Akar Nusa
A Batek family moves through the lowland forest of Pahang. They know which trees fruit in which month. They know how rain on a certain hillside will change the river. This knowledge has been handed down for a very long time. It is not "simple". It is a deep skill that outsiders have often failed to see.
The story
The Semang, also called Negrito, are the smallest of the three Orang Asli groups, and live mostly in the north of the Peninsula. COAC lists peoples such as the Jahai, Batek, Kensiu and Lanoh. The word "Negrito" was given by outsiders and its meaning is not a kind one. Some scholars prefer "Semang", and so do we, along with each people's own name.
What does DNA say about their past? A 2006 study of mother-line DNA in 260 Orang Asli found that the Semang have a deep ancestry within the Malay Peninsula, going back to the first settlement from Africa more than 50,000 years ago. A 2017 study found that Negrito groups of the Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia and the Andaman Islands descend from what the authors call the First Sundaland People, who were present at least 40,000 years ago, and that Negritos diverged from West Eurasians at least 38,000 years ago. A 2015 study found a link between the Andamanese and Malaysian Negritos that may point to an ancient connection.
The picture has grown more detailed. A 2022 whole-genome study found that present-day Malaysian Negritos can be modelled as a mix of ancient Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers. So the Semang are very old, and they are also part of the long mixing of the region. Being very old does not mean being unchanged. Every people changes.
One more caution. Researchers have also found that the Semang are not all the same. Jahai, Batek, Kensiu and Lanoh have different languages and histories. The Y-chromosome (father-line) tests in one study showed that two Semang peoples, the Lanoh and Kensiu, are closely related paternally. That does not mean they are the same people.
Where you can still see it today
- In the forests of the north. Communities live mostly in the north of the Peninsula. Please visit only through community programmes or with permission.
- In the languages. Northern Aslian languages are spoken by the Jahai, Batek and others.
- In the knowledge of the forest. Medicines, foods, tools and ways of moving through the forest are living knowledge. It belongs to the communities.
- In community voices. COAC publishes reports and statements that include Orang Asli voices.
What DNA can tell, and what it cannot
Studies suggest that some mother lines and father lines found among the Semang are very old branches of the tree in this region. A region estimate may show links to the Andaman Islands, the Philippines and mainland Southeast Asia.
DNA cannot say that a person is Semang. That is a matter of family, language and community. It also cannot decide race, religion or bumiputera status. And the deep age of a line does not make a people "ancient" in the sense of being stuck in the past. Semang peoples live in today's world and deserve today's respect.
