A past for the future

Frontier heritage on the upper Mahakam (East Kalimantan, Indonesia)

Abstract

This article reviews historical processes of frontier-making (and re-making) in a region of central Borneo that was and still is on the margins of state control. Contributing to discussions about the ‘assemblage’ character of frontiers as zones of the ‘not yet’, this case study demonstrates how complex and eclectic historical legacies have gone on to produce a palimpsest of experiences and public memories that are currently being reinscribed in the context of ‘frontierisation in the second degree’. This ‘afterlife’ of the historical frontier zone is discussed in relation to its significance for competing visions of regional identity-building and claims of political suzerainty.