The Batek of Malaysia
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The Batek of Malaysia
The Batek are a native people who live in the rainforest of peninsular Malaysia. The Batek are also one of the oldest tribes that belong to the Orang Asli group located in Malaysia (Jon, 2010). The name Batek means “original people” and they are assumed to be first Austronesian-speaking settlers who arrived by boat from the islands of Southeast Asia (Jon, 2010). They now inhabit the Taman Negara National Park as a result of intrusion from different societies (Po-Tuck, 2005). They are nomadic hunters and gatherers in the forager society. The Batek have their own language, culture, traditions and, to a certain extent, architecture. In this research paper you will see how this culture comes together with their political organization, the roles of their gender and relations as well as their economic organization.
Foragers are known to have an egalitarian type government and gather and hunt their food versus farming. Besides meat, their diet consists of eating tubers, plants, nuts, berries and other fruits. The Batek are also considered nomadic hunters because they also have herds that they attend to. Being a nomadic hunter and gatherer means that their exact location of where they settle is due to changes in the area they inhabit. The women and men have different but equal roles when it comes to gathering and hunting in the foraging society. Both the men and women can do one anothers activities if chosen to do so (Endicott, 1981). Having an egalitarian government means that decisions are made through consensus or within the family. In a forager society a single family is called a nuclear family. A nuclear family consists of a mother, father and their children. Multifamily groupings of nuclear families and/or extended families are called bands. These bands consist of 25 to 50 people depending upon how the environment is. The Batek are mobile and travel in independent bands that come together and break up and rejoin with other bands. They have a unilateral descent so they can be traced through either the paternal or maternal line of their family. By doing so it makes the Batek to have a family member in every band. In order to have a family member in each band a marriage has to happen. In the Batek society, marriage is done solely upon finding a wife freely versus being chosen for him in other societies (Nowak, 2010, Marriage, para. 3). Also marriages amongst first cousins or other relatives are allowed. This helps with keeping everyone knitted together as far as family wise and resource wise.
As far as their political organization goes, it is not difficult for the Batek people at all. The Batek of Malaysia people normally live in domestic groups and live in tents made up of approximately two to fifteen families each. When it comes to land, although they are surrounded by land that they inhabit, the Batek do not see it as private ownership. They view themselves as caretakers of the land that surround them and it is believed that they do so simply because that is what foragers do. Foragers do not deplete land but simply use it enough and leave it alone so that it can “re-cooperate” once it is visited again. Certain people in the Batek feel a special connection or tie to a certain place because it is where they were born or raised. Even with this special bond they still do not consider it their own private property (Endicott, 1991). The Batek do consider some things to be personal property. A mans personal property would include his blowpipe, clothes, musical instruments or even a cigarette lighter. A womans personal property would include a digging stick, decorated combs and gathering supplies. Although these are considered personal property to them, the objects are still normally taken or borrowed without the objects owner knowing which can lead to conflicts.
When it comes to conflicts, the Batek of Malaysia people lead a peaceful life. Since there is not an internal leader as in other tribes everyone is looked upon as equal individuals. The Batek pride themselves as being a whole versus taking advantage of each other especially in the time of need. In a group or a gathering such as the Batek, there is no concept of someone being superior to others. There is no position for power for any one of band members. There however, are always ways of coordination and cooperation between the members of the groups for work purposes. At times there people in the group have more expertise on something they are doing and may come about as being the leader over it is still not seen by the Batek as having a leader. This is so because once the activity is over that expert individual falls instantly back into place. The Batek also do not have a certain formal way or procedure to resolve conflicts when they do arise. The individuals or groups that are having issue handle it with each other privately. If they cannot come to any resolutions privately then they voice their side and feelings to other members of the camp in hopes that suggestions will solve the conflict. At time there still is not a resolution and by being peaceful, one group involved in the conflict will simply move away until the conflict dies down and flared tempers are calm once again.
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs which is a government agency tries to work with the Batek. The Batek, however, do not consider leadership roles to be an important factor in their society. The agency appoints certain individuals to be liaisons or “headman” between the agency and the Batek of Malaysia. This fails majority of the time due to the agency always picking someone who has the same interest and goals as them therefore not having the Batek people in mind from the beginning. The Batek see this and stick to their grounds in certain situations. When the agency is really trying to push something on the Batek they will pick someone of the Batek group and influence them to feel the same as themselves (the agency) so that they may influence other Batek individuals to follow. Although this is done the Batek still do not see this person as a leader but just someone to share information with and get suggestions from.
As we move on to discuss the gender roles and relations of the Batek keep in mind that this society uses an egalitarian government. Therefore many things are equal and not kept from each gender. The men and women of the Batek society do not look upon themselves as one being superior over the just. Instead they come and work together helping each other out. This works out well for the people because although they do not look at one another with high superiority they are smart enough to know that men are better at hunting with blowpipes. This is so because they understand that a man has more strength at blowing a poison dart further than a female so they let