Sangirese people

Last updated
Sangirese people
Sangir / Sangihe / Sangil
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Vissersfamilie op het strand in de weer met net Poelau Sangihe TMnr 10029483.jpg
A fishing family outside at the beach with net in Sangir Island, December 1948.
Total population
approx. 600,000 people
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia: [1]
North Sulawesi: 449,805
Gorontalo: 7,489
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines:
Mindanao: 16,014 (2010) [2]
Languages
Religion
Christianity (mainly Protestant), minority Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups

Sangirese or Sangihe people are one of the native people to the Sangir Islands in the northern chain of islands in Sulawesi and the southern part of Mindanao. The Sangirese people are fishermen and nutmeg growers in their home areas and also work as wage labourers in industrial crops enterprises in Bolaang Mongondow Regency and Minahasa Regency. [3]

Contents

The Sangirese have traditionally been concentrated in the province of North Sulawesi in Indonesia and the Region of Dávao in the Philippines. [4] Genetic studies discovered that the Sangirese have partial Papuan descent. [5]

Language

The Sangirese speak their native Sangirese, Talaud and Indonesian, as well as their dialects, which belong to the Austronesian languages family. The Sasahara language (meaning sea speech) [6] is a secret language developed in the first half of the 20th century. It has been widely spoken among Sangirese sailors or pirates. [7] It includes a large number of words borrowed or distorted from other languages.

History

Sangirese Warriors visiting and settling in the Philippines, Originally from Siau Island (Boxer Codex, c.1590) Siaus - Warriors from Siau, North Sulawesi, Indonesia - Boxer Codex (1590).jpg
Sangirese Warriors visiting and settling in the Philippines, Originally from Siau Island (Boxer Codex, c.1590)

The primary settlements of the Sangirese people are the Sangihe Islands. Archaeologists have determined that the first humans that arrived in the region of islands were in the 3rd millennium BCE and probably were a mix of Veddoids and Negritos. [8] In 1st millennium BCE, Austronesian migrant came here through the southern Philippines. They assimilated the natives, and began to developed agriculture, to produce fabrics and ceramics. Modern Sangirese people are the direct descendants of that population that has developed on Sangihe Islands and parts of Davao Occidental (particularly in the Sarangani Islands), Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and North Cotabato before the start of the modern era.

The Sangirese people consider themselves to have originated directly from Sangir Island and their primogenitor being Gumansalangi, [9] a cultural hero who lived around the 14th [10] to 15th century. [11] During this period, the Sangihe Islands formed a government under the authority of the Muslim rulers of the Maluku Islands. In the 16th century, the Ternatean people subdued the Sangirese people, and the islands were discovered by the Portuguese. Then, in the 17th century, they were initially captured and became part of the Spanish colonial rule; which resulted in vocabulary borrowed from the Spanish language that is still preserved in the Sangirese language., [12] and then followed by the Dutch who came later to occupy them in 1677. [13] Maluku sultans also continued to consider Sangihe Islands as part of their territory.

By the 19th century, European influence was limited to trading. As Sangihe Islands were between Dutch and Spanish possessions, the local inhabitants had successfully performed the role of middleman dealers and smugglers. This led to the emergence of Sangirese settlements on Sulawesi and the southern Philippines. Their populations (much like the Sama-Bajau) were separated when borders were drawn between the Philippines and Indonesia during the colonial era. Sangirese resettlements in other areas of the eastern Celebes Sea were contributed by the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Awu on Sangir Island on 2 March 1856. [14] In the 19th century, presence of Protestant missionaries and increased role of colonial officers began to appear on the island, thus the Sangirese in the Sangihe Islands mostly converted to Protestant Christianity due to proximity and contact with the Christian Minahasa people of Sulawesi. In the Philippines, most Sangirese converted to Islam due to the influence of the neighboring Sultanate of Maguindanao.

In 1945, Indonesia gained its independence. In 1950, Sulawesi and Sangihe Islands became part of Indonesia. [15] In the Philippines, Spain surrendered the territories to the United States in 1898 as the result of Spanish-American War, then became independent from the United States as part of jurisdiction of the Philippines in 1946. The first decade of the reign under the Indonesian Administration started the fight against smuggling, which involved many Sangirese people, as well as the participation of some Sangirese people in anti-government movement. In the late 1950s to early 1960s, disappointed Sangirese Indonesians took action to recreate migration to the Philippines. Migration of the Sangirese population between the two countries took place in that period.

Religion

Ancient belief systems of the Sangirese people are polytheistic in nature, which include the belief in many spirits of nature and ancestral, the ritual worship of inanimate objects and magic. [16] Among Sangirese people are class of distinguished shamans or priests that acted as mediators between the world humans and spirits, to protect patients and children, and to perform miracles. [17] Despite the spread of Islam and Christianity, many ancient rituals are still being practiced today.

Islam began to spread in the 15th to 16th century from the Maluku Islands and North Sulawesi; [18] but before the arrival of Europeans, they had a very limited impact. In the 17th century, a group of Sangirese Muslims migrated to the area of Manado, which has a separate religious and ethnic group from the Sangirese people. In the 19th to early 20th century, Muslims among the Sangirese people became preachers to other Dutch colonies in Asia.

The first Christian missionaries that arrived were the Spanish Catholic monks in the 17th century, but their activity had no long-term effects. From 1857, the Sangihe Islands opened to Protestant missionaries. The majority of Sangirese people today profess Protestantism, being at the same time strongly influenced by the Minahasan people. [19]

Today, about 79% of people of Sangihe Islands Regency profess Christianity, the majority being Protestants. Muslims comprise about 20% of the people, while the rest profess native beliefs. [20]

In the Philippines, most Sangirese Muslims of Sunni sect due to the stronger influence of the Sultanate of Maguindanao.

Culture

A Sangir man in koffo attire, 1929. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een man van Sangir in koffo kleding TMnr 10005696.jpg
A Sangir man in koffo attire, 1929.

Sangirese folklore is famous for its dance art. Local dances include gunde, alabadiri, masamper, ampawayer and so on. [21] Previously, they had ritual gatherings, but nowadays it is also accompanied by public holidays. Sangirese dance represents a certain set of smooth body movements of the dancer performing the dance but organized dance of large group of dancers are usually accompanied with a musical band and female rhythmic singing.

Lifestyle and economy

Sangir people are engaged in fishing, hunting, farming (the main crops are tubers, root crops, bananas, sago) and transit marine trading between Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and the Philippines. The sources often mention the cultivation of taro culture, which was cultivated on the slopes of mountains and near rivers. [22] To protect the cultivated fruits like coconuts from thefts, residents from Sangir hung small dolls (in Sangirese language, urǒ), which, according to legend, will "pursue a thief". [23] Agriculture is considered to be mainly women's work. Relationship lineage and the transfer of previously inherited lands occurs in the female line. The main occupations of Sangirese men are such as ship building, seafaring and trade.

Forestry production (harvesting of rattan and ebony wood), blacksmithing and weaving were also widely spread. The economy is mainly characterized by manual labor. It is known that the main diet of Sangirese people is fish with vegetables.

The main centers of settlements of the Sangirese people are located in the coastal zones. Previously, their houses were erected on stilts, but gradually they are replaced by modern houses built like the typical Indonesian type. [24] Families who lived in the same village, forms a community called soa. Resettled Sangirese people from Sangihe Islands seek out and continually maintain family ties with their soa; which would help them to preserve their identity in an environment similar in language and culture of their people.

Institute of marriage

In the Sangirese society; which reached a high density by the 20th century, marriage is entered relatively late. Historically, the tradition of buying a bride as an important institution of public organization. Sometimes the ransom looked like whole plots. [25]

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindanao</span> Island in the Philippines

Mindanao is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of the same name that also includes its adjacent islands, notably the Sulu Archipelago. According to the 2020 census, Mindanao has a population of 26,252,442 people, while the entire island group has an estimated population of 27,021,036 according to the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulintang</span> Southeast Asian traditional instrument

Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture of Southeast Asia, kulintang music ensembles have been playing for many centuries in regions of the Southern Philippines, Eastern Malaysia, Eastern Indonesia, Brunei and Timor, Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sundanese people in Java Island, Indonesia. Its importance stems from its association with the indigenous cultures that inhabited these islands prior to the influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or the West, making kulintang the most developed tradition of Southeast Asian archaic gong-chime ensembles.

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

North Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi to the west, Maluku to the south, Southwest Papua to the west, and Palau and the Philippines to the north. The provincial capital is Sofifi on the largest island of Halmahera, while the largest city is the island city of Ternate. The population of North Maluku was 1,038,087 in the 2010 census, making it one of the least-populous provinces in Indonesia, but by the 2020 Census the population had risen to 1,282,937, and the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 1,319,338.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Sulawesi</span> Province of Indonesia

North Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the Minahasa Peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia. It borders the Philippine province of Davao Occidental and Soccsksargen regions of the Philippines to the north, the Maluku Sea to the east, Gorontalo and Celebes Sea to the west and the Gulf of Tomini to the southwest. With the outlying island of Miangas to its north, it is the northernmost island of Indonesia. The province's area is 14,500.28 square kilometres (5,598.59 sq mi), and its population was 2,270,596 according to the 2010 census; this rose to 2,621,923 at the 2020 Census, while the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 2,659,543. North Sulawesi is known as a heaven for divers around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malay Archipelago</span> Archipelago between mainland Southeast Asia and Australia

The Malay Archipelago also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia. It has also been called the "Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", and other names over time. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based on the distribution of Austronesian languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minahasan people</span> Native people inhabiting the northeastern part of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Minahasans or Minahassa are an indigenous ethnic group from the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan pre-Christian creation myth entails some form of ethnic unification, before the nineteenth century the Minahasa region was in no way unified. Instead, a number of politically independent groups (walak) existed together, often in a permanent state of conflict.

<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 46,150.92 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 2022 was 1,881,727. Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iranun people</span> Austronesian ethnic group of the southern Philippines and east Malaysia

The Iranun are an Austronesian ethnic group native to southwestern Mindanao, Philippines. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to the Maranao, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and giving name to the island of Mindanao. The Iranun were traditionally sailors and were renowned for their ship-building skills. Iranun communities can also be found in Malaysia and Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in the Philippines</span> Demography of the Philippines

The Philippines is inhabited by more than 182 ethnolinguistic groups, many of which are classified as "Indigenous Peoples" under the country's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997. Traditionally-Muslim peoples from the southernmost island group of Mindanao are usually categorized together as Moro peoples, whether they are classified as Indigenous peoples or not. About 142 are classified as non-Muslim Indigenous People groups, and about 19 ethnolinguistic groups are classified as neither indigenous nor moro. Various migrant groups have also had a significant presence throughout the country's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lumad</span> Group of Austronesian indigenous people

The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad, the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986 at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan, Cotabato, Philippines. Usage of the term was accepted in Philippine jurisprudence when President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6734, where the word was used in Art. XIII sec. 8(2) to distinguish Lumad ethnic communities from the islands of Mindanao.

Indonesians in the Philippines consist of expatriates and immigrants from Indonesia residing in the Philippines, and their descendants. Among them were many formerly stateless people, legally called Persons of Indonesian descent (PID), whom the United Nations and the governments of the two countries helped to acquire citizenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangihe Islands</span> Group of islands in Indonesia

The Sangihe Islands – Indonesian: Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of islands which constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regency and the Sitaro Islands Regency. They are located north-east of Sulawesi between the Celebes Sea and the Molucca Sea, roughly halfway between Sulawesi and Mindanao, in the Philippines; the Sangihes form the eastern limit of the Celebes Sea. The islands combine to total 813 square kilometers (314 sq mi), with many of the islands being actively volcanic with fertile soil and mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultanate of Maguindanao</span> 1515-1926 state in Southeast Asia

The Sultanate of Maguindanao was a sultanate that ruled parts of the island of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, especially in modern-day Maguindanao provinces, Soccsksargen, Zamboanga Peninsula and Davao Region. Its known historical influence stretches from the peninsula of Zamboanga to bay of Sarangani until Davao Gulf. During the era of European colonization, the Sultanate maintained friendly relations with British and Dutch traders.

Sangirese, also known as Sangihé, Sangi, and Sangih, is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines by the Sangirese people.

Sangir, Sangihe, Sangi or Sanghir may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultanate of Ternate</span> Sultanate

The Sultanate of Ternate, previously also known as the Kingdom of Gapi is one of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Indonesia besides the sultanates of Tidore, Jailolo, and Bacan.

The Sangiric languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in North Sulawesi, Indonesia and several small islands to the north which belong to the Philippines. They are classified as a branch of the Philippine subgroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talaud Islands Regency</span> Northernmost place and regency in Indonesia

The Talaud Islands Regency is a regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the north-east of the Minahasa Peninsula, with a land area of 1,251.02 km2. It had a population of 83,434 at the 2010 Census, increasing to 94,521 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 95,545. The largest island is Karakelong, on which lies the regency seat in the town of Melonguane. To its south lie the islands of Salibabu and Kabaruan, while the Nanusa group of 7 small islands lies to the northeast of Karakelong, and Miangas island is situated midway between Karakelong and the Philippines. It is one of the three regencies to the north of North Sulawesi that are located between Sulawesi and the Philippines, along with the Sitaro Islands Regency and Sangihe Islands Regency; originally these formed a single regency, but on 110 April 2002 the Talaud Islands were split off to form their own Regency. The island of Miangas is the most northerly island in the regency and widely regarded as the northernmost point of Indonesia. As the result, it is often referenced to describe the territorial integrity of Indonesia in various patriotic statements and songs together with Sabang, Merauke, and Rote Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miangas</span> Northernmost Island in Indonesia

Miangas or Palmas is North Sulawesi's northernmost island, and one of 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia.

Malay is spoken by a minority of Filipinos, particularly in the Palawan, Sulu Archipelago and parts of Mindanao, mostly in the form of trade and creole languages, such as Sabah Malay.

References

  1. Indonesia's Population: Ethnicity and Religion in a Changing Political Landscape. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. 2003.
  2. "2010 Census of Population and Housing: Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority.
  3. University of British Columbia (1979). Sulawesi Regional Development Study: Final Report, Volumes 1-5. Department of Public Works, Directorate General of Housing, Building, Planning and Urban Development, Directorate of City and Regional Planning.
  4. Mick Basa (9 March 2014). "The Indonesian Sangirs in Mindanao". Rappler. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
  5. Larena, Maximilian; Sanchez-Quinto, Federico; Sjödin, Per; McKenna, James; Ebeo, Carlo; Reyes, Rebecca; Casel, Ophelia; Huang, Jin-Yuan; Hagada, Kim Pullupul; Guilay, Dennis; Reyes, Jennelyn (2021-03-30). "Multiple migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (13): e2026132118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2026132118 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   8020671 . PMID   33753512.
  6. Robert Blust (2013). "The Austronesian languages: Revised Edition". Asia-Pacific Linguistics: Open Access Monographs. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.829.6282 .{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. John Kleinen & Manon Osseweijer (2010). Pirates, Ports, and Coasts in Asia: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN   978-981-4279-07-9.
  8. Suara hidayatullah, Volume 13. Yayasan Pondok Pesantren Hidayatullah Pusat. 2000. p. 50.
  9. "Cerita dari Pesisir Sangir (2)". Liputan6. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  10. Sejarah Daerah Sulawesi Utara. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Pusat Penelitian Sejarah dan Budaya, Proyek Penelitian dan Pencatatan Kebudayaan Daerah. 1982. p. 27. OCLC   13916518.
  11. Achmad Rosidi, ed. (2011). Perkembangan paham keagamaan lokal di Indonesia. Kementerian Agama RI, Badan Litbang dan Diklat, Puslitbang Kehidupan Keagamaan. p. 68. ISBN   978-97-979-7326-1.
  12. Shinzō Hayase (2007). Mindanao Ethnohistory Beyond Nations: Maguindanao, Sangir, and Bagobo Societies in East Maritime Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. p. 90. ISBN   978-97-155-0511-6.
  13. Gavin W. Jones (1977). The population of North Sulawesi. Gadjah Mada University Press. p. 7.
  14. P.R. Cummins & I. Meilano, ed. (2007). Geohazards in Indonesia: Earth Science for Disaster Risk Reduction. Geological Society of London. p. 40. ISBN   978-18-623-9966-2.
  15. Raymond Westerling (1952). Challenge to Terror. William Kimber. OCLC   906322381.
  16. Frank M. LeBar & George N. Appell, ed. (1975). Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia: Philippines and Formosa. 2. Human Relations Area Files Press. p. 14. ISBN   08-753-6405-5.
  17. Gunnar Landtman (1905). The Origin of Priesthood. Ekenaes printing Company, limited. p. 88. OCLC   5228436.
  18. Elke Timme (2005). A Presença Portuguesa nas Ilhas das Moluccas 1511 - 1605. GRIN Verlag. p. 3. ISBN   36-384-3208-4.
  19. Shinzō Hayase (2007). Mindanao Ethnohistory Beyond Nations: Maguindanao, Sangir, and Bagobo Societies in East Maritime Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. p. 96. ISBN   978-97-155-0511-6.
  20. "Population by Region and Religion - Kepulauan Sangihe Regency". sp2010.bps.go.id. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  21. Henry Roy Somba (1 February 2018). "Tulude, Antara Tradisi & Nilai Budaya". Rappler. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  22. Boomgaard, Peter (2003). "In the Shadow of Rice: Roots and Tubers in Indonesian History, 1500-1950". Agricultural History. 77 (4): 582–610. doi:10.1525/ah.2003.77.4.582. JSTOR   3744936.
  23. Peacock Mabel Dozzils (1896). Joseph Jacobs; Alfred Trübner Nutt; Arthur Robinson Wright; William Crooke (eds.). Folklore, Volume 7. Folklore Society. p. 399.
  24. C. van Dijk & J. Gelman Taylor (2011). Cleanliness and Culture: Indonesian Histories. BRILL. p. 96. ISBN   978-90-042-5361-2.
  25. Henley, David (2006). "From low to high fertility in Sulawesi (Indonesia) during the colonial period: Explaining the 'first fertility transition'". Population Studies. 60 (3): 309–327. doi:10.1080/00324720600896130. PMID   17060056. S2CID   34812652.