Miriek are very different from Daleik and most people nowadays confuse between the two.
The Miriek were originally interior people of the Miri River ( Likoh Miraik), Padang Liku and Sg. Taniku area. They were forced into a coastal habitat as a result of the downriver expansion of the Kayan around 180 years ago. The original Miriek culture and language are almost extinct to the point that most miriek prefer to be known as malay and discard their ethnicity. In 1977 the Miriek speakers population are estimated around 2500 persons and sadly this numbers are decreasing quickly.

The Miriek originally were divided into two main group. This division is of no significance today. The first group were called Miriek Bahut ( Original Miriek) and the other were known as Miriek Permaisuri. The Miriek Permaisuri were the followers of a celebes-born queen ( malay: Permaisuri) and her son Tahir, who married a local woman named Timah.

There is also an oral tradition surrounding two heroic leaders of both miriek bahut and permaisuri called Deng and Sureng. They plotted to make their son the leaders of all Miri.The descendants of Miriek Permaisuri mostly live in nowadays Kpg. Wireless meanwhile the Miriek bahut still until today live around these area:

Current Name/ Original name:
Pujut= Unan
Kpg. Pujut Seberang = Kappong Unan pait dipar
Pujut Pdg. Kerbau= Kappong Unan Hadeng Kerbew
Kpg. Pangkalan Lutong = Kappong Song Lutong
Kpg. Bekam = Kappong Bekam Laut
Pujut Adong = Kappong Adu
Lopeng= Luheing
Sg. Miri = Likoh Miraik

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You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.

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Absolutely nothing is so important for a nation's culture as its language.
- Wilhelm von Humboldt

You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.

Perhaps of all the creations of man language is the most astonishing.
- Giles Lytton Strachey

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When you're selling and I'm buying, we speak German. But when you're buying and I'm selling, then we speak your language.
- attributed to Willi Brandt

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Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides.
- Rita Mae Brown, Starting From Scratch, 1988

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Learning new vocabulary in Mirek is a great way to learn the language because words are the building blocks of language.

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Learning new vocabulary in Mirek is a great way to learn the language because words are the building blocks of language.

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