The Kadazan Harvest Festival is a celebration asserting the intricate and intimate relationship between humans and the sentient energies in plants. A segment of the magavau prayers, inait captures this:
“Kodim kodimo kuno tondu do kalansatan
Ubat suing do liwan nakavit do hoputung
Kodim kodimo kuno andavi do paai za
Ngood ka do potiukan, paai za nga umikot,
Mongiak I paai haid ikoton paaivagu
Kodim kodimo kuno Bambaazon donotimpuan
Mindot tindot I Zindud nikoton do kinodim”
“I am calling our paddy stalks, and like the sound honey-bees, our paddy grains are returning. The old paddy in the Tangkob is rejoicing because the new paddy is coming to join them. I am calling the sacred Bambaazon, the paddy platform is groaning with the arrival and the weight of those called.”
2 May 2016, Hontog Opening Ceremony, Grand Ballroom, by invitation of Sylvester Disimon
Hontog means the sound of the first gandang beat announcing that the magavau ritual in every household may begin. This part of the Pesta is more staged and official but nevertheless it is a wonderful way of being introduced to the members of the community involved. I was delighted to meet Peter Disimon and his family. He has invested in developing land into substantial plots of paddy fields by the highway...
I'm at Table No 2 with Sylvester Disimon, Melanie Annol (Chairman of the Monsopiad Cultural House). The Prime Minister of Malaysia can't make it again, and this time due to the election activity in Sarawak...
We are shown the process of paddy field ploughing, planting, caring, reaping, sifting, pounding.
Finally! It's time for a glimpse of the Magavau ritual, which begins with a three intercessory-singing stages by the bobohizans:
Magaagandai (Purifying) performed sitting down in a circle: Andazo-andazo'ku i tabui, Ingging-gidazo' ku tazas, Andazo' silisilizo', Inggido' ataapo' Silisilizo' o ngoo'o' ondulu, I atapan ko... " I winnow the paddy on the winnowing tray; I shake the tray and toss the paddy, to wake it up...
Continuing their singing, they then rise and place their hands on the shoulders of the person in front and sway, forward left and right in a circular dance procession
Magambai which literally translates as " I will fly to the sky like a thunderstorm. I am singing and waving, singing and flying, fast as the wind"
Mongkodim (Summoning) : "I summon the spirit of the paddy (Bambaazon), who are trapped there...the barn is filled with rice spirits, over-flowing as the the rice spirits return home. The older paddy harvested last year, rejoices, the homecoming of the all the freed Bambaazon. They are overjoyed at their return..."
I believe that in the above photo, the foremost bobohizan’s name is Inai Musilip, who is almost eighty years of age. She is from Kampung Kitangan in Sugud. Inai is what you call a female elder. The bobohizan on her left is Inai Livonis Tulus from Kitwau.
There have been no further meetings with the Penampang bobohizans since the Hontog Opening Ceremony on 2nd May.
The late Rosnani Sogondu from Kampung Kibabaig, Penampang used to lead the team of bobohizans (?) At the end of her life, she had been a practitioner for 46 years. Is this the same Inai Rosnani who is the mother of Nohanida and Melanie Annol? I found a UTube video interview of Zandi Rosnani Sogondu and Zandi Rosina Sogondu on the rites of burial… published on 22 April 2014 by Tobpinai Paul Masudal 0138446322
Nothing compared to Susan Bansin’s grandmother (?) who had started training from age two. Susan’s late aunt had started late in life and had asked a bobohizan priest she encountererd in the tamu if she could cross-over. It was only by the second time, that he then plucked the mantra from his tongue (she apparently could hear the sound of his tongue “cracking”) as an initiation point. She was told to be careful and not to harm any plant-life before the cycle of days were complete. But she forgot the timing, picked up a scythe and started…She only realized halfway and threw down the scythe with a cry, but too late. Which is why she only ended up being a healer.
I was invited upon Genevieve’s request, for Sylvester Disimon to accompany me to the Monsopiad Heritage Village. He told me that it was built for entertainment.
At the Monsopiad House of Skulls, the Late Bohungkitas (High Priestess) Lusinon Mantais (?Mentais)… is mentioned to have conducted the final Magavau Ceremony for the home of Gundohing Dousia from 17-18 April 2002. Do they mean it is the last ceremony for him in his home because he knew he was going to convert to Catholicism?
It certainly left me with the feeling that all I was going to get are stories and imagery emblems of what used to be…
The first photo below is a shot of the bobohizans in full regalia when performing the Mogondi ritual, which takes place at night to the accompaniment of gongs
picture of framed photo Monsopiad Heritage Village, with permission
picture of framed photo Monsopiad Heritage Village, with permission
I forget exactly what this photo is about but i have a feeling the above bobohizan is at another crucial part of the ritual: she is about to cross the "threshold" which is signified by the covering of her head with the ceremonial cloth...