Kaamatan Song by Dusun Ranau

These song actually titled Sayang Kinabalu by Kimin Mudin, a gracious lament for the Kinabalu peak, it surrounding area - Kundasang, Ranau, Nuluhon, Tamparuli, a Sumandak (literally mean virgin girl) Tamu Besar - extravagant 1 day market and the Sabahan indigenous dance of Sumazau.

The lush valleys settler

While the coastal dweller is famous for their seafaring cultures, the inner land people of The Kadazandusun are master of communal farming with strict animism practice. They're the largest indigenous ethnics of Northern Borneo with more than 30 different ethnic groups, speaking more than 50 languages in over 80 different dialects.

Kadazan Dusun covers the various other subgroups that fall under the Dusunic language community consisting many sub-ethnics namely; Rungus, Tobilung, Lotud, Kimaragang, Tombonuo, Bundu, Kuijau, Paitan, Minokok and Sungai. Of these main tribes it is again diversified into several others sub-ethnics among the sub-ethnics. such Suang Lotud, Dusun Tempasuk, Lotud Tuaran, Dusun Tobilung, Maragang, Rungus Tombonuvo, Tindal, Lobu, Mangkaak, Rumanau, Tolinting, Sukang, Tidong and many many more.

Due to their geographically habitats, they tend to used their location as mother tounge of their Dusunic language, thus the dialect and name are different. For example, Dusun Tempasuk and Lotud Tuaran are basically the same as Dusun Tidong or Tindal, yet the name differ by the location of their ancestry settlement. However, one common thing is the Kadazandusun are rice growers, the Rungus in particular are renowned orchardists, the Dusun is known for their irrigations expertise while the lesser are nomadic slash-and-burn agriculture that produces dry rice, corn and sweet potatoes.

Nonetheless, all of these sub-ethnics are the best at plain field agricultures as the coastal dwellers with the seas. Before the British colonizations in 1800s animisme is Kadazandusun only religions in which the Bobohizan or Bobolian (vary according to their tounge language) are the main center of the community.

It shamanic power are believed to be able to talk with the dead, the nature spirits and even with the gods (for more older, talented and experienced bobohizan it is said she can call a rain in immediate moment) Today, majority of these Kadazandusun has embraced Christianity and Muslim as their faith and many has left their traditional way of life. The only Kadazandusun tribe which continues to live in the longhouse is the Rungus from Kudat regions.

*** Source
Godfrey A. Chatfield, Sabah A General Geography
(Eastern Universities Press Sdn Bhd)
Flickr.com
Wikipedia.com
Mista Halooowen Case Studies

The Coastal dweller

These coastal dweller (Bajau, Iranun, Idaan, Bisaya, Suluk, Obian, Binadan, Sama) are skilled fishmen as well as good rice cultivators. They are also experts in rearing ponies and water buffaloes. At the North Western of the states - Kota Belud these coastal dweller, mostly are Bajau dubbed as "The Cowboys of the East", for their renowned horsemanship.

They also are largest ethnic group in Sabah (second only to the Kadazan Dusun), making up approximately 14% of the total population of the state. For most of their history, they've been a nomadic, seafaring people, living off the produce of the sea, whether for trade or subsistence.

Their settlement is kept close to shore by erecting houses on stilts, and got around with the lepa-lepa, a handmade boat. As expert at rearing water-buffaloes they have very good "Business Trade" with the valleys people whose trade are of cultivating sawah or rice paddy field which is more easier with big good buffalo.

For most of Sabah’s indigenous groups, the water-buffalo is a truly valuable animal. It forms a major part of a bride wealth and the more special a maiden is, the more buffaloes she is likely to fetch. (The Kadazans groom normally bring buffaloes that match the amount of the bride house pillars) Today, a buffalo can fetch no less than MYR 1,000. approximately US 350.

These coastal dweller, though culturally & linguistically different are unified through their religion. Which except for a tiny fraction, they are by and large a Muslims, practicing the Sunni Islam and it Holy Qoran.

***
Yearbook of Statistics, Sabah 2008, Department of Statistics Malaysia

Song for the gracious harvest

This video showing few of the Northern Borneo abrogine`s people in their respective traditional garbs. The song was about Harvest Festival or commonly known as Pesta Kaamatan by the locals.

The aborigine's sub-ethnic groups

The aborigine's of North Borneo, the Kadazandusun is made up of forty plus sub-ethnic groups and is divided into three categories, the coastal area dwellers, (Bajaus) the lush valley settlers (Kadazandusuns) and the mountainous region people (Muruts)

Although historically they're both descendant of the Austronesian ethnics family which travels to many continents during the Arguably Ice Age of 4'000 B.C.

The Kadazandusuns and the Muruts (valleys settlers and hills people) is from East Formosan Classifications which related to Cham (of Vietnam), Formosan (of Taiwan) Ryukyuan (of Japan) and other Sino-Tibetans Classifications.

While the coastal dwellers are mostly of Malayo-Polynesian classification and is inter-related with Sunda Sulawesi settler, the Buginese, Acehnese, Malay (Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam), Indonesian, Sundanese and also Chamorro of Guam

*** Source.
Bellwood, Peter. Fox, James. & Tryon, Darrell (1995 - 1997)
Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian archipelago. Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press.
The Austronesians: Historical and comparative perspectives'.
Australian National University.
Blust, Robert (1985). "The Austronesian Homeland: A Linguistic Perspective".

North Borneo Aboriginal

The aborigine's people of Northern Borneo are commonly known as Kadazandusun, term assigned to the unification and classification of the two largest indigenous tribes - the ethnic groups of the Kadazan and Dusun.

Kadazans and Dusuns share the same language and culture, albeit with differences in dialect. Many consider the major difference between the two ethnic groups to be their traditional geographical influences.

Kadazans are mainly inhabitants of the flat valley deltas, conducive to paddy field farming, while Dusuns are traditionally inhabitants of the hilly and mountainous regions common to the interior of Sabah.

Kadazandusun also is made up of forty sub-ethnic groups of the Dusun and Kadazan, which location are widespread from coastal area to valley, then to forest as well as the mountains.

Of these 40+ sub-ethnic groups, all are belongs to "Austronesian languages family" one of the best-established ancient language families in the worlds and is on par with Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic language families

Blog Introduction

Aborigine [āb'ə-rĭj'ə-nē]
Are member of the indigenous or earliest known population of a region; a native.

Northern Borneo [bawr-nee-oh]
Is the upper most part of the island in the Malay Archipelago, commonly known as Sabah, a state in Malaysia on the N tip of Borneo.