TALES OF LOAGAN BUNUT, MIRI SARAWAK
TALES OF LOAGAN BUNUT, MIRI SARAWAK
WHEN an area is gazetted as “totally protected”, people cannot reside or build houses there. It is also illegal to fish, hunt and fell the trees. This, however, is not the case in Loagan Bunut.
Fishing and hunting are among the special rights that the Berawan still enjoy as a result of an agreement between the tribe and the state government before the Loagan Bunut was gazetted as a national park in 1990.
Covering an area of 10,736 hectares, Loagan Bunut National Park (LBNP) is located in the upper reaches of Sungai Bunut, about 120km from Miri. Besides the Berawan, there are two other ethnic groups here - Iban and Penan. However, only the Berawan have been given the Native Customary Rights and privileges to fish, hunt and utilise the forest resources from along Sungai Teru, Sungai Bunut, Loagan Bunut and the park itself.
Legend has it that the Berawan of Loagan Bunut settled in Sungai Lelak Tinjar but moved up to the lake where fish were a plenty centuries ago. It is said that the Berawan’s fishing and hunting activities had resulted in the creation of the lake, which in Berawan is called loagan.
The legend tells of a man who went hunting in the jungle one day but never returned. The headman sent a man to look for him but he too did not return. The following day, another person was sent to search for the missing men and the same thing happened. Curious, the headman went himself. After a while, he was exhausted and sat down to rest under a tall tapang tree. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise. As he looked around, he saw a huge dragon near the tree with its head on the ground and its tail making a lot of noise swaying the tree top. He also saw the dragon swallowing his three men.
Saddened, he quietly made his way home to inform his fellow villagers. They immediately prepared poison darts and went back into the forest seeking revenge. Using blowpipes, they shot at the dragon and killed it. The dead beast was carried back to the village, cut up and distributed to the villagers. While cooking, they heard a strange sound coming from the meat. This scared them and they fled from the village to a place called Bukit Let.
The remains from the cut-up dragon turned into pieces of rocks, which are still visible in the lake until today.
During the prolonged dry season, the rocks are put into a fire to invoke rain. At Bukit Let, the villagers built a boat and carried along with them drinking water with the help of birds and animals. The boat was used for hunting and according to the Berawan legend, the boat created waterways as it moved around thus forming a huge lake. Some water dropped out from the boat, creating bays or locally known as teluk.
The villagers travelled down Sungai Bunan to Sungai Teru and Sungai Tinjar. Then, they left the boat at Bukit Terikan (now known as Bukit Tengah), which explains why it resembles the shape of a boat.
During that time, the Berawan were under the rule of the Sultan of Brunei. The Sultan, who was fond of smoked fish, commanded the villagers to provide him a daily supply. As time went by, the villagers got tired of doing so. One day, they decided to trick the Sultan by sending him smoked wild boar heads. Humiliated, the Sultan then cursed the Berawan and commanded the wild boars to attack them. Subsequently, a group of wild boars attacked them and destroyed their houses. The Berawan then sought help from the king cobras, pythons and crocodiles to repel the attack. Since then, they have never killed these animals.
Historically, fish and wildlife played a central role in the spiritual and cultural framework of the community’s life. Until today, fishing is an important traditional activity of the Berawan of Loagan Bunut as a source of food and income, and the park remains a vital fishing ground.
