PENAN CULTURE II

Blowpipes
Penan blowpipes, called keleput, are about 6 feet long and made from one solid piece of hard wood, often iron wood, in about 2 weeks. The hole is made using a long metal bar with a screwdriver-like tip, which is simply driven into the wood and turned, over and over. The Penan often build a jig for this.

Attached to the end of the blowpipe is a metal spear head, attached with rattan and rubber-like resin. This is used for finishing off large wounded animals and offers protection from wild beasts. Many Penan clans had a blacksmith once, but now these spears are bought from outsiders. Much shorter blowpipes are sometimes made for hunting at close range in dense forest.


Poison Darts
The bark of the tajem tree is cut to extract a milky latex that is warmed over a fire to produce the poison for Penan darts. Sometimes a new batch is started with a little of an old one or other ingredients like chilli. Tajem interferes with the functioning of the heart, causing lethal arrhythmias. There are a number of antidotes to the poison, the most common being drawn from a type of tree creeper.

Blowpipe darts are made from palm fronds with a lightweight stopper to make an air-tight seal. Darts with metal tips (cut from tin cans) are used for big game like deer and bearded pig, whilst those for small game are simply sharpened before being dipped in poison.


Knives
The Penan carry two knives. The first, a poeh, is large and machete-like and used frequently. The second, much smaller knife, is a called a darhad and is used for cutting meat, whittling blowpipe darts and fine work. Both knives are carried close together in separate sheathes, sometimes wooden, now often plastic.


Forest Sign Language
The Penan like their secrets and have a complex sign language for use in the jungle. A bent twig stuck in the trail may simply say 'we went this way', but complex arrangements of cut twigs, sticks and folded leaves can tell the Penan anything from the state of the hunting locally to whether the person leaving the sign is in a good mood.


Sago
Making sago flour is a communal activity, with men, women and children all taking part. Sago palms can grow up to 12 metres high producing a number of trunks. These are rolled down to a water source, split and their cores pummelled with wooden tools. The pulp is then tipped onto rattan mats supported by a wooden frame and stamped on, much like pressing grapes. Eventually the filtered and condensed starch juice forms a thick paste and can be transported back to camp where it is dried in blocks above a fire before being shared out.