Rungus people

The Rungus people, also known as the Momogun Rungus,^[1] are an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to Sabah, Malaysia. They primarily live in the northern Kudat Division, especially in the districts of Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas, with small minorities also exists in the Beluran district on the east coast of the Sandakan Division. They have a distinct language, dress, architecture, customs and oral literature from other Dusunic sub-groups, with an estimate of around 74,000 Rungus people spread across the state aside from their native ranges.^[2]

The Rungus are Bornean indigenous people who originally came from the hills of Kudat Division at the tip of Sabah, which is a sub-group of the largest indigenous of Kadazan-Dusun.^[1][3] The ethnic are among the most traditional ethnic group in Sabah,^[3] with their culture revolves around rice;^[4] however, coconut and banana groves provide cash income.^[3] Women weave cloth on backstrap looms, and make containers from vine or beadwork.^[4] Rungus modern society have now work in town, and have abandoned the communal life of the longhouse.^[5] Momogun Rungus has a very antique traditional writing which is one of the forms of writing hieroglyphs or called Surip in the Rungus language.

Rungus cuisine is mainly prepared using cooking methods like braising, grilling and baking. Being a community of fishermen and farmers, the staple foods of the Rungus people usually consists of rice and cassava, supplemented with green vegetables and fish. Tinunuvan soguntung is the Rungus term for a preparation of grilled or roasted eggplant.^[6] The cooked eggplant is peeled, and served with chillies, lime juice, toasted ikan bilis or salted fish, and sprigs of lompodos (a local variety of basil). Tinonggilan is a slightly sparkling alcoholic drink made from maize.^[7] Akin to the Latin American corn beer, Tinonggilan is a Rungus speciality and is usually served during festive occasions, or as refreshments for guests during the performance of a ritual dance called Mongigol Sumundai.^[8] The Rungus also prepare simple sweet foods such as flatbread made from sweetened grated cassava (tinopis runti) and bintanok dalai, or mashed corn wrapped and steamed in corn husks. These are to be consumed for breakfast or as snacks.

Magahau is the main festival of the Rungus ethnic group. Magahau is a festival of ancient Rungus tradition associated with the celebration of the new year according to the traditional calendar of Rungus. Like the Kadazan-Dusun ethnic, Rungus ethnic people also celebrate Kaamatan. Kaamatan is part of Magahau in Rungus Festival, with the festive is one of the many festive entities during Magahau. This festival is usually celebrated on 31 May every year. Even though there are many similarities the way of celebration between this two race but there is also comparison. Among the current major entities of the Magahau are Moginum, Mangantag, Mangatod, Mogontong, Moginakan, Lumuvas, Kaamatan (Mongolosod), Mabbaris (Sumazau), and Manaradan.

The traditional Rungus dress is black in colour, often with hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of antique beads. Traditionally all of the Rungus women wore heavy brass coils around their arms, legs and necks. Brass arm coils are often accompanied by white and coral shell bracelets. Rings of brass may also be worn around the waist. This beadwork and its designs easily distinguish the Rungus from the other ethnic groups of Sabah. "The beadwork often tells a story and this one in particular tells of a man going spear-hunting for a riverine creature".^[9] The pinakol consists of a pair of flat beaded bandoleer-type belts worn crossed over the chest and back.^[10]

The sandang is a pair of long beaded strands, mostly with matching beads. These are worn crossed over the chest like the pinakol. The sullau is a flat beaded choker worn around the neck with two clamshell discs, one in front and one in back. Small bells are attached in the front. They make the discs out of plastic nowaday The tinggot is a short choker, either single beaded or with narrow beadwork. Men and women wear these. The togkul is a necklace some 26 inches (66 cm) long with beads similar to the sandang but smaller and worn around the neck. The sisingal is a narrow beaded band worn around the head. The rampai is made of cotton, flowers and beads worked into the hair. The orot. "Little brass rings and antique beads looped through thin strands of stripped bark (togung) becomes a wide and colourful hipband. To wear this the orot is slowly and carefully coiled around the hip. Then a last string of beads (Llobokon) is hung loosely from the coil. The orot is hand made by the Rungus men as the technique is known only to them".^[9] There are also sad'ang, earrings that sometimes have beads attached. Many of the beads used by the Rungus are plastic and glass imitations of older heirloom beads. Materials such as plastic spoons were heated over a flame and the hot plastic are then winded onto a metal rod to make yellow beads.^[11]

Traditionally, this tribe practised an indigenous belief system known as agama Labus, although some writers label it as animism, with priests or shamans called rampahan and the highest female priestesses called bobolizan.^[12] The bobolizan originates with the Tuaran District Lotud Dusun sub-group, but sometimes the Rungus also called bobolizan to talk to spirits in the old language. In the present days, most Rungus are now Christians belonging to the Protestant Church in Sabah (PCS) in the Lutheran tradition of Protestantism and although being an ethnic-based church,^[13] it consists mostly of Malaysian language-speaking congregations throughout Sabah as well as in West Malaysia with a mission church in the Federal Territory of Labuan, neighbouring Singapore and developed relationships with sister churches in Kalimantan of Indonesian Borneo.^[14] A smaller minorities of this tribe also adhere to other Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism, Borneo Evangelical Church, Anglicanism, True Jesus Church and Seventh-day Adventism as well as a number of Muslim minority.^[15][16][17]

Considered one of the most traditional ethnic groups in Sabah, many Momogun Rungus live in longhouses, with each family having its own separate quarters off a common hall. At the edge of the communal hall, a well-ventilated platform of split bamboo with outward sloping walls provides a place for socialising and communal work. The Rungus longhouse is quite different from the Murut longhouse. The houses are not perched on high stilts, but are usually only three to five feet above ground. The roof is low, and the walls are outward sloped. In olden times, longhouses of over 75 doors are said to have been common. Now, they rarely exceed 10 doors. Usually single story, more modern two-story versions of the longhouse also exist. Single-family houses are sometimes built near the longhouse – these take the same form, but are curiously short, looking like a slice from a cake.

• Datuk Mathius Majihi - First Rungus became assistant minister in Sabah.
• Datuk Markus Majihi - the former Rungus became assistant minister in Sabah.
• Datuk Wetrom Bahanda - former Sabah state minister and Kota Marudu MP.
• Datuk Verdon Bahanda - Kudat MP.
• Datuk Redonah Bahanda - Sabah state political sectary to Chief Minister of Sabah.
• Datuk Julita Majungki - Sabah assistant state minister.

• Benggon-Charuruks, I.; Padasian, J. (1993). Cultures, Customs, and Traditions of Sabah, Malaysia: An Introduction. Sabah Tourism Promotion Corporation. ISBN 978-983-020-000-2.
• Lasimbang, Rita; Moo-Tan, Stella (1997). An Introduction to the Traditional Costumes of Sabah. Natural History Publications. ISBN 978-983-812-013-5.
• Borneo Research Council (Williamsburg, Va) Conference (2000). Borneo 2000: Environment, conservation, and land. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. ISBN 978-983-9257-04-5.
• Bahauddin, Azizi; Abdullah, Aldrin; Maliki, Nor Zarifah (2015). "THE RUNGUS LONGHOUSE OF SABAH, MALAYSIAN BORNEO – A DYING ARCHITECTURE" (PDF). SHS Web of Conferences. 18 (02002, ICoLASS 2014 – USM-POTO International Conference on Liberal Arts & Social Sciences). doi:10.1051/shsconf/20151802002.
• Pugh-Kitingan, Jacqueline (2015). "Cultural and Religious Diversity in Sabah and Relationships with Surrounding Areas" (PDF). Islam and Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia. ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. CORE output ID 195718969. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2025.
• Ooi, Keat Gin (18 December 2017). Historical Dictionary of Malaysia. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-1-5381-0885-7.
• Lamport, Mark A. (1 June 2018). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-1-4422-7157-9.
• Mohd Khalli, Mohd Nazmi; Sintang, Suraya; Ationg, Romzi (2023). "Islam dan Perubahan Sosial dalam Masyarakat Rungus di Matunggong, Sabah" [Islam and Social Change in the Rungus Community in Matunggong, Sabah] (PDF). Journal of Malaysian Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2024 – via Universiti Sains Malaysia.
• Chin, James; Leong, Pauline Pooi Yin (13 August 2024). Social Media and Political Communities in Malaysia. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. ISBN 978-981-5203-16-5.

• Appell, George N (2002). "Rungus Dusun, Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement". Encyclopedia.com.
• Romut, Joisin; Sading, Denis J.; Iban, Flora (2013). Inventori budaya etnik negeri Sabah etnik Momogun Rungus [Inventory of ethnic culture of the state of Sabah, Momogun Rungus ethnic group] (in Malay). Sabah State Cultural Board. ISBN 978-967-10848-1-6.

Media related to Rungus at Wikimedia Commons