Raju Ritual as Cultural Strategy in the Community of Syncretic Beliefs and Complex Identities in Eastern Indonesia
Abstract Conflicts between groups within communities can be resolved in many ways. One such example is applied by the mountain people of Mbawa Bima, in the eastern part of the Sumbawa island Indonesia, through a traditional ritual called Raju. The Raju is a ritual held to welcome rainy season which involves all people of Mbawa, no matter what their religion or belief. These mountain people believe in three different religions: Islam, Catholicism, and Protestant. While following these religions, most of them also adhere to an older set of beliefs, named Parafu, which has already been transformed into a more syncretic belief. This change enables the hill people to have complex identities. Individual member of Mbawa community can’t easily be distinguished from one another because they establish blurred identity by using the blend names of Christian and Muslim. While the nuances of competition and tension are obvious in social relationships between people of Mbawa, cultural practices inherited from older customs such as Raju, play an important role in keeping closeness and togetherness among them. This study aims to examine whether Raju is a cultural strategy that can be used to minimize conflicts within multicultural society, and to review its meaning within the public sphere where people of Mbawa share their identities and break boundaries. Various questions emerge from this interesting phenomenon: Does Raju allow a dialogue between different groups, and could it be developed to maintain social harmony? How does the usage of blended names give arise to cultural meaning? How does the enactment of Raju act as type of conflict management? Using observations from two short fieldwork in 2010 and 2011, and interviews with traditional and religious leaders, and those who practice the ritual, this study found that Raju, as a form of local wisdom, is unique as well as interesting for two reasons: First, it is an attempt to keep harmony within a multicultural society. For period, during this ritual, which is usually held over about three days annually, the people of Mbawa forget their differences and highlight their shared interests and goals. Second, Raju is a way of practicing tolerance among different religious groups. In conducting the ritual, the people have a particular prayer uttered in their local language mixed with Muslim and Christian prayers. At the celebration they eat together although some Christians have pork, which is forbidden for Muslims, however Muslims do not take offence at this action within the ritual context. This study contributes to a better understanding of two aspects of: (1) the mountain people should not necessarily be defined as simply a monocultural society. They also have creative ways to shape their lives based on their own local wisdom to maintain their communality; (2) conflict management does not always refer to structural mechanisms, rather it can also be achieved through cultural practice. Cultural identities and practices, integrated with other approaches, can become basis of mutual peaceful relations within the community. |
Mbawa's landscape, uma ncuhi (costomary house), and Raju ritual...
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