Kelabit tribe in Sarawak

The life of a Kelabit community is a perennial balancing act between the longhouse and its surrounding fields on the one hand and the forest just beyond on the other. Both are important and both are expressed through food.

With the population of approximately 3000, the Kelabit form a tight-knit community and practice a generations-old form of agriculture. They are farmers who use buffalo and sophisticated methods of irrigation.

Famous for their rice-farming, they also cultivate a variety of other crops which are suited to the cooler climate of the Highlands. Bario rice is renowned for its delicate flavor.

The Kelabit are also known for their great strength and for their cultures so building megaliths, such as dolmens in honour of ancestors.

Before the Second World War, the people of the Kelabit Highlands were scattered over the area. Since then, most of the population has become concentrated in an area now called Bario in the northern part of the highlands, where the only government-run airstrip is situated.
Kelabit tribe in Sarawak