Quote:
The reason no traditional Dayak design is seen on the Kampilans is that it never was a Dayak sword. The Illanun people were Moros from Mindanao who settled quite late in North Borneo. Already in the early 20th C they were mixed with, and became part of, the Bajau tribe. Like the Illanuns the Bajaus are Muslim and have Malay, not Dayak, origin.
So Kampilans were used by the Moros who was living in Borneo.
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interesting topic. one must understand that those tribes mentioned doesn't recognized the imaginary political lines we now as country. they have an allegiance to a certain group, like a sultanate, rather than a country as a whole. i'm sure you folks know that. so, for the sake of arguement that these tribes resided in north borneo at that point in time; would that weapon then be attributed to north borneo? the reason why i said 'point in time' is because these are nomadic tribes. here are a couple of links:
http://litera1no4.tripod.com/badjao_frame.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/C003235/ilanun.html
i understand there's a 'need' to label such sword a specific area where it came from, to have a provenance, but sometimes it just don't fit, so IMHO, it's better to leave it as it is.