Abstract
Situated along upper portions of the Kinabatangan River of eastern Sabah, from beyond Tongod upriver to below Kota Kinabatangan downstream, the Makiang speak a dialect of the Upper Kinabatangan language, one of five languages in Sabah’s indigenous Paitanic Family of Languages. Known as the Milian in the Makiang dialect, the Kinabatangan is said to be Sabah’s longest river. Over hundreds of years, it has provided a link between indigenous peoples in its upper reaches and east coast maritime peoples. The river has enabled trade between the many different interior communities with coastal peoples, leading to the diffusion of objects, ideas and practices. This paper discusses instruments and genres of Makiang group music that suggest evidence of diffusion from Sama’-Bajau and also Suluk musical practices, including the morunsai vocal dance genre as well as the performances of the ensembles sampasang no gabang and sampasang no kulintangan. It illustrates evidence for the processes of cultural convergences through which east coast Sama’-Bajau musical practices that have been absorbed into interior cultures and transformed over time. Keywords: group music, morunsai, sampasang no gabang, sampasang no kulintangan, Makiang, Paitanic language family, Sama’-Bajau, eastern Sabah, diffusion, cultural convergence
Highlights
Sabah’s geography features major river systems that flow from the mountainous backbone of the interior and meander across extensive alluvial plains to the coast
It is clear that cultural convergence due to riverine trade with east coastal communities, which has occurred among various peoples living along the Kinabatangan River, has affected Makiang music
Elements of Sama’-Bajau and Suluk music can be seen in the names and types of instruments, as well as some names of Makiang musical pieces
Summary
Sabah’s geography features major river systems that flow from the mountainous backbone of the interior and meander across extensive alluvial plains to the coast. It serves an important social function in traditional Bajau village life, by providing a vehicle for discussing sensitive issues in a neutral and nonthreatening context (Regis et al, 2003; Matusky & Pugh-Kitingan, 2004) It appears that runsai-type genres were performed among most Sama’ cultures, including those of Semporna on the east coast, but many are no longer extant. The Makiang formerly played several types of traditional solo secular instruments for entertainment, including a mouthorgan resembling the sompoton of the Kadazan Dusun of Tambunan District that was traded into the Tangara Murut community of the remote Upper Kinabatangan River and from there into Kalabuan, Makiang and other Paitanic communities in the area (Pugh-Kitingan, 2011). Plate 1: Basic Makiang sampasang no gabang ensemble, from Bukit Garam and Kota Kinabatangan, Kinabatangan District (Sources: Fieldwork 1989; Pugh-Kitingan [2017d, p. 94].)
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