30 Chapter 3 | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ PERSPECTIVE OF LAND all territories that they can access within a single day– as in a return journey by a perahu’ or wooden boat – as theirs.44 Land use categories and tenure rights 3.53 Within the bounded customary land of an Orang Asli community, the territory is divided into various land use categories, with varying usages, tenure rights and cultural obligations accorded to each category. 3.54 Among the Semai, for example, the customary land of a community is called the nenggirik, which loosely translates as ‘country’. Within a Semai’s nenggirik, there are several types of areas that are categorised by geographical features, land-use and cultural significance. These would include the village proper (genei), swiddens or hill-rice fields (selai), orchards (cetnet), old swiddens (pabel), foraging areas (lepnep), forest/resource areas (jeres), virgin forest (darat), taboo or sacred areas (teiq keramat), water catchments (pendeg/gencolteiw), gravesites (penep) and such.45 3.55 The members of the community concerned enjoy varying tenurial and usufructuary to these areas. In essence, as long as the land is used for a particular activity (dwelling, swidden, smallholding), the rights to that part of the customary land is held by the family group working it. Such lands can also be bequeathed to future generations. However, once the land is abandoned, it then reverts to the community whence any other member is entitled to work it subject to the local adat or customs being complied with. Other areas within a Semai’s nenggirik – such as the ne’enduk and jeres – are not ‘alienable’ and are always held communally.46 3.56 Similarly, the Temiar, have also similar categories of land-use such as their homesteads (kampuq), swiddens (selai) and smallholdings (ladang). Apart from these, the Temiar have particular cultural areas with accompanying rules and taboos, and with differing tenurial rights accorded to the villagers.47 These include: • Teiq wei/teiq neiwei/pendraq – a previous hamlet or site where they no longer live or hunt due to poor harvests, poor hunting opportunities, or where an incident in the area caused them to move out e.g. a devastating flood (na-deg). • Teiq chareq – areas where the land is not fertile for crops; • Teiq keramat – sacred areas, where spirits have their abode, where you are not allowed to hunt or fish. This includes certain pools in the river which may have bountiful stocks of fish; • Teiq jendrap – areas where blood was spilled (as in where a tiger had killed a man); • Teiq selumbang – the abode of water dragon (naga); usually swampy areas or large pools of water where the water is reddish in colour, the colouration being so due to the red faeces of the dragon. Also associated with a sewang ritual/song that is performed to avoid the bah merah (red flood); and 44 Testimony of Batin Mohamad Nohing in the Temerloh High Court in the case of Mohamad Nohing and 6 Ors v Pahang State Government and 3 Ors, 2012. 45 Interview with Mohd Sharul Irwan by Colin Nicholas in January 2013. 46 Testimony of Amani Williams-Hunt Abdullah (Bah Tony), expert witness, at the SUHAKAM public hearing in Ipoh on 9 May 2012. 47 Field interviews by Colin Nicholas and Reita Rahim in January 2013. Some of the land use categories cited here refers particularly to communities in the Pos Dakoh and Pos Balar areas in Gua Musang. chapter 3_a4.indd 30 7/5/13 6:43 PM