Sihan

The Sihan are an indigenous group of people from the island of Borneo . They are counted among the Dayak peoples and live in the interior of the state of Sarawak, which belongs to Malaysia .

In 1978 the entire Sihan ethnic group numbered only 120 people who lived in a single longhouse on the Ameng River . The Sihan grow rice and other plants, and they learned the techniques for doing this in the late 19th century. Before that, they lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers . Although now sedentary, this way of life continued to occupy an important place in her life at least until the 1990s, and possibly even until today. The products obtained in this way were not only used for self-sufficiency, but were resold in nearby cities.

In Malaysia, according to Article 161A of the Malaysian Constitution, the Sihan are one of a total of 21 ethnic groups who are considered natives of Sarawak and can therefore benefit from the advantages of the legal Bumiputra status according to the current legal definition .

literature

• Kedit, Peter M. (1992): Bornean Jungle Foragers: The Sihan of Sarawak. In: Sarawak Museum IPPA Bulletin 12 , pp. 44–47.