BACKGROUD OF BIDAYUH

Like Iban, Bidayuh is also classified as the Dayak people. They are the second largest ethnic group in The Land of Hornbill after Iban. The word Bidayuh originated  from the Dayak Language which means ‘inhabitants of land’. Originally, Bidayuh came from West Borneo which include places such as Kuching, Serian and Bau. In the present, they usually live in areas around Greater Kuching such as Padawan, Bau, Lundu, Serian and Siburan.In Bidayuh language ” Bi ” means people and ” Dayuh ” means land Hence , “Bidayuh ” means the people of lands ”. Most of them came from Sungkung , Bugau and other parts along Kailmantan Barat , Indonesia about twenty generations before Karakatao eruption on 27-8-1883 . This indicated that the Bidayuh community had settled down in Sarawak sometimes in 1380s already.

Initially , they settled around Kuching area.however in later years ,when they were attacked by stronger tribes ,they moved to the hilly areas in Kuching and Samarhan divisions till today. Their population distribution was limited to Kuching and Samarhan divisions , but today the Bidayuh can be found throughout the length and breadth of Sarawak. Some of them still live in longhouses because most of them are still paddy farmers and cocoa planters. Most of them involve themselves in oil palm plantations . However, due to work in the town areas , the Bidayuh populations in the major towns of Sarawak are increasing. Many of them stay in the towns where they purchase houses and some even built their own residential houses in their own land for settlement . Most of them are Christians and few of them are Muslim.

The Bidayuh are divided into four main different ethnic dialect groups:

i) Bukar/Sadong dialect (Serian district)

ii) Biatah dialect ( Kuching district )

iii) Singai /Lagoi  dialect ( Bau district)

iv) Selakau and Lara dialects ( Lundu district )