Welcome to the month of May...

The most important festival of the Kadazans and Dusun in the month of May is the Kaamatan or harvest festival, where the spirit of the paddy is honoured after a year's harvest. This takes place in May, and the two last days of the month are public holidays throughout Sabah. During the celebration, the most celebrated event is the crowning of the 'unduk ngadau' or harvest queen, where native Kadazandusuns girls throughout the state compete for the coveted crown. The beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of 'Huminodon', a mythological character of unparalleled beauty said to have given her life in exchange for a bountiful harvest for her community..Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadazan The People of Sabah is celebrating the Harvest Festival after finishing their work at the paddy field and it is a yearly celebration for The Dusun, Kadazan and Murut in Sabah. The Harvest Festival is celebrated more than 500 years ago after a large number of Kadazan Dusun Murut migrate from the mainland of china to The Philippine and landed at Borneo. The history told that the origin of the KadazanDusunMururt is from the main land of north China, Mongolia. This is not proven yet but according to my friend sources who once visited Mongolia last month, the culture between this two nation is almost the same. What we have in Sabah also same in Mongolia in the perspective of culture. There are several hundred of small ethnic in Sabah and are united under this festival, Pesta Kaamatan but with different way of celebrating it. From Kudat to Lon Pasia to Kinabatangan to Sandakan and not forgetting Kunak, Semporna, Lahad Datu and Tawau also celebrating this festival. People need a time of peacefulness to enjoy and relax and celebrate our festival.

The main events is the beauty peagent Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan competition. The winner is from Tuaran and Runner Up is from Tamparuli. You can search through the Google and type " Pesta Kaamatan 2011 " and your search that particular website and get more information regarding to this events.

The largest indigenous group in Sabah is the Kadazan-Duzun, which makes up a third of the population. They are known as prolific rice-producers, but many have gone into other commercial markets outside their traditional field. They are also known for their colourful customs, including those that involve female priestesses named Bobohizan. Their most famous festival is the Harvest Festival or Tadau Kaamatan, which celebrates a season of good rice harvest.

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The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Dusun ethnic group, and also because of other political initiatives, a new unified term called "Kadazan-dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah.

Kadazan culture is heavily influenced by the farming of rice, culminating in various delicacies and alcoholic drinks prepared through differing home-brewed fermentation processes. Toomis and linutau are the main rice wine variants served and consumed in Kadazan populated areas, and are a staple of Kadazan social gatherings and ceremonies. The most important festival of the Kadazans is the Kaamatan or harvest festival, where the spirit of the paddy is honoured after a year's harvest. This takes place in May, and the two last days of the month are public holidays throughout Sabah. During the celebration, the most celebrated event is the crowning of the 'unduk ngadau' or harvest queen, where native Kadazandusuns girls throughout the state compete for the coveted crown. The beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of 'Huminodon', a mythological character of unparalleled beauty said to have given her life in exchange for a bountiful harvest for her community. In marriages, dowries are paid to the bride's family and an elaborate negotiation is arranged between the groom and bride's families. As a traditional gesture of politeness and civility, the dowry is metaphorically laid out with match sticks on a flat surface, with a representative from each side pushing and pulling the sticks across a boundary to denote the bargaining of the dowry. Dowries traditionally consisted of water buffaloes, pigs, sacks of rice and even urns of tapai. Modern dowry negotiations also include cash and land ownership deeds. Kadazan women from the Penampang and Dusun women from Keningau Ranau and Tuaran areas are widely regarded to have the most expensive dowries. While it is traditionally customary for Kadazans to marry within a village or a neighbouring village, a change of xenophobic attitudes over the past few decades has eased the difficulty once associated with inter-racial marriage. The Kadazans have a particularly good affinity with the local Chinese and this has resulted in the coinage of the term Sino-Kadazan, which is a phrase used to describe the half Kadazan, half Chinese offspring of such unions. Due to the overwhelming Christian influence, marriage to Muslim spouses, which results in a mandatory conversion to Islam, still induces outrage and rejection, and is known to divide fiercely traditional Kadazans. Of late, Islam has been embraced by a growing minority as a means to political ends considering the fact that the local Malay minority has gained political ascendance in recent years. Ruling Malay political parties have also openly been giving political and economical privileges to

Kadazans who agree to convert to Islam as well as to Kadazans with other religions such as Buddhist and Pagan.

Music and Dance

The Kadazans have also developed their own unique dance and music. Sumazau is the name of the dance between a male and female, performed by couples as well as groups of couples, which is usually accompanied by a symphony of handcrafted bronze gongs that are individually called 'tagung'. The sompoton is another musical instrument. A ceremonial ring of cloth sash is worn by both male and female. The Sumazau and gong accompaniment is typically performed during joyous ceremonies and occasions, the most common of which being wedding feasts. The Kadazan have a musical heritage consisting of various types of tagung ensembles ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drone without any accompanying melodic instrument. They also use kulintangan ensembles [8][9] ensembles with an horizontal-type melodic instrument. Sumazau Music Fusion

~ Pesta Kaamatan ~
Festival Date: 30 &31 MAY 2012 In May, the people of Sabah celebrate their harvest season. Though mainly a festival of the Kadazandusun,which makes up one third of the total population of the state, it is celebrated by every Sabahan.

They give thanks to the gods and spirits for blessings and a good paddy harvest, asking for guidance; they dance and eat and drink amidst much merrymaking! During this harvest festival, the Pesta Ka'amatan, known locally as Tadau Kaamatan, Sabah natives wear their traditional costumes and enjoy a carnival-like atmosphere, which usually stretches from dawn to dawn. Tapai, as their homemade rice wine is called, is freely served during the festivities. Although many young native Sabahans have been assimilated into urban settings, living and working in the cities and towns, they return to their ancestral longhouses and villages to join in the annual celebrations of their traditionally agricultural societies.

The origins of Ka'amatan, which means "after harvest", can be traced back to the animistic beliefs of the Kadazandusun. The Kadazans believe in the worship of ancient gods and in the existence of the five main spirits Kinoingan (Almighty God and Creator), Rusad (Spirit of all living things other than Man), Koududuvo (Spirit of the Living), Tombivo (ghostly Spirit of the Dead) and Rogon (evil Spirit). According to popular belief, the spirit of the padi plant is said to be part of the Kinoingan commonly known as the Bambaazon, who is revered as the overall creator, an omnipotent source of life and existence. Thus the spirit of Bambaazon is revered in the rice plant, the rice grain and the cooked rice. To the Kadazandusun, paddy is not only their staple food - it is also a sacred plant, a living symbol of Kinoingan's love for his people. Many believe that without rice, there is no life. Rituals performed during Ka'amatan are conducted by the much-respected Bobohizan or Bobolian, who are High Priests and Priestesses. There are several major components that make up Ka'amatan. There is the home coming of the Bambaazon, which is an integral part of the festival, thus ensure an abundant harvest if it is invited to dwell in the best ears of paddy, which have been selected for the next planting season. Next, there is the Magavau ceremony, where the Bobohizan are given the onerous duty of searching, salvaging and recovering Bambaazon which have inadvertently been lost, stolen or led astray - by pests and predators, natural phenomena such as floods and droughts, careless harvesters, and the like - reciting a long summoning prayer in the beginning of the harvest to cajole and persuade the Bambaazonto return to the rice barns. Then, there is the Unduk Ngadau, a traditional beauty contest, in which, of course, the fairest in the land will participate, and a Ka'amatan Queen will be selected. This is however no ordinary beauty contest, as it apparently owes its origins to the legend or story of the Kadazandusun's genesis, and their creator, Kinoingan's sacrifice of his only daughter Huminodun, for the love of his people. One of the many variant legends relates the following -

One day, Kinoingan started a farm, but after ploughing he realised that he had no seeds to plant. So he set off in search of some seeds with his valuable brass gong which he carried everywhere on his shoulder. On his way, he met birds and animals, and asked them if they had any seeds, to which they replied that they did not have any yet, having just been created by him. Even though Kinoingan knew that they had none, he nevertheless purposely asked this question to make them all realise that they would have to work hard for their livelihood. Because there were no seeds in the world then, Kinoingan in the end resourced to sacrificing his only, beautiful and obedient daughter so that all his people would have seeds to grow food they needed. Her head gave rise to coconuts, her flesh became rice padi, her blood (the most precious part) red rice, her fingers ginger, her teeth maize, her knees yams and other parts of her body many more edible plants. When the padi began to ripen, Kinoingan's wife, Suminundu was requested to first pick a little of it, thresh it, fry it, mix it with coconut flesh and its water and share it with her people and pets. Later, when the harvest came and Suminundu cut the stems of the padi with her sickle the voice of her daughter was suddenly heard requesting her to be careful.

When the time came for Kinoingan and his wife Suminundu to ascend to the heavens Kinoingan informed his wife that they had yet to perform some ceremonies, including a great feast for all the people he had created. For it was the request of Huminodun that it be done to "bestow their love and respect to her for the inheritance of the people of this world". But first he wrote down the customs of each country to guide the people. For those who could not read, he taught priestesses prayers for festive days and for curing sicknesses. But when the time for the feast came, Kinoingan was not happy. He felt a deep paternal longing for Huminodun and thought that she would surely be leading the feast if she were to be alive. Sadly, he played a tune with his bamboo flute and called his daughter's name. Miraculously, Huminodun came out of a big jar that was used to hold the remains of the threshed padi. Her return to life added untold joy to the festivities. When the feast was over, Kinoingan, his wife and his daughter disappeared in the heavens, bidding farewell to their guests.

Besides the solemn rituals and ceremonies that form the main function of Ka'amatan, a variety of other activities are held in the villages as well as on a state level including traditional sports such as buffalo races, blow pipe competitions traditional dances and arm, knuckle and finger wrestling.

Kaamatan Festival in Sabah (May l -31)

The Kaamatan or Harvest Festival is celebrated by the Kadazans / Dusuns in thanks for a bountiful harvest. Highlights include a beauty pageant, cultural dances and rituals culminating in the thanksgiving ceremony performed by the Bobohizan or high priestess.