Indigenous Tribe

INTRODUCTION

Bajau community is the second largest aboriginal ethnic in Sabah also known as t
he Sama community. Bajau culture is very limited and not prolific, particularly the Bajau of Kota Belud. Different phase of settlement has made them settle on land and this has influenced their job pattern or sea activities such as fishing to planting and breeding farm animals. The majority of Bajau community are Muslims, and only few of the sub-ethnic groups of Bajau especially ‘Palau’ practice pagan beliefs. Still other Bajau live a lifestyle between nomadic and sedentary, housed in the villages on the water, not far from land. This house like wood ship called lepa-lepa.

THE TRADITIONAL CUSTOM

The Kota Belud Bajau Horseman are the famous Cowboys of the East. During special occasions, the Bajau Horseman wears a black, sometimes white, long-sleeved shirt called badu sampit . Smart, gold buttons betawi run down the front opening and the shirt is also decorated with silver flowers called intiras . The trousers are more tight-fitting than the bajau bridegroom's seluar sama . The sheath is made of wood and silver. He also carries a spear bujak and a shipping crop pasut . Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Bajau horseman is his horse, or rather pony. This cloth is tied around the pony's legs to keep it in place. Antique brass bells seriau, colourful reins tingalu and bridle kakang all make for a very festive pony costume.

BAJAU DANCER

The Bajau have lost some of their heritage as some of their stories were never re-told to the next generation. The Bajau are also beginning to lose something of their identity as they integrate with their adopted, land-based communities. Even the most traditional, seafaring Bajau are losing their boat-building craft as they replace their hand-made lipa-lipa boats with commercially built, mass-produced ones. On Sabah's southeastern-most coast these lipa-lipa boats are a feature of the annual Semporna festival, for which the boats are colorfully decorated and raced against each other in a celebration of Bajau culture.

DEATH RITUAL

The death rituals called ngeduang ceremony. Ngeduang symbolizes the act of feeding the dead and helping him or her to go on with the new life in the new world. Ngeduang also means the deed of alms by the family of the dead to the poor people and the people who attend the feast. The alms refer to the food called duang. Normally, duang contains few traditional food such as kalas, kuih sinsim, kuih jala’, kuih penjaram, kuih berate, saging randang, kuih wajid, inti’ and also rice and dishes where each will represent something. Besides, the relationship between the explicit and implicit meanings of the duang with the Bajau’s interpretation and perception towards their lives will also be elucidated.