Sakai or Senoi is a tribal community in Malaysia and Indonesia, traditionally living in the interior of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra. Some of them still lead a nomadic and hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the remote interior of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, while most settled into major cities and towns in Sumatra with the rise of industrialization.
History The Senoi or Sakai are believed to have arrived on the Malaya Peninsula about 8000 to 6000 B.C during the Middle of the Holocene period, the population of the Malay Peninsula has undergone significant changes in its biological physiognomy, material culture, production skills and language. They were partly caused by the arrival of migrant farmers from the more northern parts of mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam). The arrival of migrants is associated with the emergence of fire-cutting agriculture on the Malay Peninsula and the emergence of rice. As a result of mixing new groups with local Negrito tribes, the ancestors of the Senoi, who lived in the northern and central parts of the peninsula. The introduction of agriculture has led to the semi-permanent residence of related groups, as well as the formation of more stable social structures in their environment. The refusal of constant movement prompted the formation of individual local communities and peoples.
The population of the peninsula is divided into two groups, each with its own stable socio-economic complex, namely Semang and Senoi people. The Semang people lived in dense rain forests located at altitudes below 300 meters above sea level, and were engaged in nomadic hunting and gathering. Senoi lived at higher altitudes and cultivated their agricultural land. Contacts between the two groups were minimal, the Senoi people only exchanged their agricultural produce for jungle gifts.
Migrants from the north brought not only agriculture but also Aslian languages, which are now spoken by both the Senoi and the Semang people.
Early Austronesian migrants arrived on the Malay Peninsula about 2,500 years ago. They were the ancestors of modern Proto-Malays (Jakun people, Temuan people) as well as Melayu Jatis (Kelantanese, Kedahans, Terengganuans, Pahangese etc.). The other Malays arrived later, probably about 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. The Orang Asli tribes were not isolated. Around 500 BC, small coastal settlements appeared on the Malay Peninsula, which became centers of trade and maintained contacts with China, India, Thailand, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Orang Asli became suppliers of jungle produce (aromatic wood, rubber, rhino horns and elephant tusks), as well as gold and tin ore, with the latter was especially sought out by Indian traders for the production of bronze. In exchange, the indigenous people of the Malay Peninsula received goods such as fabrics, iron tools, necklaces and food, including rice. Under the influence of external contacts there is another cultural tradition of the indigenous population, characteristic of modern Proto-Malays. There are reports that South Asian languages may be related to modern Mah Meri language or Semelai language, in the past were common in the interiors of Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Johor. Later they became part of the Jakun people and Temuan people. Thus, the southern groups of Senoi were directly involved in shaping the tradition of the indigenous Proto-Malays.
At the end of the 14th century. on the coast of the Malay Peninsula, the Malays established their trading settlements, the most famous of which was Melaka. At the beginning of the 15th century, the ruler of Malacca converted to Islam. The number of Malays was constantly increasing due to the influx of new migrants from Sumatra and other parts of modern-day Indonesia, as well as the assimilation of the Orang Asli. Malay migrants moved in slowly by rivers into the interior of the peninsula, and most Orang Asli retreated in parallel to the foothills and mountains. The Malay language and culture gradually spread. As the Malay population increased, the political and economic importance of the Orang Asli were diminished. Their numbers also declined, and now the indigenous population that remains are only the minorities that rejected assimilation.
The rise of the Malay states first turned the Senoi people into subordinates and after the establishment of Islam, they were regarded as despised pagans and kafirs. The lifestyle of the Orang Asli, their clothing traditions, as well as their physical characteristics among the Malays became the object of ridicule. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Orang Asli fell victim to slave raiders, mostly Malays from Sumatra. The indigenous people were not Muslims, so they were not banned from being enslaved by other Muslims. Typically, well-armed men attacked a village or camp at night, killing adult men and women and capturing children. Sometimes Malays provoked or forced Orang Asli leaders to abduct people from another group of Orang Asli, whom they handed over to the Malays; in an attempt to protect their own wives from captivity. Enthusiastic slaves formed the labor force both in the cities and in the households of the chiefs and sultans; while others were sold in slave markets to slave traders, who transported them to other lands, including Java. From that time comes the derogatory term "sakai" as used by the Malays for the Senoi people; which means "animal (rough or savages) aborigines" or "slaves". Following the British Slavery Abolition Act 1833, slavery was subsequently abolished throughout the British Empire and slave raiding was made illegal by the British colonial government in British Malaya in 1883, although there were records of slave raiding up to the 20th centuries in the 1920s.
The events of the past have sown a deep distrust of the Orang Asli people towards the Malay population. They tried to isolate themselves in remote areas. Only the abolition of slavery has led to the increase of contact with outsiders. The Malayan Emergency of the 1950s in British Malaya accelerated the penetration of the state into the interiors. In an attempt to deprive the Malayan Communist Party of support from the Orang Asli, the British carried out forced relocation of the indigenous people to special camps under the protection of the army and police. They were living in the camps for two years, after which they were allowed to return to the jungle. This event was a severe blow to them, as hundreds of people died in the camps from various diseases. Since then, the government has paid more attention to the Senoi and other indigenous peoples. Then the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the predecessor of the modern JAKOA was founded in 1954, which was authorized to lead the Orang Asli communities. In 1956, during the struggle against the Malayan Communist Party insurgents, the British colonial authorities created Senoi Praaq detachments (in Semai language, it roughly means "military people"), which served as military intelligence in addition to police functions. They consisted of Orang Asli and operated in the deep jungle. Senoi Praaq units proved to be very effective and their operations were extremely successful in suppressing the communist insurgents. They gained notoriety for their brutality, which surpassed any other unit of the security forces. Today, they are now part of the General Operations Force of the Royal Malaysia Police.
Since the 1980s, there has been an active invasion of Orang Asli areas by individuals, as well as corporations and state governments. Logging and the replacement of jungles for rubber and oil palm plantations have become widespread. These processes gained the greatest scale in the 1990s. These processes severely disrupted the lives of most of the Orang Asli tribes. Without the jungles, former hunter-gatherers no longer have the opportunity to gather wild fruits and hunt wild animals. They have to adapt to a new way of life associated with the monetary economy. The construction of highways and the development of the plantation economy cause the relocation of the indigenous population to cities and new villages, specially built for them by state governments.
The government's policy is to convert the indigenous people to Islam and to integrate them into the main population of the country as settled peasants. At the same time, the Orang Asli would prefer to modernise without becoming Malays, even when converting to Islam. After joining the mainstream society, Orang Asli occupy the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Even their status as the first indigenous people of the peninsula is now being challenged on the almost incomprehensible grounds that they were not carriers of "civilisation." The political state in Malaysia is largely organised around the idea of preserving the special ethnic status (Malay supremacy) of the Malays as the natives (bumiputera in Malay language, literally means "son of the soil") of the land to equal among the indigenous communities. Although the more dominant Malays, the Orang Asal of East Malaysia and the Orang Asli are considered as bumiputera, they do not enjoy the same equal ranking nor the same rights and privileges. In practice, this has profound implications for the rights of the Orang Asli to the land they have held for a millennium, and which are now largely threatened with transfer to other hands. Prolonged litigation related to these issues is conducted in several states of Peninsular Malaysia, and often ends in favour of the Orang Asli especially those that received public attention.
Status and Identity
The Malaysian government classifies the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia as Orang Asli (meaning "indigenous peoples" in Malay). There are 18 officially recognized tribes under the auspices of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli, JAKOA). They are divided into 3 ethnic groups namely, Semang (Negrito), Senoi and Proto-Malays, which consist of 6 tribes each. Such a division is conditional and is based primarily on the convenience of the state to perform administrative functions. The terms "Semang", "Senoi" and "Proto Malays" do not refer to specific ethnic groups or their ethnic identity. For the Orang Asli, they are of external origin. Each of the tribes is completely independent and does not associate itself with any wider ethnic category of the population.
The three ethnic group division of the Orang Asli was developed by British colonizers in the early twentieth century according to early European racial concepts. Due to the fact that the three ethnic groups differ in language, appearance (physical characteristics) and the nature of their traditional economy, Negritos (short, dark, curly) were considered the most primitive race, Senois (taller, with lighter skin, wavy black hair) as more advanced, and Aboriginal Malays (tall, fair-skinned, with straight hair) were perceived almost on an equal footing with Muslim Malays. Later, concepts that are deemed racist were rejected and the categories of Semang, Senoi and Proto-Malay (a Malay term that replaced "Aboriginal Malays") became markers of different models of cultural traditions and specific socio-economic complexes. The Senoi model, in particular, provides for the existence of autonomous communities, whose main means of subsistence are based on slash-and-burn agriculture, which on a small scale is supplemented with hunting, fishing, gathering, and the processing and sale of jungle produce. In this respect, they differ from the Semangs (hunter-gatherers) and the Proto-Malays (settled farmers).