From Village Land to “Native Reserve”: Changes in Property Rights in Sabah, Malaysia, 1950–1996

In this paper I explore the interactions between colonial law and native customary law in the formation of contemporary property regimes in a rural village in Sabah, Malaysia, that I call Govuton. Govuton was one of the few known villages in Sabah that rejected colonial policies of land settlement that focused on settling private, individual property claims. Instead, village leaders negotiated with colonial officials for their village lands to be legally designated as corporately-held village property under the title of “Native Reserve.” While the Native Reserve served to protect village access to jointly-held property in the colonial period, in the contemporary period new land disputes are arising as different images of community and tradition are strategically deployed by villagers in order to win struggles over rights of ownership and access to resources in the current political economy. By adopting such an historical and site-specific view of the transformation of property rights several broader themes regarding the relationship between state and society and natural resource management emerge. First, this case study challenges the idea the colonial governments were a monolithic force imposing laws on an unresisting native population. Second, the notion that “the community” is an appropriate unit for natural resource management is questioned. And finally, this case study raises the possibility that the current trend toward strengthening or reinvigorating native customary law is not always in the interests of native peoples with diverse interests in natural resource management.