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Orang asli settlement in the Malaysian rainforest. (Photo by R. Butler)
ASIAN PEOPLES OF THE RAINFOREST
Asia is by far the most populous region on earth, and population pressures have pushed people into forested lands
where they interrupt the lives of the few remaining forest people. The original inhabitants of Southeast Asia were
dark-skinned, frizzy-haired, broad-nosed Australoids, some of whom moved into Australia. They were hunters, not
farmers, but nonetheless used a wide variety of plants for food, medicinal remedies, and other useful products.
These people since have been pushed into the extreme reaches of the rainforest by waves of immigration. Today the
original people of Asian rainforests are found only in remote parts of forests of the Malay peninsula, Borneo,
the Andaman islands, the Philippines (Palawan island), and New Guinea.
The Australoids were pushed farther into the forest by the arrival (about 7,000 years ago) of better farmers, the
Proto-Malays from India and Burma who had brown skin, wavy hair, and more Caucasoid facial features. These people were pioneers of the domestication of plants. From 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, the Deutero-Malays arrived
from southern China. They have Mongoloid features and today are the dominant people of Southeast Asia; almost none
are found in the rainforest.
Because of the tremendous population of Asia, very few rainforest peoples continue their fully traditional way
of life. Even so, those that do follow their forest beliefs have rich traditions. Like forest peoples of other
regions, many Asian forest dwellers believe in close spiritual ties between human and animals. In fact, many believe
that their souls interchange into the bodies of animals during sleep or at death. Shamans, the so-called "witch-doctors"
of tribal rainforest peoples, claim the ability to communicate with animal spirits through trances. Often shamans
claim to take the form of a tiger, much as the shamans of the New World often take the form of a jaguar.
As mentioned earlier, the forest peoples of Asia are few, existing in a few traditional enclaves, because of historic
migrations and encroachment on their lands due to overpopulation. Some of the few remaining groups are directly
threatened by the Indonesian transmigration program, which is working to move millions from crowded Java, Bali,
and Lombock to Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo [Borneo news], and Papua. The stated goal is to reduce population pressures from
highly populated central islands and to develop outer islands through road, communication, and city construction.
The people who suffer most from this program are the original inhabitants of these outer areas. The program has
resulted in great deforestation for fuelwood and building materials for colonists' needs. In addition, the program
has contributed to stirring up the anti-Indonesian feelings of those residents of the lands conquered by Indonesia
during its aggressive expansion campaign of the late 1960s. In East Timor, for example, tensions between the Indonesian
military and locals who desire independence led to violence and eventual UN intervention. Large-scale logging throughout
Indonesia, especially in Borneo and New Guinea [New Guinea news], has displaced thousands of tribal peoples.
Asia's biggest logging company accused of bribery, violence in Papua New Guinea
(02/08/2010) A local organization in Papua New Guinea, known as Asples Madang, is fighting against one of the region's biggest industrial loggers, Rimbunan Hijau (RH) chaired by billionare Tiong Hiew King. Aspeles Madang has accused Malaysian company, RH, of acquiring land illegally and of using brute force and bribery in its dealing with locals.
Environmentalists and indigenous groups decry approval of massive dam in Amazon
(02/02/2010) The approval of the hydro-electric Belo Monte Dam from the Brazilian environmental agency, IBAMA, has raised condemnations from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The dam will divert the flow of the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon River, which runs through the Amazon in northeast Brazil. According to critics the dam will destroy vast areas of pristine rainforest, disrupt sensitive ecosystems, and relocate 12,000 people.
Real-life Avatar: court blocks destruction of indigenous community in Borneo
(01/27/2010) A court in the Malaysian state of Sarawak has issued an injunction to block the continued destruction of the Iban village of Sungai Sekabai, reports the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), an indigenous rights groups. Last week Sarawak state police demolished 39 Iban homes in a dramatic escalation of land dispute between the community and a state-backed palm oil developer.
Photos: park in Ecuador likely contains world’s highest biodiversity, but threatened by oil
(01/19/2010) In the midst of a seesaw political battle to save Yasuni National Park from oil developers, scientists have announced that this park in Ecuador houses more species than anywhere else in South America—and maybe the world. "Yasuní is at the center of a small zone where South America's amphibians, birds, mammals, and vascular plants all reach maximum diversity," Dr. Clinton Jenkins of the University of Maryland said in a press release. "We dubbed this area the 'quadruple richness center.'"
