Sea Nomads and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers: Foraging Adaptations in the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago

Abstract

This chapter discusses the non-agricultural aspects of Austronesian history and ethnography, taking the basic view that the early Austronesian colonizations might have involved a range of both food producing and foraging economies and that sharp dichotomies between the two kinds of economy are unlikely to have existed. Modern Austronesian hunter-gatherers such as the Agta and Penan cannot be seen as fossilized foragers from the Pleistocene, but, like the Semang, as parties to a process of symbiosis with agriculturalists which has continued for several millennia. The idea of devolution from a prior dependence on agriculture amongst the Penan is critically assessed and rejected. Also discussed are the historical roles of the Sea Nomads Moken, Orang Laut and Sama-Bajau.