File photo of a klirieng.
BINTULU (Sept 13): The Punan community at Maskin River in Kakus here fully supports the state government’s efforts in ensuring the ‘kliriengs’ found there would be preserved in the best way possible.
A klirieng is a totem pole erected in honour of the dead, according to the old beliefs of the community.
This was highlighted in a jointly statement released by the local leaders of the Punan community here yesterday, which also issued an apology over a blockade set up at the klirieng site recently.
In that incident, a group of residents from seven Beketan longhouses at Maskin River had erected fences to prevent the conservation team from entering the site where the totem poles were at.
“We, the Punan community, are very sorry for the incident.
“We believe that the majority of the Beketan community in Penyarai are against the group’s action, which went against the consensus reached by and agreed upon by the community leaders in Tatau District in a meeting last month chaired by Minister in Sarawak Premier’s Department who is also Kakus assemblyman, Datuk John Sikie Tayai,” said the joint statement.
It pointed out that the history of the kliriengs at Maskin Penyarai was ‘very clear, with records being written especially in The Sarawak Gazette’.
“In fact, the Beketan community in Penyarai themselves recognised the artefacts as not being theirs; instead, they belonged to the Punan (Tatau) community, as admitted by Jaing Bubun in the media recently,” said the joint statement from the Punan community, referring to a previous statement made by Jaing, who is chairman of Bagatan Penyarai Tatau Heritage Conservation Committee.
“The (Jaing’s) statement was in line with the one made by the leader of the Beketan tribe TR Beluchoak and his charges back in 1978, which also acknowledged that the kliriengs belonged to the Punan folks.
“This very statement was also made known to the group of researchers from Sarawak Native Customs Council and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) back in 2000.”
The statement expressed the Punan community’s respect and appreciation to the group led by Jaing for wanting the kliriengs to remain in Maskin River, but such endeavour would not be conducive to the preservation of the artefacts, believed to be several hundreds of years old.
“There are factors – global climate change, in particular – that are beyond the control of any party, making it no longer suitable to continue placing the kliriengs at the present site.
“A pilot study conducted by the relevant authorities also shows that the area is often hit by heavy floods.
“These, on top of the remote location and difficulties in accessibility, make it very hard for the preservation works to be done on the kliriengs.
“For these reasons, we the Punan community will let the authorities determine what’s the best course in ensuring that the kliriengs would continue to be preserved.
“For us, the Punan people, the most important thing is the ‘welfare’ and preservation of these artefacts,” said the statement, acknowledging that ongoing viable conservation efforts could only be undertaken by the state government.
“The kliriengs do not actually belong to the local community, but it has become a heritage of Sarawak people,” it pointed out.
The signatories of the statement were Penghulu Sanok Magai, Penghulu Nicholas Mering Kulleh, Penghulu Nyipa Tingang, Punan National Association (PNA) president Donny Dhwie and PNS Kakus branch president Philip Sung, as well as local ‘Ketua Kaum’ (headmen) Ado Bilong, Jayan Kanun, Kiah Najing, Paren Bunyam, Arjey Kenai, Ladang Keluka, Brain Mering, Kulleh Siluk, Herman Tingang, Mariam Belarek, Hasan Kilah and Nyaring Minggu.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3BeRuFb
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