What is your name? Brihannala Carawing Morgan
What ares of Borneo were you in?
Pontianak, Putussibau, and Long Miting on the river Mendalam (West Kalimantan); Long Aran on the river Bahau in Kayan Mentarang National Park (East Kalimantan); Kuching, Belaga, and Uma Belor on the river Balui (Sawarak)
What years were you in Borneo? 1991-1997, 2004
What brought you to Borneo?
My mother is an anthropologist, and we moved to Borneo when I was 9 years old so she could pursue her research on oral literature. I moved back in 2004 to work at a sunbear rehabilitation center.
When you talk about Borneo and your trip there what is the thing you’re always sure to say?
I always mention how incredible it is to live in the rainforest, swimming in the clean rivers, eating ferns and wild pig from the bounty of the rainforest. I mention how incredibly kind and generous the people we live with were. I also mention I was bitten by a bear.
How have your experiences in Borneo impacted your life outside of Borneo?
Growing up in Borneo has been the root of all the work I have done — from contracting with the Center for International Forestry Research to getting a degree in natural resource management, to working for the Rainforest Action Network, and now running the Borneo Project.
Living in Borneo taught me about how incredibly rich I was, even though we were very poor by American standards. It taught me about the generosity of people who have very little. It taught me about the impact that global capitalism has in destroying the lives of people in resource rich and cash poor areas. It made me realize that few actions are too radical (although many possibly unstrategic) to push for justice. It taught me that it is impossible to separate out environmental conservation from the rights of the people who depend on the resource.
What do you think people who have never been to Borneo should know about it?
I think people in the United States should know how complicated a place Borneo is — from massive cities to incredible rainforests, Borneo defies attempts to find simple solutions to environmental crisis. Being in Borneo is understanding that it is impossible to separate conserving the rainforest from supporting the rights of the people who lives there. It makes it impossible to offer panaceas or platitudes about the opinions and desires of “indigenous communities”, and instead invites you to understand how complicated and beautiful our world is and demands that you do all you can to protect it.
What was the thing that was most surprising to you about Borneo?
Since I moved to Borneo when I was 9 years old, I had very few preconceived notions about it. I think I was most surprised by how much river turtle tasted like chicken and how hard it was to cut grass with a machete. I was amazed at the curiosity of other children and how easy it was to trip over snakes on the way to school.
Who was the most memorable person you met in Borneo and why?
Kuu’ Anya was the mother at the home my mother and I landed at in Long Meting, a few hours upriver from Putussibau (which in those days was many days boat ride from the capital city of Pontianak). She had tattoos from her finger tips to her elbows, and from her toes to her knees, and from her knees to the top of her thighs. She had had her long earlobes cut and resewn short many years before we arrived. She was a beautiful and powerful woman who thought nothing of scolding the 9 year old American living in her home. She welcomed and inspired me with her generosity and warmth, the way she demanded that the floors be washed twice a day, and how she taught me how to eat rice and cook long beans.