The Kelabits of Sarawak
First "discovered" around the turn of the 20th Century, the Kelabits, a tribe of fierce warriors and headhunters who saw off anyone entering their territory, were generally given a wide berth by neighboring tribes. Their origins are not known. Culturally and linguistically, they are distinct in many ways from the other thirty or so tribes in Sarawak. Under broad conical hats, they wore their hair long at the back or done up in a bun held in place by pins of metal or horn. Around the waist hung a long sword-parang with a curved stag horn hilt and wooden scabbard. The men had two holes on each ear, pierced during infancy. The bottom hole was adorned with heavy brass ear rings which greatly extended the ear lobes so that they often hung down to the shoulders. In the upper hole, kept open by wooden plugs, the warriors wore leopard's fangs. The women had elaborate tattoos, a fine lacework of dots and lines, on almost the entire lower limb, from the foot......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1800
Approximate Pages: 7 (260 words per double-spaced page) |