The Ukit people are a tribe found in
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. They are a small minority people who until recently were nomads in the rain forests of Borneo. Some were settled at Rumah Ukit on the upper reaches of the Batang Balui or Balui River. Most of the Ukits are found in the Upper Rajom and
Tatau rivers,
Baleh, Sarawak. The Ukit people were also regarded as a sub-group of the purported
Klemantan people.
The Ukit's population is small in numbers and suffer potential extinction due to many of the tribesmen being killed a long time ago. Heavy losses in war to stronger Dayak tribes in Borneo (
Iban,
Kayan and others) resulted them being chased out of their homelands (believed to be the
Saribas,
Kalaka and
Krian
Krian is a state constituency in Sarawak, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly since 1969.
The state constituency was created in the 1968 redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the ...
areas). Intermarriage with other tribes is also another factor for their decreasing population. Today, the Ukit population is estimated to be only about 120. However, there may still be an unknown number of Ukit living in their traditional way as forest nomads.
In 1880 the Ukits were encountered by the English explorer
Harry De Windt who described them as follows:
Harry De Windt "On the Equator"
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References
Bibliography
* O'Hanlon Redmond (1985): ''Into The Heart of Borneo''. Pp. 143–4, 171–183. Penguin (Salamander Press 1985)
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Dayak people
Ethnic groups in Sarawak