SUMBAWA - Cultural Aspects (My college Object)

ATTENTION: I got this from my lecture when he was teached me in class, this is one of my college object about Sumbawa. i hope this document can help some, but please try not to copy paste this because this is actually not mine so if you just want read it's ok but please don't copy paste it because this document was made by him and this is Anthropologist document. and for your info about Sumbawa, my lecture said that there is only one scientiest who success to have research there, because sumbawa is so hard and got confused culture, so i hope this document help some people who want to learn about this tribe.

  Who are Tau Samawa?

—Tau Samawa is a mix entity. It consists of people that differ biologically (negroid, veddoid and proto malay) and culturally (jawa, bugis, makassar, banjar, melayu, sasak).

—Local historian claimed, there also a native people of Sumbawa that proved by the Ai Renung pre-historical site (Manca 1984).

 

Various sources indicate numbers of small kingdom in Sumbawa from coastal area to hilly mountains.

—Negarakertagama (1364)- Utan Kadali, Seran dan Taliwang.

—According to Manca (1984):

—Ropang : Kerajaan Dewa Mas Kuning and Kerajaan Datu Naga

—Moyo Hulu: Kerajaan Ai Renung, Dewa Awan Kuning and Perumpak

—Moyo Hilir: Kerajaan Gunung Galesa

—Sumbawa: Kerajaan Gunung Setia

—Empang: Kerajaan Tangko

—Plampang: Kerajaan Kolong

—Lape: Kerajaan Ngali and Dongan

—Utan: Kerajaan Hutan

—Taliwang: Kerajaan Taliwang and Jereweh (see also Dikbud 2002; Raba 2003)

—Nobel title: 

 

—King and the nobel family (Dewa, Mas, Datu, Sultan; Lalu, Daeng) à Jawa, Sulawesi and Lombok

 

—Superstitious belief à spirits (baki, leak, kono), magic (burak, sekancing, lome-lome, pedang pekir) à Islam dan Hindu

 

—Villages name à kampung bugis, mandar, bajo, arab

 

 History and Ethnic Identity :

—Their history shapes ethnical identity

—Sumbawa as a cultural and racial melting pot (G.J. Held 1953 dan Goethals 1961)

 

 

         Identity:

—To outsider they consider themselves as tau samawa

—But, between them Len desa, len adat à nucleation (Goethals, 1961)

 

 

—Dynamic identification roots in:

1.Bilateral kinship (and preference marriage)

2.Rivalries between vassal state (kampong)

—Goethals (1961: 14-15)“…conflict of kin-based loyalty often seemed to become the rule more than the exception”.

—Goethals (1961: footnote no. 25 page. 112) stated “…it must... be emphasized that the broad historical pattern in both eastern and western Sumbawa has been one of highly fractionated political rivalries where government has always been strongest at the local level”. 

 

Inter-community Relationships

—Dynamic identification as a tools to understand inter-community relationships.

—Stereotyping as a way to identify others.

—Land (in term of territory) used as based for stereotyping others.

—Samawa tanja makassar  (Samawa looks like Makassar)

—Utan basaja’ bae

—Rangking Pakajang Rate

—Aru-ara Tatebal (hurly-burly Tatebal)

—Pasiki Lenangguar

—Gambo Pamangong (the conceited  Pamangong/Moyo)

—Semamung pangantong bola (Semamung’s are good liar)

—Beraning anosiyep (fearless people of sunrise area)

—Merang Taliwang (Frighten people of Taliwang)

(Manca, 1984)

 Cosmology:

—View about self:

—Considering themselves as verses

—Tutu si lenas mu gita

—Mara ai dalam dulang

—Rosa dadi umak rea.

—Ila, Pamendi and Jangi

—Myth and supernatural beliefs     

  

 Religion:

—Islam is religion of most sumbawa people

—Each village had their own mosque (mesigit)

—Idul Fitri (belepas) and maulud nabi (munid)  are among the most important celebration

—In Ramadhan (bulan puasa) people spent their time in mosque (especially the elder and the young). It is associated with explicit religious obligations.

—Hajj is considered as important step in ones live.

 

Language:

—Despite various dialects, people of sumbawa consider their language as oneàbasa samawa

—According to Manca (1984: 23):

1.Each village in southern part had their own languageà basa Ropang, Suri, Selesek, Lebah, Dodo, Beru, Jeluar, Tanganam and Geranta, which called as languages of Ropang Mountain.

2.Basa Samawa is spoken by people of Batu Lanteh and coastal area in northern part from Empang to Seteluk.

3.In western part (now kabupaten sumbawa barat) there are Taliwang and Jereweh language which are more like bahasa sasak

—Goethals (1967: 33) stated that language of Taliwang differ considerably from those in eastern part of Sumbawa.

 

 Traditional knowledge:

—Knowledge about landscape. Every places had their own name.

—Daily activities (Economy)à subsistence activities, hunting and gathering food.

Importance of land:

—As a hunter and gatherer, swidden agriculturer, or as a farmer land have important role in Samawan culture

—swidden parcel (Rau) à see it importance in national context  (Bumi Gora). Dove (1984) stated 4 % of the cultivated land. 

—Hunting (Nganyang) à Pulau Moyo 

—Cattleman (Lar) à Provincial programm (Bumi Sejuta Sapi) 

—Farming (Orong/keban) à past name of the island (Pulau Nasi). 

—At village level, Goethals (1975) devided land category in Rarak into:

1.Omal: previously cultivated terrain which has undergone the swidden cultivation cycle at least once, and usually many times. Recognized as the "property" of individual villagers

2.Tua: These are timber reserves, or woodlands, scattered throughout the village tract in small isolated parcels. Such parcels are recognized as village property.

3.Kelasir: Best defined as the only mapped, formally titled real estate which is registered and recognized as such by the present regional government

 

Sacred Sites:

—Grave. In many cases abandoned, but…

—Sell his father’s grave…(ka jual kuber bapak)

—Jango kuber

—Abandoned sites used by people among them (considered as “not a good person”)

—Sacred grave. A well known way to solve problems.