The Rungus, the natives of the Kudat area, have long been known to produce beautiful beaded necklaces; they wear long, broad multi-stranded pinakol (right in picture) crossed over their shoulders over their traditional black costumes interwoven with gold thread. Patterns on the strands tell of ancient fables, and human figures are picked out in bright hues in the beadwork. Ever-enterprising, the Rungus today produce bangles, earrings and even brooches to go with the necklaces.

The parang is still crafted in traditional ways by the Bajau from Kota Belud. The ones made by them these days are usually from scrap iron, which goes though a process of melting, pounding, shaping and finally polishing. The blades are straight and tapered, from a sharp tip widening up towards the hilt. Some may have patterns etched into the metal along the topside. The hilt and sheath are carved from of wood, and occasionally one can come across an antique parang with a wonderfully carved hilt of horn. In days gone by, the parang was used as a weapon as well as a work tool, but these days it is mainly a decorative item for display.  

Tudung Duang is the local name for a food cover: in the tropics, like in Sabah, food on the table has to be protected from insects and dust. One is instantly attracted to them because of their bright colours, especially when they are laid out on pandan (screw pine leaf) mats in high piles, like at the Kota Belud Tamu grounds on the weekly Sunday Market (tamu).

By the shape of a native hat, and its patterns, one can immediately identify the wearer to which ethnic entity he or she belongs. Most hats here are steeply conical and have nature-derived designs on them. Murut hats woven from the strips of sombituon bamboo are hexagonal in shape with a three-bands patterned weaving. Hats from Penampang and Tuaran have wider, circular bases with geometrical designs. All these hats are crafted from bamboo and rattan strips, and the red and black colours used to be natural dyes - red from the mengkudu root, or ‘dragon’s blood’ which is obtained from the fruit of a climbing rattan, and black from the leaves and stalks of the indigo plant. The Murut from the Nabawan area are now reproducing their hats in scaled-down sizes, showing their skill and craftsmanship in the extremely delicate weaving.  

Bajau sailboats, the lipa-lipa, carved from wood, and blowpipes used by Murut on hunting trips are available in many handicraft shops. The tambu-tambu wood is the main wood used in making the lipa-lipa, apart from mata-mata and gangil. A traditional lipa-lipa is elaborately carved. The designs are based on the motifs of plants, namely the kembang tuli or dahan and kellong. The blowpipe, or sumpitan, can be made of bamboo or hardwood. In the latter case the central duct has been drilled through in a long, manual process.

Wooden Carvings by the Murut people can be seen on traditional building structures on pillars, and on the lining of furniture. Some great wooden carvings can be seen at the Sabah Museum, and at various cultural centres around Sabah. A fine example of wooden carvings on buildings is at the Murut Cultural Centre located 13 km from Tenom Town. It is worth while stopping over there when on the way to the Sabah Agricultural Park in Lagud Sebrang, near Tenom.

Wooden carvings in Sabah bear similarities to those from Sarawak, which are also available for sale in KK. Items such as warrior shields, cups and weapons are very popular. Wooden carvings make great house decorations for tropical style houses.

Traditional woven rattan mats are much in demand with visitors. They will give your house that tropical feel!
 

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Pottery has a long tradition in Sabah, and ancient Chinese jars, or tajau, were once even used to bury the dead. The Murut especially cherish and value their heirloom jars, in which they still ferment tapai – their traditional rice wine. If you visit some of the antique shops in KK’s major shopping malls you might come across nice Ming Dynasty vases; better still, you admire antique jars that are kept in the houses of the locals (like in the picture left). On the way to Tuaran, there are several potteries manufacturing nice vases and plates, as well as other household items made from clay.