Buru people

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Buru people
Gebfuka / Gebemliar
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Groepsportret van mannen en kinderen op Boeroe. TMnr 60045883.jpg
Buru people in folk costume, early 1900s.
Total population
35,000
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia (Buru): 33,000
Languages
Sula–Buru languages (Buru language), Indonesian language
Religion
Islam, Christianity, Animism
Related ethnic groups
Lisela, Kayeli, Ambelay

Buru people (Indonesian : Suku Buru) is an ethnic group mostly living on Indonesian island Buru, as well as on some other Maluku Islands. They also call themselves Gebfuka or Gebemliar, which literally means "people of the world" or "people of the land". Buru people are related to the eastern Indonesian anthropological group and from an ethnographic point of view are similar to other indigenous peoples of the island Buru. They speak the Buru language. [1] [2]

Contents

Distribution

Traditional Buru house of the early 1900s. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Inwoners van het dorp Waepote voor een huis op het eiland Boeroe TMnr 10005850.jpg
Traditional Buru house of the early 1900s.

About 33,000 of 35,000 Buru people live on the island of Buru; they make about a quarter of the island population (about 135,000 as of 2009) and are the most numerous ethnicity of Buru; about 2,000 live on Ambon Island and several hundred are scattered over other islands in the Indonesian province of Maluku and the capital Jakarta. There is a small Buru community in the Netherlands formed by the descendants of the soldiers of Republic of South Moluccas (Indonesian : Republik Maluku Selatan) who moved there after the accession of this self-proclaimed state in Indonesia in 1950. [2]

Buru people are evenly spread over Buru island, except for some parts of the northern coast and the central mountainous part which is sparsely populated. Their relative fraction is somewhat lower in the towns, such as Namrole and Namlea, owing to inflow of people of other Indonesian ethnicities. [3] In the initial period of the Dutch colonization of the island in the middle of the 17th century, much of the tribal nobility of Buru was moved to the eastern part and later became one of the components in the ethnogenesis of ethnic Kayeli people. [4] Several ethnic groups are distinguished within Buru people, which differ in lifestyle and language specifics – Rana (14,258 people mainly in the central part of the island), Masarete (about 9,600 people mainly in the south), Wae Sama (6,622 people mostly in the south-east) and Fogi (about 500 people in the west). [3]

Language

Buru people demonstrating spearing techniques. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Demonstraties van speerwerpen en vechten met zwaard en schild door mannen in een dorp op Boeroe. TMnr 60045885.jpg
Buru people demonstrating spearing techniques.

The ethnic group speaks the Buru language, which belongs to the Central Maluku branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. [2] Three dialects are distinguished according to the major ethnic groups of Rana, Masarete and Wae Sama. In addition, some 3,000–5,000 of Rana people along with their main dialect use the so-called "secret dialect" Ligahan. The western dialect Fogi is now extinct. [5] Lexical differences between the dialects are relatively small: about 90% between Masarete and Wae Sama, 88% between Masarete and Rana and 80% between Wae Sama and Rana. Apart from native vernaculars, most Buru people, especially in the coastal regions and towns have command of the official language of the country, Indonesian. The coastal population also uses the Ambonese language, which is a creolized form of Malay with additions of the local lexicon. [1] [2]

Religion

Religiously, Buru people are divided into comparable fractions of Sunni Muslims, who mostly live in the north of the island, and Christians-Protestants in the south. Remnants of traditional local beliefs persist almost everywhere, and in the central areas of the island many openly profess the cult of the supreme deity Opo Hebe Snulat and his messenger Nabiat. [6] The economical crisis of the 1990s resulted in frequent conflicts among Buru people over religious grounds. So within a few days in December 1999, 43 people were killed and at least 150 houses burned in the Wainibe village. [7] [8]

Lifestyle

Most Buru people are engaged in farming rice, millet, sago, sweet potato and various spice, such as allspice, nutmeg and Eucalyptus tree, which is used for aromatic oil. In the inland areas, they also hunt the wild pig Buru babirusa, deer and possum, and take part in tuna fishing on the coast. [1] In the urban areas, the growing number of Buru people take jobs in the industrial enterprises. [9] Traditional Buru houses are made from bamboo, often on stilts. The roofs are covered with palm leaves or reeds, with tiles becoming progressively popular. Traditional Buru clothing is similar that of many other Indonesia peoples. Men wear sarong (a kind of kilt) and a long-skirted tunic, and women are dressed in sarong and a shorter jacket. However, the colors and decor items differ quite substantially among Masarete, Wae Sama and Rana. Traditional Buru weapons are straight machete (parang) and a short spear. In the past, Buru hunters were famed for their spear throwing skills. [10] Buru people, along with the Muslim or Christian names, also use traditional ones, the most common being Lesnussa, Latbual, Nurlatu, Lehalima, Wael and Sigmarlatu.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buru</span> Island in Maluku, Indonesia

Buru is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Maluku province and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies. Their administrative centers, Namlea and Namrole, respectively, have ports and are the largest towns of the island, served by Namlea Airport and Namrole Airport respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku (province)</span> Province of Indonesia

Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The largest city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, Southwest Papua, and West Papua in the north, Central Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi in the west, Banda Sea, Australia, East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara in the south and Arafura Sea, Central Papua and South Papua in the east. The land area is 57803.81 km2, and the total population of this province at the 2010 census was 1,533,506 people, rising to 1,848,923 at the 2020 census, the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,908,753. Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madurese people</span> Ethnic group of Madura Island, Indonesia

Madurese, Madurans, Madurites or Madurace are one of the Javan ethnic groups native to the Indonesian island of Madura in Java Sea, off the northeastern coast of Java. They speak their own native Madurese, sharing a common history, traditions, and cultural identity. Nationwide, the Madurese are the third-largest ethnic group in Indonesia, and one of the well-known Indonesian national dishes, Satay, is attributed to the Madurese as part of their culinary heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambonese people</span> Indonesia ethnic group

The Ambonese, misunderstood as well as Moluccans, are an ethnic group of mixed Austronesian and Melanesian origin. They are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. The Ambonese are from Ambon Island in Maluku, an island group east of Sulawesi and north of Timor in Indonesia. They also live on the southwest of Seram Island; which is part of the Moluccas, Java, New Guinea; on the West Papua side and other regions of Indonesia. Additionally, there are about 35,000 Ambonese people living in the Netherlands. By the end of the 20th century, there were 258,331 Ambonese people living in Ambon, Maluku.

WAE or wae may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Indonesia</span>

There are 1,340 recognised ethnic groups in Indonesia, making it one of the most diverse countries in the world. The vast majority of those belong to the Austronesian peoples, with a sizeable minority being Melanesians. Indonesia has the world's largest number of Austronesians and Melanesians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wemale people</span> Ethnic group of Seram Island, Indonesia

The Wemale people are an ethnic group of Seram Island, Indonesia. They number over 7,500 and live in 39 villages of the central area of the island. Like the Alune people in the west, the Wemale people originate from a common ancestral group called the Patasiwa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moluccans</span> Ethnic group from the Moluccas Islands, Indonesia

Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands, Eastern Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku. As such, "Moluccans" is used as a blanket term for the various ethnic and linguistic groups native to the islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisela people</span> Ethnic group of Indonesia

Lisela or Rana people is an ethnic group mostly living on Indonesian island Buru, as well as on some other Maluku Islands. They belong to the eastern Indonesian anthropological group and are sometimes referred to as northern Buru people. From an ethnographic point of view, Lisela are similar to other indigenous peoples of Buru island. They speak the Lisela language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayeli people</span> Ethnic group

Kayeli people is an ethnic group mainly living on the southern coast of the Kayeli Gulf of Indonesian island Buru, mainly from the Kaiely Gulf. From an ethnographic point of view, Kayeli are close to other indigenous people of Buru, such as Lisela and Buru.

The Ambelau people are an ethnic group who form the majority of the population of the Indonesian island of Ambalau. They also live on nearby island Buru and other islands. By ethnography, Ambelau are close to most indigenous peoples of Buru island. They number about 8,260, and speak the Ambelau language.

Ambelau is an Austronesian language; in 1989, it was spoken by about 5,700 Ambelau people, of whom more than 5,000 lived on the Indonesian island Ambelau and most others in the village Wae Tawa of the nearby island Buru.

Buru or Buruese is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch. In 1991 it was spoken by approximately 45,000 Buru people who live on the Indonesian island of Buru. It is also preserved in the Buru communities on Ambon and some other Maluku Islands, as well as in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and in the Netherlands.

Kayeli is an extinct Austronesian language once used by the Kayeli people of the Indonesian island Buru. Two dialects were recognized, namely Leliali (Liliali) and Lumaete.

Lisela, also called Li Enyorot, is an Austronesian language; in 1989 it was spoken by about 11,900 Lisela people mostly living in the northern part of Indonesian island Buru. It is also preserved among the small Lisela community on the Ambon Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambelau</span> Island and district in Buru Selatan Regency, Maluku Province, Indonesia

Ambelau or Ambalau is a volcanic island in the Banda Sea within Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island forms an administrative district which is part of the South Buru Regency of Maluku province, Indonesia. It has a land area of 306 km2, and had a population of 6,846 at the 2010 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 9,225. The administrative center is Wailua, a settlement located at the south of the island. About half of the island's population is composed of indigenous Ambelau people who speak the Ambelau language; the other half are mostly immigrants from the nearby Maluku Islands and Java.

Hukumina is an extinct Austronesian language recently spoken in the northwest of Buru Island in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It had one native speaker in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rejang people</span> Ethnic people in Indonesia

Rejang people are an Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, native to the some parts of Bengkulu Province and South Sumatera Province in the southwestern part of Sumatera Island, Indonesia. They occupied some area in a cool mountain slopes of the Barisan mountain range in both sides of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. With approximately more than 1,3 million people, they form the largest ethnic group in Bengkulu Province. Rejang people predominantly live as a majority in 5 out 10 regencies and city of Bengkulu Province, while the rest of them who lives in South Sumatera resides at 7 villages in the district called as Bermani Ulu Rawas. The Rejangs are predominantly an Islam adherent group with small numbers following a religion other than Islam. According to research, Rejang people are the descendants of the Bukar-Sadong people who migrated from Northern Borneo (Sarawak).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotenese people</span> Ethnic group

Rotenese people are one of the native inhabitants of Rote Island, while part of them reside in Timor. Apart from that, the Rotenese people also settled in islands surrounding Rote Island, such as Ndao Island, Nuse Island, Pamana Island, Doo Island, Heliana Island, Landu Island, Manuk Island, and other smaller islands. There are some who believed that the Rotenese people originally migrated from Seram Island, Maluku. They were thought to have arrived on the Rote Island during the reign of the Majapahit kingdom in the late 13th-16th century. It was during this time that there were references to the rulers of the Rotenese people. Initially, the Rotenese people founded settlements on the island of Timor, where they engaged in manual slash-and-burn farming and used irrigation system.

The Wai Apu people are one of the native peoples of Buru island in Maluku, Indonesia, typically inhabiting the north-east of the island in what are now the Namlea and Waplau districts. Research from the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs in 1985 numbers the Wai Apu population at approximately 44,048.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Buru people" (in Russian). Encyclopedia of people and religions of the world. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ethnologue: Languages of the World. "Buru: A language of Indonesia (Maluku)".
  3. 1 2 "Buru Island 6 Tribes". Archived from the original on 2010-10-11.
  4. Thomas Reuter (2006). Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land: Land and Territory in the Austronesian World . ANU E Press. p.  144. ISBN   19-209-4270-X.
  5. Thomas Edward Dutton, Darrell T. Tryon Language contact and change in the Austronesian world, Walter de Gruyter (1994) ISBN   3110127865 pp. 276 ff
  6. Tetalogi (2015). "Animisme dan Dinamisme di Indonesia dan Suku-Suku yang Masih Menganutnya". Boombastis. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  7. "KMP — Kerusuhan Pecah" (in Indonesian). Hamline University. 22 December 1999. Archived from the original on 2006-09-16.
  8. "KMP — Pertikaian di Buru Selatan, Tiga Tewas" (in Indonesian). Hamline University. 28 February 2000. Archived from the original on 2006-09-07.
  9. Thomas Reuter (2006). Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land: Land and Territory in the Austronesian World . ANU E Press. pp.  150–153. ISBN   19-209-4270-X.
  10. Muhammad Asri Amin (20 September 2014). "Memelihara Calon Istri sejak Bayi". Kompas. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.