Indigenous Peoples and the State. Politics, Land, and Ethnicity in the Malayan Peninsula and Borneo. .

Indigenous Peoples and the State. Politics, Land, and Ethnicity in the Malayan Peninsula and Borneo. . Indigenous Peoples The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. and the State. Politics, Land, and Ethnicity ethnicityVox populi Racial status–ie, African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic inthe Malayan Peninsula and Borneo, Robert L. Winzeler (Ed.), New Haven New Haven,city (1990 pop. 130,474), New Haven co., S Conn., a port of entry where the Quinnipiac and other small rivers enter Long Island Sound; inc. 1784. Firearms and ammunition, clocks and watches, tools, rubber and paper products, and textiles are among the many :Yale Southeast Asia Southeast Asia,region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. Studies, Monograph No. 46, 1997,316 pp. The expressions "fourth-world colonialism colonialismControl by one power over a dependent area or people. The purposes of colonialism include economic exploitation of the colony's natural resources, creation of new markets for the colonizer, and extension of the colonizer's way of life beyond its national borders. " and"internal colonialism Internal Colonialism refers to political and economic inequalities between regions within a single society. The term may be used to describe the uneven effects of state development on a regional basis and to describe the exploitation of minority groups within the wider society. " have been used since the mid-1980s torefer to certain types of relationships developed between post-World WarII nation-states--whose aim is to promote a national culture, religion,and language--and their ethnic minorities, the "indigenouspeoples," particularly those inhabiting politically marginalregions. Indeed, these nation-states, most of which have in common the needto achieve "development," are reluctant to tolerate what theyview as backward beliefs, customs, and lifestyles. They attempt tochange and integrate their minorities into an emerging national societyand culture. Moreover, in many instances, the valuable resources thatexist on minorities' lands have become crucial to the State'seconomy. And the minorities' interests often are regarded assecondary to the State's priorities. The bottom line is that,generally, the State does not want its "indigenous peoples" toremain what they are, and it wants access to the resources thesepeoples' marginal lands contain. As Winzeler rightly points out, the indigenous groups in the regionunder consideration are often much better known in traditionalethnological eth��nol��o��gy?n.1. The science that analyzes and compares human cultures, as in social structure, language, religion, and technology; cultural anthropology.2. terms than as minority communities within developingnations; thus, the need to understand how these peoples react to theirfast-changing predicaments. Here, the existing anthropological knowledgeof these groups is put to best use as background to the studies. Thiswork is definitely one by anthropologists interested in modem processes,not one by development sociologists. The book includes nine essays. Four of them cover the Orang Asli Orang Asli ("original peoples" or "aboriginal peoples" in Malay) is a general term used for any indigenous groups that are found in Peninsular Malaysia. They are divided into three main tribal groups: Semang (negrito), Senoi, and Proto-Malay. ofMalaya (peninsular Malaysia)--three dealing with specific groups (KirkEndicott on the Batek; Rosemary Gianno on the Semelai; and ShuichiNagata on the Semang) and a more synthesizing essay by Robert Dentan onthe Orang Ash in general--and five essays cover particular minoritygroups of Borneo, including groups in Sarawak (Robert Winzeler on theBidayuh and Ida Nicolaisen on the Punan Bah bah?interj.Used to express impatient rejection or contempt.bahinterjan expression of contempt or disgust ), Brunei Darussalam (AllenMaxwell on the Kedayan and Jay Bernstein Jay Bernstein (June 7, 1937 - April 30, 2006) was born in Oklahoma City. He was an American producer and manager to actresses like Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. Jay got his start as a Holywood publicist working for Rogers & Cowan, the industry's largest PR company, founded by on the Dusun), andIndonesia's Kalimantan (Anne Schiller on theNgaju). These contributions investigate in great detail--from thepre-colonial to the colonial and to the modern nation-state period--theevolution of local and regional politics, economics, and policiesregarding minorities, the ways in which these minorities adjusted andadapted to changing situations, and, ultimately, how they are copingwith their present circumstances. These essays are fine-grained piecesof good scholarship, not the "Save-the-Noble-Savage" sort ofliterature now found everywhere, and, although some of the views heldare deliberately provocative, they are convincingly argued. The focus here is on "non-Malay indigenous peoples."Although the reader certainly grasps--more or less--what this expressionrefers to, Winzeler attempts in his introduction to deal with the Malayvs. non-Malay contrast in relation to the pervasive opposition ofidentities throughout the area--"traditional indigenous" vs."mainstream national" (i.e., the State, cf. the book'stitle). This appears a bit confusing. First, the status of"Malayness" does not stand on very firm ground. "Who arethe Malays?" is an old question. In Borneo, "Malay"polities emerged from coastal tribal groups that got involved in tradeand so became connected to maritime networks. The current major worldreligious criterion, Islam, only came later. And, to this day, this"Moslem" criterion has remained hazy haz��y?adj. haz��i��er, haz��i��est1. Marked by the presence of haze; misty: hazy sunshine.2. , as quite a few MoslemDayak groups refuse to be called Malays. All this, to some extent, alsoapplies to Malaya. Second, while the "center" to peripheral Sarawak andSabah is peninsular Malaysia (here, Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur(kwä`lə lm`pr), city (1990 est. pop. ), in Indonesian Borneo,it is Java (and the Javanese). The situations of the Kalimantanprovinces and the eastern Malaysian states are similar, with theprominent local Moslem groups (the Borneo Malays) holding anintermediate position question. In Borneo, "Malay" politiesemerged from coastal tribal groups that got involved in trade and sobecame connected to maritime networks. The current major world religiouscriterion, Islam, only came later. And, to this day, this"Moslem" criterion has remained hazy, as quite a few MoslemDayak groups refuse to be called Malays. All this, to some extent, alsoapplies to Malaya. Second, while the "center" to peripheral Sarawak andSabah is peninsular Malaysia (here, Kuala Lumpur), in Indonesian Borneo,it is Java (and the Javanese). The situations of the Kalimantanprovinces and the eastern Malaysian states are similar, with theprominent local Moslem groups (the Borneo Malays) holding anintermediate position between their respective national centers and thelocal, non-Moslem "indigenous" minorities. In many instances,the Borneo Malays would readily side politically with the latter againstthe former and, to a large extent, they are just as"indigenous", as opposed to the Javanese or the peninsularMalays. This makes the Malay vs. Non-Malay contrast somewhatnon-operational in trying to draw a parallel between the situations of"indigenous peoples" in Malaya and Borneo. Winzeler is right, however, to stress the politically dominant roleof Islam, part of the mainstream national culture--and of an explicit orcovert COVERT, BARON. A wife; so called, from her being under the cover or protection of her husband, baron or lord. ideology--in the shaping of modern ethnicity in bothMalaysia's and Indonesia's marginal regions. The emergence ofChristianity and, locally, of revived traditional belief systems (e.g.,the Ngaju's Kaharingan religion) as modern identity markers in theface of a strongly proselytizing Moslem culture is likewise rightfullystressed. Facing situations ranging from ethnocide Ethnocide is a concept related to genocide. Primarily, the term, close to cultural genocide, is used to describe the destruction of a culture of a people, as opposed to the people themselves. It may involve a linguicide, phenomenons of acculturation, etc. to assimilation AssimilationThe absorption of stock by the public from a new issue.Notes:Underwriters hope to sell all of a new issue to the public.See also: Issuer, UnderwritingAssimilation , ournon-Malay indigenous peoples' reactions, predictably, showconsiderable variation. Between dependency and acceptance on the onehand, and hostility and resistance on the other, these peoples have cometo look upon their own customs and way of life in a new manner, wherebyhitherto implicit cultural patterns have become objectified orexternalized, particularly due to the politicization of religion andethnicity, and under the influence of tourism. These indigenous peoples,although involved for several decades in the nation-building process,have yet to achieve a satisfactory position. Their prospects appear tovary widely: in certain instances (Sarawak, Kalimantan) culturalsurvival, if not political autonomy, seems negotiable NEGOTIABLE. That which is capable of being transferred by assignment; a thing, the title to which may be transferred by a sale and indorsement or delivery. 2. , and even locally,under modified forms, indigenous ethnic identities are seen making someprogress; in others (Malaya, Brunei), due to either the minuscule minusculeLowercase letters in calligraphy, in contrast to majuscule, or uppercase letters. Unlike majuscules, minuscules are not fully contained between two real or hypothetical lines; their stems can go above or below the line. numbers of their participants or the State's powerful cultural bulldozing, indigenous cultures seem doomed to disappear. This volume will be an indispensable reference to all scholarsinterested in the hot question of the conflictual relations betweencenters and peripheries and in the contemporary processes of ethnicchange in Southeast Asia.