Ethnicity and Sub-Indigeneity in Borneo: Understanding the Upland and Lowland Brunei Dusun and Reflections on the Coastal Variation

Photo 1. Interview session with three upland Dusun of Merimbun village

Research background

　The Brunei Constitution of 1959 established the seven Puak Jati of Brunei where the Dusun is one of the officially recognized ‘indigenous peoples’. The other six groups are Tutong, Belait, Bisaya, Kedayan, Murut, and the Brunei Malay. The Brunei National Act of 1961 stipulated that these seven Puak Jati are also Melayu. The etymology of the Malay-derived term ‘Dusun’ has been attributed to British colonialists, but this was given by the coastal Malays which means orchard, garden, or farm owners. This research will deconstruct the Dusun ethnicity and make sense of their situational, multifaceted and inclusive ethnic formation.
　This research explores what makes the Dusun both an important ethnic group and an indigenous one in Brunei. I will investigate intriguing parts of the Dusun indigeneity such as ecological zones, genealogy and influential elders, ethnic relations and trade history and the contemporary forms of ethnic identification. Fundamentally, I will investigate a new theoretical framework I will be introducing called ‘sub-indigeneity’. My thesis statement is to essentially ask two important questions: How do the Dusun sub-groups in Brunei define themselves? Why is ‘sub-indigeneity’ important?

Research purpose

　I want to answer the question of who the Dusun of Brunei are, and what makes them indigenous whether it is ecology, language, kinship, religion, social organization, cultural production, or grassroots leadership. Ethnic formation and indigeneity have always been defined through the colonial imagination, and this research provides the chance to discuss how ethnic groups were first formed and up until how it continues to be formed today with the emergence of larger ethnic categories.
　What essentially occurs is a new phenomenon I call ‘sub-indigeneity’ which is complex sub-groupings of indigenous groups in Brunei, and I intend to prove that ‘sub-indigeneity’ fosters a new way of reimagining how ethnic and indigenous groups are formed in Borneo.

Photo 2. Final day with the team: Ethnography Section of the Brunei Museum

Results/Achievements

　I had several clear goals I wanted to accomplish throughout my fieldwork: collect data especially from the Dusun, expand my networks from the Dusun to the other Puak Jati and establish a professional relationship with the ethnography section. Most importantly, the data I collected via my interviews were sufficient to aid me to complete my pre-doctoral research.
　I especially focus on the Dusun from the upland ecological zones such as the village of Bukit and Merimbun. Both villages had different cultural stakes that they asserted. The Dusun from Bukit have claims of originating the Dusun language and the Dusun of Merimbun have claims being the first and final settlements. My previous Dusun research had focused on the lowland Dusun and this new set of data opens an avenue for understanding the upland and some reflections on the coastal. I continued to re-establish my links the lowland Dusun by spending time with the Dusun of Bukit Udal village who managed the alai gayo (modernized traditional Dusun house), and the tatuwo (elders) of Pakatan Sang Jati Dusun (Dusun Association). More time will be needed to further analyze the data, but I can infer that there are complex Dusun sub-groups in Brunei, and each define themselves through variations in either language, folklore, dialect, customary law and other ethnic markers. This is where ‘sub-indigeneity’ becomes important because each sub-group aim to prove their indigenousness. The Dusun wants “to be recognized as one of the national ethnic identities” and each sub-group promote their version of ‘Dusunness’. Sub-groups seek to be ‘integrated’ through events, activities, associations, and literature.
　My time on the field also gave me the opportunity to expand my networks from the Dusun to the other Puak Jati such as the Belait and Bisaya ethnic groups. Cultivating a professional relationship with the ethnography section became a key component as well because I was given access to resources such as transportation to rural areas, interview payments and their valuable archives. I would consider my first period of fieldwork to be a success and that I have accomplished all my intended goals.

Plans for further research

　From 20th of August 2024, I am holding the position of ‘Visiting Research Scholar’ at the Ethnography Section of the Brunei Museum. I will continue to hold this position while I am a postgraduate student at ASAFAS. Therefore, my collaboration with the section will continue beyond my first period of fieldwork. As of now, I continue to make use of their resources while in Japan. One of our collective objectives is to also co-author research papers. With the help of the section, I plan to do more extensive research into the politics, economy, folklore, kinship, environment, society, and culture of the Dusun and other Puak Jati in Brunei. I hope to do my second fieldwork in the summer of 2025 and in the subsequent years to come.