KUCHING: A non-profit organisation is funding a research on the conditions of the burial poles or klirieng of the Punan communities in Belaga and Kapit.
The Sarawak Initiatives (TSI) has forked out RM50,000 to support Dr Elena Chai, a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (UNIMAS) Department of Anthropology and Sociology for her ongoing research project entitled ‘Community Heritage Assessment of Punan in Sarawak: Mapping of the Kliriengs’.
The research will create a relationship inventory between each klirieng with its next of kin (communities) and document the detailed process of the menoleang (death ritual), while ensuring a better understanding of the motifs and designs of the burial poles based on beliefs and dream interpretations.
“It is hoped that findings of the study would create a strong awareness of the existing rich Punan heritage. The condition of the klirieng will enable the state government and its relevant ministries to expedite conservation efforts.
“The documentation of the klirieng will help the government, stakeholders and in particular, the Punan community and the younger generation, to protect and safeguard the community’s rich tangible and intangible heritage,” TSI said in a statement on Tuesday (Jan 25).
TSI said klirieng (secondary burial poles or tomb posts) are one of the most prominent tangible heritages of the Punan people, a sub-ethnic group under the Orang Ulu community.
“The study will employ the method of ethnographic fieldwork by locating all the known and unknown klirieng in Kapit and Bintulu divisions. All of them will be mapped in order to obtain the exact location.
“Families and communities related to the klirieng will be interviewed. Punan community leaders will be consulted as well, to find out about their aspirations on the conservation of their tangible heritage.”
The research, covering 28 sites in the Kapit and Bintulu divisions, will capture the motifs and designs of each burial pole using cameras and drones, where sketches of the images will then be presented to the communities and leaders to garner the meaning and beliefs behind it.
Built as a secondary burial platform through the lengthy and elaborate process of the menoleang ritual, the klirieng is touted as one of the best tangible materials to distinguish the aristocrats ‘Laja’ from the commoners and slaves.
TSI and Chai’s collaboration came about when the university professor delivered a talk in the association’s leadership programme last year.
When proposing her research, she explained the urgency of the study as “a race against time as such cultural heirlooms are continuously ravaged by the threat of nature”.
With the comprehensive pool of data, it’s hoped that it will create awareness about the importance of heritage among Punan and other ethnics minority, she added.
She cited an incident on Oct 8 last year, when two klirieng, measuring 22ft and 18ft in length respectively, were spotted at the Penyarai river by villagers of Rh Sengaya, believed to have been brought down from the upper river by continuous heavy rain.
“One was found resting by the river bank, while another was spotted in the river itself,” said Chai.
Chai said both burial poles were broken and couldn’t be moved because of their imposing size and weight.
“For the current research, the core objectives are to map all existing structures that are still standing, and assess the conditions of the klirieng that had long been exposed to the harsh elements of nature,” she said.
Klirieng are meant to protect or shield the communities from harm and they are primarily located nearby settlements that are used as territorial markers as well.
