1

http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/art-borneo

This article briefs the effects that rainforest depletion has and will have on the value of tribal art coming from Borneo. While grave totem carving is the traditional contribution made by tribal males, the practice has become rare as advocates of modern religion see to the destruction of artefacts deemed ungodly. The sentence “Fortunately for collectors, the descendants of the region’s talented tribal carvers do not have the interest or the means to buy back their heritage” paints a bleak picture of historical pride among tribe members, as something to be dusted under the rug. This assumption is contrary to other sources that I have posted previously, which emphasized the continuation of tribal traditions. It also shows a colonial perspective of the value of art, which is increased by authenticity of atrocities committed to the culture and the environment, as does the ethnocentric analysis of the metaphysical significance of the tribal work. It does nothing to empower tribal artisans working to produce modern work using traditionally learned skills.

2 

http://allthingsborneo.blogspot.com/

This blog is put together by a Borneo-born Malay photographer, who provides some great information and images of some of the species of the forests of Borneo, as well as some information about the area itself. The author’s accounts seem experientially and locally compiled, and include translations to a variety of languages used on the island, including Malay and Chinese. The blog refers mostly to the non-human life indigenous to Borneo’s land, but serves as a great mediator between foreigners and the nature they flock to Borneo to visit, without the doomsday message that environmental media can often take.

 3

http://pisaukarat.wordpress.com/

This article is written in response to the Sarawak Dayak National Union’s reaction to this video http://www.globalwitness.org/insideshadowstate/ . The producers in the video pose as private investors to uncover how local officials are using foreign investment strategies to rob Malaysian people of their entitles share to land profits. Using phrases such as “one eyed man in the land of the blind” to describe villagers as naïve players in which they have no intellectual or financial resources to be any more than pawns. The SDNU’s demand for apology resonates from a fundamental attitude about ownership rights of the Dayak to the forests of Sarawak, Borneo. Pisaukarat uses Twitter to host his commentaries in Malay and English.

4 

http://www.sarawakreport.org/iba/news/

I include this link to this online news resource concerning the province of Sarawak in Borneo as it includes translation to Iban language, as well as Malay and Chinese. Making locally applicable news information available in the Iban tongue is an example of how language can be a catalyst for technology. Here is another example of Borneo indigenous language (Melanau) used to discuss culture http://melanaugirlonblog.blogspot.com/

5

http://www.rengah-sarawak.net/

This site provides information about how the indigenous of Sarawak can approach the government with land claim issues, including a free creative commons licensed e-handbook download, here http://www.rengah-sarawak.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/GUIDEBOOK-ON-RECLAIMING-SARAWAK-NCR-LANDS-IN-COURTS1.pdf

The step-by-step guides outlines what action communities need to take in order to battle with the legal system, and advises them on legal loopholes and tricks of the legal trade to be wary of. This is rebuttal to the attitudes reflected about the assumed ignorance of tribal villagers, as uncovered by the Global Witness video.