page_title: Dusun people
section_title: Introduction
hierarchical_section_title: Dusun people / Introduction
caption_attribution_description: English: Penampang, Sabah: A bobohizan, a traditional Dusun priestess, from Dusun Tindal tribe. Photo taken during the opening ceremony of Kaamatan 2014 at Hongkod Koisaan, the unity hall of KDCA
context_page_description: Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Dusun has been recognized as among the indigenous community of Borneo, with documented heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since 2004.
  Other similarly termed, yet non-related groups can also be found in Brunei and the Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Bruneian Dusuns are not directly related to the Dusun people of Sabah. Bruneian Dusuns are culturally, historically and linguistically shared a common origin, language and identity with the Bisaya people of Brunei, northern Sarawak and southwestern Sabah. In Indonesia, the Barito Dusun groups that can be found throughout the Barito River system belonged to the Ot Danum Dayak people instead.
context_section_description: The Dusun ethnic group at one time made up almost 40% of the population of Sabah and is broken down into more than 30 sub-ethnic, or dialect groups, or tribes, each speaking a slightly different dialect of the Dusunic and Paitanic family language. They are mostly mutually understandable. The name 'Dusun' was popularised by the British colonial masters who borrowed the term from the Brunei Malays.
  Most Dusuns have converted to mainstream religions such as Christianity (both Roman Catholic and Protestant) and Sunni Islam, although animism is still being practiced by a minority of Dusun.
  The Dusun of old traded with the coastal people by bringing their agricultural and forest produce (such as rice and amber 'damar') to exchange for salt, salted fish and other products. The Dusun has a special term to describe this type of trading activity, i.e. mongimbadi. This was before the development of the railroad and road network connecting the interior with the coastal regions of Sabah. The present Tambunan-Penampang road was largely constructed based on the trading route used by the Bundu-Liwan Dusun to cross the Crocker Range on their mongimbadi.
  The vast majority of Dusuns live in the hills and upland valleys and have a reputation for peacefulness, hospitality, hard work, frugality, drinking and aversion to violence. They are now modernized and well-integrated into the larger framework of Malaysian society, taking up various occupations as government servants, and employees in the private sector, as well as becoming business owners. Many have completed tertiary education both locally and overseas (in America, England, Australia, and New Zealand).
  In their old traditional setting, they use various methods of fishing, including using the juice called "tuba" derived from the roots of the "surinit" plant to momentarily stun fish in rivers.
  The arrival of the Christian Missionaries in the 1880s brought to the Dayaks and the Dusuns of Borneo the ability to read, write and converse in English. This opened their minds and stimulated them to get involved in community development. The tribes who were first exposed to this modernization were the Tangaa or Tangara who dwelt in the Papar and Penampang coastal plains who were responsible to spread the passion of nationalism to the other tribes.
  The first attempt to translate the Bible was in Tangaa Dusun, also referred to as the "z" dialect. This was followed by a Tangaa Dusun Dictionary. The first registered Native friendly Society was the Kadazan Society and the political party registered in North Borneo was the United National Kadazan Organization under the leadership of Donald Stevens, who was made the first Huguan Siou of the Dusun aka Kadazan Nation of 12 main and 33 sub-tribes. When Sabah became independent on 31 August 1963, Donald Stevens became the Prime/Chief Minister, a position he continued to hold after Sabah formed Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
caption: Dusun women with Sunduk
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