Tawai - a voice from the forest - full feature

Tawai is a word the nomadic hunter gatherers of Borneo use to describe the connection they feel to their forest home. In this dreamy, philosophical and sociological look at life, Bruce Parry (of the BBC's Tribe, Amazon & Arctic) embarks on an immersive odyssey to explore the different ways that humans relate to nature and how this influences the way we create our societies. From the forests of the Amazon and Borneo to the River Ganges and Isle of Skye, Tawai is a quest for reconnection, providing a powerful voice from the heart of the forest itself.

Guardians of the Forest

Source: BBC Tribe

The nomadic hunter-gatherer Penan are one of the last such groups in South East Asia. Out of the 10,000 Penan living in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo, only 200 nomadic people are left. Small groups of nomads move through a land of dense forest, narrow steep-sided valleys and fast flowing streams in the north-east of the state. Penan material culture is changing (western clothing is dominant, everyone has plastic tarpaulins), but the nomads still rely on the forest to provide most of what they need, from blowpipes to flour.

The Penan are a gentle and softly spoken people with a highly egalitarian society and little gender division. There's a headman, and respect is given to elders but there is no real hierarchy, just a strong communal bond, which manifests itself in a meticulous process of sharing. Nomadic Penan move in groups of up to 40 people, but groups form and split regularly as sago palm flour and game is sought from different areas in their territory (roughly 100 sq miles on average).

The nomadic Penan have been greatly affected by large-scale selective logging, in the late 1970s. More recently the creation of palm oil and acacia wood plantations has caused concern. Since the 1980s various Penan groups, both settled and nomadic, have campaigned against the logging - erecting blockades and sometimes being arrested. A well-orchestrated media campaign, originally led by passionate activist Bruno Manser (who went missing in Sarawak during 2001) meant that their plight was raised at the UN General Assembly and the Rio Earth summit. Penan leaders have also met Al Gore and Prince Charles.

A few concessions were made, but as the media spotlight moved on the logging continued. It's been estimated that at least 70% of Sarawak's primary forest has been licensed for logging and in some places there have been two or three logging passes in 25 years. The forest to which the Penan are perfectly adapted, has been radically altered. They have a deep emotional response to the change in light, sound, smell and temperature of the forest, nuances that outsiders over look. Everything from hunting to collecting medicinal plants and clean water is becoming much more difficult.

Read more here: BBC TRIBE PENAN

The life we have lost

We used to wander naked under trees; we sat by the water, just flowing. Looking up at the sky; pearls in an oyster. The sun played on our faces and limbs and warmed us, the sun was with us. We were her children when we left the forest. We heard music of birdsong and laughter in the canopy; we heard distant rhythms on bark and trunk and were silent. Time was like a melody, every day was a rhyme, behind the horizon: myth.

We are fully dressed against the cold. The trees are scarce and hollow. The sound of a chainsaw fills the air; contentious. We ran for days but it stayed in our minds, run, you must run. Now we look up to the sky and see the dark that isn’t real but blots the sun, separated from our father, slipping from our mother. There are whispers like insects crawling on the forest floor, a rumor of death, aroma of theft. We are orphans, we are lost, and we are old, fully dressed against the cold.

This piece was inspired by the nomadic Penan Tribe of Sarawak, Borneo, featured on BBC Tribe. Only 200 nomadic people are left.

Guardians of the Forest