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CUSTOMS ABOUT DEATH
Every race of people has different customs of the dead, but quite a number of them are similar. For example, when a man is dying, his relatives will hammer upon the posts of the house in the hope of inducing his spirit to remain in the body. More often, gongs are beaten to let his relatives and friends know that he has died. Upon hearing this they come to the particular house, taking along with them tapai, chickens and rice. In the upper Padas a chicken's throat is cut and placed under the dying man's nose. At the moment of death a loaded gun is put in his hand and his finger is made to pull the trigger. The beating of gongs and the wailing of women are the customary mode of announcing that death has taken place. The deceased is washed and dressed before interment. He may even be seated and have his needs ministered to and advice given to him, as though he was still alive. Up in the Marudu country the dead man is seated and a cigarette is put into his mouth. Beside that a brass box containing betel nut and sirih is opened before him. His friends sit around him telling him not to turn to the left or right but to walk straight ahead, for it is believed that it is the way to Kinabalu. This lasts for 24 hours and deceased is then buried with all his belongings. The natives of Minansut, a village not far from Keningau, keep the dead for three days before burial. During those days the dead man's wife has to crawl to her room and is forbidden to take in any solid food; only pain water is to be taken. After the burial she should not smile or seem to be happy. Her hair is left uncombed for seven days. After the seventh day a group of women come to accompany her to a river to clean herself. Before doing so she beats a gong and the women shuffle their feet singing. This is known as medawai. After some hours all of them bathe and return to the widow's house where they feast with drinking tapai. In Kampong Pantai, Tambunan, a woman is invited after a man has died. She performs her superstitious work before the dead, murmuring a few dreams she has had to the dead. Later the corpse is laid in a wooden coffin and four parangs are laid inside, two on each side of him, to give him protection on his way to Kinabalu. Those who join the funeral ceremony have to wash themselves and their tools in a stream. Then they return to their respective homes but keep their tools in the dead man's house for a period of seven days. On the seventh day the relatives come again to decorate the graveyard. Usually, after decorating, the grave looks like a small hut with many beautiful designs. White flages are hoisted at the four corners and a pair of buffalo horns is stuck on the front of the grave. Later the people to go the dead man's house to drink tapai. Both the Muruts and Kadazans are accustomed to bury their dead in jars, following the widespread practice among Borneo tribes. This too varies in accordance with the position of the family of the deceased. Only if he is rich he is put into a big jar from which the top quarter has been chiselled off, and the dead man is put inside in a squatting position. a gong is used to close the opening. If he comes from a poor family he is laid in a wooden coffin which is much easier to obtain. The latter is usually used these days. The Rundum Muruts, however, first bury a corpse in a wooden coffin, and after a certain period of time the grave is uncovered and the remains are collected and put inside a jar, which is then buried again. Normally, interment in the jar follows death. In most districts it is customary to keep the jar in the house for seven days after the corpse has been placed inside, during which time the wake is celebrated with feasting and drinking. The jar is then buried near the village or sometimes in an isolated spot. A long time ago, the people of Limbawan near Keningau buried the dead under the house. It was said before that young children were occasionally buried under the house, but this custom is exceptional. Normally, a man may express, during his life time, a desire to be buried in a particular place, and his wish will be granted. The Kadazans of Pau, in the upper Tuaran area, break the bottom of the jar before interment in the earth. This is to prevent people from using it again. According to the Keningau Muruts, whatever is eaten or drunk at the wake becomes, as it were the capital with which the deceased starts life in the next world. Hence, if a sack of rice is eaten, and two buffaloes are killed and a jar of liquor is consumed, the deceased will arrive with a sack of rice, two buffaloes, and a jar of liquor. If a man dies when his relatives are short of rice, the jar in which he is placed is buried with the top out of the ground and is not finally covered with earth until the relatives are in a position to hold the wake.
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