Wae Rebo: The Duality of Tradition as well as Progress in West Flores
once I saw pictures of Wae Rebo, I was intrigued with the traditional conical straw houses inside picturesque valley in Satarmese Barat, Manggarai. Though I always knew in which This particular special village would certainly embody the duality of tradition as well as progress in West Flores, I was about to be surprised to learn what This particular meant in reality.
A trek to the past
The remoteness of the location made the visit a little pricier than what I was used to as a budget backpacker, however friends assured me in which This particular would certainly be worth every penny. My visit in mid-December just happened to coincide that has a ceremony officiating the renovation of one of the eight traditional houses inside village.
After spending a night at the coastal village Dintor, my partner as well as I hiked four hours up to Wae Rebo a couple hours before dawn. The 7.3-kilometre serpentine trail will be suitable for beginner hikers, however nevertheless requires Great stamina. The steep slopes are muddy in some parts as well as rocky in others, as well as are slippery when wet.
“The journey will be supposed to be hard,” said our guide Martinus Anggo as we took a water break. “The old path used to be harder. If This particular weren’t hard to get there, Wae Rebo would certainly be long gone.”
Martin, a native of Wae Rebo, owns the lodge in Dintor. He studied inside Philippines as well as spent years working in hotels in Labuan Bajo before returning to Satarmese Barat to help the elders of Wae Rebo revive the village’s struggling economy.
Wae Rebo natives claim to be descendants of pre-Islamic Minangkabau migrants through West Sumatra 20 generations or about 1,028 years ago. The community, currently lead by Chief Alexander Ngadu, preserves ancient Sumatran animistic traditions in which have mingled with in which of Manggarai, West Flores.
A culture of peace as well as cordiality
Upon entering Wae Rebo, Martin presented my partner as well as me inside ceremonial house, as well as each of the elders shook our hands to introduce themselves by first name. After paying our respects to their ancestors, we came outdoors to watch a ceremony for blessing the materials for the renovation of the traditional house, as well as another for erecting the main pole of the house upon the foundation.
The community had began gathering materials for the renovation in November. The materials were collected through neighbouring mountains. In each location where wood was cut, prayer rituals were performed to ask for permission through the local spirits of the forests.
By mid-December, the materials were readily gathered inside centre of Wae Rebo. “Gathering wood through different places will be like uniting people through different countries as well as nations – cultures, backgrounds, as well as personalities,” said Martin. “When people unite in one place, we must make peace among them.”
Chickens as well as a pig were slaughtered as a sacrifice of peace for the spirits of the forests through which the wood for the house was taken. “in which way, the spirits would certainly return to their homes peacefully as well as let us use the wood for our homes,” said Martin.
The house’s main support pole will be called molos, the same Manggarai word for maiden. When the molos wood will be brought into the village, the same ceremony for welcoming the brand-new wife of a Wae Rebo man through another village will be performed. through the place where she originated until she reaches the village, the molos must not touch the ground. When rivers are crossed along the molos’ journey, a ceremony will be performed to make peace with the spirits of the waters.
Martin’s generation will be only the third to have converted to Catholicism. Before, the community’s resistance to Christianity was due to seeing some other Florenese cultures die out upon conversion. After centuries of European missions, the community finally accepted Catholicism after receiving instructions through ancestral spirits to practice This particular alongside ancestral worship.
inside early 20th century, the Dutch East Indies government tried to ban natives through living their “primitive ways” in Wae Rebo. The back-breaking access made This particular difficult for the government to control the area. “however the people of Wae Rebo are loyal to the ancestors, more than they are to the government,” said Martin.
At a glance, Wae Rebo seems to remain immune through the homogenising forces of modern Indonesia as well as globalisation. Village men proudly wear their bright-coloured Manggarai-style ikat textiles as well as batik headdresses as they tend to their plantations as well as livestock, or collect materials inside forests. Women teach their children local wisdom inside Manggarai language, cooking over firewood as well as weaving clothes for the family.
With one straw house able to house up to eight families plus a season’s supply of food, the village’s culture remains very communal. some other than limited electricity inside evening, there are few signs of modernity in Wae Rebo. Currently there are no schools, hospitals, cellular phone network, television as well as radio in Wae Rebo, though a children’s library will be under construction.
Nevertheless, the people of Wae Rebo are relatively well educated as well as informed of the outside world because of its twin village Kombo inside lowlands. “Nearly all residents of Wae Rebo have a house in Kombo, as well as vice versa. The census counts the residents of the two villages as one,” said Martin.
In Kombo there will be a boarding primary school for Wae Rebo children, as well as in Dintor secondary school. Parents visit studying children on Saturdays as well as attend mass there on Sundays. After selling coffee as well as cloves inside lowlands market on Monday as well as shopping for their necessities, they return to Wae Rebo for the week.
“This particular’s like living in two worlds; a semi-modern world in Kombo, as well as the primitive world in Wae Rebo. inside lowlands I wear shorts, however every time I come home I wear the traditional attire. This particular happens automatically,” Martin explained.
Due to This particular double life in Kombo, Wae Rebo children today are exposed to television, pop music as well as culture, Bahasa Indonesia as well as some English. This particular relative ease of accessing mass media inside lowlands, combined with the growing tourism-based economy, have also inspired some young Wae Rebo natives to travel to faraway places as well as pursue a higher education or work experience.
Nevertheless, for a native of Wae Rebo, home will be where the heart will be. “Karma awaits the Wae Rebo native who does not return home, usually inside form of an illness or misfortune,” said Martin.
A time of the year where travelling Wae Rebo natives are likely to be home will be during the Wae Rebo brand-new Year. Penti will be celebrated yearly on November 16 to mark the beginning of the rainy season as well as pay respects to the spirits of the local wellsprings.
We left that has a formal farewell inside ceremonial house. As we passed Kombo on the way back to Dintor, school kids at a modern rendition of the Wae Rebo house left their games inside yard as well as came to our minibus to say hello. A man through the ceremony in Wae Rebo was with them, at This particular point dressed in shorts. In my heart, I desire the children will faithfully follow their elders’ footsteps in living the duality of tradition as well as progress in which make Wae Rebo the special community in which This particular will be.
Wae Rebo Lodge
Dusun Dintor
Desa Satar Lenda
Kecamatan Satarmese Barat
Manggarai, Flores – NTT
Rp.200k per person per night – Includes three meals per day; excludes porters, guide as well as tips. Necessary to schedule two nights as well as hire a guide. 20 minute drive to Denge, last point accessible by vehicles before 7-km hike to Wae Rebo Dintor accessible by chartered vehicles through Labuan Bajo as well as Ruteng, or the St. Yoseph “oto kayu” (truck-bus) through Pela.
Contact: Martinus Anggo +62 852 3934 4046
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Wae Rebo: The Duality of Tradition as well as Progress in West Flores
Wae Rebo: The Duality of Tradition as well as Progress in West Flores