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 cu stomary law in the formation of contemporary property regimes in a rural vi llage in Sabah, Malaysia, that I call Govuton.(3) Govuton was one of the fe w known villages in Sabah that rejected colonial policies of land settlemen t that focused on settling private, individual property claims. instead vil lage lenders negotiated with colonial officials for their village lands to be legally designated as corporately-held village property tinder the title of "Native Reserve." While the Native Reserve served to protect. village a ccess to jointly-held property in the colonial period, in the contemporary period new land disputes are arising as different images of community and t radition are strategically deployed by villagers in order to win struggles over rights of ownership and access to resources in the current political e conomy By adopting such an historical and site-specific view of the transfo rmation of property rights several broader themes regarding the relationshi p between state and society and natural resource management emerge. First t his case study challenges the idea the colonial governments were a monolith ic force imposing laws on an unresisting native population. Second the noti on that "the community" is an appropriate unit for natural resource managem ent is questioned And finally, this case study mises the possibility that t he current trend toward strengthening or reinvigorating native customary la w is nor always in the interests of native peoples with diverse interests i n natural resource management.