The Batek of Malaysia
The Batek of Malaysia
Orang Asli (Original People)
The Batek people of Malaysia are a part of the last Orang Asli, Malay for original people, existing on peninsular Malaysia. They are peaceful people, with little to no conflict engagement. They are encountering encroachment from the outside world, through deforestation, but have not allowed that to change their ways of life…Yet. These people have lived, loved, foraged, transitioned, sustained, and withstood through generations, holding to their cultural ideals. The Batek are a nomadic people that rely on the earth to sustain them. Their culture is entirely egalitarian. Their leaders are not chosen, but ascend. They do not fight the environment, but bend to its whims. Gender, social and kinship equality are the threadwork of their culture. Many cultures view the sexes in many different ways. Gender roles, marriage roles, and societal roles between the sexes can be very different across cultures. Nowak & Laird (2010) outline a few cultures. American society purports to strive for equality for all people, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, or race. We do not always achieve this goal, and we can still see many inequalities in our society, particularly between men and women. Endicott (1984) stated the Batek have always enjoyed equality between the sexes. In fact they do not see much difference between the two genders, besides a few physiological differences. Men and women perform day to day activities side by side. Men do most of the hunting, but that is not because women are not allowed, or encouraged to hunt. The same holds true for foraging. The women do most of the gathering of tubers and other plant materials, but men are not restricted from this activity. Men and women engage in child-rearing and interaction equally. The Batek have very few distinctions between the sexes. One such distinction is in their creation story. It suggests that men and women are created
Orang Asli (Original People)
The Batek people of Malaysia are a part of the last Orang Asli, Malay for original people, existing on peninsular Malaysia. They are peaceful people, with little to no conflict engagement. They are encountering encroachment from the outside world, through deforestation, but have not allowed that to change their ways of life…Yet. These people have lived, loved, foraged, transitioned, sustained, and withstood through generations, holding to their cultural ideals. The Batek are a nomadic people that rely on the earth to sustain them. Their culture is entirely egalitarian. Their leaders are not chosen, but ascend. They do not fight the environment, but bend to its whims. Gender, social and kinship equality are the threadwork of their culture. Many cultures view the sexes in many different ways. Gender roles, marriage roles, and societal roles between the sexes can be very different across cultures. Nowak & Laird (2010) outline a few cultures. American society purports to strive for equality for all people, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, or race. We do not always achieve this goal, and we can still see many inequalities in our society, particularly between men and women. Endicott (1984) stated the Batek have always enjoyed equality between the sexes. In fact they do not see much difference between the two genders, besides a few physiological differences. Men and women perform day to day activities side by side. Men do most of the hunting, but that is not because women are not allowed, or encouraged to hunt. The same holds true for foraging. The women do most of the gathering of tubers and other plant materials, but men are not restricted from this activity. Men and women engage in child-rearing and interaction equally. The Batek have very few distinctions between the sexes. One such distinction is in their creation story. It suggests that men and women are created
References: Endicott, K. (1991). Property, Power and Conflict among the Batek of Malaysia. In T. Ingold, D. Riches, J. Woodburn, B. Bender, B. Morris, A. Barnard (Eds.) , Hunters and Gatherers, I: History, Evolution and Social Change; II: Property, Power and Ideology (p. 110). Oxford, England: Berg. Retrieved from: http://ww.peacefulsocieties.org/Archtext/Endic88.pdf Endicott, K. L (1984). The Batek De ' of Malaysia. Cultural Survival, Quartely 8(summer) Endicott, K.M & Endicott, K.L (2008). The headsman was a woman: The Gender Egalitarian Batek of Malaysia. Nowak, B., Laird, P. (2010). Cultural Anthropology. (Ashford University ed.) Retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUANT101.10.2