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Past Economic Activities
- Traditionally, the Penan were nomadic hunter-and-gatherers, but today most live in settled villages, but still depend on the forests for their livelihood. Many Penan were not introduced to the idea of the cash economy and day labor until the 1970s. They have traditionally bartered forest products for manufactured good traded to them at great profit by settled people.

- Three or four times a year during colonial times the British government arranged trading missions called tamu close to the forests of the Penan. These tamu were supervised by a colonial official who regulated trade and insured fair treatment for the Penan. For this reason the British are remembered fondly for protecting the forest.

- At the tamu they offered forest products like damar (now used in eco-paints), rattan mats and baskets, rhino horn, gaharu wood (or eagle-wood), wild rubber, monkey gallstones (for Chinese medicine), bills of hornbills, skins, deer antlers and of course meat. These were traded for manufactured good like knives, cooking pots and shotguns – some Penan still own colonial era shotguns.

- None of these forest products are now abundant, but many Penan will sell surplus meat to logging camps, make rattan items and collect gaharu wood when they find it. This dark, scented wood is found as a special growth in the trunk of the Aquilinia gaharu tree. The growth is triggered in response to injury, a fungal infection or possibly insect activity. Many unsuccessful efforts have been made to domesticate the process.

- Gaharu is used as incense, for medicinal and religious purposes, and as a perfume in the Middle East, China, Taiwan and Japan. The Penan can get very good money for a kilo of high quality gaharu, but that can take years to accumulate.

- The government has tried with great difficulty to get the Penan to change their nomadic ways. The Penan are known for their distrust of outsiders. In some places the Penan are prevented from hunting by some government laws. Workers from logging companies have harassed them and killed animals in their hunting grounds for sport.

- Beginning in the 1950s, Christian missionaries moved into Penan areas and began converting the Penan to Catholicism and Protestantism. Many have settled not because they want but because there are no animals and food in forest anymore

Current
- The Penan are quickly being assimilated. Most wear Western clothes. Many attend church on Sunday and send their children to government schools. Many Penan want their children to go to school and mix with non-Penan groups. They also want access to modern medicines and clinics. Many young Penan are attracted by modern life,

- Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia once said, “There is nothing romantic about these helpless, half-starved and disease-ridden people and we will make no apologies for endeavoring to uplift their living condition. One of his ministers said, “We don’t mind preserving the Sumatra rhino in the jungle, but not the Penan.”

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- Organized around nuclear families and camps
- The Penan people have no hierarchy and believe in sharing and equalism
> This comes from their belief that all creatures are equal
> They do however, place more importance on patrilineal than matrilineal links
- Respect is given to elders and emphasis is placed on a strong communal bond
- Sometimes had leaders
> No official name, but referred to as headmen
> Seen as leader, but does not hold much power
> The position is usually passed down from father to son
> No particular defining features or accessories

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6imQoGBMvw

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Traditionally, the Penan did not go to school. However, through the government's persuasions, more and more Penan are attending government schools. In 1987, about 250 Penan attended primary schools, while about 50 others attended other schools farther away. At the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that less than 12 Penan youth attain a tertiary education. These are mostly the children of the settled Penan. While the children of the settled Penan are attending government schools, the children of the nomadic Penan get their lessons from their parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. The elders are perceived as full of knowledge and wisdom that need to be imparted to the younger generations. The Penan also believe that knowledge is taught by experience; therefore, from a young age a child is taught the skills to survive in the forest.

2 Types of education
- Go for School
- Through experiences and examples from their parents

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- Penan practice either agriculture or animal husbandry. Even though Penan people keep their pets, they cannot eat any domesticated animals since this is a strict taboo.Therefore, Penan’s dietary protein comes from fishing as  well as hunting.

- The Penan is concerned about the marriage between siblings or between children with parent. The incestuous marriage is entirely prohibited for Penan.

- It is impolite to walk directly towards another person. Normally, Penan should bend slightly and make a bow when they pass by someone or a group of people.

- It is a taboo to step over food served for a meal, because this pollutes the meal.

- Penan refer to Manser as Laki e’h metat (for man who has disappeared) or Laki Tawang  (or man who has become lost) rather than call their name, since calling the names ofthe dead is taboo in the Penan’s culture.

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http://factsanddetails.com/indonesia/Minorities_and_Regions/sub6_3f/entry-4020.html#chapter-3

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The Penan have some rather colorful clothing. Their traditional dress, mostly worn by elders, which consisted of :
-chawats (loin cloths) - It is made from the bark of trees namely the kumut, the ipoh, and the wild fig.
-Brass Ear Lobe - 100% brass (usually about 5 cm across for the elders)
-Tribal Earrings

- They also have accessories such as bands around their legs and wrists and large holes in their earlobes

Traditional tattoos are now uncommon, but crude DIY tattoos (almost like prison tattoos) are not.

Few Penan now go barefoot, most wear cheap, plastic football boots with rounded studs, which are perceived to be the best thing in the jungle, but don't keep the leeches out.

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In the beginning, according to the Penan creation myth, there was only sky and water and a sun and moon that didn't move. After eons and eons rocks fell to earth and later came rain which pulverized the rock into mud. Worms emerged from the mud are bore holes in the rock which allowed mother earth to break through the ground. [Source: "Vanishing Tribes" by Alain Cheneviére, Doubleday & Co, Garden City, New York, 1987

Later still the sun dropped a female tree trunk and the moon deposited a male plant which gave birth to a pair of legless humans with roots instead of legs. Their offspring also didn't have legs but they made a deal with the animals who supplied the human hybrids with legs in return for a promise that they wouldn't hunt the animals. The first people honored the pledge but their descendent didn't and the animals demanded their legs and when the humans refused a bitter fight ensued. With the help of the forest a new deal was struck: the people would only hunt what they need for food and the animals would sacrifice a certain number of victims if the hunters blessed their souls. In memory of their original ancestors the Penan bury their dead in the trunk of a tree.

The first man and women stood in the forest while two large trees blew around in a windstorm. They didn't know about sex. As the watched the trees in the storm a branch from a tree entered a hole in another tree, giving the first man and woman an idea. Their first child was the result

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The Penan believe that natural phenomena, spirits and magic are all interconnected. Thunder is a manifestation of balei ja’au, powerful magic of the forest. Trees bloom in response to the sound of peacock songs. The calls of some birds bring good fortune while the calls of others brings bad luck. Their universe is divided into the land of shade, the land of abundance and the land that has been destroyed.

The Penan believe they have two souls: one that is physical and emotional and the other, a "dream wandering state" that is experienced during sleep or a trance when they see through they eyes of animals or spirits. They also believe certain plants can give their dogs special hunting skills.

The Penan believe in a creator god named Peselong and rely on shaman to cure illnesses by removing illness-causing spirits. They have sacred mountains like Batu Lawi, a pair of male and female peaks in the middle of the Bornean jungle. Rivers have mythological names and connections to ancestors. The Western Penan believed their society originated in the upper Lua river region. Christianity has been spread since World War II.

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Made from frying sago and adding sugar. A chewy type of biscuit.

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- The handicrafts serve as an expression of the Penan’s nomadic past.

- A few examples of the handicrafts include the baskets called keva, rattan bracelet, and so on.
- Pride of Penan women, their creative expression and a representation of the Penan’s cultural bond with the forest

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Besides hunting, the Penan also gather materials from the forest such as fruits, mushrooms, honey, edible birds nests and more. Many of their dishes are made using tapioca flour, and they eat tapioca with rice too.

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The Penan are famous for the silent blowpipes and poison darts they use in hunting.

The animals that the Penan hunt and eat are mainly wild pigs, deer, fish and smaller animals, such as snails.

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The Penan's traditional staple food. It is a high-starch flour obtained from the core of a small palm tree and processed by trampling and then leaving in the sun to dry into a powder.

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Unlike most other indigenous peoples found in Sarawak, the Penan are hunter-gatherers that obtain most of their supplies from hunting animals and gathering materials, rather than growing their own food. Some Penan that have settled have started to plant rice and other crops, but still rely on the forest for most of their needs

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A video introducing the Penan tribe found in Sarawak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrM6LYWQjFw

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Penan elders with their native tattoos

Most of the men wore tattoos on their chests, throats and arms, and the women on their wrists and legs. Tattooists normally takes less than half an hour to paint the design on the chests.

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Tribe Background - Introduction, Demographics and History of the Penan Tribe

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Tribe Background - Introduction, Demographics and History of the Penan Tribe

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http://www.sarawakenergy.com.my/index.php/news-events-top/latest-news-events/latest-media-release/1646-penan-artisans-diversify-their-craft-making-skills

https://www.google.com/search?q=penan+design&espv=2&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH3_6tnqrTAhXLu48KHROIBuwQ_AUIBigB&biw=1317&bih=723#tbm=isch&q=penan+headbands&imgrc=r_9tARQDQKKXXM

https://www.google.com/search?q=penan+design&espv=2&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH3_6tnqrTAhXLu48KHROIBuwQ_AUIBigB&biw=1317&bih=723#tbm=isch&q=penan+rattan+weaving&imgrc=ymCVTaxbidV7oM

https://www.google.com/search?q=penan+design&espv=2&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH3_6tnqrTAhXLu48KHROIBuwQ_AUIBigB&biw=1317&bih=723#tbm=isch&q=penan+rattan+weaving&imgrc=flAvfXmAWSVwiM

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Tebih - Chewy and sweet, this dessert-like dish takes on the shape of the utensil used to cook it, giving it a unique look.

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Penan men play "Keringot", a nose flute made out of bamboo .

Penan women play a string instrument called "Pagang" The songs represent the stories , myths and imitated animal sounds. It is said though, that if a man played the Pagang, he would be eaten by  wild animal.  Thus, the Pagang is played by Penan women only.

Souce with music: https://picnicwiththepenan.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/penan-music/

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Nao - Considered to be one of the easiest Penan foods to make. It is sticky and has the grey, translucent look of glue. It can be eaten as rice and with other dishes.

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Malay Language

Goodbye               |  Ngelajam or bye
Good morning         | Jian ngivum
Good evening        | Jian maram
My name is…          | Ngaran ke’…
I am … years old        | Umun ke’ … taun
I am from ….          | Akeu jin

https://www.adventurealternative.com/malay-language/

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http://theprojectwhee.blogspot.my/2014/06/dummys-guide-to-penan-food.html

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Videos about the Arts and Music of the Penan Tribe

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Videos about the Arts and Music of the Penan Tribe

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Penan dance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_MzGo7HK4
Penan music - https://picnicwiththepenan.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/penan-music/
Penan arts and craft - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j879YHRhyvs

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The Penan number around 16,000; of which only approximately 200 still live a nomadic lifestyle. Penan numbers have increased since they began to settle. The Penan can be broken down into two loosely related geographical groups known as either Eastern Penan or Western Penan; the Eastern Penan reside around the Miri, Baram, Limbang and Tutoh regions and the Western Penan in and around Belaga district.

They can be considered as a native group or 'tribe' in their own right, with a language distinct from other neighbouring native groups such as the Kenyah, Kayan, Murut or Kelabit. However, in government censuses they are more broadly classified as Orang Ulu which translates as "Upriver People" and which contains distinct neighbouring groups such as those above. Even more broadly they are included in the term Dayak, which includes all of Sarawak's indigenous people.

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The hunter-gatherer Penan live in the rainforests of the interior of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo.

Traditionally nomadic, most of the Penan now live in settled communities, but continue to rely on the forest for their existence. Some still live largely nomadically.

Until the 1960s, most Penan lived nomadically, some still do, while many others have been settled in villages.
They have a fight on their hands. For decades, they have been trying to halt the destruction of the Sarawak rainforest by blockading the entrance that developed by the logging company. Since the 1970s, the government has backed commercial logging on tribal land.

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The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people that live in Sarawak.
- Previous Religion: Animism
- Current Religion: Christianity (since 1930s)
- Language: Malay
- Skillful hunter: armed with blowpipe
- Noted their practice as 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary.
- Broken down into two loosely related geographical groups known as either Eastern Penan (residing around the Miri, Baram, Limbang and Tutoh regions) or Western Penan (in and around Belaga district)