'Orang Ulu' Tree of Life in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
When I was a boy the word 'Yggdrasil' fascinated me. I'd heard of it as the Scandinavian World Tree, but actually I found the combination of letters much more interesting...
Now in the Sarawak Museum of Kuching, Borneo, I was fascinated by yet another word, the Kayo' Aya': the Big Tree, also called the Tree of Life of the indigenous peoples here.
In the culture of the Orang Ulu - the Upriver People - of Borneo (to use a term comprising both Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan), especially among the Kenyah and Kayan tribes, this Tree of Life is a potent symbol which is closely connected to the well-being, indeed the origins of humankind. In their rainforest, jungle worldview an upperworld creeper impregnates an underworld tree and this delivers up the first human beings, man and woman. Thus also the form of the tree with a proper trunk and at the same time outwardly and upwardly spiralling tendrils. As a symbol of life, the hornbill ( the Burung Kenyalang) is always at its crown, signifying and pointing to the Celestial Upperworld. (This symbolism has been adopted by Christian Catholic communities in these tribal areas although not without controversy.)
The rendition of their legend in this photograph was painted in the early 1950s by Kenyah artists from the upper regions of the Kayan River. They were employed to that purpose by the Sarawak Museum. This museum was the brainchild in 1891 of the great second 'White Rajah' of Sarawak, Charles Brooke (1829-1917). Not only was Brooke an able administrator and legislator, but he also had a keen interest in the native cultures of his principality. A good indication of that love is the memorial obelisk erected for him in 1924 in front of the (former) Kuching courthouse, on the right bank of the Sarawak River. The four sides of the pedestal portray the main peoples of Sarawak: Chinese, Dayak, Kayan and Malay (sculpted by one Frederick John Wilcoxson (1888-????)). The Kayan and Kenyah groups are very closely connected. From Yggdrasil to Kayo' Aya'... what a privilege to take it all in.
This photo was taken on the first floor of the Sarawak Museum but the lighting is not as good as I would have wished it to be... Even a certain Pharmacist from V. is relatively unclear... The building was apparently constructed after the models of the town halls of medieval Normany - so I learned from an historic marker on the site. Hence the curious columns... at least for Borneo.
'Orang Ulu' Tree of Life in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
When I was a boy the word 'Yggdrasil' fascinated me. I'd heard of it as the Scandinavian World Tree, but actually I found the combination of letters much more interesting...
Now in the Sarawak Museum of Kuching, Borneo, I was fascinated by yet another word, the Kayo' Aya': the Big Tree, also called the Tree of Life of the indigenous peoples here.
In the culture of the Orang Ulu - the Upriver People - of Borneo (to use a term comprising both Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan), especially among the Kenyah and Kayan tribes, this Tree of Life is a potent symbol which is closely connected to the well-being, indeed the origins of humankind. In their rainforest, jungle worldview an upperworld creeper impregnates an underworld tree and this delivers up the first human beings, man and woman. Thus also the form of the tree with a proper trunk and at the same time outwardly and upwardly spiralling tendrils. As a symbol of life, the hornbill ( the Burung Kenyalang) is always at its crown, signifying and pointing to the Celestial Upperworld. (This symbolism has been adopted by Christian Catholic communities in these tribal areas although not without controversy.)
The rendition of their legend in this photograph was painted in the early 1950s by Kenyah artists from the upper regions of the Kayan River. They were employed to that purpose by the Sarawak Museum. This museum was the brainchild in 1891 of the great second 'White Rajah' of Sarawak, Charles Brooke (1829-1917). Not only was Brooke an able administrator and legislator, but he also had a keen interest in the native cultures of his principality. A good indication of that love is the memorial obelisk erected for him in 1924 in front of the (former) Kuching courthouse, on the right bank of the Sarawak River. The four sides of the pedestal portray the main peoples of Sarawak: Chinese, Dayak, Kayan and Malay (sculpted by one Frederick John Wilcoxson (1888-????)). The Kayan and Kenyah groups are very closely connected. From Yggdrasil to Kayo' Aya'... what a privilege to take it all in.
This photo was taken on the first floor of the Sarawak Museum but the lighting is not as good as I would have wished it to be... Even a certain Pharmacist from V. is relatively unclear... The building was apparently constructed after the models of the town halls of medieval Normany - so I learned from an historic marker on the site. Hence the curious columns... at least for Borneo.