2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Social Anthropological Study on the Ethnic Identity of the Borneo Dayak through Symbiotic Relation with the Malay

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22520820
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Cultural anthropology/Folklore
Research Institution	Mie University
Principal Investigator	ISHII Masao 三重大学, 人文学部, 教授 (20136576)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2012
Keywords	社会人類学 / 民族意識 / 都市化 / ダヤク / マレー / 社会変化 / 開発
Research Abstract	The focus of this study is to analyze the ethnic consciousness the mountain dwelling people called “Dayak” of Borneo, in the changing modern society. In Borneo the word “Dayak” was used from old days, contrasted to the “Malay” who live in the plain area subsisted on the wet rice cultivation. It was expected that the formation of modern nation states since the colonial era might weaken this sharp contrast between these two styles of livelihoodsthrough modernization and urbanization. But the intensive field study of revealed that the ethnicity of the Dayak people is strengthened in the urban area, and the activities of the various ethnic societies and the Christian churches influence the ethnic identity of the Dayak people in the urban settings of Borneo.