Lun Bawang
Lun Bawang girls in traditional costumes.
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (c. 38,100) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Indonesia
|
25,000 (1987 census) |
 Malaysia
|
12,800 (1982 SIL) |
 Brunei
|
1,500 (2013 RTB) |
| Languages | |
| Lun Bawang; dialects include Trusan, Lun Daye, Papadi, Lun Dayah, Adang, Tabun, Treng, Kolur, Padas, Trusan and Lepu Potong | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (predominantly), Islam, Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kelabit, Lengilu, Putoh, Sa'ban & Tring | |
The Lun Bawang (formerly known as Murut or Southern Murut) is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the highlands of North Kalimantan (Krayan, Malinau, Mentarang and Long Bawan), Brunei (Temburong District), southwest of Sabah (Interior Division) and northern region of Sarawak (Limbang Division). In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the Lun Bawang (through the term Murut) are officially recognised by the Constitution as native of Sarawak and are categorised under the Orang Ulu people; whilst in the neighbouring state of Sabah and Krayan highland in Kalimantan, they are sometimes named Lundayeh or Lun Daye. In Brunei, they are also identified by law as one of the 7 natives (indigenous people) of Brunei, through the term Murut. Nevertheless, in Sabah, Kalimantan and Brunei, the term Lun Bawang is gaining popularity as a unifying term for this ethnic across all region. There are also other alternative names such as Lun Lod, Lun Baa' and Lun Tana Luun.
Lun Bawang people are traditionally agriculturalists and practise animal husbandry such as rearing poultry, pigs and buffaloes. Lun Bawangs are also known to be hunters and fisherman.
The word Lun Bawang means people of the country, whilst Lun Dayeh means upriver people or people of the interior or Orang Ulu and Lun Lod means people living downriver or near the sea. Other names are derived from geographical reference to their rice cultivation, for example Lun Baa' (swamps) who lives near swampy areas and grow wet rice, and Lun Tana' Luun (on the land) who cultivates dry rice.
While insisting that they never called themselves Murut, the Lun Bawangs were formerly identified as Murut by the British colonists and by outsiders (other ethnic group). In Lun Bawang language, the word Murut either means 'to massage' or 'to give dowry', and these meanings have little or no relation at all to the identity of the people. The name Murut might have been derived from the word "Murud", a mountain located near an old Lun Bawang settlement, hence might have just meant 'mountain men' or 'hill people' but was instead used by the colonist to identify this ethnic.
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Wikipedia