The Political-Economy of Ending Headhunting in Central Borneo 1924

What is it about?

This article explores the trade-related and political precedents that culminated in the Kapit Peacemaking Agreement of 1924, the last political event which in real terms ended inter-ethnic headhunting in Borneo. Archival sources demonstrate the complexity of motives and responses among parties to the agreement, as well as the ensuing challenges the resulting liberation of human and commodity flows posed to Dutch colonial consolidation in the central Borneo frontier.

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Why is it important?

Borneo's history has largely been written from within partitioned national historiographies. This is one effort to synthesize Sarawak (Brooke) and Dutch colonial historical sources, and to promote further an integrated history of central Borneo as an alternative spatial site of knowledge production.