TALANG MAMAK TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Riau Talang Malak Traditional House

The Talang Mamak people live in the districts of Pasir Penyu, Siberida, and Renggat in the regency of Indragiri Hulu in the province of Riau. Their population center includes three areas known as Pasirpenyu, Siberida, and Rengat. In this area, they are a minority amidst a mix of Riau Melayu, Kubu, Minangkabau, Jawa, and other people groups. While the history of the Talang Mamak is unclear, they seem to have been influenced by the Minangkabau culture. Marks of this influence include similar clothing designs and the shape of their rice barns (rangkinang). The Talang Mamak have their own language by the same name. The origin of the name Talang Mamak is as follows. The word Mamak means "a respected person," and is derived from the same word in the Minangkabau language. Formerly, the ancestors of the Mamak people would clear an area of jungle for a new settlement, which as called a Talang. The Talang Mamak live a simple life. They are not attracted to technology or education. Their main foods are rice and cassava. They usually work as farmers planting rice and systematically moving from field to field while still using simple tools. They also plant corn, cassava, or various beans. Some Talang Mamak gain their livelihood through fishing, hunting, gathering rattan, or tapping rubber trees.Most Talang Mamak live in settlements that are spread throughout rubber tree forests. Typically, the houses are located quite far apart. Their houses are generally built on raised platforms. Logs, bark, and woven bamboo are used to build their homes, which are thatched with sago palm fronds. Usually, their houses have multiple levels, with each level containing only one room. The parents and small children live on the first floor and a married daughter and her family would stay on the second floor. Farming tools are stored on the third floor.The various roles of Talang Mamak leadership are identified with the following terms: Ria or Penghulu (village leader), Batin, Pemangku, Debalang, Orang Tuha (village elders), and Penghulu Muda (youth leaders). The duty of those involved in leadership is to rule on social conflicts, divorce, and carut (accidentally and wrongly saying things that hurt other persons). Most Talang Mamak people fuse animistic and Islamic beliefs. They believe in spirits that inhabit various places and things. Ancestral treasures, such as a keris (a ceremonial knife), certain weapons, and clothes, are believed to have magical powers. They still worship Semambu Bauk (a cluster of bamboos with a huge snake) in the area of Batin Sungai Limau. They also believe that a large tree called Kayu Puako has magical powers.The Talang Mamak believe that God created Adam and Eve. They believe that this couple bore 9 children who later intermarried and had many descendants. One descendant was an unmarried woman who bore Datuk Perpatih Nan Sebatang, the ancestor of the Talang Mamak.

RIAU KUBU TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Riau Kubu Traditional Houses

The term Kubu is a Malay exonym ascribed to mobile, animist peoples (Orang Batin Simbilan and Orang Rimba) who live throughout the lowland forests of Southeast Sumatra. In the Malay language, the word Kubu can mean defensive fortification, entrenchment, or a place of refuge. It is metaphor for how the majority and dominant Islamic Melayu villagers believe them to use the interior forests as a means for resisting inclusion in the larger Malay social and Islamic religious world. As is the case with other forest peoples in the region, the term Kubu is associated with very negative connotations. Following Malay classifications, early Europeans divided the Kubu into two categories: ‘tame' or ‘civilized’ Kubu, who were predominantly swidden farmers, and ‘wild’ Kubu, who lived deep in the forests, and made much stronger efforts to avoid close relations with the outside world. While closely related Malay speaking peoples, these peoples represent two separate cultural groups, which have different economic and socio-religious systems.

 

LEPKI TRIBE

East Papua, Lepki Tribe http://oysteinlundandersen.com/West-Papua/Lepki-tribal-area/Lepki_tribe_west_papua.html

The Lepki people live in the interior of the western part of the island of New Guinea, which is commonly referred to as West-Papua. The area is located in the lowlands on the western side of Sogber River, a river which flows into the larger Idenburg River. The Lepki inhabit a rather small area compared to oth  er tribes in the vicinity, their territory being approximately 400 sq. km of land. The area is 170km south of the provincial capital Jayapura.  There are a few hilltops within the area but elevations higher than 400m are not found. Coordinates of the approximate centre of the Lepki area is S4 08.0 E140 26. The Lepki people in 2007 numbered only 328 people, compromising them also to one the less populated tribes in the region.

 

WAIRA TRIBE

West Papua, Waira tribe

The "Exploratory Expedition" 2005 was a success. In August I led two westerners, one American and one Swiss on the "Exploratory Expedition". They both had extensive adventure travel resumes. But, what they experienced was like nothing they had ever seen before. We flew by a charter plane into our starting point. The airfield is just mud and grass. We gathered up our porters and then headed out from there. We had around 20 porters because we expected to be out for around two weeks. We trekked for a few days and along the way we picked up 3 traditional warriors, who were clad in only a leaf covering their penises. There was one porter/guide who had spotted a man in the forest several months before and this is where we wanted to go. We set up camp along a small river. Our guide told us that on the other side of the river was another tribe's territory -- a territory where none of our porters had ever visited even though it is only a few days walk away from their village. This tribe still uses bone and and stone tools and has never seen a white skinned or Indonesian person. This new tribe, Waira is very territorial and outsiders are not welcome. If you want to see them, you have to go into their territory because they never leave the area. We proceded to make a basecamp there, cutting down trees and making a pondok (bush shelter) for our porters to sleep under. Then suddenly in the late afternoon we heard a group of men calling out from the other side of the river. Some of our porters huddled in the pondok, and others grabbed bows and arrows and ran down by the river to see who was there. Then all went silent and remained silent for another hour, when suddenly they were calling out again, but this time they were behind us, on the same side of the river as we were. Our guide, who is from a different tribe, said he could only understand a few words of what they were saying. But, he knows it isn't good. And now it's dark and we know that they are somewhere out there, and we can't see them. My guide and I discuss strategies on how we should deal with this potentially dangerous sitiuation. We decide that he should try to find their camp (village) and try to explain that we mean no harm and have gifts to give them. Two traditional naked warriors follow with him, just in case there is a problem. They proceed to walk about 2 minutes out of camp when suddenly the new tribe screams out and starts shooting arrows at our guide. He lies flat in the mud and then runs back to basecamp. He is visiably shaken, but decides to go back in another hour or so. He again leaves to find their location and two men go with him. He finds their camp (village) and yells out in the night to them. They come out of their huts and say that they will kill him. He tries to get them to understand we come in peace and have gifts. They tell him, to the best of what he can understand, that they will come back to our pondok (bush shelter) in the morning. And if we are there they won't be too happy. Needless to say it was a rather restless evening. Porters were on watch throughout the night and my clients and I woke up around 4 am. I immediately broke down our tents and we put most of our equipment inside the pondok. We all sat around waiting. It was just barely light out and the forest was alive with the sounds of insects and birds of paradise. It was a very eerie feeling, just waiting for them to come. How would they react to us? Would they attack us? Then suddenly out of nowhere, they started yelling out and charged into our camp. Half of the porters just took off running into the forest. They were scared to death. The other half plus our 3 traditional warriors stayed and in a weird show of force, our guys would run up to them and break their arrows as they tried to pull back on the bow. It was like a cross between some strange dance and a rugby scrum. My clients were standing in front of the pondok taking photos, as this might have been our only opportunity to get photos of them. I'm watching the situation and keeping an eye on the guys as they break arrows. Then suddenly the chief breaks through and comes running at us. I say to my clients, "Oh no, here they come." Two porters catch him and break his arrows as he is trying to pull back on his bow. We turn and start running in the opposite direction. After a few more minutes of struggling with them, they leave. And then about 20 minutes later they came back. We were all gathered inside the pondok or in front of it. They trashed our camp. Broke our plastic cups, smashed our pots and pans and filled our tarp with arrows. And just like that, they ran away into the forest. Our local guide told us that we should wait for a while and then try to follow the trail to their camp (village). We took with us about 6 porters and the 3 traditional warriors. All of our guys brought bows and arrows with them. We followed their trail and then it came out at a small clearing. There we could see where they live. There were 3 tall houses built in the trees and one long house on the ground. The houses rose up around 15 meters high and they looked like they were built next to or partially in the forest. The men, around 6 of them, were in strategic positions in the area under their houses. They were all armed with bows and arrows and ready to use them if need be. The chief yelled out and we took that as a warning to stop and not come any closer. We were about 60 meters from their camp. Our local guide tried to communicate to them that we brought them gifts and that we just wanted to see them and then we'll go. We brought them 2 metal axes, a carton of salt and a carton of shag (cut leaf tobacco). We showed it to them and left it where we were standing. As we left they shot arrows off to our left, in a show that they were the winners and had scared us off. We went directly to our pondok, gathered up our equipment, and then started our trek back to where we started. Our guide said that they would later come and destroy our pondok and every tree that we cut down to make a bridge accross the river. He said that if you make contact two or three more times with them, that they will probably let us enter their village and hopefully they can take us deeper into the jungle to see other people of their tribe. In 2006, I will lead another expedition to visit the Waira tribe. And this will be a second contact trip. But, their reaction to us could easily be like it was on the "Exploratory Expedition"

 

ASMAT TRADITIONAL HOUSE

This Papuan Asmat village in the coastal swamps consists of one long house housing several families. The people live in and are part of nature. Photo by Marcel Silvius

 

KETENGBAN TRIBE

Ketengban tribal area, New Guinea (Nongme, Umtambor, Urubool- and Sekame village)  Location:West Papua. New Guinea Island. The Ketengban people inhabit an area on the north-eastern side of the central mountain range in the IndonesianProvince of Papua, on the island of New Guinea. They live in an elevation varying from 6500feet in the mountainous region to 1500 feet in the northern hills and number between 12000-14000 people. Ketengban language has been classified as Papuan stock and part of the Mek family in the Trans new guinea phylum. There are four different dialects: the Central, Eastern, Western and North-eastern, though all are mutually intelligible.Bounded in the east by Eipomek and the Mek Language, to the west by Apmisibil and the Nggalum language, and to the northwest bordering the less inhabited lowlands, were people speak the more unknown Lepki and Yetfa languages.

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CENTRAL SASAK TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Lombok  Rembitan-Sade
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Sade Village is a traditional Village on lombok island. This Traditional Lombok Village located on Central Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat. It take about 1 hours from Mataram City. And half hours from new Lombok Airport. Their house are stil traditional. The roof made from alang-alang and the wall made from combinations of clay and cow faeces. For them, cow faeces have many functions for their live such as for cleaning the floor, washing, bathing, etc. lomboklinks-sade-village-1 lomboklinks-sade-village-2 The people in Sade Village specially the man must sleep outside the house. Why?? They have a traditions, If they have a daughter, they have to protect their daughter from kinapted. In lombok island, If a young man want to get married with a young girl, he must kinapted the girl.

 

NORTH SASAK TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Senaru Village

This traditional village,  under the palm trees in the north of Lombok,  situated next to the Rinjani Trek Centre.  The Sasak inhabitants are the cultural guardians  of Mount Rinjani and its surrounding forest  and safeguard its spiritual values.  Locally guided visits include opportunities to  experience the villagers's daily life,  visit their thatched houses,  prepare meals using local products,  and understand their traditional way of life.

 

MEK TRIBE

Mek Tribe

Mek tribal area, West-Papua (villages of Nalca and Kona) Location:West Papua. New Guinea Island. The Mek tribe inhabit a large area located in the central-eastern region of the mountainous region of West-Papua. They are considered to be one of the most populated tribes in this region. Many simple airstrips have been constructed by missionaries here, the most important one being in the village of Nalca. Other villages found in the Mek tribal area is: Eipomek, Kona, M, and Endomen. The Mek tribe border the Ketengban in the east, Yali in the south/west and Kimyal in the south/east. Click to Enlarge ! Traditional Mek settlement in Nalca Click to Enlarge ! A village located between Nalca and Kona. Click to Enlarge ! Men and their ornaments in M village. Click to Enlarge ! Cultural war dance in Kona Village. Click to Enlarge ! Mek woman in Kona. Click to Enlarge ! Traditional houses in Kona.

ROTI TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Roti, Traditional Houses http://www.pbase.com/asianodyssey/rote

Houses on Roti are classified according to the number of their main posts (di). Thus there are — or were — ‘four-, six- and, in rare instances, eight-post houses’ (uma di-hak, di-nek and di-faluk). These posts are the critical support structures of the house and they must preserve the same order as the trees from which they were cut with their bases (huk) planted in the ground. Similarly, house beams, and especially the ridge-pole, must be oriented with their bases at the tail of the house and their tips toward the head. This order is a fundamental requirement of auspicious construction practice.

SAVU TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Savu Island traditional-healing-centre-of-Savu

The Savu Islands (also spelled as Sabu or Sawu) measure 460,78 square km. and include Rai Hawu, Rai Jua and Rai Dana. The three islands are fringed by coral reef and sandy beaches. Rai Dana is a small, uninhabited island, situated thirty kilometres south-west of Rai Jua. The land is for the larger part covered with grass and palms. The climate is dry for large parts of the year, due to hot winds blowing from the Australian continent. Most rain falls during the months from November to March. Between 82% & 94% of all rain falls during the west monsoon, with little or no rain falling for the months of August to October. The mean annual rainfall for Savu Island is 1019 mm. During the dry season, the islands' streams dry up, so the islanders depend on wells for their water supply. From April to October, deep ocean swells pound the south facing coastlines.

 

LIO TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Flores Lio Tribe Wologai http://www.contemporarynomad.com/2012/01/the-lio-tribe/

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A visit to Wologai, a traditional Lionese village situated on a beautifully forested volcanic ridge an hour past Ende. (The topography of Flores is phenomenal.) Wologai is one of the few villages in the Ende district with well preserved Lionese art and architecture. Because of its adherence to traditional building practices, the village serves as the location for several of the Lio tribe’s celebrations. The villagers were friendly yet shy, and quite adamant that we follow certain rules while walking through Wologai. We were allowed to walk through the circle of huts around the central terraced platform, but they asked us not to enter the tall ceremonial house. The cermonial house is said to contain several sacred objects including a ritual drum made of human skin. (Yikes!) The huts themselves were quite interesting. Many window frames and major beams were carved with interesting animal, plant and abstract motifs. As with most tribes in Flores, although the Lio tribe describe themselves as Catholics, their architecture tells a much more complex story. Lio villages have masculine houses keda kanga and female houses sao ria, each featuring unique layout, orientation, and design. Sao ria feature a very large pair of carved breasts near the entrance. The layout of the sao ria metaphorically represents a mother’s body, the door being the entrance to the womb. There’s a lot going on here which is not immediately obvious to the casual visitor, but animism and fertility rituals are most certainly an ongoing part of Lionese culture. Anthropology buffs can read more about the culture here (PDF). I really wish we had had more time at Wologai. The thrill of a visit to this remarkable village was in the tiny, mysterious details. And, sometimes, in the not-so-tiny details. One house had an amazing open-armed carving – I have no idea if it was just a piece of art or whether it had some symbolic meaning. More time at Wologai would also have meant more access. Casual visitors are not allowed to enter the ceremonial house, but visitors who stay a day and offer a goat for sacrifice can, apparently, enter this mysterious hut and view the sacred objects. To be honest, although I am curious, I’m not sure I would want to kill an animal to check it out. Info on Visiting Wologai Wologai is not automatically included on every Flores tour, so if you want to experience Lionese culture, you will have to make sure it is included on your itinerary. Wologai is about 36km from Ende and is accessible by public transportation. Ask in hotels in Ende for the latest details.

NGADA TRADITIONAL HOUSE

BENA VILAGGE

Flores Bena Traditional Village

Bajawa

December is an important month for the community of Bena who hold annual celebrations called Reba. Reba is a festival similar to Thanksgiving, when people pay respect to and thank the Almighty for the blessings of a great harvest and the people’s welfare.