In cities and towns, the Madurese dominate small-scale trade and transport businesses such as minibuses and pedicabs. Dayaks have difficulty competing with Madurese for jobs in gold, tin and copper mines, and in palm-oil plantations. She said the outside world shares the blame. The World Bank helped finance the Madurese resettlement for a decade before pulling out in 1989 amid criticism that the Dayaks' culture was being ignored. Foreign companies import timber from Borneo, much of it harvested illegally.
Religion also comes into it.
The Dayaks blend Christianity and animism, and many Muslim Madurese are offended by some Dayak practices, such as eating pork. The government in Jakarta has largely ignored the Dayaks' grievances, focusing on financial profit from the region, Budiardjo said. President Abdurrahman Wahid left Indonesia on a two-week overseas trip four days after the massacres began on Feb. 18, and rejected calls to return home and deal with the crisis. Indonesia specialist John Taylor, a professor at South Bank University in London, said the Dayaks have become confused about their identity, with a sharp contrast between their daily lives and perceptions of their ancestors. Even though most Dayaks wear Western clothes, ride motorbikes and watch TV, they suddenly decided to reprise ancient tribal war practices such as eating their victims' hearts, believing it would strengthen them.