Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

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Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast Asialand on the tobacco concession were not settled according to its stipulations.The land was not surveyed and set aside for native ownership, nor did thenatives receive any cash settlement. Instead, they were confined to usingland previously used by the estate and were required to pay a tax to theestate holder. Furthermore, they always had to apply to the estate managerfor permission to cultivate the land, which they had to do according to theneeds of the estate rather than their own land claims.In brief, despite the 1889 legislation, native claims to land were notrecognised when they interfered with income-producing plantation schemes.This case raises important questions about the intentions and the ability ofthe Company to work within a system of legal pluralism that acknowledgednative land rights. Without the slightest comment on the blatant disregardfor native rights illustrated in this case, Company officials forged aheadwith their mission to settle all native land rights in North Borneo.Colonial settlement of native landsIt was not until 1913 that the Company began a full-scale initiative torecognise all native land rights. There were two incentives for colonialofficials to settle native claims to land at this point in time. First was theneed to increase revenue through taxation of native holdings. In his “Reporton Administration, 1911”, Sir Richard Dane pointed out that in PeninsularMalaya significant revenue was derived from native quit rents, arguing thatin North Borneo these potential rents were being lost. Commenting on theineffective land settlement under Governor Ernest Birch’s administration(1901-3), Dane urged immediate survey and settlement of all indigenousland holdings and the payment of rent on them. 11 The second incentive forthe settlement of native claims to land was the ongoing need to generaterevenue from commercial agriculture. To encourage Europeans to invest inplantation development in North Borneo, the State needed to determinewhich lands could be deemed as “waste lands” and made available to11 ‘Richard Dane’s report on administration (1911)’, p. 88, CO874/154. Dane, aforty-year veteran of the civil service in India, was invited to report on theCompany’s administration in Borneo (Black, 1983: 210).87
Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast Asiaforeign plantation owners.The primary focus of demarcation of native land rights from 1913 onwardwas the surveying and registration of land kept under permanent cultivationonly. 12 This emphasis on native lands under continuous cultivation showsonce again a blatant disregard for the various ways in which natives couldclaim land, as documented in the Proclamation III of 1889 and the LandLaws of 1913. In the reports of the Land Settlement Department it wasmade clear that settlement officers found the demarcation of native rightsother than permanent agriculture far too confusing to undertake. As theCommissioner of Lands, G. C. Woolley, reported in 1915, “At present thestate of affairs with regard to titles other than those for native-owned ricefields is somewhat chaotic.” Consequently, Company administrators foundit convenient to describe land in fallow or secondary forests as un-owned,empty, waste, abandoned or useless. 13During the settlement of native rights, natives were asked to clear theboundaries on their permanent agricultural land. But the district officerswhose job it was to oversee land settlement were plagued by difficulties.There are numerous accounts in the Company papers detailing the districtofficers’ struggles with land settlement. The letters describe many instancesof both passive and active resistance on the part of the natives; it was notunusual for inhabitants of a village to fail to be present on the assigned daywhen the surveyor was available for boundary marking. 14 This reflects thelocal perception of the survey process as inherently disempowering. Unableto stake their claims through their presence, they resisted by makingthemselves absent.Company officials persisted in the task of land settlement, howeverfragmentary the results, hoping to overcome resistance by gaining the12 ‘Annual report on the land settlement for 1914’, CO874/797.13 Woolley’s comment is in ‘Recommendation of Governor Parr re: settlementwork’, 4 Feb. 1915, CO 874/797.14 ‘Annual report on land settlement, 1916’, CO874/797.; examples of letters are inNorth Borneo Company Archives #1356.88
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Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

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