Running head: THE BATEK

The Batek of Malaysia Paula Jordan ANT 101 Instructor Creasy August 22, 2011

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The Batek of Malaysia The Batek are a tribunal people who believe they are the protectors of the forest. They live off of the land, and have many ancestral beliefs about the trees and forest around them. The Batek are primarily foragers and live a nomadic lifestyle with cultural beliefs and practices; however this lifestyle is being threatened by modernization of the world around them. In some cases they are being forced to move while the forest around them is being destroyed by excessive logging. It seems the Batek people are losing what is most important to them, and are being forced to split from tradition. The Batek are members of an ancient race who live in the northern States of the Malay Peninsula (Faezah, 1995). Faezah also states out of 2,364 Negrito in Peninsular Malaysia, 822 are Batek. The language they speak, however, is fundamentally different from that of the Malay. The Batek speak many different dialects and are divided into groups, and they usually live in small groups because of their nomadic lifestyle (Faezah, 1995). Their groups are distinguished by the rivers rather than the land around them; however, they do not exclude other groups (Faezah, 1995). The Batek consider themselves to be Forest people or the people of the forest (TuckPo, 2005). They believe it is their true home, and their source of food and nourishment (Faezah, 1995). The Batek feel safe in the forest, even though it is full of dangers, because they have learned how to deal with the dangers of the forest. They have strong beliefs about the trees in the forest, and believe they are there to take care of this land. Without the survival of the trees and the forest the Batek will no longer be able to continue their nomadic lifestyle. Therefore, they take pride in caring for this land, and they have a strong attachment to the land (Tuck-Po, 2005).

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The Batek are primarily foragers and hunters. They enjoy blowpipe hunting, digging for wild tubers, and fishing (Tuck-Po, 2005). They also collect honey, fruit, leaves, shoots, and hunt small game such as monkeys as a means of sustenance and for trade (Hashin & Faulstich, 1985). The Batek know when and where to look for the foods they eat, such as when to harvest honey or where to find certain animals to hunt. Hunting and foraging is their main source of food, but they do trade for some items such as rice, tobacco, and sugar (Tuck-Po, 2005). The Batek will only gather what is needed to eat or to be used for trade. They do not try to store or harvest more than what is needed at the time (Faezah, 1995). Occasionally the Batek will grow crops, but it is not something they particularly like doing. They do not care for the monotony of farm work; therefore, when they do plant crops it is only fast growing crops (Tuck-Po, 2005). They prefer to do a variety of work throughout the day, such as foraging for fruit, fishing, and hunting. The Batek also do some other lesser work activities to bring in cash, such as guiding tourist for the day and laboring, but they mainly provide for themselves with what they have available to them in the forest (Tuck-Po, 2005). They seem to adapt easily to the environment around them, and change with the conditions around them. The Batek lead a nomadic lifestyle. They do not have a sense of land ownership; therefore, they have no issues with moving every 5 months (Beswick, 2010). The Batek believe it is their duty to care for the land and resources around them, and by moving often they they are allowing the land to replenish. They usually build their camps near streams or rivers because the best way to access this remote land is by water (Beswick, 2010). The rivers are also a source of nourishment for them.

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The Batek do not build permanent shelters because of the lifestyle they lead. Their huts are built on stilts to allow air flow underneath. They do not remove the underbrush when building their huts because it helps to keep the camps cooler (Faezah, 1995). If they destroy the underbrush it will bring more heat, and with heat comes disease. They are also doing less harm to the jungle if they leave the underbrush, and therefore protecting the land. Their camps are usually sheltered by the jungle, and they are inward facing (Hashin & Faulstich, 1985). They are built with what is available in the jungle, and it only takes them a day to build these huts. The Batek prefer variation in their work and do not like a very monotonous routine (Tuck-Po, 2005). During the day they will usually take on several different forms of gathering or hunting to avoid doing any one thing for too long. Being able to move quickly also allows for them to have variation, and it gives them safety against crippling failures in any single domain of work (Tuck-Po, 2005). Their dislike of monotonous work is the reason they do not plant many crops. They do not like the day in day out work of planting and harvesting crops. Balanced reciprocity is practiced among the Batek people. When a man comes home with a large kill he will share with his kin first. If there is excess after the kin get their share then they will share with the other tribe members (Tuck-Po, 2005). However, the wild tubers, fish, and other forest fruits are shared less. Gathered food is usually shared primarily with their kin group. Of course, if someone asks for something they will give it to them. The Batek believe it is better to give than to ask (Tuck-Po, 2005). The Batek have many strong beliefs about the trees and land around them. There is an origin myth with the belief that there was not enough food for all of the people on earth so half of the people became trees to provide sustenance for their friends (Tuck-Po, 2005). It is believed

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the hala, a superhuman being, made this all possible. The Batek believe if the people continue to harvest the plants and trees they are improving the vitality of the forest, therefore, they are also returning vitality to the people who became the trees (Tuck-Po, 2005). As long as this cycle continues the people and the plants will be linked forever. The result is a balanced relationship between man and nature (Faezah, 1995). The Batek also believe that is there are no people in the forest the world will collapse (Tuck-Po, 2005). They also believe if they are removed from the forest then hala will destroy the world (Faezah, 1995).