THE FOLK FORE ORIGIN OF INDIGENOUS SALAKO TRIBES IN BORNEO

Asu'or Ako means dog and Sa'ak means the barking of the dog.

Salako is one of an indigenous tribes which inhabited the western part of Borneo. In Sarawak, the Salako tribes lives in Lundu District. According to written history, as Stanley Karnow (1964) said, the movements of the Austronesia people from the continent of Asia to Borneo and other South East Asia Islands are believed from the Peninsular of Malaysia. It is believed some groups of this Austronesia enter West Borneo (Kalimantan) through Sambas and Salako river.

The Austronesia groups which enter through Sambas River then made their settlement at the foot of Mount Senujuh, an area at Sambas Besar River. Within this area, between the year 1291, the Sambas Empayar (Ahmad and Zaini, 1989) was govern by a king (not as a Sultan), and most of its people still believed in animism, and some are Hindu’s.

According to Simon Takdir (2007), the Austronesia groups which come to Borneo through Salako (Saako) river made their settlement at the foot Sarinokng Mountain. It is probably from this settlement where the Salako name originates, from the words “Sa’ak Ako”. “Sa’ak“ in Salako word means the sound of dog barking and “Ako“ is the Salako words for wild dog.

It is believed long time ago at this Austronesia settlement there is a lot of wild dog called “asu’ ako.”(asu’ is a Salako word for dog). These wild dogs happened to bark during the day and night. This irritated the community, and so these wild dogs are killed and destroyed.

And so, the places where these wild dogs used to bark are call Sa’ako (Salako). The word “Salako” is then used by this Austronesia groups to name places, a river, ethnicity of the people, and the languages by the community itself. (Kristianus Atok, 2008)