Cotinuing Transformations: The Manarapoh Attire of The Lotud Kadazandusun.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
Cotinuing Transformations: The Manarapoh Attire of The Lotud Kadazandusun. |
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Author :
Anna Edmundson and Judeth J. Baptist |
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Abstract:
Manarapoh is a category of ceremonial attire used by the Lotud Kada2andusun of Sabah, North Borneo. It is a primary symbol of material wealth and spiritual power, worn exclusively by female ritual specialists in ceremonies that are central to the well being of the community. In this paper we situate manarapoh as a primary site of Lotud aesthetics - the focus and manifestation of culturally specific ideals of health, wealth and beauty. It is important to note that the term manarapoh refers not only to a discrete category of ceremonial attire, but also to the ritual act of dressing oneself in this attire. It will be argued that the ritual donning of manarapoh constitutes a transformative act - altering both the corporeal bodies of those attired and the space they inhabit. Through this process female ritual specialists instantiate a metaphysical link between themselves and their supreme deities. In this act of adornment their bodies become the site and the centre of sacred power- embodying and encompassing ancestors and descendants, deities and followers, the natural and the supernatural in a single continuum.
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| DOI: https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2002-V882-02 |
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How to cite:
Anna Edmundson and Judeth J. Baptist. (2002). Cotinuing Transformations: The Manarapoh Attire of The Lotud Kadazandusun. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LVII (78): 69-86 |
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References
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