1 The Concept of Traditional Territory or Ancestral Land
All Orang Asli communities have strong sentimental attachments to the land on which they and their ancestors have lived.33 Generally, the land and resources within the control of a community is regarded as a form of communal land. It is a definite territory consisting of a large tract of land occupied by a community that has lived in the area for a very long time governed by their specific traditional laws.These laws are referred to as adat, pengham or resam.
Sen’oi, for instance, who have permanently settled in one place for a long time, referred to their territory as saka’, lengri’ or dengri’ [territory] and the communities residing in the saka’ as gu [group]. These communities regard themselves as the original occupants. The members of the community have rights within the communal territory – to dwell, forage and gather forest resources and to use the land subject to certain customary
people conduct themselves within their own house and the social relationships to be taken care of with other people within the community in a systematic political system.
31 See, eg, Lye Tuck-Po, Changing Pathways: Forest Degradation and the Batek of Pahang, Malaysia (Strategic Information Research Development, 2005).
32 Semai, once a swidden [slash and burn] community, have their own vocabulary to explain their
customary land and the manner of its use. An Orang Asli representative who is from the Semai community explains the vocabulary related to land use as follows: genei – settlement areas; pendeq – water reservoir; pabel – a large tract of land for swidden or shifting cultivation; selai –
an area where hill paddy plantation is undertaken; tebok – originally small rivers but later became small lakes due to mining, etc and has become an area for fish sources; redang – wetland that
contains plants such as umbut and bet (leaves used for traditional and medicinal purposes);
melaki' – areas which were once cleared by their ancestors in the past but are no longer in use
for current generations and are now back to jungle again; ne'enduk – holy area where people believe that some ancestors disappeared. It is believed that the area can heal people from strange diseases; sempak saka' – area where durian trees were planted by their ancestors and which
belongs to the community. Members could collect fruits from the trees. In the past, during the durian season, the whole community would go together to the area to collect the fruits; jerus – stock area – like a forest reserve. One could go into the area and take the resources from there but the forests could not be cleared: no trees could be planted in the area. The area is for reserve resources to be used during emergencies; beket – certain areas that must be avoided. It is
believed that bad incidents happened in these areas. People who go through the area must observe certain rules.
33 Dentan, Robert Knox et al, Malaysia and the Original People: A Case Study of the Impact of Development on Indigenous Peoples (Allyn and Bacon, 1997), 74.
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conditions. There is also a shared belief that members must ensure that the land and its resources exist in perpetuity for the use of future generations.34 By mutual understanding, the communities recognize the boundaries of their territory which are normally marked by certain trees, rivers or streams. The Sen’oi could not enter another gu’s territory regarded as saka’ mai [belonging to others].35 They only moved to another territory by joining or marrying into the group which owned the territory.36 With the consensus of the community, individuals and families could acquire personal rights within the communal territory by clearing forests or opening up land for cultivation.37
Similarly, the Temuan also consider particular groups to have more or less exclusive rights over land with clear boundaries.38 Groups of western Semang, Mendriq and Jahai also practise the same concept of a defined territory in which they have control subject to certain restrictions under their customs.39
Hunter-gatherers, such as the Batek who are often considered as ‘nomads’, have the notion of traditional territories. Tuck-Po points out:
if the Batek did not have ties to the land, they could not be mobile. One cannot just wander randomly around the forest; it is much too complex a landscape for that. Without topographic and resource knowledge to start with, it is not possible to be mobile. The development of that knowledge over generations fosters important bonds and sentiments: both among people who share a place, and between people and the land. Contrary to popular perception, hunter- gatherers tend not to be expansionist. They do not habitually move into other people’s
territories unless it makes absolute sense: land loss, displacement, outmigration of neighbouring populations, and government resettlement are among the usual reasons.40
Some writing suggests that some communities, such as the Jah Hut in some regions, do not practice the concept of communal land anymore.41 Many communities have lost their traditional territories through dispossession or relocation.
2 Special Connection to the Land
34 Kirk Endicott, 'Property, power and conflict among the Batek of Malaysia' in Tim Ingold, David
Riches and James Woodburn (eds), Hunters and Gatherers (St Martin's Press, 1988) 110, 141 (Batek, a subgroup of the Orang Asli); Edo, Juli, Claiming Our Ancestors' Land: An Ethnohistorical Study of Seng-oi Land Rights in Perak, Malaysia (PhD Thesis, Australian National University, 1998), 299.
35 Edo, above n 34, 10; Endicott, above n 34, 114; Dentan et al, above n 33, 74.
36 Juli Edo, 'Traditional Alliances: Contact between the Semais and the Malay State in Pre-modern
Perak' in Geoffrey Benjamin and Cynthia Chou (eds), Tribal Communities in the Malay World
(2003) 137, 143-44.
37 Nicholas, Colin, The Orang Asli and the Contest for Resources (International Work Group for
Indigenous Affairs, 2000).
38 Dentan et al, above n 33, 74. 39 Ibid.
40 Tuck-Po, above n 31, 5-6.
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There is also a belief in special connections between individuals and certain places. This concept is associated with cultural aspects of land evolving to acknowledge some form of individual rights in a particular area.42 Batek and Temiar communities recognize a special connection between each individual and certain places which they call pesaka to which a person may have strong sentimental ties, for instance, to particular land such as a birthplace, former residence, the place where they grew up, even though they may now be living far from it. They have a right to live in their pesaka – but not the right of ownership. This concept of pesaka is believed to have evolved in the communal cultural aspects of land – to acknowledge some form or idea of relationship between the community and a particular area or territory as a communal territory. Tuck-Po states that it is the sense of place, that is, the psychological certainty that one belongs to the territory which is marked by certain territorial markers and commonly communicated within the communities in the form of oral stories through generations.43 But, similar to many hunter-gatherers in other parts of the world, they talk about land in terms of proper sharing and inclusion, rather than exclusion or domination.44
In summary, the common thread is that the communities have the notion of interests at least to the resources within the environment.
3 Belief Systems and Their Relation to Traditional Territory
The connection to ancestral land is founded on a belief system that has been practised for generations. Generally, land is central to the communities’ culture and religion, norms and values, economy, leadership and self-consciousness of identity and their position as indigenous to the land.45 They believe that human beings are connected to their ancestral land. They are part of the environment. Land is not only a place to live, or to find resources but a space with spiritual elements significant to the communities.46 Therefore, these indigenous communities have a kind of relationship with their land which is distinct from the other communities’ relationship with their land.
42 Endicott, above n 34, 113; Edo, above n 34, 309. 43 Tuck-Po, above n 31, 56.
44 See, eg, Lewis, J, ‘Whose Forest is it Anyway? Mbendjele Yaka Pygmies, the Ndoki Forest and
the Wider World’, in Tadesse, W & Widlok, T (eds) Property and Equality: Encapsulation, Commercialisation, Discrimination, (Berghahn, 2004); Kenrick, J, ‘Equalizing Processes,
Processes of Discrimination and the Forest People of Central Africa. In Widlokm T & Tadesse, W (eds), Property and Equality: Encapsulation, Commercialisation, Discrimination (Berghahn, 2004).
45 Edo, above n 34, 288-99. 46 Ibid 34, 81.
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Many communities believe that almost everything in the environment may anchor spirit and possess a soul.47 This includes human beings, plants and animals, mountains and forests. For the Semang48 and the Temiar,49 for instance, there is no difference between the soul-embodying properties of people as opposed to those of plants or animals, although other conceptions of the two are different.50 It follows that the particular land on which they live is considered as sacred and they cannot be separated from it.51 They could not practise their religion elsewhere.52 Based on this foundation, a strong eco- centric view of human–nature is maintained. This relationship governs everyday life, including economic and social relationships.53
47 See, eg, Mohd Salleh Hood, 'Man, Forest and Spirits: Images and Survival among Forest-
Dwellers of Malaysia' (1993) 30(4) Southeast Asian Studies 444; Geoffrey Benjamin, 'Indigenous Religious Systems of the Malay Peninsula' in Becker AL and Yengoyan Aram A (eds), The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian Coherence Systems (Ablex Publishing Corp, 1979).
48In some writings, they are known as Negrito. Negrito is a racial term that means ‘little black
people’.
49 The Temiar are a Sen’oi group.
50 Benjamin, above n 47, 14; Kirk Endicott, 'The Batek Negrito Thunder God: The Personafication
of a Natural Force' in AL Becker and Aram A Yengoyan (eds), The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian Coherence Systems (Ablex Publishing Corp, 1979) .
51 Juli Edo, in his study on the Sen’oi in Perak, highlights several elements under the Sen’oi belief
system that lay foundation for the relationship between the Sen’oi people and their ancestral lands: 1. Some places are believed to be the resting places of their dead relatives, and their kikmoij are regarded as the guardians of these places. The inherited land is a part of their religious and spiritual property. 2. The tiik [soil] in their area is considered as part of their sech-behiib (blood and flesh) because it has been selasat [absorbed] with their body and blood. Death is considered as returning to their origin (that people were made from soil) – the traditional territories are considered as originating from the bodies of their dead family members which have been absorbed [selasat] by the previous tiik [soil] to become one mixture. 3. The people who are alive also are closely connected to their land not only through the ancestors who have died but also through the blood on the soil during birth and the placenta buried in the area. 4. Soil is considered as a source of life – soil is the source of plant life that gives food to human beings and animals – which, when they die, go back to their origin – the soil. As human beings are created with certain intelligence, they have the responsibility to care for the soil which is the root of life: Edo, above n 34, 81.
52 Shawn Kiyotaka Fukuzaki, 'Spiritual Ecology: Asian Animistic Perspective' (Paper presented at
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Implementation and
Challenges, Kuala Lumpur, 10 November 2010)
<http://www.academia.edu/365501/Spiritual_Ecology_Asian_Animistic_Perspectives>, citing Whitt, LA et al, ‘Indigenous Perspectives’, in Jamieson D (ed), A Companion to Environment Philosophy (Maldon, 2000), 4.
53 Ibid, citing Whitt, LA et al, ‘Indigenous Perspectives’, in Jamieson D (ed), A Companion to Environment Philosophy, (2000, Maldon), 4. Benjamin, in relation to the spiritual belief of the Temiar, states:
‘It is simultaneously both the creator and the world it creates, constantly employing the ‘bootstrap’ cosmogonic power of its own thought and imagination to maintain the differentiated character of the physical world as the Temiar know it. If human beings (or any other agency) should by their actions distract the cosmos’s subjectivity away from this task, then it is thought likely that the world will dedifferentiate, through the agency of thunder (the cosmos’s voice) and flood, into a muddy undifferentiated chaos. If that should happen all things would lose their identity and disappear … Plants and animals are thought to partake in this interplay just
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As many Orang Asli live in, or have originated from the forest, their belief systems are closely related to the forest and its spirits. This perspective of the forest creates a close and intimate relationship between the forest dwellers and the forest as a place to live, a way of life and a sense of identity. Hood, in his analysis of studies on the belief systems of different groups of forest dwellers in the Peninsula, reveals that the forest has come to be identified with distinct modes of human survival and a way of life that has evolved into distinct cultural systems.54 For the Batek, for instance, the forest and its environment define the cosmological and social principles of Batek existence. The forest is intertwined with their religious notions of what constitutes good and bad.55 The Chewong similarly associate themselves with the forest. They regard the forest as an important part of their social universe which is a place of exchange and a ‘chain of exchange between humans and superhumans who regulate behaviour in the world’.56
The belief system of the Orang Asli also links closely with the oral tradition or stories passed through generations. Many stories serve as an important basis for claims to indigenous identities. Among the Sen’oi, for instance, the oral tradition goes back to stories about the creation of the earth. This is considered as the root of the Sen’oi way of life. Through the oral tradition, they claim to be the earliest people to occupy the Peninsular Malaysia].57 One of the important elements communicated in the stories reflects the long struggle of the communities to preserve their identity and rights over their ancestral territories.58 Stories about contact and alliances with Malay Sultans in the past who acknowledged the communities’ autonomy over their territories also provide a
as fully as human beings. It is the temporarily disembodied upper- and lower-body souls of various mountains, animals, plants … that become the personal spirit guides to which Temiar direct their religious action. (Geoffrey Benjamin, 'Temiar: Community of Malaysia' in T NS Bisht (ed), Encyclopaedia of the South-east Asian Ethnography: Communities and Tribes
(Global Vision, 2004), 658).
54 Hood, above n 47, 445.
55 Ibid, 450 citing Endicott, KM, Batek Negrito Religion. (Oxford University Press, 1979). See also,
Nurul Fatanah Kamarul Zahari, Mustaffa Omar and Salleh Daim, 'Lawad, Ye' Yo' and Tum Yap: The Manifestation of Forest in the Lives of the Bateks in Taman Negara National Park' (2011) 1(1) Journal of ASIAN Behavioural Studies.
56 Hood, above n 47, 451 citing Howell, SL, Society and Cosmos: Chewong of Malaysia,
(Clarendon Press, 1984), 116, 118: Superhumans to the Chewong are ‘the totality of beings with whom they maintain relations’. Superhumans are important in the creation of the moral universe and symbolised how society was created through ‘gifts from the culture heroes’. The gifts gave knowledge and specific ideas on how to lead the good life. Transgressions and not observing the rules of superhumans, which includes maintaining the forest and animals, are punishable, by disease and even death.
57 Edo, above n 34, 86.
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basis for their territorial claims.59 From their perspective, the title is considered a political recognition.
The distinct position of traditional land coincides with the observations of many interviewees, especially those having direct relationship with the communities.60 A Semai who the researcher met during the fieldwork, said,
I do not belong to my mother but I belong to the village, I belong to the land, the community. This is the nature of human beings, even the non-Orang Asli. Human beings are naturally associated with the land that they belong to. Only in that particular land they could find peace.61
This reflects the strength of the relationship between the people and the land that they regard as their traditional land. The view that land is a source of pride and distinct identity is also felt by the younger generation of the communities.62
4 Proprietary Interest in the Land and Its Produce
For many Orang Asli, owing to their perspective towards the land, the relationship between the land and human beings was not originally one of proprietary interest. For instance, the Batek63 consider that they do not own their home area and all resources are free to all who need them, irrespective of race.64 By the same account, the Jah Hut and the Temiar65 also believe land itself could not be owned, although they recognize a form of communal proprietorship. Only the produce of the land and houses built on it can be owned.66 The benefits or resources from the land and the environment are to be shared by all human beings.
In some communities, especially groups practising agriculture including swidden (slash and burn) and permanent forms of cultivation, particular fields and trees may be owned
59 Edo, above n 34, 149-51, 153: The Semais in the past maintained a good relationship with the
Malay Sultan of Perak by paying annual tribute and visits to the palace by the headmen of the groups. Some headmen were granted certain title by the Malay Sultan. It was believed that the settlements of the groups were expressly consented to by the Malay Rulers in the past. Some groups were also allocated land within the state. It was also believed that the Semai in Perak began cultivating rubber in the early 20th century on the advice of a Malay Ruler; Data from interview: A Temuan from Selangor also told the researcher the stories told for generations in his community about the relationship of his community with the rulers in the past.
60 Interview data: The representatives of the Orang Asli, researchers and public officials.
61 Interview data: Orang Asli representative from Perak. (The original is in Malay – the phrase is
the researcher’s translation.)
62 Interview data: Orang Asli representatives. See also, Edo, above n 34, 298, 309. 63 Known as subgroup of the Semang.
64 Endicott, above n 34, 133. 65 Both are subgroups of the Sen’oi.
66 MA Couillard, Tradition in Tension: Carving in a Jah Hut Community (Universiti Sains Malaysia,
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by individual members or families within the communal territories.67 The practice is seen among the Semai,68 the Temuan,69 the Mah Meri/Besisi70 and the Semelai.71 Both the communal and individual lots have the force of property and ownership in their culture.