TUVU

The idea was to build on material from a previous Culture and Conservation project, primarily two publications that never reached a large audience: a dictionary and folk story book compiled by Dollop Mamung, a Punan Tuvu' man (Mamung 1998).

This publication brings together a Punan Tuvu'-Indonesian dictionary (177 pp.), folk tales known in Punan Tuvu' as mbui (100 pp.), and a section about medicinal plants (20 pp.).

21-45) to the history of the Punan Tuvu', the adaptation to a settled life with farming, and the language situation.

The nine stories collected in this volume, The Aventurous Unjung and Mbui Kuvong: Oral Literature and a Punan Tuvu' Dictionary from Kalimantan, are a living testimony to the life of the Punan Tuvu', an ethnic group of North Kalimantan (Propinsi Kalimantan Utara).

The Punan Tuvu' language, which, like other minority languages in Indonesia and throughout the world, is endangered, embodies knowledge, values and wisdom that urgently require conservation.