Ambon's Animism

The Nuaulu tribe who live in 10 villages in the northwest of Manusela have a language similar to Manusela & have a population of 400. The smallest kinship unit is the ancestral tate which contains people who have 1 ancestor, then the family which includes the nuclear family with relatives, both from the father's and mother's side. Relationships between members of society are regulated by traditional behavioral norms called adat, which originate from ancestral customs.

The Ambon tribe divides its history into 6 important eras, from the time of the ancestors, continued by the Portuguese, vlaming, pattimura, the company, to the republic era. However, the Yale ship soon ran aground in Nunusaku & became the ancestor of the Ambon tribe, while the Nibela ship continued to sail and its crew became the ancestors of Europeans. The three doves on the banyan tree branch of Nunusaku are often considered to represent Shem, Ham & Japhet, the ancestors of humans.

Until now, several houses on the Leitimur peninsula claim that their ancestors came from Tuban who arrived before & during the Majapahit era. The first opinion states that Islam entered in the 12th century thanks to Arab traders according to the available da'wah manuscripts & only succeeded in forming a power, namely Hitu in the 14th century. The oldest of the three became King Iha, the second King Tuhaha & the youngest became King Ullath & his house, Nikijuluw, still ruled in Ullath.

As in Uli Hatuhaha in the north of Haruku, folklore states that Islam came from Hijaz, Pasai & Gresik / Gujarat, and Persia. The third opinion states that Islam entered because it was brought by Ternate which at the end of the 15th century had become Islamic & expanded its power to Seram. Meanwhile, the country that became Christian, including those who asked to be baptized, was a country of ancestral spirit worship that had been influenced by Hinduism & had indeed rejected Islam from the start.

One of the historical points that caused many Ambonese ancestral spirit worshipers to ask to be baptized was the great victory of the Portuguese over the local Muslim power in 1538. For example, King Nusaniwe, Sinapatti, was given the baptismal name Thomas de Soysa when he was baptized in 1602. The tendency to migrate was also found among Christians, forming a fairly large spread, especially in Java.

Competition & friction between Christians and Muslims peaked at the end of the 19th century. Although both religions are the main religions of the Ambonese people, they still practice some of their original beliefs, ancestral spirit worship, which they embraced before the arrival of both religions to Maluku. The Ambonese people before the arrival of Islam & Christianity worshiped spirits and believed in ancestral spirits and supernatural powers.

In the spirit worship of the Ambonese people, the idea of ​​upu ama & evil spirits is known, as well as upu and datu who they consider to be the creators of the world. Ancestral spirits protect if the person carries out customs, but punish if they do not. One of the closest relics of spirit worship to the Ambonese people to this day is nae baileu.

They also believe that the ceremony can be an intermediary between the people of the country and their ancestors and God. Not much is known about their religion, but their religion probably includes worshiping Hinduism and animist gods with influences coming from Mindanao during the early period. Naurus is a combination of Hinduism and animism, but in recent years they have also adopted some Protestant principles.

In every Christian country, a large wooden cross is erected where the Ambonese sing hymns and pray to their new God and their ancestors every night.