AMID calls to identify the Kadazan-Dusun ethnic group as “Momogun” in official government documents, Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan has proposed the name “Dayak” to unify the indigenous Bornean community.
The Sabah deputy chief minister I said the term “Dayak” was widely accepted in the neighbouring regions of Sarawak and Kalimantan, and used for centuries to describe the various indigenous peoples of Borneo island.
“I would prefer promoting Dayak as a Borneo identity. All are Dayak. There are Dusun Dayak, Murut Dayak. Sarawak is using the term, also the whole of Kalimantan, Indonesia uses it,” he said in Kota Kinabalu.
“Maybe we must go beyond just Momogun; only then the people can be seen as having a significant number.”
He urged the Kadazan-Dusun group to choose a name that embraces rather than competes with others.
Jeffrey’s remarks followed renewed calls from Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick to categorise the KadazanDusun, Murut and Rungus (KDMR) ethnic group as “Momogun” in official government documents. The group is currently classified as “Others.”
Jeffrey said “Dayak” would be “more appropriate” to describe the KDMR, adding the use of the term had existed since the 1600s and that the British had continued to use it to refer the ethnic groups of Sabah.
He said the KDMR people of Sabah share some of the cultures, traditions and languages of their counterparts in Sarawak and Kalimantan.
For instance, Jeffrey said he had discovered that a Christian prayer in central and north Kalimantan uses many Kadazan and Murut sounding words..
While he expects resistance to his Dayak suggestion, Jeffrey was optimistic that the Sabah KDMR groups would eventually embrace the broader identity defined by the name.
“Many tribes in Sarawak did not agree at the beginning but now they do because they know they will still be able to keep their identity. You don’t lose your Murut or Kadazan identities (by adopting the Dayak name), but for a common identity of Borneo, you should call yourself this,” he said.
Jeffrey said he had registered the Borneo Dayak Forum with the United Nations to give the group a voice in the international body and have Borneo recognised as a Dayak nation.
“With membership spanning across the island, we have already agreed to create a Dayak international justice system. Our objective one day is for all the native laws of Borneo to be a big network.
“As we are granted certain rights by the United Nations, we could perhaps issue passports so that the indigenous people of Borneo can travel freely within the provinces.
“From there, we can also hold events such as Borneo traditional games or a Borneo cultural festival,” he added. – April 30, 2024.
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