Book Review: Man and Land of Minahasa

When talking about Minahasa, we can refer to a specific geographical area, political entity or ethnic group that dominates a particular region. Geographically, the Minahasa region is located at the northern tip of Sulawesi Island. For political and administrative purposes, North Sulawesi Province is further divided into regencies and municipalities. The book Minahasa is a travelogue undertaken by N. Graafland to the northernmost island of Sulawesi in the mid-19th century. In his presentation, Graafland describes the nature of Minahasa starting from the roads, settlements, the appearance of the indigenous population, and the geographical environment which is mostly still virgin. The most interesting thing about this writing is related to the social order, language, belief system, mythology and legends, values that live among the people, and the contact of the people with outside civilizations, in this case with Chinese and European society, including with Islam and Christianity.

Who are the Indigenous Minahasans?

Minahasa does not recognize the term indigenous people. The existence of stories about the arrival of Alifuru people there has not been found to be true. The arrivals reached the remote areas of Minahasa is one proof that the arrivals had reached the interior. The first and largest settlement reached Lembeh in Tanjung Pulisan. Around the area, many graves were found, which strengthens the suspicion that there was once a settlement there.

There are many opinions that say that the Minahasa people do not come from one origin. The islands north of Minahasa seem to have once been united with the Sangihe Islands, and further north with a larger land mass, which according to the interpretation of Sangihe folklore is the Philippines. In Sangihe and Bolang there are stories about former settlements, and these stories do not contradict the location of the island and the position of its mountains. The naming of the island that makes perfect sense comes from the word sangi, which is connected to folklore that happened in the past.

Long ago, in the north of Sangihe Island there was a very big flood that destroyed the island. Only Sangi and the surrounding islands were left. The story became a famous legend for the Minahasa people. The remaining highlands became a place to save themselves. It seems that the first inhabitants to come to North Sulawesi lived more in the mountains, then went down to the coastal areas.

The term Minahasa first appeared in Dutch records in 1789 and referred only to the council of village chiefs. (landraad). It was only around 1820 that the term acquired a geographical or ethnic meaning when used in the colonial period, (landstreet of Manado. The etymological origin of the word Minahasa is not completely clear, but there is agreement among scholars and laypeople that various linguistic sources all refer to the unification of previously culturally and linguistically separated groups, in the process of 'becoming one'. This happened during the Dutch colonial period and the Dutch certainly did not distance themselves from this process. On the contrary, the colonial administration tried as hard as possible to support and accelerate the unification process because it was in the interests of the Dutch administrators and the missionaries. They wanted to unite all the tribes in order to form a central government so that the region could be calm and more easily governed (Henley in Weichart: 2004).

Although historians claim that the politically and socially unified Minahasa is not very old (less than 200 years), folklore claims that all indigenous Minahasans are descended from a mythological ancestral couple, Toar and Lumimuut. According to variations of this classic legend, Lumimuut divided the entire Minahasa region into three or four parts and gave them to their descendants. Separated from each other, the descendants of Lumimuut formed their own tribes with different languages and cultures. Despite the linguistic and cultural diversity, it is believed that the Minahasa essentially have the same origin, physically manifested in the figure of the 'mother' Lumimuut. That is why the unification efforts made by the Dutch and the Minahasan people are even justified by history. They can claim to have reintroduced the original state, albeit under very different conditions and also involving immigrants (Weichart: 2004).

Religion and Government

Minahasa was once an area under the supervision of the Sultan of Ternate. At that time the kings of Bolang had close relations with Minahasa and helped Minahasa fight foreign rulers, then replaced the position of the Sultan of Ternate. Then came the Spanish and left some Spanish as memories. Finally the Dutch came and controlled this area.

Most of the Manadonese population are Christians, while there are also Muslims, most of whom are not native Minahasans. Currently, the majority of the Minahasan population is Christian and among the various congregations, GMIM (Gereja Masehi Injil di Minahasa) is the largest. The construction of identity, both at the individual and collective levels, is a dialectical process between recognizing similarities and differences, and as a result, between inclusion and exclusion (see Jenkins 1996). Christianity has been known for a long time. It was the Spanish who brought the religion to this area, and the company also always tried to spread it as long as it did not conflict with their views. Thus, Christianity has existed since the time of Montanus and Valentijn who penetrated the Sangir and Manado areas, and here and there it has even reached the north coast.

Minahasa was ruled directly by the center, but for some things it was still under Dutch control which was regulated in the Manado Residency. It must also be admitted that the influence was not too obvious and not too big. For example, the Gorontalo area was an exception. There, an assistant resident directly represented the government. In other areas where there were no government officials, the government was carried out by the king and heads of state, as well as the king and royal figures. We found such kingdoms on the north coast, namely Bolaang Mongondow, Bolaang Bangka, Bintauna, Bolaang Itam, Kaidipan, Buwol, Tolitoli. Likewise with Sangir and Talaud in the north of Sulawesi, which were ruled by kings from Tagulandang, Siauw, Manganitu, Taruna, Kandahar, and Tabukan. The system for electing the king was chosen directly by the people or royal figures, but in general the right was given based on descent.

Minahasa Culture: Cakalele Dance

On the morning of September 12, 1855, an explosion was heard, followed by another explosion. In the city of Manado, there was a celebration to welcome the arrival of the Governor General. Hundreds of flags and pennants were flying here and there, thousands of lights were lit, and a number of decorative gates were built. On both sides of the road from the harbor base to the fort, flags and pennants were visible. Various weapons of the native population were also visible, such as spears, head coverings, machetes and shields. Among the flags stood the Manadonese hansip troops. The troops consisted of Europeans or their descendants and native residents. They were tasked with suppressing various riots, dealing with fires, or fighting robbers, and providing assistance in emergencies. They were also tasked with guarding the resident's office. Their military training was qualified, even better than the military training of the native troops.

The atmosphere became more lively when the welcoming ceremony began to feature the Cakalele Dance. In this Cakalele Dance, the gentle Minahasans can make their faces look so fierce as if they want to eat people alive, or at least stab or scare them. This dance is a combination of Spanish dances that have undergone changes in Ternate, and then entered Minahasa. The original Cakalele in the Minahasan dialect is called the great sage. Their movements depict war tactics. It is interesting to see how they challenge the enemy, chase, and avoid them. With movements to the left and back or with attacking jumps, they shout as if they have defeated the enemy. All of this takes place with the spirit of fighting or fighting.

Mapalus: Culture of Mutual Cooperation

Minahasans work on their gardens together, helping each other or in Minahasan language called mapalus which can be interpreted as mutual cooperation. Mapalus is a system that has existed since ancient times which originates from the principle of family life. Mapalus not only applies to gardening, but also applies to pulling wood from the forest for building houses and so on. In the past, cooperation was often carried out in many places in the activities of pounding rice and launching boats. The customs of our ancestors are increasingly disappearing, among other things because in Minahasa today people are more self-centered.

Mapalus is applied in the garden when people open, clean, and plant the land, and harvest it. The size of the group varies, people give the name mapalus to a collaboration that is established between two or three people. But usually this name is used when there are ten, fifteen, twenty, fifty, even up to a hundred people working together.

The Mapalus cooperation system begins by determining how to organize the work on a plot of land. If the group is small, it will be determined to work for one day in each garden. If the group is larger, the area of land to be worked is determined in advance. When a job is finished, the group moves to another plot of land. Everyone must gather at a predetermined time. If the group is large, from dawn, before sunrise, the tifa is sounded or someone goes around calling people by hitting the gong.

As a sign of the gathering, the large mapalus used the Dutch flag which was brought to the fields and raised in the middle of the garden that was getting its turn. The journey was accompanied by the beating of the tifa, gong and kolintang. Before leaving for the garden, people gathered in front of the mayor's house, or in the past in Tondano, at the supervisor's house. When leaving or returning from the garden, everyone who met or passed on the road would shake hands or lift their head covering. If they violated it, they would be prosecuted, have everything they owned confiscated or be reported to the head of state for violating the majesty of the mapalus.

Other mapalus provisions are very simple. Everyone will help each other in turns. If someone is sick or unable to continue working, then he must find a replacement. Another solution, if he has worked in several gardens, the owner of the garden that has been worked must work in the garden of the person who is unable to do so only after the mapalus period has passed. If he is one of those whose garden has been worked, he must pay for the work of those who worked his land by providing a replacement, if he does not want to repay in that way, he can do it himself the following year. All of these methods must be discussed well and together. If not done then he will be reported.

When the mapalus is going to start, then the start and end times must be discussed together. The garden owner must prepare food for all workers. It must be determined what will be eaten, starting from rice, milu or a mixture of both, and with or without side dishes. Everything that is done is based on agreement, it cannot be more or less. If not, then what is done is not based on the provisions and will be considered wrong.

People's Plantation

Coffee planting and management in Minahasa is considered more advanced than in Java except Priangan. The gardens are neat and orderly, not interspersed with other plants, providing a view of straight rows of coffee trees. Here people pick ripe and unripe coffee together. They clean all the fruit at once from the stalk by stripping it. In other places, people let the fruit fall off by itself and rot. and in still other places, people pick and bring the coffee home, but leave it to rot.

According to stories from the Minahasan people, the way coffee is processed here is the Brazilian way, the only difference is that people here do not have adequate tools for large-scale processing. The fruit that has just been picked from the tree is pounded in a mortar to make it soft and the next morning it is washed in a basket. The flesh of the fruit is cleaned, then dried in the sun. If the skin that covers the seeds is hard enough, the coffee is pounded in a cone-shaped rattan basket placed in a hole in the ground. After that, the peeled coffee is dried again until it is very hard. This process is not difficult, avoids loss and cracking of the beans and gets the desired color. If the coffee does not have the desired color, pale, grayish, or black, it is because the fruit that was picked was not ripe, or the season was not favorable, or care was not taken when drying it.

In addition to the required coffee cultivation, there are still other plants that can be called free plants because they benefit the government. But in the true sense, these plants are not free. Since ancient times, the free plant has been cocoa. At first, this business gave quite a large profit because the fruit was bought by the Chinese and Manila for 125 Amsterdam pounds. Therefore, Resident Jansen came to the idea of encouraging and leading this business. Only a few people took advantage of this good opportunity to make a profit. The community did not understand what they needed and what would bring profit. If it was an order, then they would carry it out. So, with the order, cocoa gardens were formed everywhere, which were clean and grew well, and promised a good future for the community.

Resident Jansen then ordered or encouraged the people to try more branches of farming that were more or less already known. For example, cofo, cotton, castor, nutmeg and Priangan beans.

Bibliography

Jenkins, R. 1996. Social Identity. London: Routledge.
Weichart, Gabriele. Minahasa Identity: A Culinary Practice. Indonesian Anthropology 74, 2004. University Of Heidelberg.