Nature-Inspired Weaponry and Defence in Indigenous Orang Asli Communities of Malaysia: A Literary Perspective

This paper studies weaponry and defense used by Orang Asli leaders and communities based on literary works. The Orang Asli community is a community entity that lives quite isolated and marginalized compared to the rest of the general community. This article will only focus on the weaponry and defenses possessed by the Semai community from the Senoi group and also the Jakun community from the Proto-Malay group. The literary works studied are modern literary works as well as oral literature. The first objective of this study is the form of weapons used in the wars they are involved in, and the second objective is to study the uniqueness of the weapon resources they use. The main issue that this paper wants to explore is how natural resources such as plants, trees, and others have been used as powerful weapons by the Orang Asli in the episodes of war in their literary works. Although the use of sharp weapons still exists, naturally sourced weapons are interesting because they can injure and defeat the enemy. The methodology of the study is qualitative as well as textual analysis. This study’s analysis uses local scholars’ views on traditional weapons as the basis for discussion. This study is significant because it aims to showcase the uniqueness of the Orang Asli weapons and defenses, which differ from other communities. In conclusion, the Orang Asli community indeed has its own weaponry and defence systems. Their bitter experiences during the era of slavery and the communist occupation have revealed that the Orang Asli community also had their own weapons and defence tools for their survival.