1.This book is about oral narratives told through perspective of the headman narrator in a longhouse on the borders of Borneo . These are juxtaposed against other oral sources gleaned through extensive fieldwork, and official Brooke era histories. 2 .These narratives will not be told again because the Kelabit and related groups as evangelical Christians have made a break with their past and are reluctant to continue the chain of transmission of such oral narratives. 3. Events of significance to people on the border in Borneo, as they engage with statehood peacemaking and Christian conversion, are given a place in written history. These accounts differ radically from narratives of smuggling , resistance and rebellion against the state told from the borders of Western Borneo and peninsular Southeast Asia. A headman of a remote Kelabit longhouse in Borneo is wrestling with recent changes caused by logging and roadbuilding. During this time of tension, he tells three historical narratives defining what makes the good life. His stories of history celebrate pioneering heroes who led through warfare and migrations, who interact with the Brooke state and initiate peace-making, and who journey to seek local Christian missionaries. This microhistory highlights the resilience of values in the face of transformative change, values providing a cultural structure for the Kelabit to redefine and adapt whilst maintaining their identity as a community.
This work is relevant to Austronesian studies, Southeast Asian history, oral history, the anthropology of value, sociality and ethnic identity, Christian conversion, and issues of borderlands, decolonization, and indigeneity. It is of interest to readers concerned with the history of transnational peoples of Borneo, including the Kelabit, Sa’ban, Kenyah, Ngurek, Penan, and the Lun Dayeh.
