Melanau or A-Likou (meaning River people in Mukah dialect) is an ethnic group indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia. They are among the earliest settlers<ref>'The Report: Sarawak 2008 Oxford Business Group, 2008</ref> of Sarawak. They speak in the Melanau language, which is a part of the North Bornean branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages. Origins In the 19th century, the Melanaus settled in scattered communities along the main tributaries of the Rajang River in Central Sarawak. They like to be known as Melanau or A-Likou. For most Melanau, the word ' dayak' is inappropriate for them as it was a word used by the westerners for the inhabitant of Borneo because Melanau people already have their own identity and culture as A-Likou (Melanau). Melanau or problematic Kajang-speaking tribes such as the Sekapan, the Rajang, the Tanjung, and the Kanowit gradually moved and assimilated into Dayak migrations settling in the Rajang. The Melanau people were regarded as a sub-group of the purported Klemantan people. Today the Punan (or Punan Bah) people are also closely linked to the last riverine dwelling Melanau communities previously inhabiting the middle and upper Rejang tributaries. The Kajang language is kept relatively alive by the isolated Sekapan communities Kapit division of Sarawak. The Melanau are considered among the earliest settlers in Sarawak. The name Melanau was not used by the Melanau to refer to themselves until recently. They call themselves a-likou meaning 'people of the river'. Legend has it that the name Melanau was given by the Malays of Brunei to the inhabitants of the coastal swamp flats and riverbanks of central Sarawak which might signify "coast-dweller". This legend cannot be considered as a viable origin of the name since the name Malano has been used to refer to the region in historical records of writings and maps of Western, Chinese, and Javanese sources even before the establishment of Brunei Kingdom. Eda Green, writing in 1909, referred to "... the Milanes, whose girls are as fair as any Europeans and the belles of Borneo." History Throughout history, places where the Melanaus traditional areas were described as either their local places such as Mukah, Igan, etc., or by the wider state or region name Malano. 7th century The earliest existence of a polity at the mouth of the Rejang river is Kin-li-fo-che (shortened as Kin-fo) in Chinese records of I Ching which was already known in the 7th century. This Malanau empire