Article SUKU NGALUM OKMEKMIN
Get to know the life of the Ngalum Ok tribe, water people from the Star Mountains Regency.
The Ngalum Ok tribe is one of seven tribes that inhabit the valley in the southern part of the Jayawijaya Mountain range, precisely in the Oksibil valley, Star Mountains region, Papua. The word Oksibil in Ngalum weng (Ngalum language) consists of two words, namely Ok which means water, and Sibil which means close. Ngalum itself means east, which implies the Ngalum people are people who live in the east.
Most Ngalum Ok people live close to water, such as rivers and springs. Therefore, we are often called "water people" because our lives are always looking for water.
For the Ngalum Ok people, water is a source of life that contains philosophical, theological, ecological, and economic meaning. The Ngalum OK people see that water (ok) creates and brings true life, provides fertility and prosperity for humans, provides coolness, peace, tranquility, serenity, purity, maturity, and safety, and teaches other life values. Therefore, the Ngalum Ok Tribe applies the philosophy of life like water. They don't like to make noise and are always at peace with their surroundings, including nature.
In the beliefs of the Ngalum Ok people, the world and all its contents were created and guarded by Atangki (God). If nature is not taken care of properly, we believe that Atangki will get angry and create natural disasters that will harm us. We also believe that the first humans who were also our ancestors, Kaka I Onkora and Kaka I Ase, were created by Atangki in Aplim-Apom, widely known as Puncak Mandala, the highest peak of the Jayawijay. a mountain range. Aplim-Apom is a very sacred place for the people of the Ngalum Ok Tribe. In the Ngalum language, Aplim-Apom comes from a combination of several words, including Ap meaning house, Lim meaning blood or fire, and Om meaning taro. Aplim represents men and Apom represents women. Most of the Ngalum Ok people survive by farming. Some of the food crops grown include patatas (sweet potatoes), cassava, wax vegetables, yamen vegetables, gedi vegetables, and om (taro/taro). Several other types of food crops introduced by the missionaries which they also planted were red beans, soybeans, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes.
Slightly different from other food plants, om (taro) has a "special place" in the lives of the Ngalum people. For us, taro plays an important role as a means of connecting them with Atangki, the Almighty Creator.
Apart from farming, the Ngalum Ok Tribe people also raise kang (pigs). For the Ngalum people, this animal has an important role, not only in fulfilling food needs but also in symbolizing social and economic status.
The lives of the Ngalum Ok people and nature have a very close relationship. Nature is not only placed as a place to live but also as an entity created by Atangki that provides lessons about the philosophy of life, so its existence must be protected. Protecting nature means protecting human life from disaster and destruction.
In the forest of the land above the clouds of Papua, the Ngalum Tribe Humans
“These three animals were brought by the ancestors of the second wave of Papua. The ancestors of this second wave are referred to as Austronesians. "Austronesian people mostly live, settle and inhabit the coast of Papua and the islands off the coast of Papua, they cannot enter the central mountains of Papua," he said.
Meanwhile, I, a young man from the Bintang Mountains, told me about the Ngalum Tribe.
I think the myth of naming the Ngalum Ok tribe has a broad meaning, but apart from the word Ok, the meaning of the word Ngalum is a term for local people to refer to their neighbors whose residence is to the east beyond the Indonesian state border to Tumolbil and Telefomin Papua New Guinea.
For example, the Oksob and Oksibil people call the Okbibab people the Ngalum people. The Okbibab people call the Kiwirok people the Ngalum people and so on towards the east of the Bintang Mountains until they reach Tumolbil and Telefomin.
The mention of the eastern part, if you look at the map of the Bintang Mountains or the map of the island of Papua as a whole, the mention of this tribe (Ngalum) starts from the bottom of the Aplim-Apom mountain (Puncak Mandala), continuing eastward to Telefomin (Papua New Guinea).
These are all called Ngalum or Kaum tribes. The area of the Ngalum tribal community.
Meanwhile, to the west from the Aplim-Apom mountain peak boundary, it has entered the territory of the Ketengban tribe, to the south the Murob tribe, to the north the Kimki tribe, the Lepki tribe, etc.
Meanwhile, the meaning of the word OK has its own meaning. When translated into Indonesian, the meaning of the word Ok is water. In general, the Ngalum tribe lives on the banks of rivers, streams, or places where there are springs.
"The point is that the location where they live is close to water. Therefore, the name of the Ngalum tribe is added with the word Ok, which means water.” So, the Ngalum Ok tribe can be interpreted as "water people" or people whose lives are looking for water. The word OK also has philosophical, theological, ecological, and economic meanings (Kalakmabin 2023).
In everyday life, humans need water. The same is true for the Ngalum tribal people, who also need water in their daily lives. Quoting research from Kalakmabin in 2023, Jecky said that for the Ngalum tribal people, water is a source of life. Ok (water) brings and creates essential life, namely, the fertility of life for humans, plants, crops, and livestock, as well as creating renewal, coolness, peace, safety, purity, steadfastness, tranquility, maturity, and other life values.
"Therefore, people from the Ngalum Ok tribe have a character in their daily life like water," wrote Jecky. "What is meant by water is the human character who doesn't like looking for trouble, doesn't like creating or causing conflict with other tribes, doesn't like prolonged hostility, and so on."
Our desire is to always live in peace with other people in the environment where we live. Before getting to know religion, the Ngalum tribal people already had teachings and beliefs that had been passed down from generation to generation in their customs.
According to me, the creation that the Ngalum tribe believes that their first humans were created by "atangki" on the top of Mount Aplim-Apom (now called Puncak Mandala). Therefore, Mount Aplim-Apom is a sacred mountain for the local community (Ngalum tribe). Even the belief in the creation of the first humans on the peak of Mount Aplim-Apom is also believed by other tribal communities in the Bintang Mountains.
Their ancestors were created by Atangki. Atangki is the term in the language of the Ngalum tribe for the Almighty Creator. Who we now know as Allah.
Thus, we can draw the conclusion that the Ngalum tribal people are not people who move from place to place or people who come from other places and settle in the Bintang Mountains. They are native people of the Aplim-Apom country who have land, and customary rights and are friendly with the natural environment.
They have culture (customs) as an identity. Characteristics of Ngalum Ok humans. The Ngalum tribe is an ethnic group that inhabits the eastern part of Papua's mountains. In the Indonesian part, they live in the Bintang Mountains Regency, while in the Papua New Guinea part in Sandaun Province and West Province.
Identity
The word Ngalum is a name for a group of people who live on the slopes of Puncak Mandala to the east of the Telefomin District in Papua New Guinea.[6] Another term used by anthropologists is "Ok" which means water in the Ngalum language. This is because the Ngalum people always live in places close to springs such as rivers. Many places in the Star Mountains are named with the prefix ok. This tribe is the majority in the Bintang Mountains, covering 42.61% of the total population.
According to the Aplim Apom Sibilki myth, the ancestors of the Ngalum tribe were created by Atangki at Puncak Mandala so that the mountain became sacred to them. Men are symbolized by Aplim while women are symbolized by Apom. Atangki is believed to be a spirit that lives in unity with nature and the living creatures around it. Several other tribes in the Star Mountains also believe in this myth. Today, Atangki is equated with God in Christianity. In the population census, the Ngalum tribe in Indonesia was included in the "Tribe of Papuan Origin" category.
Trust
The traditional beliefs of the Ngalum tribe are centered on the creation of Aplim Apom humans who contain philosophical and ideological values as the basis of their lives. They have sacred objects stored in iwol. Also on two, they carry out religious ceremonies. They believe in the presence of creators (Atangki), protectors (Onkor and Kakalakonaki), and evil spirits (Kaseng).
Nowadays, most of the Ngalum tribe adheres to Catholicism and a small part is Protestant. This started with the Catholic mission in 1956 in their area. There are no official records regarding the religion adhered to by all members of the tribe, but in the Oksibil area, which is dominated by the Ngalum tribe, 80% of the population is Catholic.
Social life
The Ngalum community adheres to the iwolmai system which is patrilineal. Iwolmai consists of several families in one village and is led by an iwolmai ngolki. Iwolmai is part of an iwol or collection of villages. Currently, there are 417 iwolmai recorded in the Bintang Mountains.
In carrying out traditional ceremonies, there is a division of leadership roles (ngolki), namely osangki plays a role in dances, om bonengki plays a role in managing plantations and food ingredients, ap iwol ngolki in men's traditional houses, kaka nalkonki in warfare, and jebulki in storing ancestral heritage items. This role can be obtained through several processes, starting with customary initiation (tena kamil). People who have taken part in this initiation are called tukon.
There are three groups in Ngalum society, namely the ngolki, ordinary people, and non-Ngalum. This division into groups can only be seen clearly in the implementation of traditional ceremonies. If a resident commits an offense, he will be tried by traditional elders under the leadership of Iwolmai-ngolki. The punishment given is quite severe, such as cutting off the hands of thieves. This causes the crime rate in the area where the Ngalum tribe lives to be small.
Houses and villages
The traditional villages of the Ngalum tribe are circular or round and located in the hills. There are several types of houses, namely houses specifically for men called bokam iwol and houses specifically for women called abib or jingilabib (core house). Often jingilabib is also inhabited by a nuclear family. There is also a sukam house, specifically for women who are menstruating or giving birth. In general, traditional houses only have one door and no windows. This village pattern is starting to be abandoned and houses are being built along the road pattern.
Livelihood
The main livelihood of the Ngalum tribe is gardening. The plants they usually cultivate are taro, batatas, yams, wax vegetables, yamen vegetables, and gedi vegetables. Several other crops such as red beans, soybeans, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes were also planted after being introduced by missionaries to their area.
CultureTrade
Trading activities in the mountainous areas of Papua were difficult in ancient times due to limited access until the beginning of the 20th century. Trading activities carried out by the Ngalum tribe previously only took place with tribes in coastal areas. The Ngalum tribe uses traditional currency in the form of shells called siwol. They get siwol from the southern coast of Papua in the Merauke region. The value of siwol depends on its color and size.
Commodities traded with residents around the Papua New Guinea border and residents around the upper reaches of the Digul River are pigs (kang), arrows (ara), bows (ebon), stone axes (papie), dog teeth (anoniji), noken (men), cenderawasih feathers (kulep) and garden produce. When they traded south in Mindiptana and Merauke, they obtained salt and siwol.
The modern economic and money system became known to the Ngalum people after the influence of the church, starting with the Catholic mission in 1956.
Marriage
In a traditional marriage, the marriage begins with a proposal. Proposals can be made at the direct request of parents, at the request of petatas by men, or by using a figurative question, "Mena puka yepki nek ne nere" which means 'young noken is good, give it to me?'. Noken symbolizes women because women always hold noken when doing work or traveling. If the proposal is successful, the man will collect a dowry to be paid to the woman. In the past, the types of items that could be used as dowry were dog teeth (anon ningil), stone axes (takol papi), pigs (kang), noken, and siwol wan (clam shells). Dowry payments continue when the child is born. This dowry is called tena sibi and must be given every time a child is born. Couples who want to get married without parental pressure can also elope (namal). The process is that when the men dance, the woman watches and chooses the dancer she likes and follows him home after the dance is over. Namal is usually performed in oksang, yimne, bar, and jambir dances.
Treatment
The Ngalum tribe uses natural ingredients to make medicine. Commonly known ingredients are yamen vegetables, itchy leaves, and red fruit. It has various functions, namely to help with the birth process, fever, malaise, and also body resistance, and increasing fertility.
Pigs as a status symbol
Overall in the Papua region, pigs are a status symbol. The more pigs a person or village has, the higher their status. Slaughtering and eating pigs are usually carried out in traditional ceremonies. Pigs are also a type of dowry. In the Oksibil area, the capital of the Bintang Mountains, the price for one live head ranges from IDR 10 to 40 million per head with a price per kilogram of around IDR 100,000.
Death and burial
The Ngalum tribe's death ceremonies are differentiated based on status, namely ceremonies for ngolki and ceremonies for ordinary people. A ngolki who dies is placed in a bokam iwol building which only certain people are allowed to enter. The Bokam tool may not be entered by women and young people who have not been initiated. After the mourning, a pork banquet is held provided by the family and community. One pig's head is then placed in the corpse container along with the taro. The pig's head is placed on the right side of the corpse and the taro on the left side of the corpse. All the people who attended the ceremony formed a procession to go to the burial place. Along the way they wailed followed by songs of death. The day after the funeral, taro seeds were planted in the family's garden. Planting work is carried out by the family, usually one of the brothers or the eldest son.
Funerals for ordinary people were not followed by placing pigs and taro next to the corpse. A sign of grief is expressed by shaving or taking several strands of hair from the person who has died and then storing it in a special place. Mourning lasts for three days after the funeral.
In ancient times, the burial of the Ngalum people involved the body being wrapped in markon leaves, then covered with woven bark, then tied with rattan rope. Over time, the place will decay so that only a corpse remains in a supine position placed on the cave floor. The use of wooden coffins became known when missionaries entered this area around 1956 and continues until now.
Reference
https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suku_Ngalum#CITEREFKurniawanAyomi
https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suku_Ngalum#:~:text=Papua%20%26%20Connector.,%2C%20hlm.%C2%A014. Papua & Liaison.Jump to b Ananta & Utami. Jump to: a b c Project & Joshua.Jump to:a b Melalatoa 1995.^ Sitokdana &
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