The indigenous peoples of Brunei are

Bruneian people The demographic features of Brunei include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Like neighbouring countries, Brunei is a Malay-dominate ...

who belong to the ethnic groups considered indigenous to the country. It is more commonly attributed to indigenous people of the

Malay race The concept of a Malay race was originally proposed by the German physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), and classified as a brown race. ''Malay'' is a loose term used in the late 19th century and early 20th century to describe the ...

belonging to the seven ethnic groups, namely:

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

, Tutong, Belait,

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 ...

, Murut,

Kedayan The Kedayan (also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or Kadyan) are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Federal Territory of Labuan, southwest of Sabah, and north of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. According to the Language and Literature Bureau of B ...

and

Bisaya Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

. The local term refers to citizens of indigenous descent, in particular the aforementioned seven ethnic groups. The term has also been sometimes used to refer to the indigenous peoples.

Definition

According to the Brunei Nationality Act, the indigenous people of Brunei are mainly classified into Malays and non-Malays. Indigenous Malays comprise the following ethnic groups: *

* Tutong * Belait *

* Murut *

Meanwhile the indigenous people other than the Malays are defined in the First Schedule of the Act to comprise the following ethnic groups: * Bukitans * Dayaks (sea) * Dayaks (land) * Kelabits * Kayans * Kenyahs (including Sabups and Sipengs) * Kajangs (including Sekapans, Kejamans, Lahanans, Punans, Tanjongs and Kanowits) * Lugats * Lisums *

Melanaus Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River people in Mukah dialect) is an ethnic group indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia. They are among the earliest settlers of Sarawak. They speak in the Melanau language, which is a part of the North Bornean branch ...

* Penans * Sians * Tagals * Tabuns * Ukits

Precedence

Being accorded the status of ('indigenous citizens') in Brunei carries with it certain benefits and opportunities which other non-indigenous citizens may not have access to. (translates as "Landless Indigenous Citizens' Scheme") is a

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

scheme which allows the people to acquire land and home in the allocated public housing estates. The

Royal Brunei Armed Forces The Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF); ms, Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei, (ABDB), is the collective term for the military forces of the sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. They consist of the Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF), the Royal Brunei ...

primarily employ the indigenous Malays. In the Brunei Constitution, the

government ministers A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

and deputy ministers must be of "the Malay race professing the Islamic Religion, save where His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan otherwise decides."

Concerns

The justification for these special privileges and affirmative action schemes is that the or the indigenous people face disadvantages due to the success of other groups in society, for example the Chinese. One case of such disadvantage can be seen in the demise of the construction industry in Brunei. The building sector is a major employer of Bumiputeras and forms the lifeblood of many Bumiputera families. According to

Minority Rights Group International Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is an international human rights organisation founded with the objective of working to secure rights for ethnic, national, religious, linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples around the world. Thei ...

, the non-Muslim indigenous people are continuously "banned" from conducting non-Islamic religious activities, and "pressured" and "incentivized" to convert to Islam. It also claimed that the government policy and legislation discourage indigenous cultures and languages. There is a lack of "opposition" to the concept in Brunei due to the country being an autocratic sultanate and the lack of political diversity.Economist Intelligence Unit (2008).''Country Profile/Report'', Malaysia, Brunei

Notes and references

{{reflist, 30em Society of Brunei

Definition

Precedence

Concerns

See also

Notes and references