Orang Kuala


The Duano' people, also called Desin Dolak or Desin Duano' are an indigenous people of Malaysia and Indonesia and can be found in islands along the northeastern region of Sumatra, Indonesia where most Duano' people have traditionally lived. They are one of the Proto-Malay group of cultures. Due to their nomadic boat lifestyle, based almost exclusively on fishing and collecting shellfish and crustaceans by using mud-boards, Duano' people are often categorized as Orang Laut, a group that includes the Urak Lawoi people and Moken people of the northern region of the Malacca Strait and the Andaman Sea. Although there are similarities in their way of life, they are a separate ethnic group. Citing their own language, culture, identity, and economic complexities, they deny being Orang Laut.
Their population is difficult to estimate and their geographical location and concentration is not easily defined. Despite living in a rather developed region and easily coming into contact with outsiders, the Duano' remain little known to the outside world. Their settlements are scattered along the coast of the Strait of Malacca, where individual settlements form local groups that are loosely interconnected.
The Orang Kuala numbered about 2,000 people in 2000. They speak a Para-Malay language called Duano', which is currently endangered.

Etymology

Of all the local subgroups of Duano people, the most studied are found on the west coast of the Malaysian state of Johor, where they receive government services such as healthcare, police, education and infrastructure. In Malaysia, they are called Orang Kuala and are officially recognized as Orang Asli population, the general name for indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia. In Indonesia, the Duano' people are called Desin Dolak, and are not included in the official statistics. The name Desin Dola' is only a translation into the Duano' language of the Malay term for Orang Laut, where desin means "people" and dolak means "sea".
Early sources of history and ethnography in the region referred to certain local groups of Duano' as Orang Laut Bugis, Orang Lahut and Sendaur. This is likely the cause of confusion regarding the correct name of the group.
They refer to themselves as Desin Duano', or simply Duano'. In Malaysia, as noted by Sharifudin Mohamed Yusuf, only the older generation remembers Duano' as the true name of their tribe, since it has been almost completely replaced by the official name, Orang Kuala.

Settlement area

The Duano' people live on both sides of the Straits of Malacca, but the group on the Malaysian side is much smaller.
Within Indonesia, the Duano' people settle the east coast of Sumatra and nearby islands, along a strip of coast between Bengkalis Island and the mouth of the Kampar River in the west, and the delta of the Batang Hari River in the east, including the western part of the Riau Archipelago, within the provinces of Riau, the Riau Islands and Jambi.
Duano' villages in Indonesia are located on Bengkalis Island, Kundur Island, Burung Island, Bangkong Island, Punai Island, Mendulang Island, as well as Tanjung Datu, Pasang Api, Istira, Batang Tuato, Djamih, Perigi Radja, Concong Luar, including estuaries located in Batang Hari River, Kateman River, Kampar River, Tungkal River, Retih River and Indragiri River. In Indonesia, most Duano' people live in the Indragiri Hilir Regency in eastern Riau Province.
Generally speaking, when determining the area of resettlement for the Duano' people, it is necessary to take into consideration their lifestyle. They are always on the move, and villages are seen as providing only temporary shelter. The Duano' people could easily leave their village and if necessary, settle in a new place.
In West Peninsular Malaysia, Duano' villages are located on the southwest coast, mainly in estuaries in Batu Pahat District and Pontian District in the state of Johor. They are located in towns like Lenga, Semerah, Minyak Beku, Senggarang, Rengit, Kuala Benut, Pontian Besar and Sungai Layau.
Today, the Duano' people no longer form a single ethnic settlement, instead, there are only isolated villages, often among the settlements of other ethnicities, mainly the ethnic Malays and Chinese.
The east coast of Sumatra is almost entirely covered by mangrove forests and swamps, making it almost inaccessible. Inland areas can only be reached by river transport. Similar natural conditions exist on the west coast of Johor, on the other side of the Strait of Malacca. Until recent development, the mangrove forests and swamps between the Kluang District and Kulai District were inaccessible, except via river mouths as wide as 20 km. These rivers flow into the shallow straits, and the Duano' settlements are found directly adjacent to the river mouths. Just inland are Malay villages, often with the same placenames. In these villages, there are Chinese stores where local fishermen can come to sell their products and buy necessities that are not available locally.
In the last 20 years of the 20th century, roads linking the cities of Johor Bahru and Malacca were laid through the Batu Pahat District. These roads ended the isolation of the coastal region, and now the Duano' villages can be found further inland on Peninsular Malaysia.

Population

In Malaysia government authorities track and provide services to the indigenous peoples of the Peninsular Malaysia, so there are good statistics regarding the population of Orang Asli, and in particular, the Orang Kuala.
According to official data the population of Duano' people in Malaysia has been as follows:
Year1960196519691974198019932000200320042010
Population9361,2591,4801,6121,6252,4923,2214,0664,0663,761

As for statistics on the Duano' in Indonesia, there are only estimates. For example, according to Ethnologue's data, there are 15,000 Duano' people in Indonesia and 19,000 globally.
Data from the 2017 Joshua Project estimates that there are 18,000 in Indonesia and 4,800 in Malaysia, for a total of 22,800 people.

Language

The Duano' language belongs to the Malayan languages group, along with Indonesian language, Standard Malay language, Minangkabau language and many others. Along with other 35 languages,
it is credited with Malay.
So far the Duano' language has not been thoroughly studied by any linguists. At different times, separate lists of words were identified, which are attributed with the Duano' language. In the early 2000s, Mohd Sharifudin Yusop for the first time in his field research conducted in the territory of the Malaysian state of Johor, composed the list of Duano' words presented in phonetic form. Using these records, the reader will be able to correctly pronounce the Duano' words, even if one has never spoken to the native speakers. The results were published in 2013.
An analysis of existing word lists suggests that the Duano' language is close to the Malay language. The discrepancies between them consist mainly of minor phonetic differences. However, the Duano' language contains a whole group of words denoting action, body parts and various natural objects; for which it is difficult to determine their origin. Because of this, as well as the presence of a number of pronouns, questioning words, prefixes and adverbs, which are quite different from the Malay language, that it is incomprehensible to the Malay people. In general, it can be said that, although the Duano' language is different from Malay language, there are every reason to consider it as one of the Malay dialects, which is slightly different from the Standard Malay language compared to, for instance, the Minangkabau language.
In the Indonesian territory, the Duano' language continues to be actively used. Another is the situation in Malaysia, where it is vigorously supplanted by Standard Malay language, while most of the older generation are still able to converse in their native language. In Malaysia, the Duano' language is threatened with decay.
In addition to their native language, most of the Duano' people are able to speak the Malay language.
Duano' people does not have a proper written language. The level of literacy among the Malaysian Duano' people in the Malay language is about 50%.
Its place in the classification of the Austronesian languages remains unclear to this day.

History

The history of the Duano' people, as well as the history of other stateless people, who lived in harmony with nature and led an appropriate way of life, is virtually unknown. There are no records about them in the historical sources of their neighboring peoples, and the oral tradition of the people is very poor.
The records of J.G. Schot mentions the historical tradition of the Orang Laut Bugis people, one of the Duano' local groups living in the Indragiri Hilir Regency in the east of the Indonesian province of Riau. They considered themselves descendants of the Bugis people, who, after participating in the wars in Johor against Raja Kecil in the early 18th century, found shelter in the river mouth of the Indragiri River. Subsequently, a disaster destroyed their villages and caused many deaths; they vowed to no longer live in huts on the land and since then chose to remain in their boats. In this legend there are two themes, firstly the destruction of the original village, a very common folktale among the sea nomads of the region, and secondly the theme of Bugis domination. Of course, there is no reason to associate the Orang Laut Bugis people with the true Bugis people. Dictionary of the Orang Laut Bugis language, compiled by Shelter, fully corresponds to the Duano' language and therefore, has little in common with the Bugis language of the island of Sulawesi. On the other hand, the Bugis people in the 18th century had actively pursued commercial activities in the Riau Archipelago. They might well have close business relationships with certain groups of the Duano' people. The Bugis people during this period also occupied leading positions in a number of Malay sultanates, including in Johor. It is not surprising, then, that the Duano' people, to whom their Malay neighbors were contemptuous, sought an alliance, whether true or apparently, with representatives of this prestigious group of people. Unlike the Malay people, the Bugis people have always been kind to the indigenous population, as they were interested in the local's services as experts of the coast of the region.
In the 19th century, the Duano' people began to accept Islam. After which they had already appeared on the territory of modern Malaysia. Malaysian Orang Kuala people are believed to be descended from the Bengkalis Island.