The exact origin of this former headhunting tribe is unknown. It has been suggested that the Kenyah are descendants of Bornean aborigines. Other theories suggest that the Kenyah lived as nomads in the Upau Kayan area in Kalimantan and migrated later to the Usun Apau area and the Plieren Valley. They now live near river headwaters. The Kenyah heartland is Long San, upriver along the Baram River from Long Akah. They live in close. Association with the Kayan, with whose culture they have much in common though the languages differ.

The typical Kenyah village consists of only one longhouse up to 400 yards long, built on piles, with a row of family rooms at the back and a wide covered veranda that serves a- s a general working space and village street. The traditional Kenyah economy is based on the cultivation of dry rice in jungle clearings. The forest is cut and burned, and the rice is planted among the ashes.