Mapur's Animism

Apart from the tribes previously discussed, in the province of South Sumatra, various other tribes still adhere to animism & dynamism and are still strong in their belief in ancestral spirits and the existence of supernatural beings in everyday life, one of which is the Mapur tribe. Therefore, our research discusses the identity of religious adherents who are often represented through their opinions & actions, because this occurs in the lives of local religious adherents which can be observed in several regions of Indonesia such as the Kaharingan belief in Kalimantan, the Kubu tribe in Jambi. The research locations are in 4 areas, namely Pangkalpinang, Paya Benua, Tempilang & Sungailiat.

Given the limitations in several respects, we can only focus this research on Pejam village & its surroundings. The criteria for participants are the traditional leader, the traditional administrator of this tribe, the village head of Gunung Muda, several members of this tribe & Islamic figures who have power over the tribe. On the one hand, they are tied to ancestral customs which are animist in nature and even tend to be paganism.

The ethnic groups of the province are divided into Lom People & Lah People. The word orang / urang is related to the animist beliefs of this tribe. This is something that is encouraging for the team because this location reminds us of the life of the Bedouin tribe in Banten Province which can be grouped according to where they live, namely Inner Badui & Outer Badui.

This race once inhabited the entire Southeast Asia region. The rivers they live in include the Baturusa, Layang, etc. The majority of the Air Abik people hold ancestral beliefs which are synonymous with animism & dynamism with ancestral customs seen as the religion of the Air Abik people/tribe.

Their identity construction can be seen in the determination of communal identity which is based on ancestral customs which tend to be animistic on the one hand & adherents of the dominant religion and culture on the other hand. After 1500 BC, there was a large influx of Malay migration which resulted in their people being pushed to the coastal areas. Their move to the beach was intended to become tin sand prospectors because at that time the Palembang Sultanate was facing a period of rapid development in tin production.

Tin mining activities in this province have been around for a long time. The Dutch, who took over & began to drain the wealth of this region, also met resistance from Depati Bahrin & his son Depati Amir, until it became known as the Amir War. This could be proven when several years later, precisely in 1910, the Akek Liye family arrived with the title Tagub.

This awareness then grows trust & at the same time towards the spirits of ancestors. Their empowerment has been carried out for a long time, namely since 1972. Until finally in 1982 the government stepped in to help them by building a housing complex.

In 1986, through the RTLH program, this tribal community was moved to land closer to general community settlements. In terms of settlement, those on Lipan Island are divided into 2 locations. The first location is close to the harbor pier facing the center of Penuba Village.

Meanwhile, if you look at the number of RTs, 3 RTs are representing 1 Hamlet, namely Hamlet 3. Now, apart from mining tin, they also farm while raising pigs & chickens is a part-time job, some of which they market to Belinyu. They traditionally adhere to conservative beliefs whose values ​​& norms come from their ancestors.

KAT is AMAN a social organization that was founded in 1999 on the initiative of several traditional leaders, activists & academics calling it indigenous communities. In everyday life, they are very animistic as a general characteristic of indigenous peoples. The data on the distribution of KAT in 2013 can be seen in more detail in the image above.

According to Olaf H Smedal, there is an anonymous note dated 1862 that tells 2 legends of the origin of this ethnic group, both legends of which are still alive today. One of them is that they are refugees from East Java who crossed the sea to look for a new life and were stranded in Tanjung Tuing. So, the tribe existed long before the Srivijaya Kingdom which flourished in the 7th century AD & tin contract workers from China arrived around the 18th century AD.

In English literature, their legends are more varied. Their customs developed gradually towards the beliefs passed down from their ancestors. The lack of practice of Pancasila values, especially the third principle, gives rise to SARA conflicts which can divide harmony in an area, such as the riots that occurred in Kudus in 1918.

Inter-ethnic riots also broke out in Sampit, namely between the Dayak and Madurese tribes in 2001. Komnas HAM noted that the death toll as a result of these clashes reached around 400 people, the number of houses burned was 583, and 200 were damaged. Inter-tribal conflicts have also occurred in Papua New Guinea. Eyewitnesses & local media stated that the clash occurred when the Raipbo and Pulgma Nambka tribes in Hela Province clashed over an area rich in gold reserves.

The local wisdom of this community was developed by their ancestors in dealing with the environment around them, making this knowledge part of local wisdom and introducing and passing it on from one generation to the next. The intermingling of ethnic Chinese with other ethnicities is also going well, thus further strengthening the relationship between one ethnic group and another. Residents whose areas celebrate Islamic holidays such as Maulid / 1 Muharram, will provide various types of dishes at home.

Not a few of them who have ethnic Chinese relatives also took part in enjoying the big banquet. A high level of goodwill can be seen from the host's willingness to warmly welcome all guests who come to his house, whether he knows them or not, whether they are related to family or co-workers, whether they are from the same ethnic group or from different ethnicities, whether they are fellow Muslims or acquaintances/work colleagues from Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, etc., all merge into one in diversity. Their label is intended for those who still have the beliefs of their ancestors, even though this status seems to be just a label for formal identity recognition.

Public belief is a dogmatic understanding, woven into the customs & daily life of various ethnic groups who believe in whatever their ancestral traditions believe. An example is the labeling of community customs which slowly shift along with changes in the belief systems of ancestors. This idea emerged as a process of recognition & differences among adherents of religions and ancestral beliefs.

In this province, the word orang / urang refers to people who live in remote areas & adhere to animist beliefs. They are a local tribe who still adhere to the beliefs of their ancestors. Judging from their belief structure system, their beliefs can be animistic.

They believe that spiritual forces rule the universe. Their beliefs are part of a local culture that tends to be animist - dynamism. Most of this tribal community still adheres to animism/local beliefs.

Most of them still adhere to animist & dynamism beliefs. This tribe has a belief that it adheres to, namely animism/belief in the spirits of their ancestors. Initially, the native people of this province had not embraced a religion, they believed in the spirits of their ancestors.

Some traditional games passed down from generation to generation from ancestors can also become local wisdom in this community as an early strategy to maintain harmony between ethnic groups in this province. We identified the answer to the meaning of the representation of a deer's head on the dambus musical instrument in this province, starting by exploring facts from historical data, mythology & stories circulating in society. An ethnomusicological approach was used to identify the meaning of the deer head representation on the dambus musical instrument by collecting historical, mythological & legendary data.

It was identified based on this statement that the teachings of the old belief, namely animism, which was still thick with mysticism, had begun to be abandoned by Dambus itself. Dambus is not an artistic product originating from Arabia, which is different from gambus originating from the Middle East. Of the several people who are already religious, 62 people are Muslim, 13 people are Christian & 2 people are Buddhist, while the rest still adhere to animism and dynamism as the religion of their ancestors.

They have succeeded in upholding the principles of their ancestors for a long time, but on the one hand, they have to face & adapt to Islamic culture. Certain communities that still hold their ancestral beliefs must change their beliefs. This pattern is different from Bruner's research on the Batak tribe in Medan & Bandung.