Bumiputera Sabah..

 bila melihat bangsa anak-anak murid dalam surat beranak mereka, saya selalu keliru,mana yang dikategorikan sebagai bumiputera dan mana yang bukan.

beberapa  rujukan yang saya jumpa di web wikipedia ini telah banyak membantu saya.

Penduduk Sabah adalah terdiri dari berbagai-bagai kaum dengan latar belakang dan kebudayaan masing-masing. Penduduk aslinya atau lebih dikenali sebagai bumiputera, terdiri daripada sekurang-kurangnya 30 kumpulan dengan menggunakan lebih dari 50 bahasa dan tidak kurang dari 90 dialek. Antara berikut adalah sebahagian daripada kumpulan penduduk asli di Sabah:

1. Kadazandusun
2. Bonggi
3. Murut
4. Kimarang
5. Bajau
6. Kwijau
7. Paitan
8. Lundayeh
9. Kedayan
10. Ubian
11. Binadan
12. Bisaya
13. Kokos
14. Rumanau
15. Lotud
16. Minokok
17. Orang Sungai (Sungei)
18. Rungus
19. Tatana
20. Tagaas
21. Suluk
22. Melayu
23. pelbagai kumpulan etnik Filipina selatan
24. Irranun
25. Ida'an Brunei

Sebagai tambahan, kaum Cina merupakan kumpulan penduduk bukan asli yang terbesar. Mereka menetap di Sabah sejak abad yang lalu dan mereka merupakan kumpulan yang terbesar selepas kaum Kadazandusun.

Bahasa rasmi negeri Sabah ialah Bahasa Melayu(seperti negeri lain di Malaysia), namun terdapat bahasa-bahasa lain yang ditutur; seperti Bahasa Kadazan, Bahasa Cina (Bahasa Mandarin, Bahasa Hakka), dan lain-lain. Walaupun Bahasa Melayu merupakan bahasa perantaraan utama, Bahasa Melayu Sabah yang digunakan oleh masyarakat Sabah terdapat sedikit perbezaan daripada Bahasa Melayu piawai (Bahasa Melayu Baku).

Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing indigenous people of the Malay Archipelago. The term comes from the Sanskrit word bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of land" (bhumi= earth or land, putra=son). It is also translated as "sons of the soil".
In the 1970s the government implemented economic policies designed to favour bumiputras (including affirmative action in public education) to create opportunities, and to defuse inter-ethnic tensions following the extended violence against Chinese Malaysians in the May 13 Incident in 1969. These policies have succeeded in creating a significant urban Malay middle class. They have been less effective in eradicating poverty among rural communities. Some analysts have noted a backlash of resentment from excluded groups, in particular the sizable Indigenous Non-Muslim Orang Asli, Chinese and Indian Malaysian minorities.

The concept of a bumiputra ethnic group in Malaysia was coined by activist Tunku Abdul Rahman. It recognized the "special position" of the Malays provided in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, in particular Article 153. But, the constitution does not use the term "bumiputra"; it defines only "Malay" and "aborigine" (Article 160(2)),^[1] "natives" of Sarawak (161A(6)(a)),^[2] and "natives" of Sabah (Article 161A(6)(b)).^[2] Definitions of bumiputra in public use vary among different institutions, organizations, and government departments and agencies.

In the book Buku Panduan Kemasukan ke Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam, Program Pengajian Lepasan SPM/Setaraf Sesi Akademik 2007/2008 (Guidebook for entry into public higher learning institutions for SPM/equivalent graduates for academic year 2007/2008), the Malaysian Higher Education Ministry defined bumiputra as follows, depending on the region of origin of the individual applicant^[3]:

1. Peninsular Malaysia
• "If one of the parents is Muslim Malay as stated in Article 160 (2) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus the child is considered as a Bumiputra"
2. Sabah
• "If one of the parents is a Muslim Malay or indigenous native of Sabah as stated in Article 160A (6)(a) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus his child is considered as a Bumiputra"
3. Sarawak
• "If both of the parent are indigenous natives of Sarawak as stated in Article 160A (6)(b) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus their child is considered as a Bumiputra"

In addition to the interpretation given above, some activists have proposed a broader definition of bumiputra to include groups such as the Thai Malaysians, Muslim Indian Malaysians, Straits Chinese or Peranakan ^[4] and the Kristang people of Portuguese-Eurasian descent. Others favour a definition encompassing all children of Bumiputra; there have been notable cases of people with one Bumiputra parent and one non-Bumiputra parent being dismissed as non-Bumiputra.^[3]