Echoes of the Ancestors : Uncovering Bisaya Plant Wisdom in Limbang

Dilah, Tuah and Chong, Shin (2025) Echoes of the Ancestors : Uncovering Bisaya Plant Wisdom in Limbang. [Gazette]

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Abstract

A culturally significant research initiative is currently taking place in northern Sarawak to document and safeguard the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge of the Bisaya community. Supported by a special grant from the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof, the project represents an important contribution to the preservation of Malaysia’s intangible heritage while directly advancing several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Led by Dr Dilah bin Tuah from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in collaboration with Associate Professor Dr Chong Shin from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the study focuses on identifying and documenting traditional plant-related terms in the Bisaya language. These terms are part of a deeply rooted indigenous knowledge system that connects the community’s language, rituals, medicine, food practices and ecological understanding. Fieldwork conducted across several Bisaya villages in the Limbang district employed a community-based qualitative methodology. Through interviews with traditional healers, village elders and native speakers, researchers recorded over 100 unique ethnobotanical terms. Each term reflects the Bisaya people’s long-standing relationship with their environment and the spiritual symbolism attached to certain plants.

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