Tobelo people

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Tobelo people
Tobelorese people
US Navy 100713-N-6410J-121 Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti, commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, presents a plaque to Indonesian official Hein Namotemo.jpg
Captain Lisa M. Franchetti (left), commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, presents a plaque to Indonesian official Hein Namotemo (right), who is seen in traditional Tobelo attire.
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia (North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku)
Languages
North Halmahera languages (Tobelo language), Indonesian language
Religion
Christianity (predominantly), Folk religion, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Togutil, Kao, Maba

The Tobelo people are one of the northern Halmahera peoples living in eastern Indonesia, [1] in the northern part of the Maluku Islands and in the eastern side of North Halmahera Regency.

Contents

Description

Tobelo people are divided into several sub-ethnic groups namely, Dodinga people, Boeng people, Kao people, and other groups. The total population of the people is about 85,000.

The Ternate people had a significant influence on the Tobelo people, who entered the Sultanate of Ternate in the 15th through 19th centuries. Tobelo people also dominated such small peoples of the interior of northern Halmahera, such as the Pagu and Tabaru people.

The Tobelo people are highly mobile, but their settlements are mainly located along the coastline. Ground skeleton-stilted houses (tathu) are built from bamboo, and the roofing is made of leaves of sago palms or roof shingle. [2]

The tribes of Forest Tobelo people, who live in the forests in the depths of the island of Halmahera, settling near the river valleys, stand out. They are often referred to as Togutil people. The number reaches about 3,000 people.

In the early 1980s, they still led a nomadic way of life, mainly by hunting, stealing and growing sago. From time to time they used small fields, where they grew bananas, cassava, fruits and coconuts by the slash-and-burn method of agriculture. They obtain monetary income from the sale of forest products or hiring themselves out to new settlers to clear jungle areas for farming. [3]

Language

Among the Tobelo people, they speak Indonesian, Ternate, and also Tobelo, which has several dialects such as Gamsung, Dodinga, and Boeng. [2]

Religion

A Protestant church in Tobelo, 1924. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een protestantse kerk in Tobelo TMnr 60014252.jpg
A Protestant church in Tobelo, 1924.

The majority of the Tobelo are Reformed Christians, while others are Sunni Muslims. Traditional beliefs, including the vestiges of shamanism and the cult of spirits, exert a strong influence in everyday life. [4]

The process of adopting Christianity among the forest Tobelo people living in the northeast of Halmahera was very lengthy and complex. Only after decades of resistance did they begin to profess the Bible in the late 1980s. However, the version of Christianity that they chose was not the one that was preached to them by the Tobelo language-speaking societies with which they maintain family and marriage ties, but the one that was brought to this region by American missionaries. [5]

In 1999–2001, the region was engulfed by religious-ethnic violence. The end of the conflict between Muslims and Christians was brought about in April 2001, when a peaceful ceremony was held in the hope that the religious conflict that had convulsed the island of Halmahera would not happen again. [6] The ceremony consisted of the adat ritual (from Indonesian, "customary law") and vowing that both sides of the conflict, Muslims and Christians, will respect each other's rights and will forever renounce violence. [6]

This ceremony was more than just a cultural manifestation. It symbolized the majority decision in the province of North Maluku to recognize adat as a guarantor of social unity and harmony in the region.

Prior to this, the local government informed senior government officials and other political leaders that if they could not change the situation for a better life and facilitate the return to the region of forced relocating, then the capital of the new district of North Halmahera Regency would be another city rather than Tobelo. It was necessary to do something, and several leaders of influential associations decided that adat was the best solution. They believed that the resurrection of adat would change the point of identification of people from their religion to their Tobelo ethnic identity. [5]

Culture

Tobelo patients queue at an engineering civic action program by the U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance in Indonesia. US Navy 100713-N-4044H-135 Patients queue at an engineering civic action program.jpg
Tobelo patients queue at an engineering civic action program by the U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance in Indonesia.

Song and dance are the most common forms of folk art. Marriage is patrilocal. For Tobelo people, as well as for many other peoples governed by traditional social norms, the bilaterality of kinship is inherent. [4]

Economic strength plays an important role in determining the size of the marriage dowry, based on a comparative estimate of the annual incomes of the households of the marriages, and also determines the amount of financial claims made to the groom's side. In Dirk Nilanda's documentary "Tobelo Marriage", it is shown in detail how much the women's work is invested in the preparation of a wedding feast; such as weaving, preparing a "rice slide" festive dish, a special refined table in the form of a canoe, all of which indicates the importance of the ceremony for both parties.

Women demonstrate "women's wealth", in a way which is very similar to the Trobriand Islands barter. Their dancing with a bushcraft knife in their hand indicates that women play an important role in the proceedings. After this comes the time of the celebration itself, which includes feasting, dancing and performing traditional songs. All this looks very exciting and speaks about the beauty and importance of the marital union being concluded. [7] In the case of incest, a special ceremony of rupturing the hereditary line takes place, during which it is believed by sending the Tobelo couple floating or drowning into the river is done in order to prevent floods. [8]

Clothing

Earlier, they wore Tapa cloth garments, but these were replaced by common clothes and of European style. [4]

Dietary

The main food products are raw, dried and salted fish, as well as vegetable-based foods (baked and cooked products from rice, bananas, sago, sweet potato and cassava). [2] Dishes from rice are not common, but are prepared on holidays. [9]

Traditional activities

The most common occupations are fishing, fishery and manual farming (bananas, copra, palm wine, root crops, tubers, beans, dry rice). Also, the production of sago among the Kao and Boeng speakers. [4]

In 1982, in the Netherlands, in the town of Leiden, a film "Tobelo Marriage" was shot by the director Dirk Niland. The film allows one to look at the remote islander society, little known even to most Indonesians. The strengths of this work are its clarity, the research base and the provision of important information about this little-known people. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku Islands</span> Archipelago in eastern Indonesia

The Maluku Islands or the Moluccas are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Lying within Wallacea, the Moluccas have been considered a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacan Islands</span> Archipelago in Indonesia

The Bacan Islands, formerly also known as the Bachans, Bachians, and Batchians, are a group of islands in the Moluccas in Indonesia. They are mountainous and forested, lying south of Ternate and southwest of Halmahera. The islands are administered by the South Halmahera Regency of North Maluku Province. They formerly constituted the Sultanate of Bacan.

<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">Halmahera</span> Island of the Maluku Islands in Indonesia

Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alifuru people</span> Broad term for peoples of Southeast Asia

Alfur, Alfurs, Alfuros, Alfures, Aliforoes, Alifuru or Horaforas people is a broad term recorded at the time of the Portuguese seaborne empire to refer all the non-Muslim, non-Christian peoples living in inaccessible areas of the interior in the eastern portion of Maritime Southeast Asia, mainly from the Arafura Sea area.

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

The Ambonese, also known as Moluccans, are an Indonesian ethnic group of mixed Austronesian and Melanesian origin. They are majority Christians followed by Muslims. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobelo language</span> North Halmahera language spoken in Indonesia

Tobelo is a North Halmahera language spoken on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera and on parts of several neighboring islands. The Tobelo-speaking heartland is in the six administrative districts of Tobelo, located on the western shore of Kao Bay and forming the central part of Halmahera Utara Regency. Other Tobelo-speaking areas are the five districts of Wasile on the southern and eastern shores of Kao Bay, and the northern half of Morotai Island. The district capital, also known as Tobelo, serves as a regional commercial and administrative center and is the largest settlement on Halmahera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobelo</span> Town in North Maluku, Indonesia

Tobelo is a town and a district on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera. It is the capital of the regency (kabupaten) of North Halmahera, part of the province of North Maluku. The town was formalised as the capital of North Halmahera in the district elections held in 2004. It had a population of 34,150 at the 2020 Census. A palm tree lined coastal road connects Tobelo to Galela. The town is predominantly Muslim with a large Christian minority and a Protestant Church has existed in Tobelo since at least 1924.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Halmahera Regency</span> Regency in North Maluku, Indonesia

North Halmahera Regency is a regency of North Maluku Province, Indonesia. It was declared a separate Regency on 31 May 2003, formed from part of the former North Maluku Regency. The capital town of the regency lies at the port of Tobelo. The Regency, which has been considerably reduced by the separation of Morotai Island in 2008, now covers an area of 3,891.62 square kilometres (1,502.56 sq mi) and had a population of 161,847 people at the 2010 Census, 179,783 at the 2015 Intermediate Census. and 197,640 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid 2022 was 202,755. The principal settlements are Tobelo, Kao and Galela. The area is noted for its white beaches and coral reefs.

Ternate is a language of northern Maluku, eastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the Ternate people, who inhabit the island of Ternate, as well as many other areas of the archipelago. It is the dominant indigenous language of North Maluku, historically important as a regional lingua franca. A North Halmahera language, it is unlike most languages of Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku sectarian conflict</span> Religious conflict in Indonesia

The Maluku Islands sectarian conflict was a period of ethno-political conflict along religious lines, which spanned the Indonesian islands that compose the Maluku archipelago, with particularly serious disturbances in Ambon and Halmahera islands. The duration of the conflict is generally dated from the start of the Reformasi era in early 1999 to the signing of the Malino II Accord on 13 February 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Halmahera languages</span> Language family

The North Halmahera (NH) languages are a family of languages spoken in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Halmahera and some neighboring islands in Indonesia. The southwestern part of the island is occupied by the unrelated South Halmahera languages, which are a subgroup of Austronesian. They may be most closely related to the languages of the Bird's Head region of West Papua, but this is not well-established.

O Tokata is a spirit of the dead in the mythology of Tobelo, Halmahera Island, North Maluku province, Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salawaku</span> Shield

A Salawaku, is a traditional shield originating from the Maluku Islands. It is also known as Ma Dadatoko, Salwake, Saluwaku or Salawako in Galela, Salawakunu in Loloda, Hawau-mu in Madole, Emuli in Buru or O Dadatoko in Tobelo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Togutil people</span>

The Togutil people are an indigenous group with a semi-nomadic lifestyle living in the jungles of Totodoku, Tukur-Tukur, Lolobata, Kobekulo and Buli, North Maluku in the Aketajawe-Lolobata National Park, North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Papua</span> Province of Indonesia

South Papua, officially the South Papua Province, is an Indonesian province located in the southern portion of Papua, following the borders of the Papuan customary region of Anim Ha. Formally established on 11 November 2022 and including the four most southern regencies that were previously part of the province of Papua and before 11 December 2002 comprised a larger Merauke Regency, it covers an area of 117,849.16 km2, and it had a population of 522,215 according to the official estimates for mid-2022, making it the least populous province in Indonesia.

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

The Sultanate of Jailolo was a premodern state in Maluku, modern Indonesia that emerged with the increasing trade in cloves in the Middle Ages. Also spelt Gilolo, it was one of the four kingdoms of Maluku together with Ternate, Tidore, and Bacan, having its center at a bay on the west side of Halmahera. Jailolo existed as an independent kingdom until 1551 and had separate rulers for periods after that date. A revivalist Raja Jailolo movement made for much social and political unrest in Maluku in the 19th century. In modern times the sultanate has been revived as a symbolic entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasukan Jihad</span>

Pasukan Putih, later Pasukan Jihad, were a Muslim militia formed in North Maluku province, Indonesia. It was founded by Abu Bakar Wahid in December 1999, it gained regional prominence in early 2000 due to the Battle of Galela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasukan Kuning</span>

The Pasukan Kuning, were the personal traditional army of the Sultan of Ternate, then governor of North Maluku province, Indonesia. It was founded by Mudaffar Syah in Late 1999, it was defeated and dissolved on 28 December 1999 during the Tidore-Putihan invasion of Ternate.

References

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  7. 1 2 Janet Alison Hoskins (March 1992). "Tobelo Marriage. 1982 (released in U.S. 1990). 106 minutes, color. A film by Dirk Nijland". American Anthropologist. 94: 262. doi:10.1525/aa.1992.94.1.02a01050.
  8. Peter Burns (1999). Concepts of Law in Indonesia. PT Pradnya Paramita. p. 153. ISBN   978-97-940-8444-1.
  9. Janet Alison Hoskins (March 1992). "Tobelo Marriage. 1982 (released in U.S. 1990). 106 minutes, color. A film by Dirk Nijland". American Anthropologist. 94: 261. doi:10.1525/aa.1992.94.1.02a01050.