Semaq Beri people

Semaq Beri people
Semaq Bri / Semoq Beri
Total population
2,400[1] (2014)
Regions with significant populations
 Malaysia (Pahang and Terengganu)
Languages
Semaq Beri language, Malay language
Religion
Animism (predominantly), Islam, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Semelai people, Mah Meri people, Temoq people

Semaq Beri or Semoq Beri people are the native Orang Asli people belonging to the Senoi branch,[2] who live in the states of Pahang and Terengganu in peninsular Malaysia. The Semaq Beri language is a language spoken by the people, is an Austroasiatic language that belongs to the Southern grouping of the branch of Aslian languages.[3]

Population

The dynamics of the Semaq Beri population are as the following:

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1960[4] 1,230—    
1965[4] 1,418+15.3%
1969[4] 1,406−0.8%
1974[4] 1,699+20.8%
YearPop.±%
1980[4] 1,746+2.8%
1993[5] 2,488+42.5%
1996[4] 2,488+0.0%
2000[6] 2,348−5.6%
YearPop.±%
2003[6] 3,545+51.0%
2004[7] 3,345−5.6%
2010[8] 3,413+2.0%
2014[1] 2,400−29.7%

Religion

The religious system of the Semaq Beri people is similar to other surrounding Orang Asli groups. They believe that human acts such as teasing or laughing at animals such as monkeys, dogs, cats, land leeches, porcupines, two kinds or birds and three kinds of snakes, and including incest that extends to certain relatives are strictly prohibited and are also considered as talon. By committing talan, the Semoq Beri believe that it will cause a cosmic disaster where the earth will be swallowed by massive waters crashing from heaven and welling up from under the ground.[9] Lately, there are numbers of Semaq Beri communities that have been Islamised through various programmes by government efforts.[10]

Lifestyle

There are those among the Semaq Beri people that are nomadic practices hunter-gathering for a living,[11] while there are those that are semi-nomadic practices some farming with shifting cultivation,[12] and those that are settled primarily relies on farming.[9] Generally women would do much of the gathering while the men would do the hunting, unless women that are not pregnant or nursing a child would also participate in the hunting. While generally mothers spend more time with their children, there is almost no distinguishing in the role of fathers and mothers in society when it comes to holding and caring for the child.[13] Apart from hunting and gathering, the Semaq Beri people also relies on logging roads for access to sell rattan.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Paul Sidwell & Mathias Jenny (2014). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages (2 vols). BRILL. p. 475. ISBN 978-90-042-8357-2.
  2. ^ Kyōto Daigaku. Tōnan Ajia Kenkyū Sentā (2001). Tuck-Po Lye (ed.). Orang asli of Peninsular Malaysia: a comprehensive and annotated bibliography. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. p. 220. ISBN 49-016-6800-5.
  3. ^ Tom Güldemann; Patrick McConvell; Richard A. Rhodes, eds. (2001). The Language of Hunter-Gatherers. Cambridge University Press. p. 191. ISBN 11-070-0368-7.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Nobuta Toshihiro (2009). "Living On The Periphery: Development and Islamization Among Orang Asli in Malaysia" (PDF). Center for Orang Asli Concerns. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  5. ^ Colin Nicholas (2000). The Orang Asli and the Contest for Resources. Indigenous Politics, Development and Identity in Peninsular Malaysia (PDF). Center for Orang Asli Concerns & International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. p. 38. ISBN 87-90730-15-1. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  6. ^ a b "Basic Data / Statistics". Center for Orang Asli Concerns. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  7. ^ Alberto Gomes (2004). Modernity and Malaysia: Settling the Menraq Forest Nomads. Routledge. ISBN 11-341-0076-0.
  8. ^ Kirk Endicott (2015). Malaysia's Original People: Past, Present and Future of the Orang Asli. NUS Press. ISBN 978-99-716-9861-4.
  9. ^ a b Malaya. Museums Department, Malaysia. Jabatan Muzium (1971). Federation Museums Journal, Volumes 16-23. Museums Department, States of Malaya. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Kumpulan anak Orang Asli jayakan dakwah melalui teater". Utusan. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  11. ^ "Hunter gathers of Maylay". The New York Times. January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  12. ^ A. Zainal; S.M. Radzi; R. Hashim; C.T. Chik; R. Abu (2012). Current Issues in Hospitality and Tourism: Research and Innovations. CRC Press. p. 391. ISBN 978-04-156-2133-5.
  13. ^ "Primitive communism: life before class and oppression". Socialist Worker. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  14. ^ Tomoya Akimichi, ed. (1996). "Coastal foragers in transition". Senri Ethnological Studies. National Museum of Ethnology: 149. ISSN 0387-6004.