paren nyawi's blog: The Dayak Tribe of Borneo:The Saban/Sa'ban.

Saban in Long Banga..credit:Long Banga Blog,

i never heard about Dayak SA'BAN before ..until i met with Saban friend just like Dayak SEBOB/CHEBOB(LINK) ..since they are minority & the information about such tribes ..are limited.. until they introduced themselves...& i had learned something new..about DAYAK people...even though the Dayak Berawan(LINK) is also minority just like Saban/Sa'ban & Chebob/Sebob..but my ancestor is a from Berawan Tribe since my "Inai "always told me when i was young that she is a Berawan & raised as a Dayak Kayan Maiden.

My Assistant (He is Sa'ban from LONG BANGA)..
during Borneo Hornbill Festival KL 2011 AT MATIC(Malaysia Tourism Centre)
When i won KELING GAWAI (BRILLIANT SMILE)

The Saban/Sa'ban:History
The Sa'ban is the smallest ethnic group in Sarawak with a population of approximately less than 1,000 people.

The Sa'ban are a small people group living in the Punang Kelapang region in the remote Kelabit Highlands of northeast Sarawak. Long Banga is the main Sa'ban village in the highlands.The Saban (pronounce as Sa'ban), are an indigenous race of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is categorised under the Orang Ulu groups and have a close ties with Kelabit people.

Location of LONG BANGA,..Saban Village in Sarawak.

SA'BAN LANGUAGE WITH 1000 SPEAKERS.

The Sa'ban originally lived in the upper reaches of the Bahau River in east Kalimantan. Migration to Sarawak began around 1900 and continued until the late 1960s.

Despite sharing many cultural similarities with the neighboring Kelabit, the Sa'ban are a distinct people who even today seldom intermarry with outsiders. Historically their warriors were renowned for their bravery and steadfastness in battle. The Sa'ban are an industrious people. A strong desire exists among them to improve their standard of living.

Being an off-shoot of Kelabit tribes, they share a lot of thing in common especially in term of cultures, traditions and customs. Most of Saban people could understand Kelabit language very well, this is because there are similarities in the language itself.

The homeland of SA'BAN is Long Banga, Long Puak (formerly known as Long Ballong) and Long Peluan.

What are their beliefs in OLDEN days?
The Sa'ban previously practiced animism. Deep in spirit-worship, they kept the skulls of their enemies in their longhouses.

Homeland of SA'BAN : LONG BANGA.

A quaint rural village located in north-eastern Sarawak, Long Banga is the home of the Saban people beside Long Puak (formerly known as Long Ballong) and Long Peluan., a crow's flight away from the international border of Sarawak and Kalimantan. The village's name originates from a small river beside it.

This is a village consisting of a Kenyah longhouse and a Sa’ban community with a population of some 400. They live side by side in peace for over a century, while speaking different languages and practising different customs.

This village, established around 1900 by a group of Sa'bans that left their Kelabit families in Long Peluan and latter followed by their Kenyah Leppo' Ke relatives, has been thriving under all circumstances since their settlement at this scenic location. This village was also used as a base by the Allied Army during the Confrontation in the mid-1960s.

Saban vs Lun Dayeh/Lun Bawang.
The costumes & bamboo flute..is similiar....