Ethnic Groups in Sabah

Ethnic Groups in Sabah (Credit to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ethnic_groups_in_Sabah)

B

• Bajau
• Bisaya
• Bruneian Malay People

C

• Chinese

D

• Dumpas
• Dusun

I

• Ida'an
• Illanun

K

• Kadazan
• Kadazan-Dusun
• Kedayan
• Kwijau

L

• Lotud
• Lun Bawang

M

• Mangka'ak
• Maragang
• Minokok
• Murut

O

• Orang Cocos
• Orang Sungai

R

• Rumanau
• Rungus

T

• Tambunuo
• Tausug
• Tidung

Dusun Ethnic

Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Due to similarities in culture and language with theKadazan ethnic group, a new unified term called "Kadazan-Dusun" was created.

Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. A small minority of Dusuns can also be found in Brunei where they are defined by the constitution to be one of the seven Bumiputera groups.

Etymology

It is also suggested that the word Dusun was a "name calling" given by the Sultan of Brunei. Since most parts of the west coast of Sabah were under the Sultan of Brunei influent, The Sultan of Brunei collects taxes from the "Orang Dusun" called "Duis" which was also referred to as the "River Tax" on the area of south east of North Borneo. However the "orang Dusun" that was purposely and perhaps administratively used by the British to represent all the various ethnic groups in Sabah were simply calling themselves as being the "Momogun" because the "Momogun" means "The People of the Land" which derive from the word of "Pogun" mean "The World / Land / Place".

Thus therefore these earlier ethnic group were called according to the village / place : i.e.: Lotud / Kimaragang / Tombonuo / Rungus/ Tangas / Tatana...etc.. Thus this suggests that the term Dusun was created by the British to name the various ethnic group only for the purpose of administration and registration. Since in 1881 upon the introduction of the Chartered North Borneo Company, an entity that was introduced by the British Government and made their first settlement in Kudat, the northern town of the North Borneo, the local people were registered as the "Orang Dusun" probably following the Sultan of Brunei administration records.

In the early time of independence, their leader had form UPKO and Pasok Momogun to representing the people of dusun in the first election. Throughout the 1950s the leaders of the North Borneo (Sabah) realising the significant distortion of facts and the actual naming of the dusun race in Sabah by the British's administration. Thus in the late 1950s, some of their leader propose the use of "Kadazan" to replace the word of "dusun" which reflacet a bad impressation on the people. Subsequantly the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA) were introduced and provide pressure to the British govern to officially adopt the name "Kadazan/Dusun" which means the "People of the Land" (Terms adopted from: the Council of Bobolians/Bobohizans/KDCA) as the official race in Sabah and to represent all the 32 ethnic groups of then called the "Orang Dusun". The term Kadazan/Dusun was successful in uniting the Kadazan/Dusun throughout Sabah.

In 1963, when Sabah, formed Malaysia together with Sarawak, Singapore and the Peninsular Malaya, the term Kadazan/Dusun was then officially been acknowledged by the Federation of Malaysia as one of most dominant races in Sabah, together with the Bajaus, Chinese and others. The term "orang Dusun" was officially terminated administratively. The KDCA continues to unite the Kadazan/Dusun through the celebration of the "Tadau Kaamatan". The Kadazan/Dusun were united and intermarriages were so rampant as the result of infrastructure development and isolated Kadazans were becoming educated and vocals.

It was in 1984 the ideology of Dusun was brought in again and had been heavily promoted by a political party in Sabah called AKAR. As the Kadazan/Dusun were becoming more confused as the result of the historical facts about the Origin of Dusun and why Kadazan/Dusun - the History of Sabah had been diluted, where the Federation of Malaysia were promoting "Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara" (One Race, One Nation) and the Historical facts learned from Schools in Sabah were diverted exclusively to the History of Malaya's Independence (31 August 1957) and Malaya Sultanate History, while little emphasis was given to the "Formation of Malaysia" the actual 16 September 1963)and the History of Sabah, the Kadazans were basically confused politically and disunity started to crop in.

The word "Kadazan" actually not derived from the word "kedai" (meaning "shops" in Malay) but what is meant is actually the "people who live in a more urban area and not in remote places like the Dusuns". The Dusun people who live in Penampang and Papar areas were called "Dusun Tangara" while the Dusuns who live in Districts like Tambunan, Ranau and Keningau were called "Dusun Liwan" and Dusuns who live in Kudat, Kota Marudu & Pitas were called "Dusun Kimaragang". But only Dusuns in Penampang did not like the name Dusun because they didn't like to be called "backwards" as in the olden days Dusuns were considered backwards who live in remote areas.

Introducion

he ethnic group, makes up, at one time, 30% of Sabah population and are broken down into more than 30 sub-ethnic, or dialectical groups, or tribes each speaking a slightly different dialect of the Dusunic family language. They are mostly mutually understandable. The name 'Dusun' was popularised by the British colonial masters who borrowed the term from the Brunei Malays. Most Dusuns have converted to mainstream religions such as Christian (majority are Roman Catholics) and Islam although animism is still being practised by a small group of Dusun.

The Dusun of old traded with the coastal people by bringing their agricultural and forest produce (such as rice and amber 'damar') to exchange for salt, salted fish, and other products. The Dusun have a special term to describe this type of trading activities i.e. 'mongimbadi.' This was before the development of the railroad and road network connecting the interior with the coastal regions of Sabah. The present Tambunan-Penampang road was largely constructed based on the trading route used by the Bundu-Liwan Dusun to cross the Crocker Range on their 'mongimbadi'.

The vast majority of Dusuns live in the hills and upland valleys and have a reputation for peacefulness, hospitality, hard work, frugality, drinking, and are averse to violence. Now they have very much been modernised and absorbed into the larger framework of the Malaysian society, taking up various occupations as government servants, and employees in the private sector, as well as becoming business owners. Many have achieved tertiary education both locally and overseas (in America, England, Australia and New Zealand).

In their old traditional setting they use various methods of fishing, including using the juice called "tuba" derived from the roots of the "surinit" plant to momentarily stun fish in rivers.

Credit to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusun_people

Bajau Ethnic

Bajau People (credit to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajau_people )

The Bajau (/ˈbædʒɔː/, also spelled Badjao, Bajaw, Bajao, Bajo, Badjau, or Badjaw), and also known as Sama or Samal, are a Moro indigenous ethnic group ofMaritime Southeast Asia. The Bajau live a seaborne lifestyle, and use small wooden sailing vessels such as the perahu and vinta.

The Bajau are traditionally from the many islands of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines, as well as parts of the coastal areas of Mindanao and northern Borneo. In the last 50 years, many of the Filipino Bajau have migrated to neighbouring Malaysia and the northern islands of the Philippines, due to the conflict in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. As of 2010, they were the second-largest ethnic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah.^[1] Groups of Bajau have also migrated to Sulawesi and North Kalimantan in Indonesia, although their exact population is unknown.^[3]

Bajau have sometimes been called the "Sea Gypsies", a term that has also been used for non-related ethnic groups with similar traditional lifestyles, such as the Moken of the Burmese-Thai Mergui Archipelago and the Orang Laut of southeastern Sumatra and the Riau Islands of Indonesia. The modern outward spread of the Bajau from older inhabited areas seems to have been associated with the development of sea trade in sea cucumber (trepang).

Term

Like the term Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau is a collective term, used to describe several closely related indigenous groups. These Bajau groups also blend culturally with theSama groups into what is most properly called the Sama–Bajau people. Historically the term "Sama" was used to describe the more land-oriented and settled Sama–Bajau groups, while "Bajau" was used to describe the more sea-oriented, boat-dwelling, nomadic groups. Even these distinctions are fading as the majority of Bajaus have long since abandoned boat living, most for Sama–style piling houses in the coastal shallows. Today, the greatest feature distinguishing the "Bajau" from the "Sama" is their poverty.

The Sama–Bajau peoples speak some ten languages of the Sama–Bajau subgroup of the Western Malayo-Polynesian language family.^[4] Sinama is the most common name for these languages, but they can also be called Bajau, especially in Malaysia.

History

The exact origin of the word "Bajau" is unclear. It is generally accepted that these groups of people can be termed Bajau, though they never call themselves Bajau. Instead, they call themselves with the names of their tribes, usually the place they live or place of origin. They accept the term Bajau because they realise that they share some vocabulary and general genetic characteristic.

British administrators in Sabah classified the Sama as "Bajau" and labelled them as such in their birth certificates. During their time in Malaysia, some have started labelling themselves as their ancestors called themselves, such as Simunul. For political reasons and to ensure easy access to the special privileges granted to ethnic Malays, many have started calling themselves Malay. This is especially true for recent Moro Filipino migrants.

A Bajau flotilla in Lahad Datu,Sabah, Malaysia.

A Bajau child in Tagbilaran City,Bohol, Philippines, diving for coins thrown by tourists into the water.

For most of their history, the Bajau have been a nomadic, seafaring people, living off the sea by trading and subsistence fishing.^[5] The boat dwelling Bajau see themselves as non-aggressive people. They kept close to the shore by erecting houses on stilts, and travelled using lepa-lepa, handmade boats which many lived in.^[5] Although historically originating from the southern Philippine coasts, Sabahan Sama legend narrates that they are descended from members of the royal guard of the Johor Sultanate, after the fall of the Malacca Empire, who settled along the east coast of Borneo after being driven there by storms. Another version goes that a Johorean princess was washed away by a flood. In his grief her father ordered his subjects to sea to return only when they had found his daughter.

However, there are traces that Sama people came from Riau Archipelago especially Lingga Island more than 300 years ago. It is believed by some that the migration process of Samah to North West Borneo took place more than 100 years earlier, starting from trade with the Empire of Brunei (the Johorean princess who in the origin myth was a royal bride being sent to Sulu but was kidnapped by the Prince of Brunei). With the overthrow of the legitimate Sultan of Johor by Bugis conquerors, the Sama people fled to the western coast of North Borneo, where they felt safe to live under the protection of the Brunei Sultanate. That is why native Kadazan-Dusun call Sama people as "tuhun" or "tulun Sama ("people of Sama") in their dialects, the form of recognition before the arrival of westerners. It was believed that Sama people are not from the royalty of the Sultanate, but loyal workers, craftsmen, boat builders and farmers that fled from cruelty of ethnic cleansing in chaotic Johor during aggression of the Bugis taking over the throne of Johor.

A Bajau village in Omadal Island,Sabah.

Today the number of Bajau who are born and live primarily at sea is diminishing, partially due to hotly debated government programs which have moved Bajau on to the mainland.^[5] Currently, there exists a huge settlement of Filipino Bajau in Pulau Gaya, off the Sabahcoast. Many of them are illegal immigrants on the Malaysian island. With the island as a base, they frequently enter Sabah and find jobs as manual labourers.

Discrimination of Bajau (particularly from the dominant Tausūg people, who have historically viewed them as 'inferior', and less specifically from the majority Christian Filipinos)^[6] and the continuing violence in Muslim Mindanao, have driven many Bajau to begging, or to emigrate. They usually resettle in Malaysia and Indonesia, where they are less discriminated against.^[7][8]