Sampan's Animism

Other tribes from South Sumatra include all tribes from South Sumatra such as the Orang Sampan tribe. In 1500 BC there was an activity of migration/shifting of the Old Malays to create the Old Malay tribe which is now known as the Sampan People / Coastal Sea People. At that time, according to history, they had inhabited several regions in Southeast Asia in scattered small groups with a lifestyle of carrying out all life activities at sea to fulfill their living needs.

In the past, our ancestors moved from one place to another to collect food from animals & plants. Those in Kelumu Village live on the coast around the mouth of the Kelumu River. Their settlement is called Kampung Baru.

Their history in the Riau Islands region during the time of the Malacca & Riau Lingga Kingdoms from 1911 to 1945 until now. Some believe their history began in 1970 - 1990 until now and development continues to be planned by the government to fulfill existing facilities to advance development in sectors that use existing sea & coastal areas. The Sampan people / Orang Laut are an indigenous/local group living in the Riau Islands region whose numbers are quite large according to data obtained from the Social Service in 1988, around 11% found in the island region of Batam.

The government's development program in 1989 put them in a position to change their lifestyle/habits of living on a boat/in the middle of the sea so that people living on an island had a better standard of living. Development that uses sea & coastal areas hurts them, they are reluctant to socialize and visit places that have been built by the government, because there is no longer a place for them to stop and fulfill their living needs in these areas, making our government take the initiative to ensure equality. development can be enjoyed by them, our government is planning a program that we know today as a beacon for settlements, including paying attention to their increasingly concerned social life. One of the existing beliefs is animism.

Animism comes from the word anima, animus/anepos. Animism is the belief that everything on earth, whether animate or inanimate, has a spirit. According to Dwi, animist beliefs believe that every object on this earth has a soul that must be respected so that it does not disturb humans, but instead will help their lives.

In animism, there are many kinds of beliefs. Animist beliefs are beliefs in spirits and spirits which are the basis of religious beliefs that first appeared in primitive humans. People believe in supernatural beings, symbols of ancestors, believe in the spiritual power of some people & also believe in the existence of places that are considered sacred that can help them in their daily lives.

Animism believes that every object on earth has a soul that needs to be respected so that the spirit does not bother people, but helps them from evil spirits and in their daily lives. But based on belief in ancestors. Belief in animism is a belief in spirits and spirits, a principle of religious belief that first appeared in ancient humans.

But based on belief in ancestors. Ancestral religion is not related to island ethnicity, because the phenomenon of ancestral religion is spread within various ethnic groups. In the article that will be discussed this time, we are looking for references related to the influence of behavioral therapy on Eastern culture.

Animism is a belief that has existed since ancient times & has strong cultural roots in Indonesia, to this day there are still people who believe in this belief. One of them is the Sampan tribe located in the Riau Island area, previously South Sumatra, which is known for still holding tightly to its culture and animist beliefs. The tribe that still has animist beliefs is the Sampan tribe in the Riau island, previously South Sumatra.

Animism is the beginning of the entire Sampan tribe's knowledge of the existence of God. According to Ali, this cannot be denied because living as sea nomads is one of the factors why the Sampan people still preserve animist culture. They are a group that finds it very difficult to get along with people outside their group, and this makes it difficult for them to absorb information from outsiders, the only natural knowledge they get from their group is what they meet & learn in the abandoned sea. by their previous ancestors, as well as knowledge about fishing using their traditional tools such as serampak & fishing rods.

In this case, it is the animist belief culture of the Sampan tribe. Beliefs are applied both in the form of religious rituals and in their daily application in different societies but emphasize the existence of beliefs that experts call animism, dynamism, and even totemism & religion. Respecting by worshiping and giving offerings is usually done by animists.

Daidan Manahung also explained that apart from belief in the bate flag, the Sampan people also still adhere to healing rituals which believe that diseases come and can be cured by spirits. Responding again, Ali said that it was also believed that disease came from the spirit of the human placenta which transformed into disease. Daidan Manahung said that pamali is valid for 3 days after the masoro ritual takes place.

Wanting the progress of human life & living side by side with other humans for the sake of conservation and diversion, the Sampan tribe of South Sumatra began to embrace religion. Some of them who were initially only animists later embraced Islam, Christianity, Buddhism & Confucianism. Apart from that, the belief/religion believed in by their group was animist at that time, even though now several groups have embraced Islam and Christianity, it is still mixed with their habits by interfering with the beliefs of their previous ancestors, where their group thinks that land is a thing bad and very bad & they consider the land to be a dirty place only used to bury bodies like them.

Where initially they did not bury their bodies but because external influences such as Christianity began to spread, they still did not lose their belief in ancestral spirits. This culture is a legacy from their ancestors & as a form of respect for their ancestors, they continue to believe in it and pass it on to their children and grandchildren. In the context of Sampan tribal society, animism is a belief that is very strong and inherent in every individual and family.

This article is presented to explain the contextual service approach strategy for the Sampan tribe as adherents of animist beliefs. In the animist beliefs held by the Sampan people, it can be seen that many people live with the hope of being able to avoid all dangers/hope to be saved and need a Savior. The Bible's view clearly & emphatically commands that humans should not worship other Gods, who are spirits, because that is an abomination to God.

Apart from that, the Bible also strictly prohibits practices carried out by animists. Contextual service was carried out by the Apostle Paul to people in Athens. He was under threat of death by the Jews of Thessalonica because he preached the Gospel.

These two things were also agreed upon by religious Greeks. Because the emphasis of the Sampan tribe is animism & worship for healing, Bible teachings such as Jesus the Miraculous Healer could be a bridge to spread the Gospel to this community. As well as carrying out planned programs in the field of religion so that they can absorb the understanding of the religion they adhere to properly & correctly without mixing up the habits of their ancestors with the process of worship so that they do not deviate/make mistakes in carrying it out.

Thus, religious life in the province of South Sumatra is good, harmonious & quite tolerant. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that evangelism can be carried out in the Sampan tribe who adhere to animist beliefs.