Akar Nusa
A child carries a plate of cooked food from one shelter to the next in a forest camp. The neighbours already have enough. The plate goes anyway. That is how a Bateq child learns what a family is.
The story
The Bateq (also written Batek) are one of the forest peoples of the Peninsula. They are counted among the Orang Asli ("original people") in the Semang or Negrito group. COAC says a very small number of Negrito people, especially the Jahai and Batek, are still semi-nomadic and use seasonal forest resources. Encyclopedia.com places the Batek in north-east Pahang and south Kelantan, and many live in or near Taman Negara.
The community is small. COAC's tables count 1,519 Bateq in 2000 and 1,255 in 2003. A summary at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro gives about 1,500. Numbers differ by year and by who counts.
Scholars have long been interested in how the Bateq live together. The summary of Kirk Endicott's work says all food is shared, and the Bateq do not think land can be owned. Families send children with plates to other families, which teaches the habit. When people disagree, they talk it over in public. If that fails, one person often leaves the camp for a while until tempers cool. They avoid violence.
Wild tubers are a staple food, according to Encyclopedia.com. The same source says a small surplus goes to the close family, a larger one to nearby households, and a very large one to the whole camp.
Where you can still see it today
- Around Taman Negara. Some Bateq camps receive visitors. Choose operators run with the community, and ask first before taking photographs.
- In the language. Bateq belongs to the Aslian family, linked by COAC to peoples in Myanmar, Thailand and Indochina.
- In the forest itself. Rattan, resins and tubers are old knowledge, not souvenirs. Respect that the forest is home.
What DNA can tell, and what it cannot
Studies of mother lines in Orang Asli suggest the Semang carry some of the oldest lines in the Peninsula. Hill and others (2006) place these lines deep in the Peninsula, reaching back to the first settlement more than 50,000 years ago. A 2015 genome study found that Negrito groups, including Bateq, are closest to East Asians but clearly distinct, with an apparent link to the Andaman Islanders.
A mother line, father line or region estimate may touch this old layer for some Malaysians. It is a thread, not a membership card.
DNA cannot decide whether a person is Bateq. It also cannot decide race, religion or bumiputera status. Community belonging is held by the community and by law, not by a test.
