Akar Nusa
A morning above Kuching. Mist clings to a hill, and a village sits on its ridge. In the middle stands a round building with a steep roof, the baruk. Its doors are open, and elders are meeting.
The story
Bidayuh is a shared name for several native groups of southern Sarawak and northern West Kalimantan. In Sarawak most Bidayuh live within about 40 kilometres of Greater Kuching. The name is said to mean "inhabitants of land". Under the Brooke rulers they were called Land Dayaks, a name still found in older books.
A 2025 figure lists about 287,500 Bidayuh in total, of whom 249,570 are in Malaysia. They are the second largest Dayak group in Sarawak, after the Iban.
The Bidayuh speak about 25 dialects, grouped into four clusters. The dialects are not always understood across villages, so Malay or English often serves as the common language. Two groups, the Salako and the Lara, are counted as Bidayuh by the government, but their language, descent stories and rituals differ from the others.
Traditionally the Bidayuh lived in hilltop villages and farmed in rotation, moving fields from year to year, with hunting alongside. Today most longhouses have given way to separate houses, and durian trees remain important to families.
The distinctive building is the baruk, a roundhouse for community gatherings and rituals. In the past it served as a headhouse. It is now a symbol of the Bidayuh. Older beliefs were animist. Most Bidayuh are now Christian, mostly Roman Catholic, with Anglican communities around Biatah and some Muslims.
On origins, a 2022 review says Sarawak natives are believed to have migrated from the neighbouring islands of Southeast Asia, and does not separate out the Bidayuh. That is as much as the review tells.
Where you can still see it today
- The baruk in Bidayuh villages near Kuching, which is a centre of village life.
- Gawai Dayak, the harvest festival, also called Gawai Padi.
- Gong ensembles and the pratuokng, a bamboo tube zither.
- The Nyigar dance, a Bidayuh dance.
- Dishes such as kasam dihan goreng, rotung and assam, listed by Wikipedia.
What DNA can tell, and what it cannot
We found no study of Bidayuh mother lines or father lines. The only DNA picture we can fairly give is a broad one: the native peoples of Sarawak are believed to share roots with island Southeast Asia, and Malaysians we have tested may see a region estimate pointing that way.
That estimate cannot tell you whether you are Bidayuh. Because the Bidayuh speak many dialects and include distinct groups such as the Salako and Lara, no single genetic signal could stand for all of them.
DNA does not decide which people you belong to, your religion or any legal status. Family, community and law do.
