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Thursday, July 24, 2008




yawns! im doing a very..INTERESTING! write up on Siberut:Souls in fragile harmony

at first i was going HUH? er yeah u might go that too, but lemme tell u more!

Siberut : largest ( 4,000 sqaure kilometres ) and most northern island in the Mentawai Archipelago to the west of sumatra..i don't blame u for taking a period of time to understand

Social structure : Islanders cultivate root crops and sago, as well as keep chickens and pigs ( they keep me? jsut kidding ) They also hunt fish. ( By the way do indonesian eat pork? )

For many generations! Traders from sumatra have exchanged iron tools, textiles and glass beads for coconuts and forest products.

The population of siberut is divided into exogamous patrilineal clans which trace their origin from a common area in the northwest of the island. Descendants of these clans stay in longhouses (Uma) sited at varying distances from one another along rivers.

Traditional uma's hold between 5 to 10 families. Wow its big, larger than bungalows, right?

Inside the uma there is an ideology of cooperation and trust. Without it how to live in harmony? Also there is a master of ceremonies (rimata) and often one or more shamans(kerei)

Oh yeah, tensions between families are rules rather than exceptions

Souls in fragile harmony : Islanders believe evrything has a soul(simagere)-humans,animals,plants..(and yes for some who think they have no soul)

There are specific taboos in each Mentawai important undertaking, and if u fail to obey, the "bajou", a kind of impersonal force present in everything that has a soul, is aroused. The frequent consequence for offenders is illness and eventually death.

The soul of a person can detach itself from the body and wander about freely and so they are the cause of dreams, but if a soul encounters unpleasant adventures, it seeks refuge with ancestors, to counter this each man and woman shld lead a life that please their souls ( yes live happy eat good..abalone for everyone? )

Sorry for the long post, too many interesting stuff..ok shorten this.

Festivals : Puliajat -- 1. Meat is shared out for a ritual banquet by members of the "uma"
2. At the start of the ritual the master of ceremonies invokes the leaf-bud of an aren palm, symbolising the unity of the "uma"
3. All participants adorn themselves with parts of the leaf-bud.
4.Evil forces are driven out of the "uma" by the officiating shamans.
5. The souls of the ancestors are called dto join the living.

well i'll end here with these pics of the aren palm, sorry for long post, thanks and



bye

Melv



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