Jakuns

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Jakuns are an aboriginal race of the Malay Peninsula. They have become much mixed with other tribes, and are found throughout the south of the peninsula and along the coasts. The purest types are straight-and coarse-haired, and exhibit typically Southeast Asian characteristics. They are closely related to the Malay people and are probably a branch of the pre-Malay people, the "savage Malays" of A. R. Wallace.

The Jakuns are divided into two groups: Jakuns of the jungle and Jakuns of the sea or Orang Laut. The latter set of tribes now is comprised of the remnants of the pirates and sea-gypsies of the Malaccan straits.

The Jakuns are taller than the other aboriginal peoples of the Malay Peninsula, the Semang and Sakai tribes. Jakun people typically have olive-brown to dark copper skin color. A Jakun man or woman has a round head, a flat face with a square lower jaw, a thick, short nose with wide, open nostrils, high and well-marked cheekbones, a blue-black hair color, black eyes, and scanty beard. All of these attributes are typical of tropical Asians. The Jakuns live a wild forest life, and in general habits much resemble the Sakai, being but little in advance of the latter in social conditions except where they come into close contact with the Malay peoples.