H.

Chabot
Processes of change in Siau, 1890-1950

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 125 (1969), no: 1, Leiden, 94-102

This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl
PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN SIAU
18901950
T
he data for this article were collected during a field research trip
to the island of Siau of the Sangihe archipelago in the period
December 1952January 1953. At that time, the Indonesian Govern-
ment was interested in the fusing of ethnic groups in the towns. The
study of this process, which started in the town of Makassar, showed
so many differences among the component groups that it was deemed
necessary to study some of them in their rural environment in order
to gain better insight into the changes brought about in the urban
setting. The Sangih study was the first of this series.
Siau proved an excellent choice because the old inhabitants still
remembered the conditions at the beginning of the century when they
were in their teens, and enjoyed talking about them:. To some extent,
this made it possible for us to reconstruct the situation as it was then
and to unearth some of the measures taken by government and mission
which initiated the processes of change; knowledge of these measures
was essential for a proper understanding of the situation prevailing
in 1953.
These measures, and the reactions of the Sangirese, gave me the
impression that the past half-century had not been easy for them. It
seems probable, however, that the great change they underwent facili-
tated their adjustment to the present Indonesian national pattern. It is
certain that their schooling as was the case for all Christian groups
in Indonesia, gave them a comparative advantage on the labour market
in procuring government positions and other jobs in urban society.
This report will start by depicting Siau society around 1900, showing
data relevant to our purpose. Changes which took place during the
first half of the twentieth century will then be indicated, principally
showing the differentiation of the original power centre. The obser-
vations made at Siau will disappoint those who cherish the idea that
change is always for the better. Conflicts there were and still are,
PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN SIAU 95
although they may now concern other matters. I have seldom lived
among people who to me seemed so inharmonious.
Around 1900, two types of houses were indicative of the people who
lived in them: the big house (bale) and the garden house (daseng).
The big house was occupied by a traceable exogamic matrilineal kinship
group, i.e. husband and wife with children,, grandchildren, and great-
grandchildren in the female line. The two most important pillars on
which the house was built were known as ancestor and ancesstress.
The house group was exogamous and sexual relations between members
of the same house group were considered incestuous. A house was
often compared with a prau: a rift in the family would have the same
effect as a prau which breaks in half and sinks; in common opinion,
one of the most terrible things that can happen.
The big houses were situated on the coast. People could seldom
give exact information on how many houses there were in a local
group; however, when the names of the houses, i.e. of the matrilineal
groups were given, in. two cases out of three they totalled eight. Such
a local group, a village, was called soa; later, this was translated into
Indonesian as setrat (Dutch straat), probably because the houses were
usually built in opposite rows of four each, giving the impression
of a street.
Our informants all gave more or less the same information regarding
the lay-out of the houses. A house was divided into two by a central
partition. Male guests were received in the front, and the families
slept at the back. The sleeping quarters of the various families were
partitioned off by mats which were rolled up during the day to make
one big room.
Data on the number of families living in one house varied consider-
ably: 10 as well as 20 being mentioned. The tendency was to overdo
it a little because many families suggested a strong big house group,
thus enhancing the social prestige of the members. It may be as-
sumed that servants also lived in these houses and were included in
the count.
The various big house groups in a village were all related by marriage.
In principle, a village was an endogamic local unit, but marriages with
people from
1
elsewhere apparently occurred, although always as an
exception rather than a rule.
The elders of the big house or kinship group arranged marriages.
A "good" marriage was one with a member of another big house in
the village.
9 6 H. TH. CHABOT
The marriage gift was called hoko. General opinion, even in these
enlightened days, has it that the amount of the hoko expresses the
purity of the lineage. It indicated the status of the kinship group and,
more specifically, that of the family concerned. It had to be determined
for each marriage, a matter of much precaution and many discussions.
Both parties wanted to fix the hoko as high as possible since it indicated
their social prestige. On the other hand, if they set too large an amount,
it would mean that they considered themselves too highly; this would
certainly give rise to criticisms and they would be made to look
rather ridiculous.
The garden house (daseng) was intended for one family, or two at
the most. They were scattered throughout the hills and belonged to a
big house, being built on land owned by one of the big house kinship
groups. The garden house inhabitants worked the land and looked
after the trees belonging to the big house group. Garden house in-
habitants usually intermarried; marriages between those belonging to
the same big house also occurred. The ceremony usually took place
after a period of cohabitation with a minimum of ritual and a small
bride price.
A man from a big house frequently lived with, and even married
a garden house woman. But such a man also was expected to marry a
woman of his own rank, this being a "real" marriage in the eyes of
the world. Refusal to do so met with disapproval, just as association
with more than one woman of lower status. Children born out of
"mixed" marriages usually lived with their mothers. But when they
reached marriageable age and their chances were discussed, they were
considered as belonging to both parents: a low mother and a high
father. The marriage position was then much higher than that of a child
of two garden house parents. Mixed marriages were not looked upon
unfavourably, but the uncertain status of the children was a continuous
source of friction.
Formal distinctions between status groups, with exception of the
one indicated above, did not exist as is the case in South Sulawesi,
for example. Status is determined for each person, a.o. on the basis
of that of the parents and grandparents.
A relationship between a woman from a big house and a man of
lower rank was frowned upon severely. At first, people denied that
such associations even took place. Later, some were admitted, mostly
cases of women who had remained unmarried because no marriage
candidate had been considered suitable. In these cases, the elders had
PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN SIAU 97
apparently been too conventional in their concept of status and the
girl had rebelled.
According to a member of a former big house group, a clear
distinction was made between the two groups. He spoke of coast people
(tow soa) and grass people (tau ruku), the latter being a nickname. The
big. houses were real houses, he said, the others merely garden huts. In
short, there was a great difference in social prestige between the in-
habitants of the two. Together, however, they formed an important
unit. At any festivity, highlights of social life, the garden house people
went to "their" big house where they stayed and helped in the pre-
parations as well as during the actual festivities. The more people
collected together in a big house the better, because this strengthened
its esteem in the eyes of the other big houses. Festivities consisted of
ritualism, singing and dancing, drinking and gambling, cockfights and,
as a natural corollary, fighting among the men. Members of the same
big house thus helped each other, the big house in this sense also
including inhabitants of the garden houses connected to it.
A powerful big house group was, in the very course of things,
esteemed more than a weaker group. The inhabitants of the big houses
therefore did everything they could to strengthen their links with the
tenants of the garden houses. This not only gave them a number of
people on whom they could rely, but also enhanced their social prestige.
The following incident should be seen in this light. In about 1900,
the Government started to levy taxes at the rate of 20 cents per em-
ployable man per year. The head of one of the principal big houses,
Radja Rumah as they were known, paid the sum of 20 guilders without
demur, thus showing that his group consisted of 100 men of working
age, an unusually large number. The payment of a high tax thus served
to show the superiority of his kinship group over others. For the same
reason, the foundations of a new big house were usually laid out on far
too grand a scale and the house stood long uncompleted; but to build
a smaller house would have implied that one could only count on
limited support among the garden house people.
The status of the inhabitants of a big house determined that of the
people of the garden houses; the former also acting as protectors of
the latter.
Existing ties between coast and hill people were generally maintained,
but our informants emphasized the connection between the way in
which the head of the big house exercised his authority and the esteem
in which his group was held. People preferred to work for a man of
9 8 H. TH. CHABOT
powerful personality, experienced in leadership and in adjusting inter-
nal conflict; this induced an influx of new people and consequently
strengthened the prestige of the group.
Once again, the concept "big house" was of double purport. Firstly,
in the narrow sense, the big house group consisted of the matrilineal
family: as such it carried on ancestor worship, the tradition and the
prestige of the group expressed in the bride price. Secondly, this group
formed a unit together with the inhabitants of its garden houses, as
against similar units in the village. Feuds between these units were
fought out again and again in local brawls which were usually caused by
women or gambling. However, as the groups, in the narrow sense, were
all related through intermarriage, their feuds were never too drastic.
The head of the house, the-Radja Rumah, was invariably male,
although the women also managed affairs. The Radja Rumah was
not officially appointed; a certain age was required and also the
ability to properly exercise authority.
I have tried here to illustrate the situation as it was at the turn
of the century, and shall now refer to three circumstances which may
conduce an understanding of the changes which took place in Sangirese
society between 1900 and 1950.
Around 1890, the Dutch Administration began to show signs of
greater activity. This was a general phenomenon in those days: the
Government of the Netherlands Indies increasingly interfered with in-
ternal affairs in the entire area, but particularly in the Outer Provinces.
Also in 1890, the Protestant missionary, Mr. Kelling, went to live
on Siau. His father had visited Siau from the island of Taghoelandang,
where his headquarters were situated, for many decades. He had
baptised the Siau people and introduced the Christian marriage cere-
mony. After his arrival on Siau, the son, who was fluent in the local
language, augmented the regulation of religious and social matters.
Thirdly, slavery was officially abolished in 1889. Moreover, it was
ruled that liberated slaves should each be given a piece of land on
which to grow coconut palms and nutmeg.
Each of these events had many repercussions on society. In order
to maintain law and order and to facilitate its task of superintending the
inhabitants, the Administration was opposed to people living in the hills
and wanted them to concentrate on the coast. The reproach of the Siau
held that the Administration was responsible for much confusion: to
move hill people to the coast was to reverse their system of values.
PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN SIAU 9 9
Moreover, to simplify administrative matters, particularly with regard
to the introduction of new taxes, the Administration required everyone
to adopt a family name, and took it for granted that this would be that
of the father. This created great confusion in these matrilineal groups.
Each individual already had two names, a pre-Christian and a Christian
or baptismal name. To these now had to be added a third. In fact,
the matrilineal name was assumed by the villagers, but this took some
time and the relations with the Administration and mission remained
marred by uncertainty.
The mission was against the big houses for reasons of hygiene and
morality, and therefore encouraged the building of individual family
houses. On moral grounds, it also opposed the great yearly festivals
with their attendant phenomena of drinking and gambling, cockfights,
and illicit sexual intercourse: all misdeeds which formed an important
element in the daily lives of the people and only reached a climax
during the festivals. Such at least is the impression received from
mission reports.
Enforcement of these measures was made possible by the deposition
in 1889 (?) of the old ruler of the island who resisted all new measures,
and his replacement by a temporary overlord, who was expected to be
more cooperative to the Administration. This caused the disintegration
of the old power centre which wanted to maintain the unity of the
matrilineal joint family.
From the information we received in 1953, both orally and in writing,
it seemed that garden house people were regarded as "slaves"; however,
from what has been indicated above, it is clear that their situation
showed nothing of the inhumanity usually connected with slavery.
The transfer of land to former slaves (under Government regulations)
differed from one big house to the other. Some Radja Rumah kept all
the land in their own hands; others gave pieces of land to their former
slaves, which helped to weaken the big house group and to reduce
its prestige.
The disintegration of society by the various influences mentioned
affected the different spheres of life in varying ways; three of them
should be specifically mentioned: the land, the kinship relationship
and ritualism.
Formerly, the Radja Rumah decided what should be done with the
lands of the big house group: he controlled the ploughing, harvesting,
distribution and even the sale of the crop and was obeyed not only
by the garden
1
house people, but also by the members of his own big
100 H. TH. CHABOT
house. Maize and other crops were cultivated for personal use; coconuts
and nutmeg for the market.
The dispersal of the joint family group into one-family houses was
not accompanied by allotment of land. This remained undivided on the
principle that it was owned by the matrilineal joint family group
together with its servants. Even today, parts of this territory are in
turn allotted by a kinship group committee (Rat Keluarga) to kinship
members to cultivate and harvest for the period of one year. The land
is assigned to a resident, able to benefit from the right' given to him.
In the bilateral kinship groups, as they exist today, however, the lack
of definite precepts as to who belongs to the group has caused the
rotatory method to run around. A man with a good knowledge of
kinship relations and versed in the art of argument has far more chance
of an additional turn at the land than he who lacks these qualities.
Jurisdiction over the land has passed from the Radja Rumah to the
Rat Keluarga.
From being a small, clearly defined unilateral joint family, the
kinship group has become a large, indeterminate bilateral one. Remark-
ably enough, the idea is still in force that the group is exogamous and
that consequently relatives may not marry each other. Enquiries as to
whether, or not relationship exists are put in motion before any proposal
of marriage. If the answer is affirmative, the proposal is not made.
If proof of kinship is ascertained after the proposal, the engagement is
broken off. At least that is the reason given. This understandably
causes conflict in the present-day kinship groups. Moreover, such
groups tend to increase considerably in numbers and not all their
members are considered to have equal social rank; there is a definite
tendency to marry someone of the same rank. In practice, this means
that matchmaking parents try to marry their children to sons or
daughters of parents who have the same status in other bilateral kinship
groups. Actually, the kinship motive is used as a common excuse for
rejecting a proposal if the marriage is found undesirable for other
reasons which cannot be named: frequently, this will mean that the
other party is considered to be of insufficient status. These two ten-
dencies to more social prestige, the one via being more exclusive,
the other via belonging to a larger group, are unreconcilable.
The difference in status shows remarkably in the matter of mourning,
the degree of kinship determining whether or not a person should go
into mourning and if so, for how long. The period of mourning depends
on the degree of kinship as well as on the social prestige of the deceased.
PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN SIAU 101
In practice, many reasons are found to deviate from the rule as the
bilateral kinship group is an indeterminate item. However, mourning
proves kinship to the deceased; to mourn a man of high social status
strengthens one's own status. On the other hand, a man who mourns
where no kinship relation exists is a figure of ridicule. This is yet
another expression of the conflict between membership of an all-
embracing bilateral kinship group on the one hand, and of an exclusive
group of people who consider themselves to be higher in status than
their fellows on the other. Everybody wants to belong to this group,
but few feel socially strong enough to show it. Others say that they
really ought to go into mourning and then find an excuse for not
doing so.
The big house had its own ancestor rites, which have now been
deprived of much of their force. For instance, the yearly tamo festival,
the farewell to the New Year, held at the end of January. Thereafter,
New Year wishes are no longer exchanged. The relations eat together,
but nowadays the neighbours are also invited. The most important
moment is the cutting, sharing and eating of a special cake, conically
shaped and decorated with little flags, etc. The whole is intended to
represent a tree. In the traditional text, recited by the one who cuts
the cake, it is compared with the family tree representing the total
(unilateral) kinship group; it is a remnant of the ancestor ritualism.
Every kinship member is expected to be present and to receive his
share, and to take a piece home for the sick. In the present-day bilateral
kinship group, however, everyone belongs to more than one group and,
in a way, may choose which party to attend. The group unity is
thus destroyed.
The festival is presided over by the elders of the group, including
women. As I have stated above, the people attending the festivities
were formerly all from one big house, but nowadays they are members
of a bilateral group together with their neighbours, who have no tamo
of their own. These neighbours are often descendants from garden
house people who now live along the coast in one-family dwellings. The
local group thus gained in influence while the kinship group lost it.
In 1953, the former village of two times four big houses, had become
a street village, consisting of a hundred one-family houses. Church
and school, the houses of pastor and village head are scattered along
the main road. Only in few places are houses placed in rows two or
three deep. The village territory can be divided roughly into four
localities. Members of one kinship group are found in all four parts.
102 H. TH. CHABOT
There was some slight degree of local antagonism: schoolboys belonging
to one local group help each other in their frequent fights; the two
church choirs are recruited from different local units.
The building of one-family houses was the main reason for the
disintegration of the matrilineal joint family. The authority of the
Radja Rumah with regard to marriage, for example, was divided
among new authorities: Church and Government, and, under the
Mission's influence which stressed the importance of free choice for
the individual, its parents or some influential old people also had a say
in the marriage arrangements.
To sum up, the group has retained a number of the attitudes and
values of the past, but the structure of society has changed considerably.
The situation which has now emerged appears to cause problems to the
individuals, who find it difficult to live with.
My main task during my stay in Siau in 1953 was to take a house-
to-house census, the questions of which were intended to facilitate
comparison between the inhabitants of Siau and the Sangirese living
in Makassar. The present "historical" article is the realization of an
unexpected opportunity, supplied by some obliging informants, to gain
further insight into the changes which had taken place during the
previous 50 years.
I am aware that the picture of this process is only fragmentary.
However, the older generation of Dutch anthropologists must place
their faith on their younger colleagues, Indonesian' or otherwise,
sociologists or historians, to complete the gaps in the picture. By
directing their research in new fields, and collecting new data, the
young generation will be able to cover still other aspects of the process.
H. TH. CHABOT