Dusun people

Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Kadazan ethnic group, a new unified term called "Kadazan-Dusun" was created.

Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. A small minority of Dusuns can also be found in Brunei where they are defined by the constitution to be one of the seven Bumiputera groups.

Etymology

It is also suggested that the word Dusun was a "name calling" given by the Sultan of Brunei. Since most parts of the west coast of Sabah were under the influence of the Sultan of Brunei, taxes were collected by the sultanate from the "Orang Dusun" called "Duis" (also referred to as the "River Tax" on the area of south east of North Borneo). However, the "orang Dusun" that was purposely and perhaps administratively used by the British to represent all the various ethnic groups in Sabah were simply calling themselves as being the "Momogun" because the "Momogun" means "The People of the Land" which derive from the word of "Pogun" mean "The World / Land / Place".