Bisaya (Borneo)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the ethnic group from the Philippines, see Visayans.

Bisaya People
Orang Bisaya
Sabah Bisaya traditional costume
Total population
c. 140,000
Regions with significant populations
 Brunei: 45,000[1]
 
Standard Malay, English
Religion
Majority Islam (Sabah and Brunei) and significant minorities of Christianity and Animism (Sarawak)
Related ethnic groups
Lotud, Dusuns, Murut, Lun Bawang/Lundayeh, Kadazan-Dusun, Dayaks, Other Indigenous peoples of Brunei

The Bisaya are a group of indigenous people from the northwest coast of

Muslim, while those living in Sarawak are mostly Christians. In Brunei, they are referred to as Dusun, Jati Dusun, and Bisaya.[5]

Origin and etymology

Several theories have been put forward by various researchers regarding the origins of the name of the Bisaya people. H. Otley Beyer in 1926, Hester E.D. in 1954, and Harrison in 1956 suggested that the name may have come from the Sumatran empire of Srivijaya (Sonza, 1972). However, in 1960, Eugene Vestraelen (professor of linguistics at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines) cautioned that the linguistic derivation of Vijaya would not be Bisaya but Bidaya, or Biraya.[6]

Another theory was suggested by John Carroll:[7]

According to John Carroll (1961:499–541), the term Visaya might be the Sanskrit Vaisya, denoting the 3rd caste of the Hindu caste system. The Philippines Bisaya were first referred to by the general term Pintados ("the painted ones") by the Spanish, in reference to the prominent practice of full-body tattooing (batok). The word Bisaya, on the other hand, was first documented in Spanish sources in reference to the non-Ati inhabitants of the island of Panay.

— John Carroll, The word Bisaya in the Philippines and Borneo, Sarawak Museum Journal, 1960

Culture and practices

Agriculture and hunting

Restored traditional Bisaya house in the Heritage Village of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

The Bisaya people are skilled in agriculture, particularly in the areas of

sea
.

Language

Main articles:
Sabah Bisaya language and Brunei Bisaya language

The Bisaya language of Sabah shares 90% intelligibility with Tatana, a Dusun dialect. It also has 58% lexical similarity to Sarawak dialects of Bisaya and 57%–59% with the Brunei dialect.[8]

Music

Traditional Bisaya musical instruments include the kulintang as well as various gongs.

Weapons

Bisayas weapons include the

keris
.

Beliefs

The majority of Bisaya in Sabah are Muslims, while those in Sarawak are mostly Christians.[9]

Festivals

Babulang

The annual Babulang festival includes music, dance, the wearing of traditional costumes, and water buffalo races.

Notable people

  • Matbali Musah – member of parliament for Sipitang since 2022 and former member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Lumadan, from 2018 to 2020
  • Lajim Ukin – former Malaysian federal deputy minister; former Sabah state cabinet minister
  • Ruslan Muharam – member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Lumadan since 2020
  • Kamarlin Ombi – former Sabah state assistant minister and former member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Lumadan, from 2008 to 2018
  • Siti Aminah Aching – member of parliament for Beaufort since 2022
  • Azizah Mohd Dun – former member of parliament for Beaufort twice, from 2004 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2022

See also

  • endonym

References

  1. ^ "Tutong, Bisayan in Brunei". Joshua Project. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. ISBN 1-55671-159-X
    .
  3. ^ Project, Joshua. "Bisaya, Sabah Bisaya in Malaysia". Joshua Project. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Bisaya, Sabah Bisaya in United States". Joshua Project. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. ISBN 978-1-57607-770-2
    .
  6. JSTOR 29791163
    .
  7. JSTOR 42720174
    .
  8. ^ Ethnologue (ed.). "Bisaya, Sabah". Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ISSN 2574-027X
    .

Further reading
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