Bisaya is an indigenous people from the northwest coast of

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. Near the coast of Sabah is a small archipelago called Labuan. East Malaysia li ...

on the island of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. Their population is concentrated around Beaufort,

Kuala Penyu Kuala Penyu Town ( ms, Pekan Kuala Penyu) is the capital of the Kuala Penyu District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 659 in 2010, with ethnic Dusun Tatana sub-group forming the largest s ...

Menumbok Menumbok is a sub-district in the west of the Malaysian state of Sabah which is also one of the three administrative parts of Kuala Penyu District. This town is also administered as a sub-district within the jurisdiction of the Kuala Penyu distr ...

Sipitang Sipitang ( ms, Pekan Sipitang) is the capital of the Sipitang District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 4,298 in 2010. It is the closest town in Sabah to the Sarawak border, and is 44 kil ...

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

Federal Territory and in

Limbang Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 56,900. ...

District,

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

. The Bisaya tribe has many similarities with the Dusun Tatana tribe, especially in terms of language. It is evident that some of their dialogical language conversations are almost identical if they have a dialogue with each other. Nowadays the Bisaya living in Sabah are Muslim, while the Bisaya living in Sarawak are mostly Christian. In Brunei, they are referred as ''Dusun'', ''Jati Dusun'' and ''Bisaya'' (one group with the Dusun people of Sabah, Dusunic people). The Bisaya is closely related, linguistically, with the Tatana Dusun of Kuala Penyu, Sabah.

Origin and etymology

Several theories have been put forward by various researchers regarding the origins of the name of the Bisaya people. Beyer H.O. in 1926, Hester E.D. in 1954 and Harrison in 1956 suggested that the name may have come from the empire of Sri Vijaya (Sonza, 1972). However, in 1960, Eugene Vestraelen (Professor of Linguistics at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City) cautioned that the linguistic derivation of ''Vijaya'' would not be ''Bisaya'' but ''Bidaya'', or ''Biraya''. Another theory was suggested by John Carroll:

History

The proto-Bisaya's indigenous people settled in Borneo thousands of years ago. They are skilled in agriculture, particularly in the areas such as

paddy planting Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced sh ...

, ginger,

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

, local ginger,

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America ...

, banana, yam,

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

, coconut. They also hunt animals and breed others, such as chicken,

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

, goat, buffalo, cows and many more. Bisaya people are skilled in catching fish either from the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

or at

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

, and they can hold their breath under water without

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

Language

Sabah Bisaya language has 90% intelligibility of Tatana, a

Dusun Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Dusun has been recognised as among the indigenous community of ...

dialect. Bisaya in Sabah also has 58% lexical similarity with dialects of Sarawak Bisaya and 57%–59% with Brunei dialect. Bornean Bisaya belong to the Dusunic group, linguistically.

Music, arts and crafts

The traditional musical instrument consists of Kulintangan, gong, and many of small gongs (cf. Asmahs claim that the Bisaya are supposed to be the best gong musicians). It is as if somebody just beats the gong and everyone-men, women, young and old just starts to dance. All these instruments are used in the wedding ceremony, celebrating very important people etc. Besides the musical items, the Bisayas are able to make good weapons for various purposes. There are andiban, sumpit, parang, keris and knife.

Culture and tradition

Belief and customs

The majority of the Bisaya in Sabah (Beaufort) are Muslims while the Bisaya in Sarawak (Limbang & Miri) are mostly Christians. Though they treasure their cultural traditions of medicine, marriages, death etc., they don't actually practice it, possibly due to the influence of the religions. Even though they would call the traditional medicine men or women known as ''Bobolian'' to perform rites in times of illness, most now go to modern medical clinics.

Folk dance

* Liliput dance (Sabah) * Jipin (Zapin) dance (Sabah) * Sayau Bagarus dance (grinding some sago trunk to produce sago flakes) (Sabah) * Mengalawat dance (performances as they stepping on the sago flakes to produce sago juices) (Sabah) * Mencayau dance (to celebrate victories after defeating the pirates) * Ugang Bamboo * Bubu mengalai (Sabah) or bubu dance using some spells such as: Ya Bamban Ya Lukah, Ya Bamban Eh Basari, Main Kita Si Ipar Muda, SiLukah Pandai Menari * Alai Anding

Folk songs

* Kulintangan Bisaya consist of 27 traditional songs and three berasik songs (spells for curing illness). * Badaup during paddy harvesting.

Folk games

* Tarik tali, tug of war * Gasing, spinning top * Kikit, kite playing * Lastik / Melastik, slingshot * Crossbow * Andiban or spear * Berambit / Bahambit, arm wrestling * Martial arts or silat Bisaya with bamboo music

Traditional attire

White shirt,

Songket ''Songket'' is a '' Tenun'' fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. It is hand-woven in ...

, Tarbus, smoking pipe,

Keris The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its dist ...

, bracelet

Traditional desserts

* Ambuyat * Kelopis * Bahulu * Ketupat * Kuih Cincin * Tapai Manis * Kuih Sapit * Kuih Jala * Kuih Penyaram * Kuih Lamban * Kuih Gelang

Festivals

Rumbia

The leaves (roun rombia)

The Rumbia's leaves can be woven into a product called Kajang. This product is used for roofing and walling material when building a house or farm hut. Young girls are trained by the older women. The woven Rumbia's leaves need to be dried under the sun. These leaves last for two to three years.

The branch

In the past, the branches of the Rumbia tree were used as walls for a house or hut. The branch can be used to build chicken coops and fences, and the dried branches can be used as a torch. The skin of the branch can be woven into basket, mat, and others.

The trunk

The upper portion of the Rumbia is an edible vegetable that can be eaten raw. This serves as the main vegetable during wedding receptions among the Bisaya community. Then, sago is extracted from the Rumbia's trunk. The skin of the Rumbia tree can be used a firewood, floor for hut, or walls. The trunk can be used as a bridge and can also be made into a boat. Water can be extracted from the roots.

Mibulang

One of their main festivals called

Babulang Babulang is the largest festival of the traditional Bisaya (Borneo), Bisaya community of Limbang, Sarawak. The festival showcases various music, songs, dances, colourful traditional costumes, decorations and handicrafts. The festival includes a R ...

or Mibulang such as buffalo racing is celebrated annually in Batu Danau, Sarawak near the Brunei border.

Notable people

Lajim Ukin Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Ukin (15 June 1955 – 29 August 2021) was a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Beaufort constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2013, the Deputy Minister of Transport from 2008 to 2009 ...

- The former Malaysian Minister * Ruslan Muharam - Member of the

Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Sta ...

for Lumadan