In Peninsular Malaysia, indigenous peoples are given the specific name “Orang Asli” which in the Malay language means “First Peoples” or “Original Peoples”. They are divided into three main ethnic groups: the Senoi, Proto-Malay and Negrito and consists of 19 ethnics.
The Senoi are the largest in number among these tribes, followed by the Proto Malay, and the Negrito. The Senoi have a wide range of skin color and wavy hair, living as both hunter-gatherers and traders.
The Senoi appear to be a composite group, with approximately half of the maternal lineages tracing back to the ancestors of the Semang and about half to Indochina. This is in agreement with the suggestion that they represent the descendants of early Austroasiatic speaking agriculturalists, who brought both their language and their technology to the southern part of the peninsula ∼4,000 years ago and coalesced with the indigenous population.
The term Senoi is derived from a Semai and Temiar word, sen-oi and seng-oi respectively; which mean people.
Senoi have similar physical characteristics of Mongoloid and speaks Khmer dialects but some believed that Senoi are the descendants of Australoid from Australia and Veddoid from South India.
The Senoi are the largest group of the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia . They make up about 56% of the Orang Asli population. The Senoi Orang Asli tribe in Malaysia has settlements in the hillsides of Titiwangsa in the remote areas of Perak, Kelantan and Pahang. There are 6 tribes in the Senoi group of which are the Che Wong, Mahmeri, Jah Hut, Semoq Beri, Semai dan Temiar.
Senoi people
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