Sumba people
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The Sumba (or Sumbese) people are an ethnic group inhabiting Sumba Island in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, which is divided by two regencies, namely
West Sumba Regency West Sumba Regency ( id, Kabupaten Sumba Barat) is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. Established in 1958, the regency was considerably reduced in 2007 with the creation of new Regencies on Sumba Island. Its area is now 737.42 ...
and
East Sumba Regency East Sumba Regency ( id, Kabupaten Sumba Timur) is geographically the largest of the four regencies which divide the island of Sumba, within East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. It occupies 64% (nearly two-thirds) of the entire island, being ...
. They refer to themselves as Tau Humba. The Sumbese have been able to retain much of their culture despite foreign influences that arrived long ago on the Lesser Sunda Islands.


Origin


Mythology

There are genealogical bonds between the Sumbese and those of the Sawu Island. According to a myth of origin, they come from two ancestors, ''Hawu Meha'' and ''Humba Meha''. ''Hawu Meha'' gave birth to the Sawunese who initially lived in Sumba Island but later migrated to the small Sawu Island. The offspring of ''Humba Meha'' remained in
Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...
.


History

The exact time Sumba Island began to populate is not known. There were theories that Sumba Island's most ancient inhabitants of the Australoids later assimilated with the
Austronesian people The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austrones ...
. Proof of this was the appearance of the natives Sumba, which had some
Australoid Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
features. However, genetic studies have shown that Sumba people are a little different from other
Austronesian people The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austrones ...
and the
Australoid Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
features could have been taken by their ancestors on the way to the island. According to the
Marapu The Marapu religion (also known as Marafu in Sumba) is a form of ancestral religion that is practiced mainly in the island of Sumba in Indonesia. Marapu is also practiced in many more remote areas of Sumba and Flores. Both the Christians and Mu ...
mythology, the first people came down through the stairs from the sky to the north of the island. Geneticists claim that the ancestors of the Sumba people really did originally inhabit the northern coast, and only then followed by the rest of the Sumba Island. Since the end of
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period, settlers have created megalithic structures. Moreover, this tradition continued until the 20th century. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, Sumba were active in trading valuable species of wood and fragrant resin. Due to the merchants from Arabia to the island, new breed of horses were introduced. The dry climate of the local
Tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
contributed to the expansion of horse breeding. It is assumed that Sumba people were dependent on the Javanese kingdom of
Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
, then from other kingdom relations in
Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there ...
and
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
. In fact, the power was divided among the local leaders, with their never-ending struggle for power. This has resulted in the development of slavery. In 1866, Sumba was attached to the colonial possessions of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
. East of the island was greatly influenced by the colonial administration, while the west side maintained an archaic lifestyle. After an uprising in 1901, the Dutch had a number of reforms aimed at modernizing the economy and the establishment of a single administration. In 1949, Sumba became part of independent Indonesia.


Religion

The traditional religion of the
Marapu The Marapu religion (also known as Marafu in Sumba) is a form of ancestral religion that is practiced mainly in the island of Sumba in Indonesia. Marapu is also practiced in many more remote areas of Sumba and Flores. Both the Christians and Mu ...
religion, which includes both ancestral worship and deity worship is still very much alive among the Sumbese society. Marapu is the philosophical center of Sumbese cultural expression and includes customary ceremonies, traditional places of worship (''umaratu''),
traditional architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
, decorative carvings and
textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
with its fashion styles such as ''hinggi'' and ''lau'' fabric, as well as its jewelry and weapons.
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
begin to spread in the 19th century with the arrival of Christian missionaries. The majority of Christian believers belong to the
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
.


Culture

The main occupation of Sumba people has long been agriculture. Dominated by
slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...
agriculture in the
Tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
, as well as livestock keeping. The climate with regular seasonal droughts have led to the formation of a special agricultural strategy where farmers simultaneously grow various crops at subsistence level such as rice, beans, tuber, corn, and so on. However, even today it is not always bountiful but it helps to produce just good enough harvests. The traditional staple diet are rice and cassava. Dutch missionaries and colonial officers have noted that hunger is often a cause for military conflicts. Sumba people also keep cows, buffalo, chickens, sheep and horses. The locals breed a species of small but hardy horses, and it is also well known to other islands of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. Traditional crafts includes weaving and stone carving. The main type of settlement is village houses with their traditional defensive concept is to be built on hilltops and surrounded by dense thorny thickets. Frame bamboo huts are built on poles with walls overshadowing mats. Thatched roof has a complex structure designed to protect homes from rain and sun, as well as to provide natural ventilation in buildings. The social strata in
East Sumba Regency East Sumba Regency ( id, Kabupaten Sumba Timur) is geographically the largest of the four regencies which divide the island of Sumba, within East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. It occupies 64% (nearly two-thirds) of the entire island, being ...
among the nobles (), priests () and the common folk (''ata'') still exists although it is not observed as strictly as in the past and outwardly it is no longer obviously seen in the physical appearance and the dress of a person. Today differences in attire indicate different levels of importance during events such as traditional celebrations, weddings and death ceremonies, where components of the attire that is used are newly made, while old or worn out clothing is usually used at home or for daily work. In the past, the main clothing was ornamented sarong ''ikat'', where both men and women covered them only at the lower part of the body. The most important part of the traditional attire of Sumba is located on the body cover in the form of large sheets of ''hinggi'' fabric for men and ''lau'' fabric for women. From the ''hinggi'' and ''lau'' fabrics which is made by weaving techniques and its application of ''muti'' and ''hada'' are revealed as various symbols in the social and economic context. Historically, the eastern part of the island of Sumba is the hub of trade relations where people are connected with the outside world. Therefore in the second half of 2 millennium AD, complex social structure are formed here with a layer of high ranking soldiers and leaders that took the monarch title, ''raja''. In western Sumba, only a small tribal groups are headed by selected leaders remained. In both parts of the island's main social role played by the major tribal communities, who occupied the village, controls the surrounding land and water sources. They were divided into small nuclear groups and large extended families. Kinship and inheritance are only counted on the patrilineal line. Sumba people have a rich and relatively diverse oral folklore. Preserved traditional festivals, which includes horse race, bull sacrifices, complex funerary rituals and fights with spears.
Pasola Pasola is a mounted spear-fighting competition from western Sumba, Indonesia. It is played by throwing wooden spears at the opponent while riding a horse to celebrate the rice-planting season. The word ''pasola'' means spear in the local language ...
is the cultural feast of the Sumba people and is considered one of Indonesia's cultural richness, which is very rare and unique to the Sumba people. In
West Sumba Regency West Sumba Regency ( id, Kabupaten Sumba Barat) is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. Established in 1958, the regency was considerably reduced in 2007 with the creation of new Regencies on Sumba Island. Its area is now 737.42 ...
, people come from far away just to watch the ''pasola'', a competition whereby two teams compete in throwing blunted spears at each other. By the 20th century, Sumba people have already built megalithic tombs, most famously in Anakalang.


Traditional men's attire

As mentioned previously, the attire of the adult Sumba community tend to be based on the level of importance as well as the circle of environment in an event rather than hierarchical social status. However, there are some minor differences. For example, the attire of an aristocratic is usually made of finer cloth and accessories compared to a commoner, although the components and overall appearance are the same. By observing those aspects, the study of Sumba men's clothing are focused on traditional attires worn in huge events, ceremonies, festivals and of the sorts. It is because in occasions as such, men will dress in their best outlook. Sumba men's attire are consist of a headgear, body coverings and a number of accompanying embellishments and bladed weapon. As for the covering of the body, two pieces of ''hinggi'' are used, namely ''hinggi kombu'' and ''hinggi kaworu''. ''Hinggi kombu'' is worn on the hip and reinforced with a wide leather belt. ''Hinggi kaworu'' or sometimes ''hinggi raukadama'' is used as a complementary. ''Tiara patang'' is tied around the head, a type of headgear with certain loops and knots that displays a crest shape. This crest can be placed in front, on the left side or on the right side depending on the symbolic meaning that is intended. For example, a crest placed in front symbolizes wisdom and independence. The ''hinggi'' and ''tiara'' are made of woven cloth of ''ikat'' technique and ''pahikung'' technique. Especially headgear that is made with the ''pahikung'' weaving technique is called ''tiara pahudu''. A variety of decorations that are found on the ''hinggi'' and ''tiara'' especially those that related to living creature such as human abstract (skull), prawns, chicken, snake, dragon, crocodile, horse, fish, turtle, squid, deer, bird, buffalo and patterns that are influence by foreign cultures (Chinese and Dutch) such as dragon, three colored flag, crown and lion. All of them have their own meaning and symbol that derives from mythology, mind, as well as deep believe in
Marapu The Marapu religion (also known as Marafu in Sumba) is a form of ancestral religion that is practiced mainly in the island of Sumba in Indonesia. Marapu is also practiced in many more remote areas of Sumba and Flores. Both the Christians and Mu ...
. The color of the ''hinggi'' also reflects aesthetic value and social status. The best ''hinggi'' is ''hinggi kombu'' followed by ''hinggi kawaru'', then ''hinggi raukadana'' and finally ''hinggi panda paingu''. Next, Sumba men's attire is completed with a
Kabeala Kabeala (sometimes Kabela, Kabeàla or Kabiala; which means "''Parang''" or "''Golok''" in East Sumba language) is a traditional weapon originating from East Sumba, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country i ...
inserted of the left side of the belt. While a ''kanatar'' (bracelet) and a ''mutisalak'' (coral beads) is worn on the left wrist. Traditionally there is no footwear in the men's attire, however it is commonly used especially those in the city. The
Kabeala Kabeala (sometimes Kabela, Kabeàla or Kabiala; which means "''Parang''" or "''Golok''" in East Sumba language) is a traditional weapon originating from East Sumba, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country i ...
is a symbol of masculinity. The ''mutisalak'' symbolizes economically-able and social ranking. Similarly as it is with other embellishments. Overall, the decorations and complementary embellishments of the attire is a symbol of wisdom, strength and kindness of a person. Heirloom objects such as the
marangga Marangga are precious metal valuable of the Sumba people of Sumba Island, Indonesia. They are found in the megalithic culture of the western Sumba people, e.g. the Anakalang society. They have the shape of a twisted metal sheet with a broadene ...
neck circle-pectoral and the gold jewelry madaka are also worn during special ceremony, although these objects are normally kept inside the attic of the house due to their supposed strong spiritual power.


Traditional women's attire

Festivals and ceremonial female attires of the Eastern Sumbese always involves a choice of several fabrics which are named according to style of the weaving techniques such as , , and . Decorative fabrics are used as lower part of the
sarong A sarong or sarung () is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid o ...
covering up to the chest (''lau pahudu kiku'') and shoulders covered (''taba huku'') with the same color as the
sarong A sarong or sarung () is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid o ...
. The head dress is decorated with plain-colored tiara that comes with ''hiduhai'' or ''hai kara''. Above the forehead is pinned with metal jewelry such as gold or gilding which called ''
Marangga Marangga are precious metal valuable of the Sumba people of Sumba Island, Indonesia. They are found in the megalithic culture of the western Sumba people, e.g. the Anakalang society. They have the shape of a twisted metal sheet with a broadene ...
''. While the ear are decorated with ''
mamuli Mamuli are precious metal ornaments of the Sumba people, Sumba, Indonesia. They are found in the megalithic society of the western Sumba people, e.g. the Anakalang society. The mamuli ornaments have a shape which represents the female genitali ...
'' jewelry in the form of golden necklaces are also used on the neck and dangles right up to the chest. As the men carries the
Kabeala Kabeala (sometimes Kabela, Kabeàla or Kabiala; which means "''Parang''" or "''Golok''" in East Sumba language) is a traditional weapon originating from East Sumba, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country i ...
, the women carries the Kahidi Yutu knife when leaving one's residence or when attending formal occasions.


See also

* Anakalang *
Textiles of Sumba The textiles of Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia, represent the means by which the present generation passes on its messages to future generations. Sumbanese textiles are deeply personal; they follow a distinct systematic form but also show ...


References

{{Portal, Indonesia Ethnic groups in Indonesia East Nusa Tenggara