Keywords
: Iban, Indigenous knowledge, Sabah, modernisation, migration
I. Introduction
Indigenous
knowledge (IK) is defined as the local knowledge that is unique to a given
culture or society. It contrasts with the knowledge system generated by
universities, research institutions and private firms. It is the basis for
local-level decision making in agriculture, health care, food preparation,
education, natural-resource management, and a host of other activities in rural
communities (Warren, 1991). Indigenous knowledge encompasses the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings of these communities. In many
cases, traditional knowledge has been orally passed for
generations from person to person. Some forms of traditional knowledge are
expressed through stories,
legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and
even laws. The rapid change in the way of life
of local communities has largely accounted for the loss of IK. This paper
examines how “modernsiation” impacted the preservation and the
sustainability of indigenous knowledge of
the Iban community in the district of Tawau. The study was funded by Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak.
II. Indigenous
Knowledge and Development
The basic component of any country’s
knowledge system is its indigenous knowledge (World Bank, 1997). It encompasses
the skills, experiences and insights of people, applied to maintain or improve
their livelihood. Indigenous knowledge is developed and adapted continuously to
gradually changing environments and passed down from generation to generation. Knowledge is transmitted directly
from individual to individual. It closely interwovens with people’s cultural
values. Most
indigenous people have traditional songs, stories, legends, dreams, methods and
practices as means of transmitting specific human elements of traditional
knowledge. Sometimes it is preserved in artifacts handed from father to
son or mother to daughter.
Today, many indigenous
knowledge systems are at risk of becoming extinct because of rapidly changing
natural environments and fast pacing economic, political, and cultural changes
on a global scale. Practices vanish, as they become inappropriate for new
challenges or because they adapt too slowly. However, many practices disappear
only because of the intrusion of foreign technologies or development concepts
that promise short-term gains or solutions to problems without being capable of
sustaining them. The disappearance of indigenous knowledge impacted those who
have developed it and make a living through it. But the implication for others
can be detrimental as well, when skills, technologies, artifacts, problem
solving strategies and expertise are lost (World Bank, 1997).
One thing
for sure is that the development
process interacts with indigenous knowledge. Brokensha (1980 : 7-8), argues that
to ignore people’s knowledge is almost to ensure failure in development.
Schoenhoff (1993 : 11), also argues that IK is the key to local-level
development. However, the
development strategy either relies entirely or substantially on indigenous
knowledge, overrides indigenous knowledge or, incorporates indigenous
knowledge. Planners and implementers need to decide which path to follow.
Rational conclusions are based on determining whether indigenous knowledge
would contribute to solve existing problems and achieving the intended
objectives. In most cases, a careful amalgamation of indigenous and foreign
knowledge would be most promising, leaving the choice, the rate and the degree
of adoption and adaptation to the clients (World Bank, 1997).
III. Examples of
Indigenous Knowledge of the Iban community
Like other communities, the IK of the Iban community
is based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation. It
covers knowledge of the environment such as weather, resources and the
relationships between things. It is holistic because it cannot be separated
from the people who hold it. It is rooted in the spiritual health,
culture and language of the people. It sets out the rules governing the use of
resources. Indigenous knowledge is a way of life.
The Iban community has many types of indigenous
knowledge covering various aspects of their life. For example, in traditional
healing and medicine the community has a medicine personel called manang or shaman. He or she used to be very influential individual in the Iban community. Manang exorcises evil spirits, which are
supposed to be the cause of illness among the Ibans. They generally possesses
some knowledge of the medicinal effects
of certain roots, herbs and type of
plants can be used for curing certain sickness.
The community also has indigenous knowledge in
prepaing food, drinks and wild vegetables.
Cooking in bamboo (pansuh) is a form of indigenous knowledge that the
community learnt from their elders. Pansuh
chicken is a dish prepared by cooking chicken meat in a bamboo. Another type of indigenous knowledge
which is still very much practiced by the community is the preparation of alcoholic beverage called tuak which is made of rice. The beverage is a popular drink among
the Iban
festivals, weddings, hosting of guests and other special occasions. The
community also has good knowledge on the types of wild vegetables in the jungle
that can be eaten and also how to prepare those vegetables.
The
Iban community also has skills in weaving and very capable of producing
handicrafts. For example, an Iban girl is being taught by her mother and
grandmother to weave from a very early age. She is trained to weave a basket
and mats starting with simple patterns. She is taught how to select the raw
materials used and how to process them into quality materials they used for
their weaving work. It is the aim of every Iban woman to be known as a gifted
woman in the arts of weaving. Most families also keep their traditional pua kumbu. Pua kumbu is a traditional tribal textile woven in longhouses by
the Iban women.
Iban
tattooing is another form of indigenous knowledge. Iban tattoos are specific to
particular parts of the body. These designs denoted spiritual assistance,
protection, prestige, and tribal identity among other things.
In
the cultural aspect, the Iban also have many types of indigenous knowledge
related to dance and traditional music, oral tradition, costume and rituals. The
oral history of the Iban has traditionally been committed to
memory and some are recorded in a system of writing on boards called papan
turai. This includes elaborate genealogical records, which go back about fifteen
generations. Some of the songs of the Iban people's oral history (such as the
ritual pengap
chant, sung during festivals) are mythological or historical accounts.
In
the field of performing art, ngajat
dance is very popular. Ngajat dance is believed to have been performed by
warriors on their return from battles. This dance is now performed to celebrate
the most important harvest festival called ‘Gawai’, to welcome important guests
to the longhouses and so on. The male dancers wear large feathers as part of
their headgear, hold an ornate and long shield in their hand with chains, beads
and a loincloth. The female dancers have an elaborate headdress, chains, beads
and a ‘dress’ that reaches to below their knees with intricate weaving. Gongs
and other ethnic percussion instruments such as the ‘enkeromong’, ‘bendai’,
‘canang’ and ‘dumbak or ketebong’ provide the music. While performing ngajat
and attending other ritual ceremonies they wear their ceremonial costume. The knowledge
on how to make traditional costume such as baju
burung and kain kebat is a form
of indigenous knowledge that they have inherited from their ancestors.
The community also has many ritual practices
which are central to their indigenous knowledge. There are alot of ritual
ceremonies that a person need to undergo in his life. For example, the first ritual
ceremony for a child is done when giving name to a child and later followed by
giving him bath (meri mandi) to the
stream. More rituals will be conducted as a person grow older and they are mostly
related to health, prosperity, marriage and agricultural activities. When someone
dies a ritual called guiding the soul to
the new world is conducted by a professional wailer (tukang sabak). Formal mourning or ngulit is also held for the dead. The mourning period varies from a
few weeks to a few months. It depends on the age of the dead person and also
the region as it varies from one region to another.
The above forms of indigenous knowledge are
examples of the indigenous knowledge that the Iban community inherited from
their ancestors. As mentioned earlier, indigenous knowledge is a way life and
it encompasses various aspects of life of the Iban people. But one thing for
sure is that all those various forms of indigenous knowledge are withering. This paper examines the challenges faced by the Iban in Tawau who
migrated from Sarawak since the late 19th century to preserve and sustain their
indigenous knowledge.
IV. The future of
indigenous knowledge among the Iban in Tawau
The
Iban who migrated to Tawau district in Sabah settled in two areas namely
Merotai Besar and Kuala Nansang. Kampung Iban Merotai was established in the
1940s. There are 160 families at Merotai with a total population of 1100
people. The first group of Iban settlers came to Kuala Nansang in 1964. Kampung
Iban Nansang has 64 families and a total
population of 425 people (235 male and 190 female). Other than studying the
migration pattern and how the Iban in Tawau adapted to their new place this
study also examine their challenges in preserving and sustaining their
indigenous knowlege. Based on our observations, interviews and responses through
the questionnaires the Iban in Tawau attributed the erosion of their indigenous
knowledge to various factors.
Firstly,
the respondents attributed the erosion of their indigenous knowledge to modern
education where the younger generation are taught new and different knowledge
in school. Kids started to go school at
a very early age and most of the time they are in school. When they are back
from school they do not have enough time to acquire and practise indigenous
knowledge. Also, since there is no more
forest they may not have the opportunity to learn skills such as how to survive
in a forest like their parents did before. Besides, the new knowledge taught in
school may not necessarily related to their
indigenous knowledge at all. With that “new knowledge” taught in school they
will definitely move out from the village and work outside. Thus IK is getting
less and less relevant to them. Like in Sarawak, the only people left in the
village are the elderly and when they are gone all their indigenous knowledge
will go with them too.
Secondly,
the respondents in both villages also pointed out that the practicing of modern
religion as one of the factors that contributes to the withering of their indigenous
knowledge. The Iban in both areas are mostly Christians though there are some
who become Muslim through marriage. In the case of Kuala Nansgang
mixed-marriages is more common between the Iban and the Muslim community.
According to one respondent they had to discard the old practices because it is
against their new religion to do so. An elderly respondent said, “I was once a
bard (lemambang) but i simply could
not practice the profession anymore because it is not relevant today. But if
you ask me to “sing them” i still can remember the verses very well.” (Interview at Merotai, 4
September 2009). Similarly there are alot of rituals which are no longer
relevant today after they adopted the new religion. As a result all forms of oral
tradition such as jampi, chant related to those rituals are gone. Our observations in both villages
suggest that the Iban in both areas are quite comfortable with their modern
religion. When we interviewed the older generation they seem to be quite
nostalgic about the old beliefs and ritual practices and that they still
practice them until today. However, most of the younger generation see those
practices as not relevant anymore and to a certain extend they regard some
components of their indigenous knowledge as hinderances. When we asked them about certain rituals most
of them only have heard of those rituals and practices but no knowledge of it.
Thirdly,
as a result of modernisation new and more sophisticated farming techniques
being introduced. Thus they have to discard the old ways of farming. Iban
people at one time was purely an agrarian community. They practised shifting
cultivation intensively and extensively. In the past the traditional farming
involved alot of rituals. Other than conducting rituals, it was essential for
the traditional farmers to have good knowledge on astronomy and augury. For
example, before they started their farming activities a festival called Gawai Batu was held. This will be
followed by many other rituals until the padi is ripe and ready for harvesting.
Today such practices are not relevant. The people in the two villages do not grow
rice as their main activity but they plant oil palm. One respondent said that
he need not grow rice anymore in order to
survive. “I planted large area of my land with oil palm.The money that i earned
from planting oil palm will be used for buying rice.” (Interview at Kuala Nansang,
4 November 2009). In both villages the people are very active in planting oil
palm using modern farming techniques.
Fourthly,
the presence of modern facilities such clincs and hospitals had caused the
usage of traditional healing and traditional medicine to decline. The Iban used
to have good knowledge on the use of
certain plants for medicinal purposes. But in order to learn such knowledge and
skills one need to be familiar with the environment in the forest. As for the
two villgers they no longer surrounded by forest as large areas have been
cleared to give way for agricultural activities. As a result the younger
generation do not have the opportunity to learn the use of plants which are
available in the forest. As the old ones could not transfer their knowledge to
the younger generation thus it is just a matter of time before such indigenous
knowledge will disappear. Also, the presence of clinic and the use of modern
medicine making such knowledge getting
less and less relevant. One respondent said, “In the past when we got sick we
used to go to the forest to look for plants to cure any type of sickness and
this will be followed by some ritual activities. Today there is no need to do
that with clinic and hospital which are located not far from the villages.”
(Interview at Merotai, 8 February 2011). For example, at Merotai the clinic is
located in the middle of the village and if there are emergency cases the
patient will be sent to Tawau hospital
which is only 45 minutes away. When asked
as to how they can preserve the indigenous knowledge with regard to traditional
healing most of the respondents said that the “old way” is not relevant
anymore.
Fifthly,
there are not many resources avalibale in the forest for making handicrafts. As
discussed earlier forest has been cleared to give way for cash crop such as oil
palm. The lack of resources coupled with the declining interests among the
younger generation make it difficult for this type of indigenous knowledge to
be preserved and sustained. There are three reasons that can be attributed to
this. Firstly, as most of the younger generation need to go school they have
little time to learn those skills from their parents at home. Thus they do not
have the knowledge and skills to perpetuate this type of indigenous knowledge. Secondly,
as discussed earlier there are not many resources left for making handicrafts
as the forest has been cleared to give way for agricultural development.
Thirdly, today they can have and buy
what they need from the supermarket. For example, there is no need for them to
learn how to weave in order to make a basket since there are alot of plastic
baskets in the supermarket. The skills of producing handicrafts in the two
villages only left with the elder generation. An old lady from Merotai confided
to us that the younger generation are not interested in making handicrafts at
all. According to another respondent from Kuala Nansang, the sad thing is that even
if the younger generation are interested they could not find materials in the
forest anymore for producing those handicrafts. Unlike in the past i even could
not get big leaves from the forest to weave for making a hat (Interview at
Merotai, 2 December 2011).
VI. Discussion and conclusion
In the past one could not survive if she
or he lacked indigenous knowledge. For example, a person is required to have
certain skills while looking for food in the jungle otherwise his hunting trip
would fail. He or she must know what type of vegetables, mushrooms or fruits which
are edible. Before they could start their agricultural activities they must
observed certain rituals. As for the dead, they used their indigenous knowledge
to guide the soul of the dead to the new world. Obviously their indigenous
knowledge is indeed a way of life.
It is quite different today as people
adopt modern living and place their
indigenous knowledge at the back burner. The study in the two Iban villages in
Tawau shows that modernisation has superseded their indigenous knowledge. For
example, the younger generation are less interested in acquiring indigenous knowledge
as they are more interested in modern living. At the same time the elder
generation could not pass the knowledge to the younger generation because they
feel that with modern facilities available around them their IK is not relevant
anymore. Also, when the villagers adopted new religion such as Christianity
their indigenous knowledge is getting less relevant and ritual ceremonies which
contradict their religion will be discarded.
But
why indigenous knowledge should be preserved? As argued by Brokennsha,
indigenous knowledge is vital for the success of development projects. Meaning
if a the project is to offer sustainable solution to local problem then local
knowledge must be incorporated. Thus, there is a need for indigenous knowledge to
be preserved and integrated into the existing knowledge for the benefit of the
society. One thing for sure is that their indigenous knowledge which once
played a very important role in their life and to replace it with totally new
and modern knowledge will not benefit the people and not sustainable especially
among those who are still familiar with their own old way of doing things. For
that reason their IK must be embedded in the development projects.
The
experience of the Iban community is Sabah also suggest that their indigenous
knowledge tend to wither faster as they try to adpat to the new environment.
The fact is that they have the tendency to follow how other people do things.
They discard their “old way” which is
indeed their community’s indigenous knowledge. For example, by adopting modern
religion the community will detach themselves from numerous cultural and ritual practices. Also, as they
live in a “non-forest” environment and no longer pratcising traditional farming
all their indigenous knowledge related to forest and traditional farming will
eventually disappear.
Since
their indigenous knowledge is closely linked to their way of life therefore it
is likely that their identity might be affected. This is because to a greater certain
extend the indigenous knowledge of a particular community will diffrentiate that
community from others. Thus the identity of the Iban community in Tawau also partly
hinges on the preservation of their indigenous knowledge.
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