Benedict Sandin

Benedict Sandin (18 October 1918 – 7 August 1982) He also served as Government Ethnologist to the Government of Sarawak. He wrote many ethnographic articles in the Sarawak Museum Journal and a book entitled "The Sea Dayaks of Borneo: Before White Rajah Rule".

Sandin was an Iban, and was born in Kerangan Pinggai, a longhouse on the Paku river in the Saribas basin of the Betong division of Sarawak.

Early life

Sandin was born Sandin anak Attat, on 18 October 1918 in Kerangan Pinggai, a longhouse on the Paku river in the Saribas basin of the Betong division of Sarawak.

Career

In 1941, Sandin entered the civil service as a junior Native Officer in the Raj of Sarawak, just before the Japanese occupation of Borneo. After WWII, he was transferred to the Education Department, and later joined the Sarawak Information Office as an Information Officer and worked as editor of the first Iban language news publication for two years.

Benedict Sandin together with Tom Harrisson, co-authored an article titled "Borneo Writing Boards" in the Sarawak Museum Journal (SMJ) in 1966 detailing the custom of Iban's people writing boards (papan turai), where different symbols were used dependent on individual writer's as memory aids instead of a regular writing system.

On 18 October 2020, Benedict Sandin's 102nd birthday was featured on Google Doodle to commemorate his contributions in preserving Iban people's native heritage in Sarawak.