Mualang (also Moealang or Dayak Mualang) are an indigenous people of

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak, Indonesia, Pontianak. The province has ...

from the Dayak group and a sub-ethnic of the

Iban people The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak peoples on the island of Borneo in South East Asia. Dayak is a title given by the westerners to the local people of Borneo island. It is believed that the term "Iban" was originally an exonym ...

. They speak the

Mualang language Mualang is an Ibanic Dayak language of Borneo. It is mostly spoken by the Dayak Mualang in parts of the Sekadau Regency and Sintang Regency Sintang Regency is a regency of West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 21,638.2 km ...

and they are mostly concentrated in areas in the

Sekadau Regency Sekadau Regency is a regency of West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It was created in 2003 from part of Sanggau Regency. It covers an area of 5,444.2 km2, and had a population of 181,634 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 201 ...

and

Sintang Regency Sintang Regency is a regency of West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 21,638.2 km2, and had a population of 364,759 at the 2010 Census, 395,890 at the 2015 Census and 421,306 at the 2020 Census. It is one among few Indonesian ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The specific districts where the Mualang people live include: # Belitang Hilir district, Sekadau # Belitang district, Sekadau # Belitang Hulu district, Sekadau # Sepauk, Sintang and its surrounding region

Language

The Mualang language belongs to the

Ibanic languages The Ibanic languages are a branch of the Malayic languages indigenous to western Borneo. They are spoken by the Ibans and related groups in East Malaysia and the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. Other Dayak languages, called Land Dayak, ...

branch along with other Ibanic dialects such as Kantuk, Bugao, Desa, Seberuang, Ketungau and Sebaruk. These dialects mainly differ from one another in their pronunciations of specific phonemes. For example, words that end with "i" can be pronounced as "e" or "y" where "''kediri''" becomes "''kedire''", "''rari''" becomes "''rare''", "''

inai Inai is a village in Saran district of Bihar state, India. It has the Ghaghara River to its south, the Chhapra- Ballia railway line to its north, a small irrigation and flood canal to its west, and Chhapra municipality to its east. It gains s ...

''" becomes "''inay''", and "''pulai''" becomes "''pulay''". These words still carry the same meaning even though they are pronounced differently. These dialects also have some lexical variation between them.

Culture

Traditional Folk Song

* Meh Bujang * De Kutak Katik * Aboh Beramay

Traditional Dance

* ''Mualang Ngajad Kayau'', a warrior dance * ''Tari Pingan Mualang / Tari Pireng Mualang'', found in Belitang Ilek, Belitang Tengah and Belitang Hulu * ''Tari Pedang Mualang / Ngajat Bebunoh'', a war dance performed by men found throughout Belitang Ilek (Merbang and its surrounding) and Belitang Hulu (Sebetung and its surrounding) * ''Ajat Temuai Datai'', loosely translated as "Welcoming Guest" dance performed by couples and it is found in Belitang Ilek, Belitung Tengah, Belitung Hulu and its surrounding region

Handicraft

* Kumpang Ilong weaving in Belitang Hulu district

References

Ethnic groups in Indonesia Dayak people {{Asia-ethno-group-stub