pakai sakul
they did not use hoes

00:00:20na inan pakai kerita'
they did not use machines

00:00:21ideh makai ukat
we used wood for digging

00:00:23ukat kekai
we call these "ukat"

00:00:24lawa kinangan neh uen deh mila'
they split the kinangan trunk

00:00:27uen deh inan deh ngukat lati' baa kai inih
they make it to dig our wet paddy farms

00:00:31na ideh makai aneh
they don't use that other one

00:00:33kudeng nekinih pieh pakai alud
now they use a small canoe

00:00:36kai pakai kudeng alud, kayuh ieh
we use canoes, made of wood

00:00:39uen deh naru' tebelad dih
they make it into a plank

00:00:41dih ruen deh ngeruwid maya' bang baa' neh
and then they drag it across the field

00:00:44kereb deh ngisu' lati' baa' kai nih puun-puun maun
when they started paddy farming

00:00:47kudeng neh kai ulun kai tunge' puneng arur nih
that's our way of life here upriver

00:00:51tepun kai maun
since the time of our ancestors

00:00:52na kai keli' mulun nih bang bandar kudeng neh
we didn't know anything about living in the town

00:00:57kudeng neh puun tepun kai naru' lati' maun
so that's how our ancestors started the farm in the past

00:01:01ratnan ruma' pieh peh
as for houses

00:01:03a inan ruma' kai ruma' doo'
we didn't have nice houses

00:01:06kudeng nekinih
like today

00:01:07ruma' kai maun, tepun kai maun pieh
for our ancesters' houses, our grandfathers' houses

00:01:10makai bulu' deh
they used bamboo

00:01:12bulu' uen ku bengar neh
they used bamboo for the floor

00:01:15bulu' uen ku alad neh to'
they also used bamboo for the walls

00:01:17daun uen deh ku apo neh
and they used leaves for the roof

00:01:19deh me' alap daun kinangan
they went to fetch some kinangan palm leaves

00:01:22uen deh nerut neh
and they sewed them together

00:01:23kedangan-kedangan deh nerut neh peh
they sewed them the whole night long

00:01:25uen deh ku apo ruma' deh neh
to make the roof for their houses

00:01:27a inan paku' kereb dih
there weren't any nails at that time

00:01:29kai makai wey
we used rattan

00:01:31makai war kai ngabet
we used vines to tie

00:01:33deh teh tepun kai mabet ruma' maun
that's what our ancestors used to tie the house together

00:01:35abud-abud io ruma' neh seh laak
the longest the house would last is one year

00:01:39dih deh nusag dih beruh to'
then they take it apart again

00:01:42dih deh mudut dih beruh
and then they build it again

00:01:43bang segageh men ideh mudut neh
and it doesn't take them long to rebuild

00:01:45ceh co deh mudut neh
they build it in one day

00:01:48dih deh nusag neh pem
they take it apart

00:01:49dih deh nupeh diri kayuh, diri neh peh
and then they drive the wooden post into the ground

00:01:52dih deh mudut neh peh
then they build it

00:01:53napeh pem
and afterwards

00:01:54muned co, pengeh nineh peh
by midday it is already finished

00:01:56miek deh rudap bang dih peh lah
and they can sleep inside it already

00:01:58kudeng neh
like that

00:01:59sineh ratnan benul kudeng neh ulun taman kai maun
so that's how our life has changed from our forefathers

00:02:04ratnan ulun kai puneng arur
about our life in the interior

00:02:06ba susa' kai
it was very hard

00:02:08a nekidih lapung kai men
we didn't have any light

00:02:10na umau kai
we didn't have oil

00:02:12duwa' taman kai me' bang pulung feh deh fem
our fathers went to the forest

00:02:15alap ilu' deh
and they collected resin

00:02:16ku sang kai kuman merecem
as our light when we ate at night

00:02:19uih pun, pernah tuih nemakai ilu' neh
I, myself, I have used the resin

00:02:23bua' tumuh ke'
the fruit of the tumuh tree

00:02:25nesa' lapen dedih
that's what they take

00:02:26uen deh... kai makai ku...
they take it... we use it...

00:02:29uen kai mutud ku sang kai kuman merecem
we use it we burn it as our light for our evening meals

00:02:32kudeng neh ulun kai tunge' puneng arur maun
that's how our life was here in the interior in the past

00:02:35kai pun, a teh tucu' kai to'
we also didn't have salt

00:02:39a tucu'
there wasn't any salt

00:02:40kereb bang ceh kereb inan tepun kai
once in the past our ancesters were there

00:02:42na teh mileh deh
but they didn't know

00:02:44kudeng feh keli' deh ratnan puun-puun lawey tucu' tau nih
how to find the salt we have here

00:02:48kereb ceh tepun ne' bang pulung
when one of the grandfathers went to the jungle

00:02:51ne' ieh bang pulung
he went into the jungle

00:02:52dih ieh nier
and he looked around

00:02:53ngudeh duwa' berangad, duwa' telau nih ba metueh me' kuman fa' sinih
why do the grey leaf monkeys and the barking deer always go and drink this water?

00:02:59kebala deh
they thought

00:03:00dih tepun dih nenalap fa' dih
and so this grandfather scooped up the water

00:03:03dih ieh nengauk dih feh
and then he scooped it with his hands

00:03:05dih ieh nenutun mila' keneh
then he tried it by licking

00:03:08nutun dih keyh
he tried it

00:03:09peci' ieh, peci' tucu'
and it was salty

00:03:11dih ideh nukat tana' neh peh
then they dug the place

00:03:13naru' hatung bang neh peh
and put a hollow wooden pipe inside

00:03:16dih deh, pengeh napeh, dih deh ngalap fa'
and afterwards they collected water

00:03:19dih deh nutun nanek keneh bang periuk
and tried to boil it in a wok

00:03:22pengeh nanek bang periuk peh
after they had boiled it in the wok

00:03:24dih deh nutun ieh
then they tasted it

00:03:25peci' ieh, peci' tucu'
and it was salty

00:03:27rat neh lun keli' tucu' tunge' puneng arur maun
from that time the people knew that there was salt here in the interior

00:03:32rat neh inan tucu' mecing co sinih peh
since that time and until today there is salt

00:03:35kudeng neh cara deh nekeli' tucu' lawey tucu' neh lah
that's how they discovered salt

00:03:40pakai kai maun, a teh luk idih
they didn't even have clothes in the past

00:03:44a kai makai kain kudeng nekinih
we didn't wear materials like today

00:03:47uih pun, pernah tuih nemakai kulit
I myself have previously worn tree bark

00:03:50kulit talun
bark from the talun tree

00:03:52makai far talun kai, makai...
we wore bark cloth loithcloths

00:03:54makai bakad talun kai
we wore bark cloth waistcoats

00:03:56kai ma' delai lah
us men

00:03:58duwa' decur pieh pem
for the ladies

00:04:00dih deh nalap apu'
they take the fibre of tangang vine

00:04:01dih deh nuper peh, dih deh nuper neh peh
and then they make it into thread

00:04:03dih deh netebaru neh peh
then they weave it into cloth

00:04:05uen deh ku tekip, uen decur
and use it as a sarong, the women

00:04:07kudeng neh pakai kai nek maun nih
that's how our clothes were in the past

00:04:10duwa' anak kai pieh pem
as for our children

00:04:12alap kulit kai neh peh
we get some bark

00:04:14kudeng pieh anak beruh-beruh ke'
for young people

00:04:16alap kulit kayuh neh peh
they get some tree bark

00:04:17dih anak beruh nih feh
then the child is there

00:04:19dih deh ngelubid keneh luun aneh, kulit kayuh neh
and they roll him in the bark cloth

00:04:22ulun kai maun luk medereh kai ku dih men
our life in the past was a hard life because of that

00:04:26sepengeh neh peh, yuk-yuk peh
so after that, a while later

00:04:29kai keli' miek... kudeng peh kai miek keli' nalan
we know, we are able to know how we can move forward

00:04:35nan... nan perlu neh kudeng me' bandar neh peh
if they need something they go to the town

00:04:40dih deh cerita'-cerita' mala lawey-lawey
then they tell us the story about their journey

00:04:43nek lapen dei' bandar neh peh
and what they bought in town

00:04:45baru nekai keli'
so then we knew

00:04:47me' bandar neh
how to go to town

00:04:49me' alap umau
and buy oil

00:04:50me' kai me' melih umau dei' Lawas
if we went to buy oil in Lawas

00:04:55me' nalan kukud kai me' Lawas
we walked to Lawas on foot

00:04:59rat tunge' kai...
from here we...

00:05:01dueh migu kai rat tunge' mecing Lawas
it takes us two weeks to get to Lawas from here

00:05:05dih kai melih umau, umau tana' neh peh
then we buy oil, kerosine you know

00:05:07neh neh baben kai maya' tana' neh to'
after that we carry it back by land

00:05:10me' tunge' Ba Kelalan
back here to Ba Kelalan

00:05:12uen kai makai neh
we use it

00:05:14sebulan keh dueh bulan kudeng nih
for one or two months

00:05:16dih kai me' beruh to'
and after that we go and buy more

00:05:18nek nan kai melih umau neh pieh
and as for what we used to buy the oil

00:05:21rufu'-rufu' mabeh laal kai
sometimes we carried chickens

00:05:23mabeh bera kai
sometimes rice

00:05:25anid-anid luk nan kai rudap neh
every place that we stayed overnight

00:05:28kai mabeh bera kudeng neh
we carried rice

00:05:31dih kai masui laal neh nge' Lawas fem
and then we sell the chickens in Lawas

00:05:34nefa peh, dih kai melih umau tana' peh
and the next day we buy the oil

00:05:36iten kai muli'
to bring back home

00:05:38kudeng neh
like that

00:05:47ratnan aneh peh ieh, ratnan enon sineh
and as for this one

00:06:04ratnan kai keli' makai bang aneh peh ieh
since we came to know how to use the whatsits

00:06:08ratnan kai keli' makai luk bang kedai peh
since we came to know how to use things from the shops

00:06:10dih kai me', kudeng me' Lawas peh
since we go to places like Lawas

00:06:13baru kai keli' makai enon neh keh, pakai kai peh lah
that's how we learned how to use things, like clothes

00:06:17kudeng pakai kain, kudeng neh feh
like wearing clothes, like that

00:06:19rat ineh teh kai keli'
from that time we came to know about that

00:06:21maun a kai mileh makai kasut neh
in the past, we didn't wear shoes

00:06:24kereb kai aneh maun
when we were that one in the past

00:06:26a kai mileh makai kasut
we didn't wear shoes

00:06:27nekinih pem doo' ileh kai makai dih peh
now we are used to wearing them

00:06:30gula maun, a teh kai keli' kuman gula
sugar in the past, we didn't use sugar

00:06:37nekinih pem, keli' nekai kuman gula pem
today, we eat sugar

00:06:42non neh, luk kenen-kenen kai, kudeng aneh dih pem
whatever, different types of food, whatever it is

00:06:45keli' nekai peh, kudeng aji-no-moto kah
we know it, like aji-no-moto seasoning

00:06:48kai me' bang bandar
if we go to town

00:06:49keli' neh kai nek kenen duwa' kina' pem
we're also familiar with chinese food

00:06:52baru teh kai Lun Bawang nekeli' nek kenen, kudeng neh
that's how we Lun Bawang know different types of food, like that

00:06:56maun peh a kai keli' maya' kerita' neh to'
and in the past we didn't travel by car

00:06:59daat ileh kai maya' kerita'
we were not used to going by car

00:07:01nekinih pem, duwa' anak, mileh deh maya' kerita
nowadays the young people are used to going by car

00:07:04mileh tedeh melih kerita' to'
and they even buy them

00:07:06nan nek mudaan kai nekinih peh
there are xxx today

00:07:09doo' neh kai ratnan kai kereb kai mulun nekinih peh
we live better today

00:07:14kereb kai mulun menu
as we are believers

00:07:15neh cerita uih ratnan keadaan ulun tepun kai maun
so this is my story about the lives of our ancestors

00:07:19lek kemu' meh
it's just a short one

00:07:20uen kuh mada'
that I am telling

00:07:22ratnan keadaan ulun tepun kai maun medereh
about the difficult lives of our ancestors

00:07:25tunge' puneng arur mado rat ku bandar
here in the interior is very far from town

00:07:28dih puun kai pelaba dereh
so that's why we had a hard life

00:07:30kudeng nekinih peh
like today