Ethnic Self-Labelling of the Murut or Lun Bawang of Sarawak

Abstract

Some groups of peoples in have been given names by outsiders, but these groups normally do not identify themselves with these names (Babcock 1974). The earliest and most glaring examples are terms Sea Dayak and Land Dayak for groups of peoples we know today as Iban and Bidayuh, respectively. The to give another example, did not traditionally use label Melanau to refer to themselves; more traditional term of reference was A Liko, of often followed by name of they resided along (Morris 1953, p. 6). Similarly, term was a mistake for Pa Labid, from pa, for and Labid, name of river, and hence, the people of Labid river (Harrisson 1959a, p. 58). Like term Melanau, term Kelabit stuck. Perhaps most confusing of ethnic labels scattered throughout literature on Borneo is term Murut. The label is externally applied as a term of reference to two completely dissimilar sets of peoples in Borneo. In Sabah, it is used to refer to such groups as Timungon, Nabay, Baukan, Paluan, Sumambuq, and Alumbis (Prentice 1972), and in people who call themselves Lun Bawang or sometimes Lun Dayeh are often labelled Muruts (Pollard 1933, 1935; Southwell 1949; Crain 1974, 1978; Deegan 1973). Indeed, term is sometimes extended to include Kelabit, with whom Lun Bawang or Lun Dayeh have affinities (LeBar 1972). Culturally and linguistically, however, Sabah Murut and Sarawak Murut are completely different from each other