Batek of Malyasia - 1500 Words

The Batek of Malaysia The Batek of Malaysia The Batik is an indigenous tribes living in the rainforest of the peninsula of Malaysia. They live in camps composed of five to six nuclear families. They are mostly foragers although the occasionally practice horticulture. To survive the tribes relies on hunting, gathering and trading rattan or forest products. Malaysia is on the south Malay Peninsula and stretches from the Thai border down to the island of Singapore. The population of Malaysia is about twenty-three million. The main idea of the research is to provide a basic understanding of the Batek behavioral and cultural lifestyle. In this paper, you will see how this culture shares their kinship, the role of gender relation,†¦show more content†¦If someone in the group did not want to follow, the headman does not have the power to force anyone to follow his ideas, to move the camp, or were to hunt. The Batek people are a very simply people who rely on the forest to provide their needs to sustain life. These indigenous people have very little need for an economic system. They do not own anything nor do they want to. They will produce items from the forest know as rattan. These good often traded for other rattan that is not native to them. The Batek might do some light agriculture work, but mostly, they are foragers that live off the land and enjoy the peace that comes with common wealth. The Batek have â€Å"no concept of land ownership – the idea is absurd to them – and natural resources in the forest cannot be owned until someone harvests them† (Peaceful n.d). Without ownership and money, there is no greed or lust of what another person has. Simplicity is that of the Batik; they are peaceful, helpful and encouraging. They are able to form a band that is looking out for each other, they are economically peaceful, and believe in a higher power that gets them through life. Normally, the Batek people live in domestic groups of not less than three together forming a camp. These groups mainly reside in tents, each housing approximately ten per tent. The preferred