Dayak, the general term to describe the indigenous groups and non-Muslim bumiputras in Sarawak, will be out of official use soon.

On Monday, the 62-member Sarawak legislative assembly approved amendments to the Interpretation Ordinance by substituting the words 'Dayak (Sea)' and 'Dayak (Land)' with the words 'Iban' and 'Bidayuh' respectively.

Although the Iban community in general appear to support the move in changing the nomenclatures "to keep pace with development and changes of time", there are certain quarters who feel strongly that it would have been better to delete only the words 'Sea' and 'Land' and retain the word 'Dayak' because for a long time, Dayak has been used as a collective term to refer to Sarawak's non-Malay/Muslim indigenous groups such as the Iban, Bidayuh, Kelabit, Kayan, Kenyah, Penan, Bisaya and Muruts.

In many instances the Bidayuh, Sarawak's second largest non-Malay/Muslim indigenous group found mainly in Kuching, Serian, Bau and Lundu areas in southern Sarawak, refer to themselves as Dayak Bidayuh.

Similarly, in the case of the Iban, they sometimes called themselves Dayak Iban.

One example is the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) which is headed by Sidi Munan, an Iban politician and a member of Party Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) led by Leo Moggie, also an Iban.

Both Sidi and PBDS deputy president Daniel Tajem are all for the change, saying that to refer to Iban as Sea Dayaks are inappropriate because that would imply that Iban are earning their living from the seas which is not the case.

According to them, Ibans are traditionally hunters and padi planters.

Further fragmentation

However, one senior Dayak community leader who asked not to be identified felt that the move could be a political disadvantage if the various indigenous groups were no longer called Dayak, especially if this lead to further fragmentation of such groups leading to a dilution of their numerical strength.

Collectively, the Dayak form the largest single group after the Chinese, the second largest, and the Malay/Malay, the third largest. But with the change in the nomenclatures, they would politically be classified as separate groups as opposed to being called the Dayak.

Many Iban have, however, resented being called Dayak because when translated into a local equivalent by other communities it tends to be seen in derogatory terms. To them, the change is appropriate also as it reflects the Iban as a dialectical group, the largest, by itself among the rural communities.

Fragmentation is unlikely among the Iban are monolingual, although they are often in the past, and even today, distinguished by their geographical differences.

Unlike the Bidayuh, which is divided into several sub-groups with their own distinct separate dialects, and therefore, according to linguist experts, may face the danger of fragmentation because of this.

The Melanau, although most are Muslims, are different from the Malays who are Muslims because they speak a totally different language or dialect.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his estranged uncle, his predecessor as chief minister, and former Sarawak head of state Abdul Rahman Yakub are both Melanau, so is Sarawak's present head of state Muhammad Salahuddin.

The state and federal constitutions are also expected to be amended following the Sarawak state assembly's approval to amend the Interpretation Ordinance on deleting the words Dayak in favour of Iban and Bidayuh as well as adding the word Lun Bawang as a new race, after the Muruts.