The Function of Bamboo in the Life Structure of the Temiar Society: An Ethnographic Analysis

This study investigates the multifaceted role of bamboo in the daily lives of the Temiar, an Indigenous Orang Asli community in Malaysia, who maintain a lifestyle closely intertwined with natural resources and their surrounding environment. Bamboo is extensively utilized across diverse domains, including traditional housing construction, food preparation, everyday tools, hunting implements, and musical instruments. Such utilization reflects the community’s adaptive strategies to their ecological context and the intergenerational transmission of local knowledge. Employing a qualitative ethnographic approach, this research was conducted at the Kuala Betis Resettlement Scheme (RPS), Gua Musang, Kelantan. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews with four key informants possessing extensive experience in bamboo craft and usage, coupled with participant observation and field notes. Thematic analysis, facilitated by NVivo 12, was used to identify patterns in bamboo utilization across different aspects of daily life. The findings reveal that bamboo plays a critical role in fulfilling the community’s material and subsistence needs sustainably, while simultaneously representing local ecological knowledge and cultural heritage. Despite facing challenges associated with modernization and diminishing forest access, bamboo remains a significant and enduring resource. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the role of natural materials in sustaining Indigenous lifeways and underscores the importance of preserving traditional knowledge in the context of contemporary socio-environmental changes.