During this time we know Dayak with a common prototype following cawat, mandau, shirts of the tree, feather bird feather caps, etc. This prototype is still partial, because Dayak culture is broader than that. In this post, two Dayak tribes have different clothing from other Dayak tribes. The two tribes are from the Dayak Melanau of Sarawak and the Dayak Lotud from Sabah, both of them from East Malaysia. They are tribes who live on the banks of rivers and in coastal areas. Melanau tribe lives in areas such as Mukah, Igan, Dalat, oya, Rajang, Bintulu and Miri. The Lotud tribe also lives in the area of Tuaran and Tamparuli.
In terms of language, these two tribes come from the Northern Dayak language group called the language "North Bornean." Melan comes from the North Bornean sub-language called "Melanau-Kajang", while Lotud is a sub-language of North Bornean called "Dusunic." In terms of population, the Melanau number around 140,000 by 2016. The Lotud tribe is also about 20,000 by 2016 The Lotud tribe is part of the 600/700 thousand Dusunic people throughout Borneo.The Melanau-Kajang language is only found in Sarawak, the Dusunic languages are also in Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah.In terms of religion and belief, it is as follows:
Melan :
70% =Islam
20% =Christian
10% =folk religion, no religion, other religion.
Lotud :
=90% Christian
=10℅ Islam, folk religion, no religion, other religion.
From a cultural point of view, the Melanau-Kajang and the Dusunicans share the clothing equivalent of their men's clothing. Both of these people traditionally live in longhouses. The Lotuds live in a longhouse called "Lamin Tanaru while Melanau lives in a long and tall house called" Lebuk Regau Melanau "(high house of Melanau)." Unfortunately, at this time, the longhouse of these two peoples is almost dashed and can only be found in some places.Last Melanau's last home is in Kampung Sok, the long semi-long house of Lotud people left in Kampung Selupoh, Tuaran, built for tourist destinations.
In terms of history, the Melanau-Kajang and the Dusunic have a close relationship, this can be seen since the days of the old kingdom of A-Lako and Brunei. When Alak Betatar, of the Dahic of Sabah became King in Brunei, the old Brunei Kingdom was in conflict with the Kingdom of A Lako Melanau. A-Lako attack against the Dusunic in Bintulu, causing the Dusunic to flee to Brunei and Brunei began campaign against the Kingdom of Melanau. The campaign ended after Brunei triumphed over the territories of Melanau and destroyed the A-Lako Empire.
