Semang

For the "Sakai people" (Orang Sakai) of the Indonesian Minangkabau people branch, see Sakai people.

Semang

A group of Semang men in Gerik, Perak, Malaysia, 1906.
Total population
(c. 4596)
Regions with significant populations
Malaysia	4296
Thailand	300
Languages
Batek, Lanoh, Jahai, Mendriq, Mintil, Kensiu, Kintaq, Ten'edn, Malay
Religion
Animism and significant adherents of Islam, Christianity or Buddhism.
Related ethnic groups
Australoids (especially Negritos), Orang Asli

The Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. They are found in Perak, Kedah and Pahang of Malaysia. During the colonial British administration, Orang Asli living in the northern Malay Peninsula were classified as Sakai. Lowland Semang tribes are also known as Sakai, although this term is considered to be derogatory by the Semang people. They have been recorded to have lived here since before the 3rd century. They are ethnologically described as nomadic hunter-gatherers. See also Bajaus and Aetas.

Semang Ethnic Groups

Orang Asli ethnic groups that are classified as "Semang" by the Malaysian government.

• Batek people
• Lanoh people
• Jahai people
• Mani people
• Kensiu people
• Kintaq people
• Mendriq people

Culture

A Malaysian Semang man.

The Semangs live in caves or leaf-shelters that form between branches. A loincloth for the men, made of tree bark hammered out with a wooden mallet from the bark of the terap, a species of wild bread-fruit tree, and a short skirt of the same for the women, is the only dress worn; some go naked.

Scarification is practised. The finely serrated edge of a sugarcane leaf is drawn across the skin, then charcoal powder rubbed into the cut.

They have bamboo musical instruments, a kind of jaw harp, and a nose flute. On festive occasions, there is song and dance, both sexes decorating themselves with leaves.

The Semang bury their dead simply, and place food and drink in the grave.

They have used Capnomancy (divination by smoke) to determine whether a camp is safe for the night.

In 1906 the Thai King Chulalongkorn adopted a Semang orphan boy named Khanung.

See also

• Orang Asli
• Negrito
• Aeta peoples
• Andamanese people
• Australian Aborigines
• Papuan peoples
• Melanesians

Further reading

• Bernatzik, H. A., & Ivanoff, J. (2005). Moken and Semang: 1936-2004, persistence and change. Bangkok: White Lotus. ISBN 974-480-082-8
• Gomes, A. G. (1982). Ecological adaptation and population change: Semang foragers and Temuan horticulturists in West Malaysia. Honolulu, Hawaii (1777 East-West Rd., Honolulu 96848): East-West Environment and Policy Institute.
• Human Relations Area Files, inc. (1976). Semang. [Ann Arbor, Mich: University Microfilms.
• Mirante, Edith (2014) "The Wind in the Bamboo: Journeys in Search of Asia's 'Negrito' Indigenous Peoples" Bangkok, Orchid Press.
• Rambo, A. T. (1985). Primitive polluters: Semang impact on the Malaysian tropical rain forest ecosystem. Ann Arbor, Mich: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan. ISBN 0-915703-04-1

External links

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