The Kayan land tenure system: coping with a crisis

Abstract

The Kayan is the largest ethnic group in the Belaga District of Sarawak. Traditionally the most powerful group in the region, they mass-migrated from Indonesian Kalimantan about two hundred years ago. Militarily strong they displaced tribal groups that had settled there earlier and through intra-tribal cooperation To among their aristocratic leaders, they strengthened their mapolitical regional dominance. Eventually other groups were be absorbed into the Kayan political system, although retaining their own autonomy within their own community. Kayan dominance of the area is reflected by their holding most of the important political and administrative positions created by the state today.