Dayak People

Total population : 6 million (est. 2009)

Regions with significant populations

Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunai

Religion

Predominantly Catholic (81%)

Protestant (3%)

Orthodox (1%)

Lutheran (0,5%)

Kaharingan-Hinduism (7%)

Islam (2%)

Atheist (0,5%)

Related ethnic groups

Ahe, Banjar, Barito, Benuaq, Berawan, Bidayuh, Bukitan, Dumpas, Dusun, Iban, Iban Mualang, Iban Embayoh, Ida’an, illanun, Kadazan, Kayan, Kedayan, Kelabit, Kendayan, kenyah, Kejaman, Kwi Jau, Lun Bawang,Lun Dayeh, Lotud, Maloh, Mangka’ak, Maragang, Minokok,Murut, Ngaju, Penan, Puan Ba, Rajang, Rumanau, Tanjung, Tidong, Ukit, etc.

the Dayak or Dyak (Pronounced Dai.ek) are a people indigenous to Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelingethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory,and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak language are categorised as part of theAustronesian language in Asia. The Dayak were Animist in believe, however many converted to Christianity, andsome to Islam more recently.

Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million

AGRICULTURAL

Traditionally, Dayak agriculture was based onSwidden rice cultivation.agricultural land in this sense was used and defined primarily in terms of hill rice farming, ladang (Garden), and Hutan (Forest). Dayaks organised their laour in terms of traditionally base land holdinggroups whichdetermined who owned rihgts to land and how it was to be used. The “Green Revolution” in the 1950s, spurred on the planting of new varieties of wetland rice amongst Dayak tribes.

The main dependence onsubsistence and mid-scale agriculutre by the Dayak has made this group active in this industry. The modern day rise in large scale monocropplantations such as Palm Oil and Bananas, proposed for vast swathes of Dayak land held under Customary rihgts, titles and claims in Indonesia,threaten the local political landscape in various regions in Borneo.

Further problems continue to arise in part due to the shaping of the modern Malaysian and Indonesian Nation-states onpost-colonial political systems and law on land tenure.the conflict between the state and tha dayaknatives on land laws and native customery rights will continue as long as the colonial model onland tenure is used against local customery law. The main precept of land use, in local customery law, is that cultivated land is owned and held in right bby thenative owners, and the concept of land ownership flows out of this central belief. Thisunderstanding of adat is based on the idea that land is usedand held under native domain. Invariably, when colonial rule was first felt in the Kalimantan Kingdoms, conflict over the subjungation of territory erupted several times between the dayaks and the respective authorities.