Akar Nusa
At a village market in Mukah, a woman holds up a round, pale biscuit. It is tebaloi, made from sago and coconut. She says the sago came from a palm that grew by the river, which is how her grandmother's family lived.
The story
The Melanau call themselves A-Likou, which means river people. They live mainly along the coast of central Sarawak. In the 2020 census, 135,681 Melanau were counted. They have several groups, each with its own dialect, including the Matu-Daro (the largest), Mukah, Dalat, Igan, Bintulu and Miri. Their language belongs to the North Bornean branch of the Malayo-Polynesian family.
Wikipedia calls the Melanau one of Sarawak's earliest settlers. It mentions Chinese records of a polity at the mouth of the Rejang river in the 7th century, and says the Melanau were later under Majapahit and Brunei in turn. They were never politically united under one ruler. We cannot be sure the Chinese record refers to the Melanau, and scholars may argue about it.
Traditionally they fished and farmed rice and sago. Many once lived in tall stilt houses, though most now live in kampung-style homes. Their calendar year begins in March with the Kaul festival.
Sago is the classic Melanau food. Sago starch becomes linut, a sticky food eaten with fish or sambal, and tebaloi, a crisp biscuit of sago and coconut. Umai is a salad of raw fish. These dishes are still common on the Sarawak coast.
Religion among the Melanau today is varied. Most are Muslim, with significant Christian communities and some who keep older beliefs. They were animists before. In the past some Melanau erected burial poles and hanging coffins, called kelideng, jerunei or lejeng.
A 2022 review lists the Melanau as farmers and fishers of coastal central Sarawak. It says Sarawak natives are thought to have come from the neighbouring islands of Southeast Asia, without singling out any one people.
Where you can still see it today
- Kaul festival, which opens the Melanau year, in the Mukah area.
- Sago foods in coastal markets: linut and tebaloi.
- Umai, the raw fish salad, in Mukah and other towns.
What DNA can tell, and what it cannot
We found no Melanau mother-line or father-line study we could open, so we cannot claim a specific line. The broad picture is that Sarawak natives are thought to share roots with island Southeast Asia. A Malaysian we have tested may see a region estimate pointing to coastal Borneo and the islands, and that is a broad reading.
Because Melanau communities are Muslim, Christian and others, and live in several groups, DNA cannot define who is Melanau. DNA does not decide which people you belong to, your religion or any legal status. Family, community and law do.
