Bluebird: Bidayuh Culture

Bidayuh is the collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, that are broadly similar in language and culture. The name "Bidayuh" means 'inhabitants of land'. Originally from the western part of Borneo, the collective name Land Dayak was first used during the period of Rajah James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak. They constitute one of the main indigenous groups in Sarawak and live in towns and villages around Kuching and Samarahan in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Related groups are also found in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. In Sarawak, most of Bidayuh population are found within 40 km of the geographical area known as Greater Kuching, within theKuching and Samarahan division. They are the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak after the Iban.

LOCATION

Predominantly Bidayuh areas are: Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, Siburan and Serian. Most of the Bidayuh villages can be found in the rural areas of Lundu, Bau, Padawan, Penrissen, and Serian district. The area in which they live is mainly in the basin of the Sarawak River and hilly to mountainous forest, traditionally worked by rotational agriculture and hunting based around farms populated from parent villages situated on the hills for protection. Today, almost all the traditional longhouse-villages have been replaced by individual houses, by roads and there is some plantation agriculture and a reduced emphasis on the growing of hill-padi. Fruit trees, especially Durian, remain important property markers. The distinctive architectural and cultural feature of the Bidayuh is the head-house, now adopted as a symbol.

LANGUAGE

In Sarawak there are generally said to be three main linguistic groupings (Biatah; Singai-Jagoi; Bukar-Sadong) but these can be broken down even beyond the list referenced below as most people can be distinguished by locals down to village level through smaller differences in vocabulary and intonation. Each area speak its own dialect:

Lundu speak Jagoi, Salako & Lara
Bratak, Singai, Krokong and Jagoi speak Singai-Jagoi
Penrissen speak Bisitang also people in Kampung Bunuk speak "Bunuk" (Segu-Benuk)
Siburan vicinity speak Biatah
Bidayuhs who live around Serian such as Tebakang, Mongkos, Tebedu to Tanjung Amo near the border of Kalimantan Indonesia speak Bukar-Sadong.
Bidayuhs in Padawan speak several but related dialects like Bi-anah, Pinyawa, Braang, Bia', Bisepug & Emperoh/Bipuruh.

The dialects are not mutually intelligible and English or Malay are often used as common languages.

LANGUAGES ISSUES

The Serian Bidayuhs have a distinct dialect known as the Bukar-Sadong Bidayuh, which is not intelligible to Bidayuhs from other Districts. Here are some examples of the differences in the various dialects spoken in Serian, with their English and Malay equivalents. Also included are two Philippine languages, Kapampangan and Tagalog:

English	Malay	Bukar-Sadong	Bau-Jagoi	Siburan-Padawan	Bra'ang-Pinyawa	Lundu (Salako)	Kapampangan	Tagalog
Father	Bapa	Amang	Sama	Sama	Sama'	Apak, Bapak,	Ibpâ, (Bapa - Uncle)	Amang, Ama
Mother	Ibu	Andĕ/ayang	Sino	Sendo	Sin(d)o	Inuk, Indok, Umak,	Indû	Inang, Ina
Food	makanan	pima-an	pinguman	pimaan	Pinguman	Pamakanan,	Pamangan	Pagkain
Rice	nasi	songkoi/sungkoi	tubi	tubi	Tubi	nasik	nasi	kanin
I	aku	aku	oku	Ěku	aku	aku	aku/I-aku	ako
You/thee	kamu/anda/engkau/kau	amu/akam	mu-u/ingan	ku-u/kaam	(K)u'u/ ka'am	kau,	ika (sing.)/ikayu (pl.)	ikaw

RELIGION AND RELIEFS

Bidayuhs are traditionally animist, and vestiges of these beliefs still remain. The British colonial times (known as the Brooke family era) saw the arrival of Christian missionaries, bringing education and modern medicine. The great majority of Bidayuh are now Christians, majority of them being Roman Catholic.

Most Bidayuh villages have either a Roman Catholic or Anglican church or a mosque but few villages are Muslims -- rarely more than one or the village would tend to split. The Biatah people, who live in the Kuching area, are Anglican, while the people of the Bau area are Catholic.

Now some renown church also being establish in some villages such as SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) also called as Borneo Evangelical Church, Baptist Church, Assemblies Of God church and other churches as SDA, Latter Rain.

The Bidayuh of Bau have a unique tradition of hanging the bodies of the dead on trees and leaving them to rot away. The skeletons are left on trees as a reminder of the dead. The tradition is rarely done nowadays.

PICTURE OF BIDAYUH CULTURE