The Harvest Festival (Unduk Ngadau)

As some of our foreign friends may already know, the Harvest Festival of the
Kadazandusuns is celebrated on the 30th and 31st of May. I seem to recall that it is
supposed to be celebrated non-stop for those 2 days.

One of the highlights of the Kaamatan Festival or the Harvest Festival is the Beauty
Pageant. Known as the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan or Harvest Queen Competition. The
local beauties are judged at district level with the final being held at Kadazan Dusun
Cultural Association (KDCA) Hongkod Koisaan on 31st May. The ladies of the pageant
are dressed in dazzling traditional ethnic costumes, traditional hairstyle, with
accessories befitting a princess.

The question all contestants were asked was: “What makes the Unduk Ngadau Beauty
Pageant different from other beauty pageants?”
The Unduk Ngadau, Leonie Lawrence’s winning answer was: “Unlike other beauty
pageants, Unduk Ngadau re-lives the story of the legend of Huminodun, who sacrificed
herself to save mankind.” Her answer says a lot about the people of Sabah, their
traditions and their culture.

unduk ngadau

This is a beauty pageant steeped in tradition and legend. The first Unduk Ngadau
competition was held in the early 1960s, but the true history and meaning of the beauty
pageant goes back to the legends.
Kaamatan

Following the footsteps of Legends

When the earth was plagued by the seven scourges sent down by the deity
Kinorohingan to punish mankind for their sinful ways. The seventh scourge was
drought and famine which threatened to end all life on earth. Kinorohingan’s only
daughter Ponompuan, also referred to as Huminodun, took pity on mankind’s plight
and sacrificed herself to end the famine that had plagued her father’s people. Her body
parts were planted as seeds and became rice, the staple food source of the people.
Thus the importance of rice in the lives of the Kadazandusun, as rice embodies the
spirit of Huminodun who sacrificed herself to save humanity.

Padi, because it is part of Huminodun, embodies a sacred spirit namely “Bambaazon” or

in some dialects “Bambarayon” and so during Harvest festival or Kaamatan, the
Kadazandusuns regard it befitting to hold a feasting celebration to honor Bambaazon. In
turn the Bambaazon is believed to improve the harvest every year.

this Festival Harvest are very important to the society wereby this show our richness in
culture to the tourism and to the world. Thus, our unic culture are our pride and
backbone to our society, furthermore creating one country that had multiculture etnic as
a symbol of peace and our brief and respect to our own culture.

http://aboutsabah.com/living-here/ethnic-beauty-contest/