PRANCING THEMURUT LANSARAN ON
The Murut people that originate from the southwest interior division of Sabah are some of the most creative ethnic groups in the region. Known as a warrior tribe that consists of skillful hunter communities, the blowpipe-wielding Muruts are the last indigenous group in Sabah to renounce headhunting.
However, despite their warmongering image, the Muruts are also graceful artisans who are known for their colourful beadworks and intricate tapestries. Tourists visiting Sabah for the first time would also remember the Murut people for their exciting and fast-paced magunatip (bamboo) dance— always a crowd-puller during local cultural shows!
Perhaps, what’s lesser known but no less important about the Murut people is that they are also excellent architects. In the olden days, the Murut community used to reside in communal longhouses that are made of bamboo and nipah palm leaves for roofing. Each of these longhouses would come with a built-in trampoline-like platform structure, known as the lansaran, located in the middle of the house corridor.
The lansaran is made of wooden and plank flooring that is constructed in a way that allows it to bounce. The planks are properly arranged and tied with rattan to allow flexibility. It is then supported at the edges so that the middle part can move up and down with ease. It is believed that the lansaran served as a community hangout place where families would gather around with their baked tapioca and hot drinks on balmy afternoons to chit chat — when they’re not busy jumping on it, that is.
Back when there were no gyms available, the lansaran also served as a platform on which aspiring Murut warriors would practice their acrobatic and athletic skills for a future headhunting outing.
On special occasions, such as when a warrior comes home with new headcounts, the longhouse community would celebrate his homecoming by playing a jumping game called maningkawot. In this game, a pinata-like box (traditionally, a block of wood carved into the shape of a bird) is tied high on the ceiling above the lansaran as a target. Then, a group of people would jump as high as they can — either in turns or in unison — to catch the target.
In the headhunting days, the grand prize for the maningkawot game winner would be a buffalo, which was the currency of choice at the time. Today, maningkawot is still performed especially during festivities, such as the Murut Kalimaran Festival and the Ka’amatan (Harvest) Festival that are celebrated annually in the month of May. In this modern version of maningkawot, groups of five to 20 people would jump on the lansaran together with the aim to grab targets dangling from the ceiling. Depending on the difficulty levels (and luck!) prizes would range from sweets to cash.
Fun as it appears, a game of maningkawot requires some serious athleticism, resilience and perseverance; not to mention an excellent ability to time your jump as the lansaran bounces up in order to maximise your leaping leverage. If you are not careful, you could also risk falling flat on your face and injuring yourself.
Other than being a fun and exciting game, maningkawot can also be a type of dance in which participants leap up to showcase their aerial gymnastics skills. In the absence of targets to reach for, the Murut acrobats would jump to do a somersault and attempt to land back on their feet. Maningkawot as a dance performance showcases a great deal of teamwork, as everyone in the team would have to jump on the lansaran together in sync (to build up momentum) before each team member takes a turn to leap and perform an acrobatic stunt.
The maningkawot game/ dance is usually accompanied by the playing of traditional musical instruments, such as the gong (an idiophone made of brass) and the togunggak, which is a set of musical instruments made of large bamboo culms.