7/29/2019 Murut Newpaper
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New Sabah TimesII Thursday, January 10, 2008
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If you are invited to a Murut Wedding, think twice!!Especially
if it is not just a simple wedding MalayStyle, but a tinauh, or
bului. Both, the tinauh
and the bului are highly traditional affairs, and theyare best
described as the last handing over of theoutstanding dowry that was
initially agreed on forthe bride. The bului ceremony is even
grander thanthe tinauh, but this text will content itself to
expla-nations pertaining to the tinauh of the TataluanMurut.
A tinauh can be held two years after a youngman has taken a
Murut wife, in a ceremony calledlimpoho.
This was once the official wedding ritual and pro-
cedure of the Sepulut and Pensiangan Murut. Often,the young
husband was not able to pay his debt soquickly. The pulut (dowry)
for a Murut girl canamount to up to RM40,000 in goods and cash,
andthus frequently the tinauh is only held twenty yearsafter the
limpoho. It has been said that, sometimes,the man has taken another
one or two wives by then
The tinauh is in danger of disappearing, as areso many customs.
It is becoming rarer, nowadays,that the parents in law of a young
man require thelimpoho, which will then automatically call for
thetinauh or bului later.
One of the reasons for the disappearance of thiscustom is that
the ceremony requires an elaborateplanning and is very
labour-intensive. Murut partiesare beyond description, to say the
least, and prepa-rations for a full tinauh ceremony can involve
anentire village and planning of more than a month.
Presently, these are not practical affairs anymore. Our lives
are ruled by hectic schedules,
duties and modern day jobs, to many of which theMuruts have now
also become accustomed to.
Yet, in remote, rural areas, where people stilladhere to their
traditional life as rice farmers andhunters, limpohos are still
customary.
There, life follows the little disturbed and spiritu-al age-old
rhythm, with its intricate social patternthat once dominated the
entire island of Borneo.
When a tinauh is going to be held, a village issubjected to long
discussions amongst the villageelders. Many aspects have to be
considered, amongothers to make sure that everyone who is sum-moned
will be able to attend.
As a general rule, a season of good rice-harvestis likely to be
followed by some tinauhs. This wasthe case in 1998. Though several
places around thecountry suffered from an exceptionally
longdraught, in the heart of Sabah, the harvest
wasextraordinary.
PRELIMINARIESIt was decided that on July 11, 1998, Makinik,
who
had been married to one Sangkina 20 years ago,should pay his
final dowry to Korom, the headmanof Labang and father of the
bride.
Sangkina is Koroms eldest daughter by his firstwife. The dates
for the festivities were fixed duringa discussion between Korom and
all the tuanrumah (the heads of the individual household) ofhis
longhouse, since the party would involve every-one in the
family.
During the discussion all the tuan rumah deter-mined who they
would invite from their family forthe ceremony, and who they would
invite assumaang: helpers during the party.
Then, it was decided what the guests shouldbring to the tinauh:
being officially invited to atinauh is more of an order than
anything else.
It is costly and requires those summoned to allo-cate a
significant amount of personal time.
Gifts range from money to jewellery to buffaloes,apart from
gongs and beads which are compulsory.
These items are written down and sent together
with an elaborate buyuung movatik,an intricately
woven rattan basket to the invitees.The buyuung is an evocative
of even older tradi-
tions, when invitations were not sent in writtenform. The
baskets are sent out through a specialcourier, the angkaunan, the
postman in the Murut
language.Next to the requirements in goods, an invitee
also gets to know if he has to buka tapai, as well asthe price
of the ritual. Buka tapai is literally trans-lated as the opening
of the cassava wine a homefermented wine from cassava roots, served
inancient jars.
The custom requires that the one who bukatapai has to pay the
owner of the tapai. Above thesetapai jars, strings of beads,
fruits, sweets, pickledmeat and cigarettes are suspended for the
invitee topurchase. Here again, the invitee is bound by cus-tomary
regulations, whereas it is a must for him topurchase these goods.
To signify the purchase (thepamarahan), he will have to tie his
money abovethe jars as well.
PREPARATIONSOnce that settles, the tuan rumah will start
with
the preparations for the feast. One to two monthsbefore the
event, tapai has to be prepared. Old andvaluable jars, some dating
back to the early Ming
Dynasty, will be filled with cooked cassava roots.The yeast
added to the cooked tuber will cause itsfermentation, and later
water is poured over themixture in the jar.
Some of these jars are so big that they require upto three
karung (50kg rice-sacks) of cassava root.
The most cherished heirloom jars will be in themain display, but
numerous pemahamis have to beprepared, jars with tapai that will
replace the bigones when they are finished. Then, fish and
pickledmeat (tamba no papait / assi) has to be prepared,and for
this the men must go hunting; the womenhave to weave baskets,
string beads, and gatherheirloom.
Preparation alone causes an exciting happeningin a usually quiet
Murut settlement. In addition,since a huge number of guests is
expected, housesmay have to be extended.
In the case of Makiniks tinauh, Koromsseven-door longhouse
was able to accommodate the guest of 400 adultsand scores of
children. Nevertheless, some rela-tives who arrived early built
temporary houses.
A sangiang, a peculiar construction servingonly one function, if
not merely to indicate the inten-tion of holding a tinauh: to
receive the dowry anddisplay it, has to be built as well. The
wealth andimportance of a Murut still depend and are judgedon how
many jars, especially old ones, and howmany gongs, heirloom beads
and belts he can pro-vide to pay for his bride.
Of course, in olden times heads taken in battlewould add to the
importance of the man, and theseskulls are also displayed on the
sangiang.
THE TINAUHThe arrival of the guests took place over threedays.
Everybody took temporary residence in theLabangs community hall,
where the inhabitants ofthe different households, and the sumaang
inKoroms longhouse served lunch.
A minor drinking party in anticipation of the bigfeast started
along the corridor of the hall. When thesun set on the third day,
the last of the guestsarrived, and soon everybody changed into
their tra-ditional outfits: the ladies donned their
elaboratelybeaded black dresses, and wore ancient carneliantiaras.
The men put on equally colourful shirts andless traditional but
more decent trousers, also stud-ded with innumerable beads.
Everyone waited with great excitement whenKorom finally
proceeded to the opening of thetinauh. Standing at the bottom of
the outdoor san-giang he officially opened the ceremony with
anancient haiang, a head-hunters sword, by slicing asection of
bamboo filled with blessed water.
It was only now that everybody was allowed upthe sangiang, to
inspect the dowry closer.
Makinik and Sangkina were sitting on a dais,receiving the wishes
of everybody. It was now thatwe got a first taste of tapai.
For this special occasion the Murut here makelinahas, a sweet
and mild wine made from rice,instead of cassava tuber.
Then the gong-players went seven times aroundthe berian
displayed on the sangiang, before enter-ing the house. Here again,
the players went seventimes around the sangiang, hidden behind
manylengths of cloth.
The gong beating continues said to ward off evilspirit during
the sacred rituals. During the chaos,the antalanensued, the
bringing of the berian intothe house for assessment by the
families.
All of a sudden, the gongs and the clamourstopped and everybody
was silent. In the dim lightof the kerosene lamps all eyes were
fixed upon thesangiang.
When the sangiang was undraped, when jars andjars of tapai are
revealed, the silence was over andeverybody talked at once. The
display was respect-ed and judged, and for the reputation of the
housethis is a crucial moment. The display should be per-fect. One
mistake could bring about hefty fines tothose involve in building
the sangiang and arrang-ing the presentation.
Everyone decided that it was perfect, and eachman found the jar
he was supposed to open. Thebuka tapai fee was paid, and soon
everybody wasdrinking.
The next few days were filled with festivities.Everyone share
the joy with the couples, includingthose who worked hardest during
the preparation ofthe feast.
Buffaloes and chicken were slaughtered, and theladies ensued in
long discussions over the arrange-ment of beads in the bobok.
The wedding lasted five days and four nights.When everyone left
for their long journey home,
their initial expenses was been rewarded manifold.Gunnies full
of the much coveted Murut hill rice
went with them to Keningau, or even as far as KotaKinabalu,
together with loads of pickled meat andfish.
It was a tremendously engaging experience forthose who are
fortunate enough to attend this won-derful ceremony. Therefore,
even in this time oftransition, when only too little value is given
to oldceremonies and ritualistic proceedings, this tradi-tional
wedding process of the Murut has certainpractical aspects and
hopefully those who have hadthe opportunity of attending this rare
occasion willbe able to document it fully for the benefit of
thefuture generations.Tinauh
A Murut Wedding Celebration
