Ethnic Labels and Identity among Kadazans in Penampang, Sabah (Malaysian Borneo)

Abstract

This thesis explores what it means to be Kadazan today by studying the interplay between the Kadazans’ ethnic fluidity and their formal ethnic labels. The Kadazans, who come from Sabah, Malaysia, on the northern end of Borneo, are typically classified as non-Muslim indigenes. They are among Sabah’s most culturally mixed groups and their use of a plethora of ethnic labels testifies to this. Yet, the Kadazans’ lack of a definitive label has been criticised as endangering identity (Reid, 1997). To understand how ethnic labels and identity work among Kadazans, I explore their relationships with Malay, Dusun and Chinese groups as well as with Kadazandusun, their current official ethnic group. The thesis shows that Kadazans have a range of possible forms of identification open to them. For some the label ‘Sino-Kadazan’ is important in that it establishes a mixed Kadazan-Chinese identity that they find attractive. Others assert the importance of the ‘Kadazandusun’ label, especially in the public/political sphere. Some prefer the ‘Dusun’ or even ‘Malay’ labels. Following Chua (2007), I argue that Kadazans are constantly faced with the choice of fixing their identities in line with certain labels or criteria, or of keeping their identity fluid. I also show that these choices are always made in the context of the constraints imposed by both increasing Malayanisation and the rigid ethnic identification rules of the Malaysian state. The case of the Kadazans illustrates clearly that a distinction always needs to be made between formal ethnic structures and the often more flexible forms of identification found on the ground. Show more