Dayak long houses

West Kalimantan

'Dayak' is a generic term for the whole group of native peoples of Kalimantan Island (Borneo). Over 200 different ethnic groups are part of the Dayak nation – all with their own languages and cultures. Dayaks are found not only in Indonesia, but also in adjacent regions of Brunei and Malaysia. In the quite recent past they had a fierce reputation, and were known as head-hunters – a practice which is now outlawed.

Traditional Dayak dwellings are called rumah panjang or rumah betang – both of which mean kins of long-house. These are community houses for extended families, and were once a very typical kind of dwelling in Indonesia. Today, however, there are fewer such long-houses. The one I was able to visit is located a good way from the town of Pontianak – the regional centre of West Kalimantan.

A long-house is a large residential home for an extended family, with a shared-area corridor from which doors lead to all the rooms. The long-house I visited was over 100 years old, and has 35 rooms – in which up to 135 people live. Every long-house has a second exit on the other side, leading to the veranda. 

Each family has its own small balcony, with a little garden.

In the rather broad shared-area corridor there are columns of very durable timber – and community life is bustling there. There are groups of men, women, and teenagers, all chatting between each other. There's even a small cafe. People cook over an open fire here, but the rooms have their own water supply – laid-on at state expense. Even so, people told me that people are gradually moving out of such communal living spaces, and moving to more conventional houses.