"Tantagas" Suang Lotud Borneo:

Mamahui Pagun 2011.

Traditional priestesses and ritual specialists, or tantagas, are nearly always women, and are skilled in memorizing the rinait, the long ritual chants and prayers that are addressed to the Lotud deities. As among other Dusunic peoples, rinait  constitute a unique genre of poetic oral literature. They consist of series of biambic lines--the first in the everyday language, the second (having the same meaning) in the ritual language. They tell of the Creation of the World, the exploits of the deities, the origins of rice, prescriptions for moral living, ritual practices and other aspects of cultural life. Recitation of "rinait" may involve loud chanting or soft whispering, and can last for hours or days, according to the context and occasion.

The tantagas constitute a female hierarchy, with the most elderly who are grandmothers having the greatest spiritual knowledge and power. Younger women learn the rinait and the rituals from older tantagas (the novice is called tantagas wagu), while the most senior one is known as tantagas lawid). In addition to her personal name, each tantagas has a ritual name which is the name of her first grandchild prefaced with the title Odun (Grandmother). 

Mamahui Pogun Sunag Lotud Tantagas.

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Traditional Suang Lotud houses of Sabah Borneo,Malaysia.

Dusun Lamin/House In Borneo 1814.

A traditional Suang Lotud house, consisting of a veranda, kitchen and dining area, elevated sleeping and living area and storage attic, is said to replicate the houses in the spirit world of the Suang Lotud belief system.

The Lotud traditional longhouse is a remakable form of architecture. It is in fact the most sophisticated achievement in architecture in the whole of Sabah. This is because it is made of planks (in the old days) strenuously carved with the adze (Malay: beliung) without the facility of saws! The whole house uses not a single nail (as nails were almost impossible to obtain in the old days) but clever slip-in techniques of fitting beams, as well as tying up conenctions with rattans. A unit of the longhouse consists of a sleeping area (ko'odopo'), a kitchen (ropuhan), an attic (tilud), a corridor (olot-olot) separating the walled part of the house and the common varendah (soliw). The number of poles or stilts depends on the length or the number of living units. In the Tuaran district,.

Dusun Long House.

Root top Of  Dusun House Build By Palm Leaves/"Atap"

The flooring is made of stems of palm- trees split into laths, and in other cases of cane, bamboo or even twigs.

A model house Of Suang Lotud,Borneo.

Mangrove Palm or Nipah palm;

Palm leaves ; if the latter the nipa leaves are used when procurable. The flooring in some villages is made of stems of palm- trees split into laths, and in other cases of cane, bamboo or even twigs. The laths or bamboos allow a delicious current of air to permeate the apartment. The outer walls are of plank or nipa leaves, the inner of bark. No nails are used, the beams or rafters are lashed together with rattan and secured by wooden pegs. The posts are innumerable and of hard wood.

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Ceremonial Objects From Suang Lotud TUARAN

Ceremonial Dress:

Some description may well be given here of the dress worn by the women of tuaran dusun lotud on ceremonial occasions, as this differs vary materially from that in everyday use. The ceremonial head dress consists of stiff bunches of feathers, those of the cock or the argues pleasant are used, cut and dress into the form of a shuttlecock, having a long pin of bamboo fixed into the under surface. They are ornamented at the top with pieces of red cloth, and are insert into the hair so as to form a sort of crest running backward from the front of the head, where, owing to the hair being piled up, the hindermost clump of feathers is the most elevated, the crest thus having an upward slop from front to back. From the top of both the foremost and also of the hindermost tuft of feather depends a string of green beetles wing. Below the crest of the feathers there surrounds the head a fillet of red cloth backed with rattan cane, which is ornamented with oblong and square plate of silver gilt; these are embossed with various patterns. The body from the neck to the waist is clothed, in most cases, in a tight fitting blue or black jacket of Chinese cloth, and over this is an elaborately draped scarf of Borne an manufacture. These scarves, which are very old, are said they are very high valued, and are only worn on occasions of ceremony. Their color is generally is a mixture of red and yellow. Around the waist are red, black or natural colored rings made of rattan cane, such as are affected by all dusun lotud tuaran women. Below these is a short ceremonial skirt of variegated cloth, the material of which resembles that of a scarf, and this also is old and considered very valuable. The majority of the dusun lotud women taking part in the ceremonies wear round their necks and hanging down the breast, long, many-folded necklaces composed of old Chinese and Dutch beads; among these are round beads of cornelian, and also long bugles of the same stone, strung on the necklaces are long, ornaments of embossed silver, from about 3 to 31/2 inches long, which are hollow, but are filled with plugs of wood round at the top. The cones are so disposed on the chain that they hang in pair with their points directed downwards to form a sloping series on each side of the jacket. This necklace are termed a “KAMUGGI”, and a good specimen of many folds will often fetch a good price.

Another form of ceremonial neck ornament as the “OKOB”, together with an inferior specimen of the :KAMUGGI” ..............

A) Women head-dress of cocks feathers. The four tufts of feathers are fastened to bamboo pin which are inserted into a receptacle of palm-wood, usd as a mere holder.

B) Ceremonial necklace (kamuggi).

C) Ceremonial necklace (Okob),The plaques are of silver;backe with copper-The head mark 1 are of cornelian.

D) Tetubit used in ceremony of menghadji padi X 1/4.

e) Tetubit used in menghadji for sickness X 1/4.

Ceremonial Object Suang Lotud Tuaran.

Suang Lotud Ceremonial Objects.

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