ABSTRACT
The name Melanau is given to a culturally diverse set of peoples in Sarawak who inhabit the lower reaches of the River Rejang and the coastal areas to the north-east as far as Miri. The Melanau of the Oya River numbered 6,852 in 1947 and inhabited some dozen villages on the banks of the river as it flows through the low-lying swamps between the hills and the coast. Traditional Melanau society in the Oya River made use of three overlapping criteria in organizing social life. The first was that of local grouping; the second was that of kinship; and the third was that of hereditary rank. For an Oya Melanau the longhouse, or the modern village, and the river on which it stands lie at the centre of the social and symbolic worlds. A shaman is a man or woman who is 'a master of spirits'.
