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Bidayuh
'Singai Bidayuhs'
Total population	158,700 (Sarawak only)
Regions with significant populations	Sarawak & West Kalimantan
Dialects	''Bukar-Sadong'', ''Singai-Jagoi'', ''Biatah(Siburan, Padawan & Bia')'', ''Bra'ang-Pinyawa'', ''Sepug-Emperoh'' & ''Gumbang''
Religion	Christianity & Animist
Related Ethnic Groups	Bekati', Binyadu, Jongkang, Ribun, Salako, Lara, Sanggau, Sara', Tringgus, Semandang & Ahé.

The 'Bidayuh' is a name of a tribe from Borneo island. They are a branch of the Borneo Dayak people. Bidayuhs originally hail from the western part of Borneo. They are formerly known as '''Land Dayaks''' by the British (the former colonist in Sarawak). They are one of the main indigenous ethnic groups in Sarawak and now are settled in areas of southwest Borneo which is modern Kuching and Samarahan in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Bidayuhs can also be found adjacent areas of west Kalimantan. In Sarawak, most of the Bidayuh population are found within 40 km of the geographical area known as Greater Kuching, within the Kuching and Samarahan division. Today more and more Bidayuh have migrated, and live in Kuching, which is the capital city of Sarawak. They are the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak after the Iban.

Contents

Location

Language

Language issues

Religion & Beliefs

Salako & Lara people issues

Musical Heritage

References

External links

Location

Predominantly Bidayuh areas are: Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, and Serian. Most of the Bidayuh villages can be found in the rural areas of Lundu, Bau, Padawan, Penrissen and Serian district. The area in which they live is mainly in the basin of the Sarawak River and hilly to mountainous forest, traditionally worked by shifting agriculture and hunting based around farms populated from parent villages situated on the hills for protection. Today, almost all the traditional longhouse-villages have been replaced by individual houses, by roads and there is some plantation agriculture and a reduced emphasis on the growing of hill-padi. Fruit trees, especially durian, remain important property markers. The distinctive architectural and cultural feature of the Bidayuh was the headhouse, now adapted as a symbol.

Language

In Sarawak there are generally said to be three main linguistic groupings (Biatah; Bau-Jagoi; Bukar-Sadong) but these can be broken down even beyond the list referenced below as most people can be distinguished by locals down to village level through smaller differences in vocabulary and intonation. Each area speak its own dialect:
# Lundu speak ''Salako & Lara''
# Bratak, Singai, Krokong and Jagoi speak ''Singai-Jagoi''
# Penrissen and the Siburan vicinity speak ''Biatah''
# Bidayuhs who live around Serian such as Tebekang, Mongkos, Tebedu to Tanjung Amo near the border of Kalimantan Indonesia speak ''Bukar-Sadong''.
# Bidayuhs in Padawan speak several but related dialects like ''Bi-anah, Pinyawa, Braang, Bia', Sepug & Emperoh.''
The dialects are not mutually intelligible and English or Malay tend to be used instead.

Language issues

The Serian Bidayuhs have a distinct dialect known as the ''Bukar-Sadong'' Bidayuh, which is not intelligible to Bidayuhs from other Districts. Here are some examples of the differences in the various dialects spoken in Serian, with their English and Malay equivalents:

'English'	'Malay'	'Bukar-Sadong'	'Bau-Jagoi'	'Siburan-Padawan'	'Bra'ang-Pinyawa'	'Lundu (Salako)'
Father	Bapa	Amang	Sama	Sama	Sama'	Apak
Mother	Ibu	Andĕ	Sino	Sinĕ	Sin(d)o	Inuk
Food	makanan	pima-an	pinguman	pimaan	Pinguman	Pamakanan
Rice	nasi	songkoi/sungkoi	tubi	tubi	Tubi	nasik
I	aku/saya	aku	oku	ku	Ěku	aku
You	engkau/awak	amu/akam	mu-u/ingan	ku-u/kaam	(K)u'u/ ka'am	kau

Religion & Beliefs

Bidayuhs are traditionally animist, and vestiges of these beliefs still remain. The British colonial times (known as the ''Brooke family'' era) saw the arrival of Christian missionaries, bringing education and modern medicine. The great majority of Bidayuh are now Christians, majority of them being Roman Catholic. However, since the establishment of Malaysia and the increasing political influence of the Malays, a small number of Bidayuh have converted to Islam.
Most Bidayuh villages have either a Roman Catholic or Anglican church or a mosque -- rarely more than one or the village would tend to split. The Biatah people, who live in the Kuching area, tend to be Anglican, while the people of the Bau area tend to be Catholic. Muslim can be found in areas like Padawan (''Kampung Bisira'' and ''Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing'') and Bau (''Kampung Segubang (50%)'') but Muslim Bidayuh villages are extremely rare.

Salako & Lara people issues

Although claasified as "Bidayuh" by the Malaysian government, the Salako and Lara people are actually of another but related tribe. Linguistically, the Salako belong to another language family tree which is of the Malayic-Dayak family (the same same family as the Iban). http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_family.asp?subid=516 Language Family Tree]. The Lara, although said to be more related to the Bidayuh (Jagoi-Singai), speak a language almost not mutually intelligible at all with the Bidayuh but belonged to the same language family tree which is the Land Dayak. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_family.asp?subid=516 Language Family Tree] Even their customary rituals and rites differ from the other Bidayuhs (all Bidayuhs share almost the same ritual and customary rites).

Musical Heritage

Main articles: Agung

The Bidayuh have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles - ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drone without any accompanying melodic instrument. Traditional Music of the Southern Philippines Matusky, Patricia. "An Introduction to the Major Instruments and Forms of Traditional Malay Music." Asian Music Vol 16. No. 2. (Spring-Summer 1985), pp. 121-182.

References

★ Bidayuh.info

★ Bidayuh.com

★ Bidayuh.net

★ Patrick Rigep Nuek (2002). The Dayak Bidayuh Community: Rituals, Ceremonies, and Festivals.

External links

★ Ethnologue language tree