Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan

"Selamat Hari Besar Kaamatan" is the direct translation of my post title, in Kadazan language. Perhaps, many if not all of friends of mine out there, not originating from Sabah in particular, wonder what do we, the Kadazans (and Dusuns), do on this day?
To start with, I myself have very limited experience when it comes to the "rituals" done on Kaamatan day. Perhaps the reason being is one that my family (both paternal and maternal) do not practice nor participate in those rituals anymore due to religious reason. Another reason is that they've made Kaamatan day valued to more of a commercial festival, that we the young and stupid completely unaware of the traditions, whilst originally it was supposed to be of worship of only particular people participating it. These days, or even from years back as far as my memory can stretch, people of all sort of color and beliefs converge and celebrate this special day.
But anyway, I am trying to share my rare experience with you, of watching how real Kadazans celebrate Kaamatan a decade ago (yes, I am that old!). I happened to have a long-distant relative that still practice this back then, I doubt if they're still now though.
To recite back, only "chosen" people can actually conduct and participate actively in its rituals. These chosen people, are usually old, wise ladies leaders and several other middle ages women and men followers to my recall. In one occasion, it's okay to have 2 simultaneous "leaders" in rituals at the same place. This place where rituals took place is usually paddy field, or somewhere near to your harvest. In contrast to the potrayals of "harvesting session" as in Kaamatan's Feast (be it district level, state level, or national level), all participants need not wear that well known "black+gold" attire. As long as you're clothed, then that's good enough (or else it won't be Kaamatan!!). The number of people involved in this ritual usually a dozen, more or less. Also, the date, or which month is it doesn't matter, as long as you're harvesting your harvest. So May 31st, is not a definite day for Kaamatan really.
Now that I've prepared you with the technical details of it, lets start grinding on the process of the ritual itself. So it starts with the leader(s) chanting some ancient, memorised prayers, while the rest meditate on it. Why I say it's ancient, it's because I myself can't even fathom what they're praying. This goes on for maybe half-an hour or so, I guess it depends on how quickly the leaders spit out the prayers :). However, please do not read too much into my 12 years old mindset speculation, I could be dead wrong at that time. Unfortunately really, I never knew what sort of prayers do they whispers, nor did I bother to ask until now. Maybe it's high time to get to know more of my own tribe cultures!
Anyway, lets go on! Then the followers will start singing and, some of the ladies chant prayers (at this junction, I am not quite sure if they're merely repeating what the leaders said, or they're adding more prayers, or even replied to what leaders had just said) while some of them at the same time prepared "sirih and tobacco" put in a special brass plate in the middle of the circle where they sit. Long chantings, and all that maybe lasted for another half-an hour or so. This is just another boring 'prologue' you may think for now, but wait!
So here comes the interesting part. The leader(s) will now sit in the middle of the circle, whispering something while rearranging those things on the plate. At the same time, followers will stand and start moving (I wasn't sure if there's any prefered direction, i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise) slowly, circling the leaders. Then, the leaders will sing in loud, high pitch voice something, while the rest start doing that ever famous Sumazau dance within the circle. Many movements here that I cannot really find enough words to describe to you how captivating was it that time. All and all, it has taken me back, and the aura is still here this moment!
After they're done with this, the leaders will go out of the circle, grab a Saging (a leaves-woven basket) to head off to the field. At this juncture, the followers will sit down and silently chant some prayers, and one or two of them will leave to follow the leaders. This is yet another best part of it, because I had the honor of trailling behind these ladies to the field since I was the Gambit (a hand-made hook, that is used to cut harvest) carrier. So, what do we do in the middle of the field? The leaders is ought to chose seven 'ruvang' of paddy, deemed to her out of the area of the harvest. Ruvang is the word used, and I can't fnd a good translation of that in English, so let me explain it as much details as I could. When you have grains grown out, you will chose the best according to how strong the grains held to its branches (this to represent that you have excellent elements e.g. soils water etc, that can support your harvest), thickness of the branches (this to represent that you have taken much care of your harvest, from its early growth to its harvest time), and also numbers of paddy grains in one branch (to represent that in order to 'return your good deeds', grains blessed you with heaps of them to sustain your wellbeing). The reason of the numbers of ruvang chosen to be seven is unknown to me, and I reckon it's best to leave it unanswered to preserve its sacredness. These 7 ruvangs will be kept until next season for paddy planting start again. These grains of ruvang are supposed to be mixed with the grains that you are going to plant, so as to keep the blessing for this season continued to the next.
So, we head back to the hut, or the place where the rest are waiting for us, wrapped the 7 ruvang with leaves from the wild (not specific), and they finish off the rituals with 5-10 minutes more prayers, and off we go..Kaamatan Feast! :). Once this is done, tomorrow, or as early as you can, gather as much people as you can to harvest your bountiful, blessed paddy!
Now, you may wonder, where does this Unduk Ngadau Huminodun play her role in the rituals? Because it was believed that all grains that sustained our life originate from parts of her body, her role is seminal in our harvest. She sacrificed herself for the good of the people, not wanting to see more and more innocent and helpless person dies because of hunger. She had asked her Father, Kinoihingan, with his power to transform her into source of food to keep people alive. Being a farmer's daughter, I have had always been reminded that one grain of rice, not eaten and thrown away, Huminodun cried heaps for her selfless sacrifices not being appreciated by the people that she's willing to die for to save. And today, I wish to spread out this reminder to you out there, everytime we waste a grain of anything (be it rice, corn etc), somebody else crying for food that she/he had never gotten the chance to taste. How ungrateful have we been!
I have many pros and cons of the celebration that we've back in Sabah today. It's a good thing that they're honoring it, and even putting it on calendar as a public holiday for families far and apart to unite and feel the festive mood. Indeed I have absolutely no complaints about how attractive today is compared to other ordinary days, when we all come together to appreciate other's diversity in culture. What I personally distaste of is the way Kaamatan Festival being rebranded more of a 'search of the Huminodun' every year. Yes, exactly that Beauty Pageant contest that irked me the most. The 'criteria' for the 'Huminodun' title is that she must be this and that and all. Not only it exploits women (today, you can have few parts of Unduk Ngadau: night gowns, traditional costumes, bikinis etc), it is that it degrade 'Huminodun' true spirit in many ways. One that I can think of is that a real Huminodun need not be judge by her appearances, nor her education backgrounds, nor her competency level in terms of current and general knowledge (mind you, these are all 'tested' in the Sabah Level Kaamatan Festival every year!), but solely for her fight to help and improve others' lives. So instead of having beautiful girls (I absolutely have no problems with them:P) parading for few hours to win the title 'Unduk Ngadau', what the committee should do is go around, up, down and under the state, look for the real Huminodun that had always been there to provide and support others with all means that she could got hold onto. Honor these Huminoduns, that had always been the pivot for other helpless people to get on with their lives. To me, what makes a person Huminodun is solely her pure heart that believes in emphasizing others' comfort, bring joy to her own being regardless of the hassles that she has to go through. And yes, there are many Huminoduns out there, deserving merit, yet their limelights were stolen.