The indigenous group of Sarawak

By Farahin Khalid

Malaysia has a complex multiracial population, predominantly defined by three major ethnic groups, which are Malay, Chinese and Indian, with diverse cultural backgrounds. In Sabah and Sarawak, there is a myriad of indigenous ethnic groups with their own unique culture and heritage. This multicultural context makes Malaysia a highly rich society, with diverse religions, foods, culture, and customs.

 

Sarawak Flag.

Sarawak in the world map.

       

                                                     Sarawak in Malaysia map.

Sarawak is the largest of 13 states in Malaysia, located on the north and north-western tip of Borneo. Sarawak is bordered by the state of Sabah to northeast, south of Kalimantan and Brunei at the north. Sarawak is unique in terms of culture, administration and life style because the population is 2.4 million people that comprises of roughly 27 ethnic groups with its own language and tradition. Sarawak has a tropical geography with an equatorial climate and experiences two monsoon seasons, which is a northeast monsoon and a southwest monsoon. Kuching is the capital city of Sarawak, the name ‘Kuching’ is associated with the Malay word for cat.  

Sarawak is a biodiversity hotspot and its forests, wildlife, caves, mountains and beaches are its main attractions. For a cat lover, they must visit the world’s first cat museum opened at Kuching which has plenty of cat statues and the place name is Kuching City Highlights Walk. Besides that, one of the main attractions in Sarawak is Gunung Gading National Park, Kuching. It is one of the best places in Malaysia to find the giant Rafflesia flower because of the environment that contains dense rainforest, crystal clear streams and waterfalls.

Here I am going to talk about the indigenous people of Sarawak. In East Malaysia, the indigenous people of Sarawak are known as the Dayaks, the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. Alongside these are several minor ethic groups, including Malay, Chinese, Kedayan, Javanese, Bugis, Murut, and Indian. In 2015, the two ethnic groups, the Bidayuh and Iban were officially recognized by the government of Malaysia as being part of the Dayak people.

Dayak people.

The Dayak or also known as Dyak or Dayuh are the native people of Borneo. The origin of the Dayaks is the legendary oral epic of “Tetek Tahtum” by the Ngaju Dayak of Central Kalimantan (Borneo Island), it portrays that the precursors of the Dayak people plunged from the sky before moving from inland to the downstream shores of Borneo. Dayaks do not speak just one language, most of them today are bilingual. In addition, to their native language, they are well-versed in Malay or Indonesian.

     

In the past, the Dayak were feared for their ancient tradition of headhunting practices. Among the Iban Dayaks, the origin of headhunting was believed to meet one of the mourning rules given by a spirit. They believe that, the sacred jar cannot be opened unless by a warrior who has figured out how to get a head, or can exhibit a human head after he got into a battle. They believe that for the soil’s fertility, they must hunt fresh heads before the paddy harvesting seasons, after that they will celebrate the head festival to honour the new leader. 

 

Dayak people live in the Integrated Indigenous Farming System, which is where Iban Dayaks plant paddy on the hill slopes while Maloh Dayaks prefer flat lands as discussed by the late king. Dayaks organised their labour in term of traditionally based land holding groups, which determined who owned rights to the part of land and how it was to be used. Dayaks collect jungle produce for sales at markets to gain profit.

 

 

Iban people

The Iban or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak people of Borneo. It is believed that the term of “Iban” was originally an exonym used by the Kayans, who referred to the Sea Dayaks in the upper Rajang river region when they initially came into contact with them, as “Hivan”. For hundreds of years, the precursors of Ibans rehearsed animistic beliefs. Although after the arrival of James Brooke, many were affected by the European ministers and converted to Christianity.  

The Ibans were famous for practising headhunting and had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successful warring tribe in the past. Headhunting gradually faded out of practice although many other tribal traditions and practices, as well as the Iban language kept on thriving since the arrival of Europeans and the subsequent colonisation to the area. But nowadays, the Ibans tend to become more urbanised. Back then, there are only the basic needs in the longhouses, but nowadays, the longhouses are equipped with the basic domestic necessities for modern accessibility such as telephone lines and the internet.

 

The Iban religion involves worshiping and honouring at least four categories of beings, which is Petara (the supreme god), and his seven deities, the holy spirit of Orang Panggau Libau and Gelong, the ghost spirits (Bunsu Antu), and the souls of dead ancestors. Some Iban classifies these gods called Ari Langit which gods living in the sky, Ari Pucuk Kayu (tree tops), which refers to omen birds, Ari Tanah (land/soil) which refers to augury animals, snakes and reptiles, and Ari Ai (water), which refers to fishes and water creatures.

 

  

Bidayuh

The name Bidayuh means inhabitants of land which is the collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak. They are the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak after the Iban and one of the major Dayak tribes in West Kalimantan.

Bidayuhs are traditionally animist, and vestiges of these beliefs still remain. The original Bidayuhs are mainly Pagans or animist before they convert to Christianity and they believe in ancestral worship and they also believe in the ancient spirits or nature. Due to that, they would have big celebrations like the Gawai which is a celebration to please the paddy spirit for good harvest, but the young Bidayuh generation would rather celebrate Christmas as their first priority celebration.

  

The Bidayuh have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles, the ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drones without any accompanying melodic instrument.

                                                Bidayuh heritage instruments.

Orang Ulu

    

There are about 27 small Dayak people groups that are classified as Orang Ulu such as:

1.    Apo Kayan people

2.    Kenyah people

3.    Kajan

4.    Kajaman

5.    Lahanan

6.    Sian

7.    Penan

8.    Sebop Kayan people (Borneo)

9.    Bidayuh

10.  Kendayan

11.  Ukit people

12.  Bisaya (Borneo)

13.  Murut people

14.  Tagol

15.  Punan

16.  Lisum

17.  Apo Duat

18.  Kelabit people

19.  Berawan

20.  Kiput

21.  Lun Bawang

22.  Si

Orang Ulu means the people of the interior, it is an ethnic designation politically coined to combine 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in north eastern Sarawak. The Orang Ulu typically live in longhouses elaborately decorated with murals and woodcarvings. They are also well known for their intricate beadwork detailed tattoos and rattan weaving. The Orang Ulu tribes can also be identified by their unique music, the distinctive sounds from their sapes, a plucked boat shaped lute, formerly with two strings but nowadays usually with four strings.