me groups. While admitting the significant roles of such external factors, one must, however, admit that internal factors play an equally important role.
Poverty and tradition have also led to environmental damage in different ways. As Lian (1987) observed, the obsession with trying to escape from the clutch of repressive, traditional socio-political and economic systems has been important, and so too is the desire to emulate the economic achievements and to keep abreast with the level of socio-economic progress attained by their economically advanced neighbours. Even a desire to leap out of the agricultural sector has been among the factors which drove subsistence Kenyah farmers of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak to engage actively in nonagricultural activities. While such decisions and changes led to the weakening of the ecologically viable traditional system of swidden agriculture because a shortage of labour forced Kenyah farmers to use land closer to the village more intensively, resulting in lower farm production in the long term, the Kenyah saw such a move as economically more advantageous. It is also one of the effective means of keeping most of the population in their traditional homeland, and indirectly protecting it from outside incursion. The Kenyah tribe considers greater interaction with the outside world as a viable and relatively rational strategy of resource management; moreover, it is one which they see as reducing their exploitation by outside communities. A similar trend is observed among the Orang Asli tribes of Peninsular Malaysia (Gomes, 1990; Hood Salleh, 1989). As Gomes (1990: 12) argues, 'Against popular conception, capitalism did not completely destroy Orang Asli economies but actually transformed them in such a manner as to allow the continuance of subsistence-oriented economic activities and the preservation of the salient features of their traditional economy: diversity, flexibility and adaptability.'
Adaptability is probably one of the important issues that needs to be addressed in studying the environmental future of threatened people, especially the indigenous tribal people of South-East Asia. Are they capable of devising measures to shield their culture from being overwhelmed completely by outside influences? What are their limitations? These are stimulating questions for research. Contrary to popular opinion, tribal people, and probably almost all groups of threatened people, are not completely at the mercy of the advanced socio-economic groups, although there are limits to their ability to counter external influences which could destabilize their culture. The rest of this chapter examines this complex and sometimes controversial subject, and is based largely on the situation observed among some tribal groups in Sarawak.
The Orang Ulu Tribes of Sarawak
The Orang Ulu' of Sarawak, consisting of approximately two dozen distinct tribal groups, are among the smallest of the indigenous tribes found in Sarawak. Their small population size, as well as the fact that these communities were frequently in conflict with each other in the past, made them very vulnerable socio-economically and otherwise. Among the important features of their cultural history have been their constant movements from one river valley to another, both for security reasons and to establish control over jungles rich in important forest products (Lien, 1987; Southwell, 1959). Imported goods obtained from the exchange of jungle products played a very important role in the socio-cultural and economic systems of the Orang Ulu, and this has been true for centuries.
In view of the central importance of land in their livelihood, and acknowledging their weaknesses in any direct form of political conflict and confrontation with the early colonial Brooke regime, the Orang Ulu were compelled to compromise, and to surrender to the regime their past claims of political 'sovereignty' over territories which they occupied, in exchange for the security of rights over land and resources (Lien, 1987). They took advantage of the peaceful p