The Temuan people can be found in almost every state of Peninsular Malaysia, but most of them still live in the countryside and suburban villages of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, as well as Pahang and Melaka.

However, with the implementation economic development programmes, relocation of individuals of Orang Asli communities to new villages are often in suburban areas by the government.

Temuan is divided into two major dialects namely Belandas and Mantra which differs mostly in terms of phonology and also some of the vocabulary but still mutually intelligible to one another.

[15] The popular folk history of the Temuan people with many variations tells of two brothers who participated in the gathering of earthly tribes in "times of grace, when men understood the language of animals."

Abang (older brother) managed to grab his blowgun before the ship sank in the stormy waves, and swam ashore.

Abang remained hunter-gatherers and Adik, with newly acquired knowledge, could institutionalized religion and write new laws for people to live by.

There was an active integration of Minangkabau migrants and local residents such as Jakun, Temuan into a single ethnic group (Biduanda), now known as the Malays of Negeri Sembilan.

During the British Malaya colonial period, the Bedouin Muslims were already considered Malays, and indigenous groups of Temuan people began to be counted among the aborigines (obsolete official name for Orang Asli).

[5] In order to remove the Orang Asli from the influence of the Communists, the government resorted to relocating indigenous communities to the territories it controlled.

The Orang Asli were then placed under total control, and their villages were turned into forts under the protection of soldiers, which were also provided with shops and medical facilities.

In 2002, the Supreme Court ordered the Selangor state government to pay compensation to the Temuan community of Kampung Bukit Tampoi through the loss of their customary land, which was part of a highway construction.

The Temuans believe they were placed on the earth (Tanah Tujuh) by Muyang (God) to be guardians of the rain forest and that if they fail in their sacred duty, the whole world will turn upside down and humanity will perish.

It is the shaman who leads the tribe in the annual sawai or sewang - an ancient earth healing ritual to honour their ancestors and appease the guardian spirits.

The folk healer gives the patient a herbal medicine, and in a trance performs special rites to reverse the effects of spirits.

Every night the Temuans light a fire in the courtyard to ward off evil spirits and ghosts; a practice they continue to adhere even in the city.

[29] Every year, under the guidance of a shaman, the Temuans hold the sawai festival, an ancient ritual of healing the earth, in which they honor their ancestors and try to calm the guardian spirits.

First sluggish, but it intensified in the 1980s, and in the 1990s the programs of Islamization (dakwah) began where specially trained Muslim missionaries operate in indigenous communities, and in prayer halls (surau) that were opened in each village.

As part of the dakwah program, policy of "positive discrimination" for newly converted Muslims was also implemented by rewarding of material goods, benefits in the field of education and promotion in the civil service.

[31][32] Thousands of years ago, many Temuan people died because they had committed "Celau" (the sins that angered god and their ancestors; as it is also called Talan in Semaq Beri language[33]).

Only two of the Temuans, named Mamak and Inak Bungsuk survived that day by climbing on an Eaglewood tree at Gunung Raja (Royal Mountain) located at the border of Selangor and Pahang state.

Among of the illness that the Temuan shaman could cure are such as fever, diarrhea, blood clot, kidney disease and many more by using herbs or animal based medicine.

For example, root decoction of Alpinia conchigera is used as a shampoo to clean fleas on the head, its leaves are used as poultice to treat boils and post-childbirth swelling on the stomach, while its rhizome can be pounded as rubbing for bone ache, and also powdered to be mixed with water as poultice for stomach ache.

Desa Temuan has 3 shops, a public hall, a museum, a surau, a kindergarten, a playground, a football field, a primary school and a library.

Traditionally, Temuans used water from a nearby pond for bathing, washing, toilet, and eating; there were even bamboo pipes used for plumbing.

They learned basic life skills, such as building traditional houses, made out of tree bark and thatched roofed with leaves, hunting, planting crops, fishing, cooking, and more, from the older generation.

[46] For this reason the Temuan people have an indifferent attitude towards formal education system, although living on the outskirts of urban centers has made public schools accessible to them, of which in this respect they are in a much better position than other Orang Asli groups.

Oral tradition began to be lost during the World War II and the Malayan Emergency, when Temuan communities experienced forced relocation.

[45] Traditional medicine is also a thing of the past, people no longer turn to dukuns for treatment, they prefer to receive help in modern medical institutions such as clinics and hospitals.

Traditional holidays with mass consumption of alcoholic beverages and loud dances do not fit into the environment of city life, hence disturbing the peace of their neighbours.

There is a real threat of erosion and loss of unique knowledge of folk medicine, because young people are no longer interested in maintaining them.