Lun Bawang Taboos

00:00:00mo, uih Matius Padan rat kampung Long Langai
I am Matius Padan of Long Langai

00:00:07uih nih ketua kampung tunge' Long Langai
I am the ketua kampung at Long Langai

00:00:12uih pian ngegala' sesuut luk miek uih keli'
I want to explain a little bit about what I know

00:00:18ratnan adet lun Bawang kereb na teh tau menuu Tuhan
about the Lun Bawang customs before we believed in God

00:00:26kudeng peh tau mula' luk inan mali'
how we had many things that were taboo

00:00:34luk belain deh luk inan mali' nih yeh ineh luk inan deh merepet
what they call taboos are things that they believed in

00:00:38paad kudeng luk maun
like the things in the past

00:00:41inan ceh suit luk belain deh mengai'
there is a bird which they call "mengai'" (hummingbird)

00:00:45ken lun merar maun ineh luk inan deh merepet
according to the elders, they believed in this

00:00:50bang kereb deh luk nalan
when they travelled

00:00:53ame' enun-enun lawey deh
wherever they wanted to go

00:00:56doo' deh me' kerja'
like going to work

00:00:58bang anid-anid kereb, deh miek nawar suit inih
they can call this bird every time

00:01:02luk belain deh suit mengai' nih
they one they call "mengai'"

00:01:04kebala deh deh nawar suit inih
they said when they called this bird

00:01:09suit inih miek mecing
the bird would come

00:01:11bang kereb ieh mecing
when he arrived

00:01:13kudeng ieh temulud rat pa kabing
if he flew from the left

00:01:18kebala deh lun merar nih
the elders said

00:01:20miek deh nalan
they could continue on their way

00:01:23kudeng peh suit inih tinawar deh
when they called the bird

00:01:26dih ieh munih
it made a noise

00:01:28ku unih ieh cek cek cek cek
the sound is cek cek cek cek

00:01:30ku unih ieh rat range'
that's how it sounds as it arrives

00:01:32ieh temulud
as he flew

00:01:33maya' pa tinueh ieh temulud
if he flew from the right

00:01:36ilung deh peh, na deh miek nalan
that means that they could not continue

00:01:40deh miek lemubed
and they had to turn back

00:01:43bang kereb deh nau' enun-enun peh keh ruen deh pana'
at that time, whatever they wanted to do

00:01:47deh miek nawar suit inih
they could call this bird

00:01:50suit inih luk miek ngegkiang lawey deh
this bird helped them to prepare for the journey

00:01:54luk inan deh merepet lah
and they depended on it

00:02:11deh merepet ku suit inih
they depended on this bird

00:02:13luk ruen deh nawar
which they called

00:02:16nih mangun ku eceh luk inan deh... Allah luk inan deh merepet
and it became like a God which they depended on

00:02:21paad kudeng Tuhan deh luk inan deh merepet
like their God that they depended on

00:02:25jadi peh bang kereb ieh temulud maya' pa tinueh
so when it flew from the right

00:02:31kebala deh na ieh miek
they say, it cannot be

00:02:33lemulun luk nawar neneh a deh miek nalan
the people who called him cannot continue

00:02:38deh miek lemubed
they have to turn back

00:02:40ngaceku enun?
for what reason?

00:02:43kudeng pideh nengelaba ratnan aneh nih lawey suit inih
if they ignore the sign of the bird

00:02:53na ieh mengijin nedeh miek nalan
when the bird did not allow them to go on

00:02:57ilung neh inan behaya luk miek mecing
that means that something bad will happen to them

00:03:01doo' pana' bang kereb deh kerja', me' kerja'
the same when they go to work

00:03:05kudeng deh ngelaba ratnan suit inih
if they ignore the sign from this bird

00:03:12deh miek meterad
they can get cut

00:03:13kudeng deh me' lati'
like if they go to the farm

00:03:14kudeng nih, deh miek meterad
they could get cut

00:03:16inan behaya-behaya luk miek mecing kuan deh
there are dangers that can befall them

00:03:20dan anid-anid lawey deh
and every journey they make

00:03:24deh miek nawar suit inih
they have to call the bird

00:03:27kereb deh naru' ruma' pana'
and when they want to build houses as well

00:03:32dih deh ruma', dih deh neped ruma'
when they want to build a house

00:03:34bang kereb deh naru' ruma' inih
at times when they built houses

00:03:37inan peh kenui luk temulud dei' luun
if there was an eagle flying above

00:03:40neh mula' luk nan deh pucang ataupun menuu
there were many things that they believed in

00:03:45bang kereb luk na lemulun Lun Bawang, na miek... na tideh menuu Tuhan
before the Lun Bawang believed in God

00:03:53jadi deh na miek mudut ruma' neh
so they couldn't build that house

00:03:56deh meleg mudut ruma' neh
they stopped building the house

00:03:58kudeng deh naru' barar kudeng nih
like if they were making a farm house

00:04:00deh na miek ngaceku kerja' deh
they cannot continue because of their work

00:04:03dan kudeng deh me' ngenau' eceh aweh
and if they wanted to have a marriage

00:04:09ataupun naru' tunang kudeng nih
or an engagement

00:04:11bang kereb deh papu'... lemulun papu' ceh puung
when people came across an animal

00:04:16doo' ieh bung ale luk upun patun deh
for example, if a fox ran out in front of them

00:04:20doo' ieh menipeh luk mupun patun deh
or a snake slithered in front of them

00:04:23jadi deh neh miek lemubed
they had to stop

00:04:28metaga tuu peh ecur sidih
it doesn't matter how beautiful the girl is

00:04:29a deh miek metucu naweh keneh peh
they cannot continue with the marriage

00:04:32ilung deh lemubed
that means they stop

00:04:33bang kereb deh sumad ratnan befeng ineh
and if they resisted against the deterrants

00:04:40deh miek inan susa' mecing inan...
then bad things will befall them...

00:04:45doo' ieh mecing ratnan seh delai dih ataupun seh decur dih
either the man or the woman

00:04:51matey ieh kudeng inih
he will die, or something like that

00:04:53ineh luk terjadi'
that is what happened

00:04:56bang kereb deh na maya' gegkiang suit mengai' nih
when they didn't follow the omen of the hummingbird

00:05:04dan teh, eceh luk kayuh
another thing, there is a type of tree

00:05:09luk inan tau Lun Bawang luk pelaba taut bang kereb maun
that the Lun Bawang were really scared of in the past

00:05:15ieh ineh kayuh teley
that is the "teley" tree

00:05:18kayuh teley nih ieh mepaad ieh kudeng umbrella tree kudeng nih
the teley tree is similar to the umbrella tree

00:05:24rayeh kerayeh drum rayeh kayuh neh
the tree is as big as a drum

00:05:29teley ngadan neh, teley lah
it is called "teley"

00:05:32kayuh teley nih inan kuasa to'
this teley tree had a kind of power

00:05:36ngaceku ada' mulun udung kayuh nih
because there was a spirit living at the top of the tree

00:05:40kudeng peh angat dih mefeh
if a branch of the tree fell

00:05:42ieh melaak tuu peh angat kayuh dih
even if the branch is dry

00:05:43a ieh miek lapen ku kabaa
it can't be taken for firewood

00:05:48bang kereb ko ngalap neh
if you take it

00:05:49ieh uen ko ngeseb
and you burn it

00:05:52kudeng nih ko behaya
you will be in danger

00:05:54sama ada ko mait ataupun ko matey kudeng nih
either you'll get sick or die or something like that

00:06:00ilung neh peh, a deh miek ngalap angat kayuh nih
that means, they cannot use the branches of that tree

00:06:04bang kereb kayuh nih mieng iring tengeb fa'
when the tree gets close to the river bank

00:06:09atau peh ebpa' dih nguit daun kayuh nih me' bang lati'
or the river carries the leaves into your farm

00:06:17ilung neh behaya
that means you will be in danger

00:06:19kudeng ko netecu lati' neh
if you continue farming

00:06:25nan tuu peh padey nibu ko
even if there is paddy that you have planted

00:06:27ataupun ieh melaak kudeng nih
or paddy that is ripe

00:06:28na ieh miek ruen deh ngeranih
you can't harvest it

00:06:30uen necan ieh buri' deh
you have to leave it, they say

00:06:31ngaceku deh metaut ku daun dih manud me' bang lati' dih
because they are afraid of the leaves that washed into the farm

00:06:39kudeng ieh lati' baa'
if it is a wet paddy field

00:06:42na deh miek naru' dih peh
they can't carry on anymore

00:06:44ineh ceh luk daat luk bang kereb luk atun
so that's something that was bad in the past

00:06:47ieh ineh ratnan mula' luk inan deh mali'
the many taboos

00:06:49ataupun luk inan deh merepet
or things which they depended on