Kaamatan (; ) is a form of harvest festival celebrated on 30 and 31 May annually in the state of Sabah in Malaysia.
It is observed annually on the month of May by the Kadazan people, Dusun people, Murut people, Rungus people, Lundayeh people, Paitan people, and Sino-Native ethnic groups as a commemoration for the sacrifice of Huminodun towards her community where various cultural and crafts performances were exhibited throughout the celebrations at the Hongkod Koisaan Hall in Penampang District with symbolic decoration followed by family and other social gatherings. The festival is also celebrated by Kadazan-Dusuns diaspora all around Malaysia, and abroad.
The festival is celebrated with various symbolic decoration and family and other social gatherings activities such as beauty pageants of Unduk Ngadau (female) and Randawi Tavantang (male), dance performance of Sumazau, Sugandoi singing competition, and other arts and crafts performances together with the availability of food booth throughout the festivals.
Etymology
The word
Kaamatan carries the meaning of "
harvest" in the Kadazan-
Dusun language languages,
derived from the Kadazan-Dusun word
"tomot".
In the Murutic languages, their harvest festival is called the
Kalimaran, although there are differences in the celebration that occurs from March and the
Kaamatan that occurs in May. In the
Rungus language,
Lundayeh, and Paitanic languages, the harvest festival is also referred to as
Kaamatan and is celebrated in the same month of May, with the Rungus had observing the
Kaamatan festival as part of their annual
Magahau festival.
During the
Kaamatan, roadside
billboard or
banner greetings such as "
Kotobian Tadau Tagazo do Kaamatan" (Kadazan) or "
Kotobian Tadau Tagayo do Kaamatan" (Dusun), which are translated to "Happy Harvest Festival" or "Wishing you a Happy Harvest Festival", are commonly found around Sabah during the festive season.
History
During the "Conference of the District Chiefs and Native Chiefs" of the
Crown colony of North Borneo in 1956, the native chief of the Interior
Dusun people, Sedomon Gunsanad Kina, proposed for the
Kaamatan celebration to be declared and gazetted as an official public holiday in North Borneo.
The British colonial authorities agreed on the proposal during the conference and on 9 May 1960, the celebration was gazetted by the British colonial authorities as an official public holiday for the region of North Borneo, under which it was announced during the "Annual Meeting of the Kadazan Association" under the then Chief Minister Donald Stephens.
The first largest celebration was held in 1961 and was considered a special celebration since it was the first time since 1960 the festival public holiday was given the official status of recognition, where it is still remembered more clearly and with more enthusiasm than the 1963 independence celebration day.
Symbolic significance of Kaamatan
According to a belief shared by all
, with some variations, the human race, created by the Supreme Being
Kinoingan (also referred as
Kinorohingan in different sources), experienced a severe
famine at the beginning of time.
daughter,
Ponompuan (later named as
Huminodun), sacrificed herself to provide food for humanity, resulting in the production of rice as the main staple, along with other essential crops such as
coconut,
tapioca,
ginger, maize, and
taro from different parts of her body.
The myth further narrates that
Huminodun was transformed into
Bambaazon, a spirit emerging from a large
jar containing the rice harvested by humans on the first day.
An essential aspect of the myth includes
Huminodun's instruction that, before starting the harvest, the father should take seven stalks of paddy (called
toguruon), tie them to one end of a spliced bamboo stick, plant them at the centre of the field, and then store them in the rice container after the harvest. These seven stalks of paddy symbolise the spirit of rice,
bambaazon (or
bambarayon in interior dialects), which is believed to be responsible for abundant harvests.
This creation story played a central role in the traditional belief system of the Dusun peoples and formed the basis of numerous rituals performed annually during the rice harvest. The most significant of these rituals was the magavau ceremony, led by the ritual specialists known as bobohizan, to recover grains of rice that might have been lost or left in the field, carrying the Bambaazon with them and thereby preventing future crop shortages.
Celebration activities
Kaamatan is normally celebrated by the ethnic
, as well as by other related ethnic groups in the state such as
Murut people (named as
Kalimaran),
Rungus people,
Lundayeh people, and
Sino-Native, and the celebration lasts for the whole of the month of May, ending with a public holiday on a date selected by a priestess known as the
bobohizan.
A female beauty pageant known as Unduk Ngadau and its recent male counterpart, Randawi Tavantang, will be held, and it ends the harvest festival with a newly crowned Unduk Ngadau and Mr Kaamatan in the annual host district, Penampang.
Popular drinks during the festival are tapai (rice wine) and kinomol, which is a traditional alak drink. Tapai is drunk from a small bamboo vessel known as a sumbiling or from special glasses called singgarung, likewise made from bamboo.
See also
-
List of harvest festivals
-
Kadazandusun Cultural Association
-
Gawai Dayak
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
