The Melanau are one of Sarawak's oldest coastal communities, historically settled along the delta towns of Mukah, Dalat and Oya, and their traditional economy has long centred on one plant: the sago palm. Sago groves along the tidal rivers here have supported Melanau communities for centuries, well before rice cultivation spread inland.
Processing sago is a genuinely laborious craft — felled palm trunks are split, the starchy pith scraped out, then washed, strained and settled repeatedly until only pure sago starch remains, ready to become tebaloi (sago crackers) or the chewy sago-based dishes still eaten across Melanau kampungs today. Tall Melanau houses, traditionally raised high on stilts for flood protection and defence, are recreated at the Sarawak Cultural Village for visitors who won't make it out to the coast itself.
The Melanau's biggest cultural event, the Kaul festival, is held each year to mark the turning of the fishing season and give thanks to the spirits of land, sea and forest — a tradition, alongside the sago groves themselves, that still ties the community firmly to the tidal coast their ancestors first settled.