Kadazan-Dusun (also simply written as Kadazandusun) is a combined term for two closely related indigenous ethnic groups of Sabah in Malaysia, which is formed as an amalgamation of the closely related Kadazan and Dusun peoples. They formed the main and largest indigenous group in the state, numbering almost a million individuals, with the population concentrated in Sabah's West Coast Division, upper Interior Division, and Kudat Division, as well as within the Sandakan and Tawau divisions. It is also an umbrella term that encompasses various sub-ethnicities, tribes and sub-tribes under both the Kadazan and Dusun labels, with the language typically billed as Kadazan-Dusun, belonging to the Dusunic languages family, an Austronesian language in the northern part of Borneo Island, while several Kadazan-Dusun tribes' languages also fall under different Sabahan language families, such as the Paitanic languages.
Their deep tradition holds that they are descended from the Nunuk Ragang, although not all the ethnics under the Kadazan-Dusun category came from the same location. With their main traditional occupation as agriculturalists, the Kadazan-Dusun celebrate the annual Kaamatan festival to honour their paddy's spirit, the Bambarayon (Bambaazon). Their paramount leader is called Huguon Siou (brave leader), with the majority of their ethnicity now adhering to Christianity, a shift from their traditional religion (Momolianism) following interaction with European powers through the administration of British North Borneo. Towards their animist-pagan past before the arrival of Christianity and Islam, the Kadazan-Dusun practised headhunting together with another closely related indigenous ethnic group, the Muruts.
Throughout the British administration, the Kadazan-Dusun are categorised under the "Dusun" or "Dusunic people" ethnic categorisation, where they are closely related to other Dusunic peoples of Rungus and the Bornean Bisaya, Tombonuo and Orang Sungei (both belonging to the Paitanic people branch) as well as the Murut and Tidung (Murutic people branch). Since 2004, the Kadazan-Dusun have been recognised internationally as an indigenous ethnic group of northern Borneo with documented heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Within Malaysia, the Kadazan-Dusuns are recognised as part of the bumiputera racial ethnic classification in Malaysia, holding the same status as the majority Malays with special rights on their customary and ancestral lands, which are also inherited from past British administrations. Another endonym commonly used for the Kadazan-Dusuns is "Mamasok" and "Momogun", which carries the meaning of "indigenous people" and "people of the land", respectively. Sometimes the two words are combined together as "Pasok Momogun", which carries the meaning "indigenous people of the land", with "the land" referring to either the Kadazan-Dusun's homeland or the whole state of Sabah.
Etymology The origin of the term "Kadazan-Dusun" is derived from the earlier split of the Kadazan and Dusun ethnic terms. Throughout the British-administered North Borneo, they grouped the entire ethnicity that was associated with "orchards and agriculture" under the single Dusunic ethnic group classification. Within the vocabulary of the Dusunic languages, there is no "Dusun" word, but it was adapted by the British from the tax collector of the Sultanate of Brunei by the 19th century to refer to the agricultural ethnic groups of northern Borneo. English historian, novelist and travel writer Owen Rutter described in his writings "The Pagans of North Borneo" that the Dusuns usually describe themselves generically as a "tulun tindal" (landsman) or, on the West Coast, particularly at Papar, as a "Kadazan". An early census of the British Empire regarding North Borneo recorded the Dusuns in official population statistics as the largest, followed by the ethnic Chinese as the second largest. The Dusuns are the most numerous of the races of British North Borneo, with their numbers amounting to almost half of the region's total population at the time.
Origins of the term "Dusun" and "Kadazan"
Historically, the term Orang Dusun (which literally means "orchard people") was an exonym, a Malay language term used by the tax collectors of the Sultanate of Brunei to refer to the indigenous people of part of northern Borneo (specifically in the entire West Coast region) they ruled in the past. The term Orang Kadazan, meanwhile, is specific to the areas within the western North Bornean coast (Jesselton, Penampang, Papar, and Beaufort), as this term was widely used around the 1880s by Roman Catholic Christian missionaries, as documented by Fr. J. Staal. Nevertheless, under British protectorate ethnic classifications, they were grouped under the single Dusunic ethnic identity. Between the late 1950s and early 1960s, the term "Kadazan" was originally theorised by local folks as derivatives from the word kakadayan where it was adapted by local Tangaa' speakers as kakadazan which means "towns", or kadai which means "shops", but this does not make sense, as explained in an article by Richard F. Tunggolou. In the fifties, there were only two towns in Penampang, namely Donggongon and Kasigui. Donggongon had about 20 shops arranged in two rows on each side of the road, and Kasigui had about 10 shops built on one side of the road. Except for one shop, all the other shops in both Donggongon and Kasigui were owned by Chinese. The Penampang Kadazans were scattered in numerous villages in the Penampang District and they still are. Why would these people, who never stayed in a town, suddenly decided to call themselves after 'town'. Attempts to relate the origins of 'Kadazan' to 'kedaian' (Malay word 'kedai' meaning shop) does not make sense as 'kedaian' does not exist in the Malay dictionary. 'Kedayan' is equally illogical as it does not make sense for a people to refer to themselves using a foreign word (one pronounced differently from 'Kadazan'), especially taking into account that in pre-Chartered Company days, any contact between disparate groups meant war. Besides the Kedayan people lived too far away for any significant contact or influence over the Kadazan people. The Bobolian or Bobohizan (priestesses) say that the meaning of 'Kadazan' is 'tuhun' or 'tulun' - which means 'people'. Indigenous peoples call themselves 'the people', according to Priit J. Vesilind in his article 'Hunters of The Lost Spirit', published in the National Geographic Vol 163 No 2 February 1983 pp 151–196, depending on where they lived and what ethnic group they belonged to. The term itself is of a Coastal Kadazan language dialect.
The term is used among the Tangara/Tangaa' tribes on the west coast of northern Borneo to distinguish themselves from the majority Dusuns in the interior and eastern part of the entire North Borneo. In the west coast area, specifically in Penampang, the Tangaa' (the midland inhabitants) and several other related tribes such as the "potiang" (the highlanders) and the Kadazan (the lowlanders or people of the plains) preferred to be united under the "Kadazan" term, which was similarly being requested by the Kadazans of Papar earlier throughout the British administration. The Tangaa's pronunciation for the word of kadazan is kadayan, meaning "people of the land" in the west coast Dusunic language. As the word kadayan does not exist in the Tangaa' language vocabulary, it is possible that they got the name from the Dusunic kadayan tribe in Papar (not to be confused with the Malayic Kedayan people), which they assimilated with when the tribe expanded their territory southward from Penampang District. The Tangaa' is a Dusunic tribe who migrated from their ancestral Nunuk Ragang (the same case with other Dusunic tribes such as Tobilung, Tindal, Bundu and Tagahas) to the west coast. Other members of this group include the Membakut Kadazan and Klias Kadazan, each carrying their strong "Kadazan" identity except the Bundu Dusun, Klias Dusun, Kwijau Dusun, Lotud Dusun, and Tatana Dusun, which are not part of the Nunuk Ragang migration. Other sub-families within Dusunic are Bornean Bisaya, Rungus, and the Paitanic-speaking peoples.
In the other parts of North Borneo, mainly in the interior, northern and eastern regions, various Dusunic tribes began to unify under the "Dusun" identity, which was also echoed by the British protectorate administration at the time. Consequently, Dusun tribes such as Lotud Dusun and Tempasuk Dusun (Tindal Dusun), as well as Tatana Dusun on the western coast, also accepted the term as their main identity, with others such as the Bundu Dusun, Kimaragang Dusun, Kwijau Dusun, Liwan Dusun, Tagahas Dusun, Tindal Dusun, Tobilung Dusun, Ulu Sugut Dusuns, the Minokok Dusun, Labuk Dusuns and Kinabatangan Dusuns (Mangkaak, Sukang and Tindakon) representing a strong Dusunic identity. Several further tribes (some belong to the Paitanic branch) are also included in the Dusun ethnic categorisation, such as the Begak, Bonggi, Gana, Lobu, Segama, and Tombonuo. The Kadazans of Penampang, Papar, and Membakut strongly identify themselves with their own Kadazan identity and perceive the "Dusun" term as only exclusive to the interior tribes, although the term encompasses almost all the natives of North Borneo at the time of British administration, with census statistics up until 1960 also using the Dusun category.
Following the establishment of the Kadazan Cultural Association (KCA) in 1953 throughout the administration of the British Crown Colony of North Borneo, this terminology was suddenly replaced with "Kadazan" without further consultation and agreements with other Dusunic groups, which was also used as the official designation of the non-Muslim natives by the first Chief Minister of Sabah, Donald Stephens (Tun Fuad Stephens), when the Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963. Administratively, all Dusuns were suddenly referred to as "Kadazans", which sparked strong opposition from both Kadazan and Dusun sides, who wanted their different ethnicity terms to be officialised and administered separately. The following year, in 1967, the United Sabah Dusun Association (USDA) was formed as the sole representative body for all the Dusun as a way to distinguish themselves from the Kadazan, with the two major indigenous ethnic groups having separated into two representative bodies, further emphasising the terms "Kadazan" and "Dusun" after increasing pressure from various parties desiring a differentiation between the Kadazan and the Dusun. This period subsequently developed the "Kadazan or Dusun identity crisis", which also turned into a "Kadazan versus Dusun feud", which is a precursor to the fall of the ruling state government under the United Sabah Party (PBS).