Bamboo Dance by Rungus from Kudat

Graceful dance by Rungus women from Kudat district in a longhouse.

The Rungus, a sub-group of the Kadazandusun ethnic group, is Sabah's most traditional people. It is uncertain how long this community has called Kudat home, but their isolation from the mainstream of development in the State until recently has been the reason why the Rungus have remained true to their traditions and belief.

While they share many of their beliefs, rituals and festivals with the rest of the Kadazandusun, the Rungus have a host of unique legends and practices, as well as distinctive costumes and architecture. One of the most significant features of the Rungus is their longhouse. Unlike the longhouses in Sarawak, the traditional Rungus longhouse does not contain a large number of unrelated families living under one roof. The way it is for this community is that the longhouse starts as a single family dwelling and as the daughters marry, a new house is built for them and their husbands alongside the parents' house, thus, extending the longhouse over the generations. A good opportunity to see such longhouses is at Kampung Bavanggazo, which is located in a valley 41 km south of Kudat town. Kampung Bavanggazo highlights the way of life and the traditions of the Rungus people.

The longhouses here are built using traditional resources like rough hew wood, split bamboo and beaten bark. If seeing the longhouse has managed to excite your curious taste buds for culture, then the dance of the Rungus people, the mongigol sumundai will certainly awe you even more. When a member of the longhouse falls ill, a healing ceremony called tumuron will be performed by the bobolizan (high priestess) to invoke the wandering spirit to return to the body. This ritual is typically concluded with the mongigol sumundai dance. A male dancer symbolising the head of a dragon will lead a body of three to eight female dancers whose arms are continuously kept close to their sides with minimum motion of the wrists. The slow paced movements are accompanied by the melody of four gongs and a drum called tontog.

The costumes worn by the women include a banat tondu (elaborately woven tube top) and tapi rinugading (knee-length sarong) that is dressed with a wide slip-on arm sleeve, colourful strands of beads and a titimbok (floral head piece).This dance is also regularly performed during festive occasions and to welcome dignitaries.