19-07-2025
A quest to reclaim lost heritage
Photo shows the ornate ceremonial hat, which had once crowned the head of Chief Tama Bulan Wang, a prominent Kenyah leader from Ulo Baram.
STANDING before a glass case in the British Museum's hallowed halls, Dr Kaleena Bulan Michael feels the weight of more than a century of separation from her heritage.
The ornate ceremonial hat displayed before her had once crowned the head of Tama Bulan Wang, a prominent Kenyah leader from Ulo Baram in Sarawak.
Now, it sits thousands of miles from the Borneo rainforests where it belonged, a silent testament to Britain's colonial past.
Dr Kaleena, a consultant ophthalmologist and vitreo-retinal surgeon based in Glasgow, Scotland, is married to an American and represents a new generation of indigenous descendants grappling with questions of identity and belonging in an increasingly globalised world.
'We would love to share our story with you, and hope to encourage others to find out more about their own dignified family history,' says Dr Kaleena.
Family pilgrimage
The journey to London began when Dr Kaleena read a publication about Tama Bulan Wang, authored by Dr Val Mashman from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).
The academic paper included photographs of her ancestor's war cap, captioned 'courtesy of the British Museum'.
'This triggered my curiosity, so I contacted the museum to enquire if they were in possession of our ancestor's war cap,' Dr Kaleena recalls.
'To my surprise, they replied 'yes' – they indeed have it and a private viewing may be arranged as it is not currently in exhibition.'
What followed was months of coordination across continents.
Dr Kaleena, who has been living in the UK for years, encouraged her relatives to make the journey from Malaysia, promising to handle travel and accommodation arrangements once they reached Britain.
The final entourage included her parents Michael Nyagu Sabang and Supang Daring; Dr Kaleena's sister Esther and Ilan, Esther's 15-year-old son; and her brother Ivan with his wife Hazel and their children Noah and Jonah, aged seven and two, respectively.
Dr Kaleena (centre) and father Michael take a closer look at the hat, as other family members look on.
A moment frozen in time
For the first time in 125 years, this hat was reunited briefly with the descendants of its original owner, Tama Bulan Wang, a great Kenyah chief in the late 1800s.
He was an eminent figure most known for his leadership in the peace-making process in Baram. This, in turn, stopped the head-hunting practices between the native tribes at that time, and fostered lasting peace over future generations in the region.
'The moment we entered and saw the hat laid on the table, it felt as if time had stopped and turned back to introduce us to our ancestor whom we have never met, but for whom all of us have made great efforts to come and celebrate,' says Dr Kaleena.
'It was as if everyone, including the children, understood the respect that the presence of this hat commanded.
'It belonged to a great man from whom we descended from, but have never had the privilege to meet.'
Dr Kaleena's father, representing the fifth-generation descendent of Chief Tama Bulan Wang, was the most emotional.
As the most senior family member present, he interpreted the hat's special features and recounted their lineage through Chief Tama Bulan Wang's daughter.
This encounter represented a treasured long walk down memory lane for the family from the interior of Baram.
Dr Kaleena's father Michael holds the ancestral hat with pride.
Colonial diplomacy
The hat's journey from Borneo to Britain occurred during the late 19th century, when Charles Hose served as the British Resident administering the Baram District.
Chief Tama Bulan Wang, whose longhouse was at Alo Pata – a tributary of the Baram River – had likely presented the ceremonial headpiece to Hose around 1899, just after a peace-making ceremony in Marudi, then known as 'Claudetown', and shortly before Hose moved to his new post.
That ceremony also marked the birth of what would become the Baram Regatta, a cultural celebration that continues today.
Yet, the hat's presence in London represents something far more troubling: the systematic transfer of indigenous artefacts to European institutions during the colonial era, where they became objects of academic study rather than living elements of cultural practice.
For Dr Kaleena, who attended SRB Good Shepherd School from 1992 to 1995 and had lived in Marudi for several years, the connection was deeply personal.
She walked the same streets where her ancestor had once engaged in the diplomacy that would eventually see his ceremonial hat cross oceans.
Dr Kaleena (left) and her sister admire the well-preserved hat.
A global journey of identity
Dr Kaleena's story illustrates the complex geography of modern indigenous identity.
Born in Limbang to teacher parents, she moved frequently throughout her childhood – from Lutong and Luak to areas around Miri, then to Marudi.
After secondary education at SM Sains Miri, she pursued A-Levels at Taylor's College in Kuala Lumpur before embarking on her medical studies at the University of Dundee.
'I have always been a highly focused and academic individual, very boring person to be honest,' she laughs.
'In my mind, I had a goal; I was always interested in the rest of the world and it was my dream to travel to see places and meet people from other parts of the world.'
Her academic excellence opened doors to specialist training in ophthalmology in Scotland, where she also completed her PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2022, along with her Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists' examinations and Certification for Completion of Training (CCT).
Now married and practising medicine in Scotland, Dr Kaleena embodies the global nature of contemporary migration while maintaining deep connections to ancestral lands.
Her two-year-old daughter Ava represents the next generation: 'Half Orang Ulu, half American, but born and bred in Scotland, she couldn't be further away from her roots.'
Repatriation debate
The British Museum houses more than eight million objects, many acquired during the height of European colonialism.
In recent years, the institution has faced mounting pressure to return artefacts to their countries of origin, particularly those with sacred or cultural significance to the indigenous communities.
Dr Kaleena's family represents a different approach – not necessarily seeking the physical return of objects, but rather reconnection with their ancestral heritage.
Their pilgrimage to London was about understanding their place in history and ensuring that the stories attached to these objects would not disappear with time.
Scholars estimate that thousands of artefacts from Sarawak's various ethnic groups – the Iban, the Bidayuh, the Orang Ulu, and other communities – are housed in museums and private collections across Europe and North America, many as well-preserved as those recovered in Sarawak's Tinjar region.
It is believed that Chief Tama Bulan Wang could have presented the ceremonial headpiece to Charles Hose, then-British Resident for the Baram District, around 1899, just after a peace-making ceremony in Marudi.
Catalyst for cultural preservation
Dr Kaleena's encounter with her ancestor's ceremonial hat has reinforced her belief in the importance of cultural documentation.
'Something as simple as a family tree can be challenging for us to trace back as paper documentation many decades ago was scarce,' she observes.
'We relied a lot on oral history to carry it on. As a result, many historical accounts die when the person passes on.'
Her experience serves as inspiration for other Orang Ulu and Dayak communities in Sarawak to trace their own family lineages and seek out historical artefacts that may hold the key to understanding their ancestral stories.
'Personally for me, the journey has been eye-opening.
'I never thought my roots were of any interest.
'However reading about our ancestors and the old traditions in the vintage books from the 1920s, as well as seeing how well some of the artefacts that originated from Tinjar have been preserved in the British Museum as well as in other museums – they all tell me that we have so much to be proud of.'
As she prepares to leave London and return to her practice in Glasgow, Dr Kaleena carries with her not just photographs and memories, but also a renewed sense of purpose.
The ceremonial hat may remain in the British Museum, but its spirit – and the stories that it represents – continues to live through the descendants who have made the journey to honour their ancestor's legacy.
'I hope this can strengthen the present Orang Ulu and Dayak generations' ability to foresee the change in our culture, and what it means to future generations.
'It is also our duty to our community to ensure progress, while wearing our traditions with pride.'
'For Ava, the photographs from this visit may one day hold special significance.
'I am glad that my daughter was also part of this journey, even though she is only two years old.
'I hope the pictures of her involvement in this event would hold some significance to her when she gets older and hopefully, she would be wearing her Orang Ulu identity with pride.'
The descendants of the Kenyah warrior chief Tama Bulan Wang seen during the private viewing of the hat at the British Museum in London.
In an era of increasing global migration and cultural complexity, such connections to ancestral heritage take on new significance.
They serve as a reminder that identity is not just about where we live, but also about the stories that we carry and the histories that we choose to honour.
The conversations between the past and the present, between Borneo and Britain, between the museums and the communities, continue on, and in that ongoing dialogue, families like Dr Kaleena's are ensuring that their ancestors' voices are not lost to time.
