As we look into the possibility of losing more ancestral land due to the Kaiduan dam here's a Kadazan folktale to remind us of the Kadazandusun rice growing background and cultural heritage.
Lumpunggut
There once lived a poor woman all by herself. One day while she was doing her daily chores out on the great plain she heard a pitiful cry of distress coming from a large pond. The voice was calling her name so she went to investigate. Arriving at the big pond she was surprised to find no sign of anyone. Thinking that she may have been working too hard and was too tired, she thought perhaps she was hallucinating. Hence, the old woman decided to return home.
No sooner had she turned away then the voice was heard again. This time it was clearer. It seemed to come from just near her. Curiously she tried again to find the source of the voice.
To her amazement she found the weeds that floated on the water were talking to her. The weeds said, "Please help us. We are helpless and cold in these waters". Moved with compassion, the old woman quickly salvaged the weeds and took them home with her.
When she arrived home, she carefully put them in a very safe place. Then she went off to sleep because she was very tired from working all day.
That night she had a dream. She dreamt that a fairy came to her and thanked her for being so kind to heed her cry. The fairy wanted to help and reward her.
The fairy said, "Not many people nowadays would be willing to show kindness and concern to those who are distressed. So as a sign of my gratitude, my reward will be that you and your people will always be blessed. Actually I am Geranggau, the lumpunggut (weed), that you took from the pond. From now on I shall be your guardian. However, you shall have to abide by a few rules. These rules you must observe concern the ceremony of padi planting".
Geranggau told the woman that if one wanted a very good harvest one should prepare a bamboo tray to hold a bottle of tapai (rice wine) and a few pieces of sireh (betel leaves), kehrai (palm leaves), a few lumps of sikop (tobacco) and some rice cooked in banana leaves. Furthermore one must also slaughter three healthy fowls and using the feathers make a replica cockerel from the rumbiah palm branches. It has to be about one foot long and must be covered with the feathers from the fowls.
When all this has been done one should celebrate inside the house together with all those in the household before one goes to the padi fields for another ritualistic ceremony.
When a good place has been located in the padi field, usually near clean, clear water, place the artificial cockerel about six feet high near the water's edge facing the sunrise. When all this has been done I shall join in the ceremony with you. But when you leave the padi field always remember to collect the clear water, from where you put the cockerel, in bamboo containers and bring it back to the household. It is important that you should use the water to sprinkle the house and everyone inside the house as a mark of my blessing and then you shall obtain a rich padi harvest.
This kind of ritual shall be called Margambaun and it has to be respected and observed from time to time so that I can constantly be of help to you.
When the old woman awoke the next morning she felt very excited and related the whole dream to her neighbours. Whether it was the truth or not she accepted it as a very good omen and intended to observe the rules. So she decided to hold a big feast together with her neighbours as she firmly believed that the gods had sent Geranggau to help and protect her.
Even up to the present day a few gathered bunches of lumpunggut can be of spiritual and traditional value to the Kadazan people of Sabah.
Source: "Tales of Borneo" by Benedict S. Chong, Penerbit Sanmin Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, 1993
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