A Historical Analysis of Orang Asli History and Malayan Comparisons to Indigeneity Under Settler Colonial States

Abstract

Politically charged conversations around indigeneity in Malaysia have been occurring since before the end of colonization, but research about the meanings of these conversations is still lacking. Additionally, historical analysis of Orang Asli people is underdeveloped, often relegated to a precursor on larger pieces discussing Islamization or resource management. Although these are important topics, the implication that a people do not have an independent history has been used against Indigenous peoples to justify colonization or support the myth of terra nullius. My paper seeks to provide an analysis of the comparisons used by Malaysians to settler colonial states like Israel, New Zealand, and most thoroughly, the United States. I analyze comparisons made both by politicians and those chronicled by newspapers to challenge the usefulness of comparison in Malaysian history. My paper also deals with the meaning of slavery historically in Peninsular Malaysia as a means to understand Orang Asli history and their relations with Malay peoples.