Kota Kinabalu: Kaamatan belongs to every Sabahan, not just the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut community, said Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam, as he spoke against calls to replace the Kadazan-Dusun identity with the term “Momogun.”
“If you want unity, just accept it. We already have an identity,” he told a media conference ahead of the Kaamatan grand finale to be held at Hongkod Koisaan in Penampang on May 30-31.
Dr Joachim, who chairs the State-Level Kaamatan Festival Celebration Main Committee 2026, said the perception that Kaamatan was a celebration meant only for the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut community was misplaced.
“I encourage every Sabahan to see the harvest festival as a shared celebration that belongs to everyone,” he said.
On the proposal to adopt Momogun as a more inclusive collective term, he said the existing identity of Kadazan-Dusun had been reached through years of debate and should now be accepted as it is.
He said the term ‘Momogun’ simply meant a person who resides in a pogun, or area, making it a general term that could refer to anyone rather than an ethnic identifier.
“Many of the sub-ethnic groups in Sabah, including the Dusun Tatangana, Lotud, Kimaragang, Rungus, Liwan, Bundu, etc., had historically come under the broader Dusun identity.
“Divisions among these groups had grown over time largely due to political influence rather than genuine cultural differences,” he said.
“Sabah’s strength had always come from its people’s ability to accept and celebrate our differences,” he said, calling on every community to focus on what they have in common rather than on labels that set them apart.
