Lotud

The Lotud people are an indigenous ethnic group residing in Sabah, eastern Malaysia on the island of Borneo. They reside mainly in the Tuaran district (including the Tamparuli and Kiulu sub-districts) and also a portion of this tribe's population also reside in the village of Kampung Sukoli located in the Telipok suburban township of Kota Kinabalu city, all located in the West Coast Division of Sabah. Their population was estimated at 5,000 in the year 1985 but now believed to be more than 20,000. They are a sub-ethnic group of the Dusunic group, now also known as Kadazan-Dusun.

Nowadays, most of this ethnic group's population has been Christianized by adhering to denominations such as Roman Catholicism (in Tuaran district proper as well as the suburban township of Telipok in Kota Kinabalu city) and Seventh-Day Adventism (mostly those residing in Tamparuli and Kiulu sub-districts as well as in Telipok since the neighbouring town of Manggatal, both within the Kota Kinabalu city area has a Seventh-Day Adventist majority population among its native Dusun populace) with a large Muslim minority (both converts to the faith and Muslim by birth and ethnic descent alike) and some lesser extent to evangelical Christianity ( Sidang Injil Borneo) as well as other denominations such as Anglicanism, True Jesuism and Lutheranism ( Basel Christian Church of Malaysia), with a dwindling number are still animists. Less than 20 traditional priestesses are still alive, with no prospect of future replacement.

The Lotud ethnic group has their own spiritual world. In the Lotud spiritual world, their god Kinohoringan and his wife, Umsumundu, are widely believed to be the creators of the first humans and everything in the universe. The Asug Tantagas exist in the spiritual world as Lotud ritual experts. They are sent to the spiritual world to persuade Hajin Sambawon. They are said to be the spiritual leaders of Libabou, a place said to be located in the clouds. The role is specifically mandated by Kinohoringan and Umsumundu in overseeing human behavior in the invisible realms. If there is a violation of customary laws or natural rules of life that emphasize the balance between the visible and invisible worlds, the universe will become disordered. The role of the Asug Tantagas is to facilitate the release of trapped human spirits. In the Lotud spiritual world, the Asug Tantagas functions as intermediaries between the human world and the unseen realm.

History

From the available written historical sources, the Tuaran area is likely to be among the oldest centers of civilization in Sabah due to its rich history and advanced civilization. The word "tawaran" in the Dusun language means "corn", while other Dusun dialects use the term "luong" for corn. The earliest record of the term "Tawaran" appears in the written records of the Persian explorer ibn Rosteh who wrote a journal of his trip to Southeast Asia in 903 AD, where he said that there was a famous trading city called "Tawaran". Tawaran (now Tuaran) in this year was controlled by Srivijaya in its attempt to control it, being the city that produced the best camphor in the world.

Previously, some sources suggest that Tawaran was conquered by a Tang Dynasty military unit during the reign of Emperor Dezong, in China's attempt to control the city that produced the best camphor in the world. However, the colony of the Chinese military unit was expelled by the local government forces, before Tawaran was conquered again, this time by Srivijaya forces, during the reign of Maharaja Balaputra, before finally the Srivijaya forces were also removed from Tawaran.

On the oldest map of northern Borneo drawn by Petrus Plancius in 1594 AD, the Kota Kinabalu or Tuaran area is labelled "Canciraö". This city or settlement was under the auspices of Sultanate of Brunei during the reign of Sultan Bolkiah or Sultan Muhammad Hasan. Indeed, Tawaran was most likely the best camphor-producing city in the world at that time. The Dusun people collected camphor from the forest and traded it in the city of Tawaran. At this time, there were no Bajau people in the Tuaran area, the coast of Tuaran was inhabited by the Dusun people, who had a maritime culture, as evidenced by the name of the city "Tawaran" that was recorded as early as 903 AD. According to historical records, the Bajau people, specifically the West Coast Bajau, migrated from Johor to the coast of Sabah around the 16th century. The Bajau people, or better known as Samah, settled in Mengkabong and the surrounding area, and they began to establish permanent settlements. The Bajau people have been mixing and trading with the Dusun people for hundreds of years.

Tawaran, or Tuaran, as the oldest and most advanced Dusun civilizational hub in Sabah for being one of the important trading centers in Asia at that time, has raised questions about the Nunuk Ragang legend. The Lotud people say that Nunuk Ragang is not the oldest Dusun settlement in Sabah. According to written and oral historical analysis, the Nunuk Ragang settlement only appeared around the 12th century, and was the last and largest centre of the Dusun expansion. Several Dusun oral stories say the pattern of Dusun migration is from the coast to the interior, indicating that the earliest Dusun settlements were not in the interior but the coastal areas, and that they initially had a maritime culture. Dalrymple, who explored the west coast of Sabah in 1762, said that coastal settlements such as Tuaran and Kimanis were still inhabited by Dusun pagans whom he called "Ida'an" (Dalrymple, 1793:552). Henry Keppel called the Dusun "Idaan the Voyager" (Keppel, 1847:194), where, according to Sir Hugh Low, they had extensive trade routes, reaching as far as Java and other places that were far away from Borneo (Low, 1852:2).

Accounts by Arab and Western Scholars

The name "Muja" was used by the Arab scholar al-Idrisi in his description of a kingdom or settlement on the west coast of Borneo in 1154 AD (Robert, 1983:40). This kingdom was ruled by a dynasty called the "Kamrun Dynasty", where one of its cities was called "Haranj" (possibly Tuaran). This city is said to be "a city of spices" that became famous at that time because the camphor produced from this city was the best in the world. According to al-Idrisi, the island of Haranj was famed for a deep precipice from which camphor was extracted, an allusion that scholars believe corresponds to Tuaran, or the forested foothills of Mount Kinabalu, long renowned as a major source of Borneo camphor. al-Idrisi says:

:''There exists in the island of Haranj a great precipice, of which no man has been able to measure the depth. It is a remarkable feature.''

The Kamrun Dynasty was founded by Raja Alaka Bhatara, a Dusun king who founded the kingdom around 690 AD. Around 800 AD, this kingdom allied with the Kingdom of Mayd in the Philippines, which was probably a colony of the Kingdom of Muja, or Poni (Robert, 1983:38). At this time, the Dusun people were still a single ethnic, not yet divided into various tribes as can be seen today. According to oral sources, the name of the Dusunic ethnic group in ancient times was "Kadayan" (Evans, 1953:11). Then, "Kadayan" and "Dusun" were possibly used interchangeably by the Bruneians and the British to refer to indigenous peoples on the west coast of Sabah, which later caused an identity crisis among the Kadazan-Dusun in the mid-1900s. The Dusunic ethnic group then split into many small tribes during the Nunuk Ragang period, moving out of Nunuk Ragang to other areas, forming their own tribes and controlling the areas where they settled. A legend says that the ruler who founded Nunuk Ragang was King Korungkud, some say King Gumarong, and there are also other sources that say King Gomurun.

In al-Idrisi's notes, there are notes about the culture of the Dusun community at that time. According to al-Idrisi, during the rule of the Kingdom of Muja, the early society there still had a maritime culture. This historical record from al-Idrisi, which tells stories from the oral history of the Dusun in Sabah, says that the ancestors of the Dusun, in ancient times, had expertise in navigation and maritime culture. Among the famous oral stories is the story of Indai (possibly the location of the "city of Haranj"), a maritime settlement that established trading relations with Dusunic ethnicities in other areas, for example, Bongawan. Similarly, the story of Nunuk Ragang tells of the voyage of the ancient Dusun from Brunei to Nunuk Ragang, with some of them migrating to the Philippines (Shim, 2007:18). The oral history of the Lotud Dusun community in Tuaran also says the same thing, that their ancestors were seafarers, but their maritime dominance was eventually replaced by the Bajau, Iranun and Suluk tribes who migrated to Mengkabong and Sulaman around the end of the 1700s. This is evidenced by the writings of Dalrymple, which were quoted by Dr. Leyden, that the Dusun continued maritime voyages reaching as far as Java up to the year 1762, then this maritime culture disappeared (Dr. Leyden, 1814:9). It was likely that the maritime culture died out in the early 1800s, evidenced by the writings of Logan, who said that the Dusun people sailed to Java in ancient times but no longer did when he came to Sabah in 1852 (Logan, 1852:1-2).

Apart from maritime culture, al-Idrisi also recorded the clothing culture of the ancient Dusun community. During the rule of the Kingdom of Muja, Dusun women were said to like to keep their hair long and wear head accessories, or ''susuga'', and they also wore necklaces. As for men, they were divided into ranks according to the type of metal used for their neck ornaments (Ferrand, 1913:344). For the higher-ranking groups, they wore gold-platedor greal gld neck ornaments, while those in the lower ranks only wore necklaces made of copper. The culture of wearing necklaces in Sabah was only found among the Dusun community. Several Western writers have provided notes on the culture of wearing necklaces among Dusun men. St. John, who came to Sabah in 1851, and Frank Hatton, wrote the following:

:''...then came a band of Dusun men, led by a young leader, of strong build, with a tightly bound waist, with the appearance of a wise man…on his neck was a collar that was open at the side, which allowed him to open it easily.''
— St. John, 1863

:''The Dusun men of Toadilah all wore neck ornaments, bracelets and anklets made of copper, black cloth wrapped around their heads, tied with rattan dyed red.''
— Frank Hatton, 1882

This is one of the earliest records of Dusun clothing culture recorded by al-Idrisi in 1154 AD or the 12th century, and the culture of the ancient Dusun community changed over time. A document by the Yuan Dynasty historian Wang Dayuan, titled ''Daoyi Zhilüe'', is said to have been written in 1350 AD, providing interesting data on the heyday of the Kingdom of Muja, or Poni. The record is about the residents of Longshan (Dragon Mountain), or Mount Kinabalu, where the surrounding area is referred to as a flat land area that is quite cold but comfortable. The residents, in the area, both women and men, like to decorate themselves, where their hair is bunned and their waists are wrapped in colorful cloth. Surprisingly, there are residents in the area who are Buddhists and have relations with the Chinese, whether through marriage or trade. This is deemed unsurprising because, during this period, the ancient Dusun community had close relations with China and began to absorb agrarian culture from China. The rapidly growing agrarian culture of this period likely shifted much of ancient Dusun society away from its maritime roots. The king who ruled the Kingdom of Muja, or Poni, during this period was Maharaja Karna (Ben Randawi, 2019).

Culture

Traditional attire

The Lotud ethnic group has 3 types of traditional clothing, namely;

* Tantagas (priestess) attire
* Traditional dance attire
* Wedding attire

The Lotud insist that the Lotud traditional clothing is to be preserved with the passage of time, not influenced by foreign influences. This is so that their traditional clothing is preserved as authentically as possible for the next generation.

Women's attire

* Sukob Kopio (long-sleeved shirt)
* Sukob (short-sleeved shirt)
* ''Gonob'' (short skirt)
* ''Lilimbo'' (a girdle made of a bamboo or rattan cord)
* Red ''lilimbo'' (single)
* Black and white ''lilimbo'' (married)
* ''Madapun'' (neck chain)
* ''Siwot'' (chicken feather jewelry)
* ''Sigar'' (headwear)

Men's attire

* Sukub (shirt)
* ''Sundi'' or ''sigar'' (headcloth)
* ''Mugah'' (long skirt)
* ''Binandus'' (long trousers)
* ''Haboi'' (belt decorated with ''linangkit'')
* ''Sandai'' (shoulder cloth)
* ''Botungkat'' (silver coin belt)
* ''Karoh'' (bead chain or neck decoration)
* ''Simpai'' (bracelet)
* ''Tarapapan'' (Lotud keris)
* ''Kuluwu'' (scarf)

Linangkit

According to folklore, ''linangkit'' originated from patterns brought by traders from China. This can be proven through the migration of Chinese people to Borneo to trade, and they carried out a barter system. Meanwhile, a Tantagas (Lotud priestess) from the Tuaran district believes that ''linangkit'' actually originated from within the Borneo people themselves, namely the Dusun, Rungus and Bajau. The tradition and activity of ''lumangkit'' (embroidering) ''linangkit'' has been inherited from generation to generation from their ancestor, Puan Pinar, or known as Odu Liugan, from Kampung Panjut, Tuaran, who was a woman of Lotud Dusun descent. Another opinion is that ''linangkit'' originated from the inspiration of the embroiderer themself. It was then passed down through generations from them. This statement was from the owner of the Tuaran Lotud Museum, Mr. Pediman Jabau, who was the eldest son of Puan Pinar.

Originally, it used cloth sewn with fabric stiffeners on the left and right sides and a thin piece of cloth as a base to start the embroidery. The embroidery sewn at the starting point of the embroidery is connected to the fabric frame on the left and right sides. This embroidery technique is the counting-by-ear technique, while looking at the holes in the fabric as well as its "squares". ''Linangkit'' weavers in the past used rice water as a fabric stiffener. This original embroidery requires a small pillow as a base to facilitate the embroidery process. This is because the fabric frame will be pinned on the left and right sides of the pillow so that its position is more stable. ''Linangkit'' embroidery of this type is made by using the imagination and inspiration of the embroiderer to produce motifs.

Food

"Moniang" is, in its short form, the term for eating betel used in the Lotud Dusun language, and it is a hereditary culture found among Dusun women. Red chalk processed from sea snail shells mixed with a little gambir and a few aged areca nuts or simple areca nut skins, wrapped in betel leaves, then is put into the mouth to be chewed until the saliva in the mouth turns red, but it is not swallowed because, when the mouth feels full, the betel eater would spit out the reddish saliva.

Music

Among the traditional musical instruments used by the Lotud ethnic group are the gong, kulintangan, gagayan (sundatang), and a traditional drum.

Bojumbak Festival

This festival was introduced by the Sabah Lotud Komulasakan Association and the Lotud Suang Association and was officiated by The Right Honourable Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor in 2017. This festival is a Lotud tribal musical instrument competition. The people perform songs from their respective villages, each with its own meaning conveyed through the rhythm.

Dance

Sumayau, or Madsayau, is a traditional dance of the Lotud Dusun, or Suang Lotud, in the Tuaran district. Typically, this dance is an attraction during the celebration of Magahau Day, which is a ceremony to worship the spirit of the ''gusi'' (jar). Usually this ceremony is held on a large scale and takes up to five days, which aims to worship and respect the ''gusi,'' which are large jars. In addition, it is also to commemorate family members who have died.

The performance is led by a Monolian, a woman who is well-versed in the ceremony, and is of Monolian descent. As soon as the music is played, the dancers start dancing and head straight to the dance floor. The female dancers' hand movements follow the rhythm of the music, and the foot movements are slower than the hand movements, which only move in very slow increments. The male dancer rings tiny bells, or ''giring'' in the Lotud dialect. The dance movements become a little more lively when they receive applause from the audience.

Marriage

There are five stages in the Lotud marriage, namely ''merisik'' (pre-engagement visit), ''monunui'' (engagement), ''popiodop'' (staying overnight), ''matod'' (marriage) and ''mirapou'' (the custom).

''Timpu merisik'' (Pre-engagement visit)

A representative of the male's side who is knowledgeable in customs, called the "suruhan", who plays the main role as the intermediary for the woman's family who sets a suitable time for ''merisik,'' or negotiation. He visits the woman's house for this task. During the ''merisik'', the woman gets to know the man's background such as family lineage, character and his ability to interpret the meaning of dreams from the woman's side. If the dream is not good, ''sogit mimpi'' (dream fine) is imposed for the purpose of reconciliation or peace. According to custom, if the man does not have a ''suruhan'', he can be fined with ''adat malu'' (reprehension) by the woman's family.

''Timpu monunui'' (Engagement)

The custom of ''monunui'', or engagement, is carried out by setting a date in advance if the proposal made in the previous ''merisik'' is accepted and both sides agree to the stipulated conditions. Usually, this custom is carried out on the 14th day of a one-month cycle, called "tawang kopiah", or the 15th day, called "tolokud". This custom can only be done in the morning and the man's family must leave the woman's house before 4.00 p.m.. The man gives the woman a ring as a sign of engagement. The engagement period is usually one year.

During the engagement ceremony, the head of the village and his servants sit in the front row. At this time, the bride-to-be is not allowed to leave the house. The groom-to-be is not allowed to be in the house area until the ceremony is over. Important matters that may be discussed during the engagement are ''tinunui'' (gifts or dowry), "kitchen expenses" or '' belanja hangus'', bride's gifts and ''sogit'' (fine). The custom of giving gifts or dowry, as well as covering "kitchen expenses", is part of the main elements of the marriage, and this is discussed by the head of the village, male's side and female's side. The meal for this discussion is usually a simple meal consisting of a few ''kirai'' leaves (tobacco leaf buds) and dried tobacco to be made into cigarettes.

''Timpu matod'' (Wedding ceremony)

The request of the female's family for the dowry is a buffalo, RM1,000 in cash and RM5,000 and above for "kitchen expenses" in cash. The mandatory custom of giving land is known as ''pinolusadan do aluwid'', along with approved land tax. The purpose of this gift is for the construction of a house for when the couple has children. If the groom does not have land, then giving four ''binukul'' (precious ancient items worth around RM1,000), called "adat berian", is considered to have fulfilled the specified conditions.

Gayang Tinompusuan

Gayang Tinompusuan, or Tenumpasuan, in I.H.N. Evans' book, is type of sword that is derived from the talwar, a sword originating outside Borneo. The talwar was often traded by traders from Brunei who came to Sabah. The talwar is a sword that originated in the Indian subcontinent, and the art of designing this sword is said to have originated from the Turkic peoples of Central Asia in the 1200s or 13th century and began to take its final form around the 1500s. This sword probably first became known in Southeast Asia around the same time, which is in the 1500s, brought by Indian, Arab, Persian and Turkish traders. They exchanged goods with various indigenous tribes, connecting inland regions to the coast through trade relations. Tomé Pires, in his book "Suma Oriental que trata do Mar Roxo até aos Chins (Summa of the East, from the Red Sea up to the Chinese)", written between 1512 and 1515, confirmed that, around the same time, all the trading ports in Southeast Asia had many Persian, Turkish, Arab and Indian traders. Different from other Dusun tribes, the Lotud tribe has replaced the original scabbard with one carved with a floral motif typical of the Lotud tribe. At the end of the scabbard is a carving resembling a scorpion's tail and is adorned with human hair from headhunting activities.

The Lotud Dusun has long been known as a strong tribe. When the Iranun tribe migrating from Mindanao to Sabah in the late 1700s, they established their colony on the coasts of Sabah, with one of their main settlements in the Tuaran area. The Iranun tribe at that time was ruled by Sultan Si Mirantou. Due to the Iranun doing illegal activities that threatened the safety of the Lotud in their daily lives, the Lotud attacked the Iranun settlement, forcing Sultan Si Mirantou and his people to migrate to Tempasuk. The Bajau Samah who came to Tuaran was able to assimilate well with the Lotud, so there were few conflicts between the two. The Lotud also fought many wars against other Dusun tribes such as the Tangara' Dusun, Tagahas Dusun, Bundu Dusun, Liwan Dusun, Tobilung Dusun and Rungus. In these wars, the Tinompusuan became one of the weapons that were used by the Lotud Dusun in fighting their enemies in ancient times. One of the notes about this weapon is in the book of I.H.N. Evans, related to the headhunting ritual in the Tuaran area, which he called "Domali", a ritual carried out when the heroes returned from war or headhunting with the success of bringing the head of the enemy. Evans explains a part of the ritual as follows:

:''…The portion of the ceremonies that I witnessed was a procession of seven or eight men walking in single file near a village, while they kept up a continual cry that had a peculiar whistling sound. Each man was wearing one of the brass-hilted swords known as "pedang", but this was sheathed in a scabbard about four feet long, which broadened out to a width of six inches at its farther end. The lower edges of the scabbard were profusely decorated with human hair and its outer face with carved patterns, the whole weapon being called a “tenumpasuan”. The leader of the party carried a conch-shell trumpet, on which he blew occasional blasts, and all wore attached to their belts large bunches of silad leaves. One man had a human vertebra to which was tied a triangular plaited ornament of the same kind of leaves.'' (I.H.N. Evans, 1922:162)

Settlement

Demographics

Traditional house

The traditional Lotud house consists of six parts, namely ''soliu'', ''soriba'', ''rapuhan'', ''kawas'', ''pantaran'' and ''tilud''. According to this tribe's belief system, their houses are imitations of houses in the spirit world.

* ''Soliu'' or the living room functions as a place for discussion, meetings and traditional ceremonies.
* ''Soriba'' or the space at the bottom is also used as a bed for guests.
* ''Rapuhan'' or ''ropuhan'' functions as a kitchen and is divided into salahan and paah for drying meat. The area separated by a wall is where unmarried girls sleep.
* ''Pantaran'' is the passageway and holds a water storage container for washing feet and hands before entering the house.
* ''Tilud'' is a space for storing rice and agricultural products.

Today, the traditional Lotud house is in the form of traditional architecture that is the most sophisticated achievement in architecture in the entire state of Sabah apart from the Murut longhouse in the Tenom district. The architectural structure of the Lotud house is made of planks (in the old days) that were roughly carved with an adze without the facility of a saw. The entire house does not use a single nail (nails that were almost impossible to obtain in the old days) but use a clever slip joint technique utilising the appropriate structural beams, as well as applying varnish to the wood surface. Each house unit consists of a sleeping area (''ko'odopo''), a kitchen (''ropuhan''), an attic (tilud) and a corridor (''olot-olot'') that separates the front wall of the house from the veranda (''soliu'').

Language

The Lotud ethnic group has its own, distinct language known as the Suang Lotud language. "Suang" means "group", while "Lotud" is the name of the tribe. The official language code for the Lotud Dusun language is DTR.

References

{{Portal bar, Malaysia, Society

Kadazan-Dusun people
Ethnic groups in Sabah
Sub-ethnic groups