Tuked Rini, Cosmic Traveller: Life and Legend in the Heart of Borneo (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 125) - Softcover

Janowski, Monica

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8776941302 ISBN 13: 9788776941307

Publisher: NIAS Press, 2014

Synopsis

The focus of this book is a legend that has been recited for centuries around fires in longhouses in the Kelabit Highlands, the highest inhabited place in Borneo and part of the area designated the ‘Heart of Borneo’ in 2007 with WWF support. The legend relates the adventures of a powerful hero, Tuked Rini. He and his wife Aruring Menepo Boong (pictured on the front cover) are said to have led the people of a longhouse called Luun Atar long ago. While Tuked Rini led the men into battle against powerful spirits, she led the women in growing rice – the central crop nutritionally, socially and cosmologically. The Legend of Tuked Rini is used as a springboard to explore highland life, kinship and hierarchy, the significance of rice and forest products, and cosmological beliefs – all now changing rapidly under increasing influence from the world outside.

About this title

About the Author

Monica Janowski has long researched, published on and worked with the people of the Kelabit Highlands of northern Borneo. As an anthropologist, she has been particularly interested in issues concerning the environment, food and cosmology. At the same time, she has shown an ability to communicate research findings to a wider audience (including as co-producor of nine radio series with the BBC). However, perhaps her most lasting contribution will be her work with the Kelabit to preserve their cultural legacy and pass it on to future generations.

Edition details

• Publisher: NIAS Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8776941302
• ISBN 13: 9788776941307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 182