Sumba island is about 300km long and 80km wide. Sumba is 21 hours boat ride away from Timor. Planes land at Waingapu, the capital of East Sumba Regency, and Waikabubak, the capital of West Sumba Regency.
The island has approximately 500,000 inhabitants. In the East it is mountainous dry, and rocky. Eastern Sumbanese speak one language. They have the larger share in the water buffalo, horse and cattle export industry. They also have a thriving home industry of Ikat weaving. This weaving is sold to Bali for tourists.
West Sumba receives more rainfall and is more fertile. It supplies East Sumba with rice. The people speak seven different languages in this region.
Marapu : Traditional Beliefs
In the 1860’s and 1870’s Christianity both Catholic and Protestant came to Sumba. These days about 40% of the island still holds firmly to their pre-Christian traditional beliefs.
This belief system is known as Marapu. The very first ancestors are known as Marapu. Marapu means ‘one generation’. To remember these ancestors their descendants have made gold objects representing natural objects (eg the sun, plants, animals). These precious things contain the spirits of their ancestors and are stored in the roof of their houses. The houses must have tall pointed roofs. Each house has three parts. The lower part for domestic animals and this represents the departed souls. The middle section for people, and the top section for their valuables and Marapu, representing the gods.
The only way to join the Marapu is through death, so funeral ceremonies are the most important ceremony of all. Enormous stone tombs and offering alters are found in each village. The greatness of a person is shown by the size of their tomb. An important person’s tomb may take 40 men two years to make and need 1000 men to pull it from the quarry. The traditional village is usually made up of large clan houses that all face into a square where the huge stone tombs of the ancestors sit.
When an important person dies animals such as horses, buffaloes, pigs and dogs are sacrificed. Slaves also used to be killed, but not any more. In 1988 the government restricted the amount of animals allowed to be killed to five, it used to number in the hundreds! The Sumbanese believe they need to take with them everything that is necessary for a good life in the after world. So many valuable pieces of ikat cloth and everyday items are buried with the dead person.
Pasola : New year Celebration
In earlier times Sumba was known as a producer of sandalwood. They no longer sell sandalwood but their famous horses are known as sandal horses. These horses are valued all over Eastern Indonesia.
The most spectacular ceremony on Sumba is Pasola. This event occurs just after the full moon at the end of February and at the beginning of March. Hundreds of men on horseback fight with and throw blunt spears in a mock battle. Teams of colourfully dressed men line up either side and rush in with quick charges. This continues until the horses tire. The most admired fighters are those that can simulate a kill without being hit themselves. The crowds cheer as their men skilfully perform. This ritual war can last all day, and as the afternoon wears on often the battle becomes more serious. Men do get hurt and some die. The spilling of blood is pleasing to the spirits, and hopefully ensures a bountiful harvest.
This battle is to welcome the ‘nyale’ or sea worms that come onto the beaches 6 days before the full moon. These multi-coloured sea worms come onto some of the Southern beaches of Sumba and are observed by the priests to decide if the harvest is going to be good that year.
Questions / activities
1. What are the differences between East and West Sumba? (Give at least 3) 2. What is Marapu? (1 paragraph) 3. Imagine you are one of the young men involved in the Pasola fight. Describe your day in detail (at least 1/2 page). 4. Draw a Sumbanese house into your book and label the three sections. 5. What role do horses play on Sumba? Describe several uses.
Extra Activities, Comprehension, Discussion and Research Questions
1. Go horse riding with your class, or friends. How hard would it be to ride bare back and use a lance to attack other people? Don’t try it!!
2. Using the Sumba At A Glance notes, draw up a picture chart (as a poster) to represent the information. Pictures can be drawn or cut from magazines. Keep the words used to the bare minimum (major headings only, if necessary). Garuda Airlines sometimes gives away books and pamphlets about travel in Indonesia.
3. Construct a model of a house from Sumba
using paddle pop sticks, card board, wood or any other available material.
4. What is a hinggi kombu?
5. Explain the Pasola ceremony in a paragraph.
6. Why were many animals sacrificed when a person died in Sumba?
7. What does the size of a tomb show? If the tombs can take 40 men to make for two years and up to 1000 men to transport, what does this tell us about the technology being used?
8. These days the Pasola ceremony is a mock battle. In former times it was for real. What is the reason for the battle itself, and what is the reason for the change?
9. In Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, when a funeral for a person of noble birth is held they sacrifice animals numbering in the 100s. Previously this was the case in Sumba as well. Why would the government restrict the amount of animals the Sumbanese are allowed to sacrifice when a person dies?
10. What effects does the limestone base to the soil types make to what native vegetation and agricultural crops grows can be grown compared to the volcanic country of Flores?
