Stones of power, Statuary and Megalithism in Nias

Book Chapter

Reference

Stones of power, Statuary and Megalithism in Nias

VIARO, Mario Alain, ZIEGLER, Arlette

VIARO, Mario Alain, ZIEGLER, Arlette. Stones of power, Statuary and Megalithism in Nias. In:

Messages in Stone . Milano : Skira, 1998. p. 35-78

Available at:

http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:25078

Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version.

1 / 1

Messages in Stone

Statues and Sculptures from Tribal Indonesia in the Collections of the Barbier-Muel/er Museum

Edited by Jean Paul Barbier

Texts by

Jean Paul Barbier, lan C. Glover, Janet Hoskins, Alain Viaro and Arlette Ziegler Photographs by

Pierre-Alain Ferrazzini

Caver:

Toba Batak anustral stom ouple statut. The man is shown riding, the uio n seated by his sit:k.

Sevmtunth-eightemt century. Vilûzge of Huta Sitonggi Tonggi, n r Do/Qk Sanggul (m fig. 171).

Photo jean Pau . arbier 1996.

Frontispiece: ~

Old warrior at Hili etaniha, Nias.

Photo Jean-Louis osna 1990.

Copy-editing and sorne transûztiom John O'Toole

Graphie concept Marcello Francone Layout

Sabina Brucoli

Ali rights reserved under international copyright conventions.

No part of this book may be reproduced or uriliz.ed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying.

recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

©

1998 by Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva

© 1998 by Skira Editore, Milan Ali Righ cs Reserved

Primed and bound in ltaly. First edition ISBN 88-8118-326-9

Distributed in the world, unless North America and Latin America, by Thames and Hudson Ltd., 181a High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX, United Kingdom.

Distributed in North America and Latin America by Abbeville Publishing Group, 22 Cortlandt Street, New York, NY 10007, USA.

Table of C ontents

7 Acknowledgmenrs 9 Foreword

jean Paul Barbier

17 The Archeological Past of Island Southeast Asia fan C. Glover

35 Stones of Power: Statuary and Megalithism in Nias Arlette Ziegler, Alain Viaro

79 Batak Monuments: ln the Shade of the Petrified Ancestors jean Paul Barbier

157 The Lesser Sunda Islands: An Introduction Jean Paul Barbier

167 The Stony Faces of Death: Funeral and Poli tics in East and West Sumba

janet Hoskins 199 Bibliography 205 Index

Arlette Ziegler, Alain Viaro

Fig. 29. Th~ villag~s on Nias are nestled atop or along a ridg~ ofhills and can be spotted from a disranu by th~ coconut trees mrrounding th~m. The fields and paddies are located below, near rh~ river

(Orahili, South Nias). Photo Alain Viaro 1986.

Stones of Power

Statuary and Mega!ithism in Nias

From an Island on the Macgins ...

Nias is and always has been an island located on the very edges of che empires chat have shaped the history of the Indonesian archipel- aga. In this vast ensemble of island societies, from the past co che present, Nias has never eut a particularly high cultural, polirical, or economie profile. In face, the island has been largely absent from the archipelago's main- stream early history, as weil as from chat of the Indian Ocean. Similarly, in colonial times, Nias was never a major focus of.Dutch inter- est, having no spices and being of li ede strate- gie importance. In consequence Nias was rela- tively ignored by outsiders until che beginning of this century, locared as ir was far from che main social currents and scholarly concerns.

For ail pcactical purposes Nias played no part in the history of the great kingdoms chat once ruled the archipelago. From the seventh co the eleventh century, the kingdom of Srivi- jaya spread from the south of Sumatra and present-day Malaysia to che west; passing through Java, ir came co influence the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas co the east as weil.

From che rhirteenth co che fourreenth century, the'Majapahit empire conrroiled Java, Celebes (now cal led Sulawesi), and the south of Bor- neo (Kalimantan). However, in borh cases, Nias lay beyond these empires' rerritories, and nothing suggests thar ir depended on them.

Nevertheless, the island did undoubtedly cake sorne part in the exchange nerworks chat came to dominare Sourheast Asia in general

berween the eighth and the seventeenth ce1 curies. Nias was known co Arab merchants l the ninth century, for instance. Th•

remarked on its wealth of coconut crees, ar the inhabitants' aggressiveness, as weil as tl Niha tendency to exchange their feilows slaves for gold or copper. The island appean on Chinese maps by che rwelfth century, ar according co wrirers, ir was also known Indian merchants from Gujarat. ¹

In contrast co this Nias did not start appear on European maps of the lndi;

Ocean until che seventeenth cenrury (fig. 31 and chen only on a quire minor scale.² The are many reasons for chis. First of ail, Nias w situated away from the major maritime route be chey the ones going along the coam or th linking Sri Lanka and Aceh at the mouth the Serait of Malacca, used once navigarc had discovered the reversing monsoons. Se ondly, there were certain rechnical reasons f European cartography and commerce's rel rive lack of interest in Nias: currents ar winds made ir difficult co go near the islan and safe shelter for ships was scarce. Final and above ail, the island had no natural weal to lure merchants, neirher gold nor spices, tl most covered goods berween the sixteenth ar the nineteenth centuries. Nothing w rhought co jusrify the risk of dropping anch at Nias except gaining slaves, which were tl object of an important, intense trade, cor piete with its own social imagery: Nil women were considered the most beauciful che archipelago, and the men, the most indu trious. The Malays of che western coast

/.

N

Anthropomorphous statues of Nias (North and West)

A.

Aiea of river ldanoy 1. Faighu

2. Bawodesolo 3. Ono Siroli

4. Onowaembo, Lalai Sarua

B.

^{Aiea of} river Moro'o S. Tuenberua 6. Lolozirugi 7. Lologolu 8.Lolomoyo 9. Hiligohe 1 O. lraonogambo

C.

Aiea of river Lahomi 11. Onolimbu Lahomi 12. Onowaembo 13. Lasara

D.

Aiea of Soli ga

(rivers Moy, Idanomi and Oyo) 14. Bitaha

15. Olayama 16. Sifaoroasi 17. Tuenberua 18. Koidrafu 19. Togizita 20. Hilinaghé

z

0

Gunung Siroli

(Helesalulu)

__ _ .... --···.·:o· ----

.. --·- --- H1lmawaw Hilinawalo Marino

"lisimaeranoO 8 onohondro 0 ahil" QL.ahusa

H

^r

10 0Bawomataluo

0Hili Ziono

Fig. 31. The first map of Nias Island was drawn up in 1669 by Davidson, a Dwch merchant who inauguraud commercial contacts with the Niha. This map on/y provides information on where ships might land along Nias's coasts (Schroder 1917. fig. 262).

Fig. 30. Map showing the anrhropomorphic statuary of Nias. In the south of the island architecture as well as stones show a remarkable homogmeity. In "North"

Nias (the center of the map), there is relative coherence, but the ravages of ti me may conceal diffirenm. Diversiry is the rule, however, in Central Nias. ln sorne areas groups of stones with their own characteristics may be found; this could be caused either by isolation dtte to natural constrainrs, or by fomilies of local "artists. "

Sumatra and even more so che Acehnese of norchern Sumatra pursued chis trade until che end of che nineteenrh cenrury.³

Whereas che first trading poses in Indone- sian islands rich in spices were founded as early as che sixteench century, only in 1669 did che Durch and cheir East India Company, che VOC,⁴ esrablish initial contacts wich Nias.

The agreement put inro place wirh sorne of the local chiefs ofSouch and Central Nias⁵ did nor foresee any actual trading post buc racher pro- vided for an exclusiviry of commerce for che VOC, in exchange for protection for che local arisrocrars from slave raiders from Sumatra.

Even more important, rhese Niha chiefs⁶ obrained Dutch protection againsr aggression from ocher local chiefs, who, chey complained, often came headhunring and stealing slaves.

This fim document of agreement already implied in miniature the polirical stakes char wenr on co mark che island's encire history, pitting chief against chief in contesrs for sca- rus. As we shall see h.Irther on, chis situation is indicared particularly in Nias's profuse pro- duction of stone scaruary.

... T o Colonization

The firsr relative! y complete W es cern description of Nias, dared 1822, was made on the demand of Sir Thomas Sramford Raffles, founder of Singapore, who was at char rime governor of Bengkulen in Sumatra. The Niha are presented as a gemie and pacifie people, brought into slavery by rheir neighbors?

Ar che requesr of che Durch aurhorities, che German Baron von Rosenberg organized che first exploratory mission in 1855. Only from then on do we ger numerous direct reports from soldiers, missionaries, and Durch officiais, as weil as published secondhand reports. Literarure rherefore becomes plenti- ful, buc ir is of varying qualiry. Among che numerous publications, E.E.W. Gs. Schro- der's work on the culture of che island is srill che most valuable today for its wealrh of derailed information.

Parallel wirh che establishment of mili- cary and colonial control, che first mission was founded in 1865. The Christian faith spread rapidly over che whole island afrer

1911.⁸ Aiming co eradicare idolarry, the church m Its zeal also unforrunarely destroyed much of che island's artistic her- itage. In spire of che Muslim environmem of much of Indonesia as a whole, Nias is srill mainly Christian today.⁹

Only in chis cenrury has Nias rruly been colonized in choroughgoing ways: thar is, coconur and rubber plantations have been developed, roads builr, and maritime links esrablished. The firsr touriscs followed che scholars by che thinies. The Great Depression touched Nias because of its plantations; che Second World War arrived wirh che Japanese occupation of che Indies. Finally, in 1945, Nias was imegrared into che new Indonesian stace. The island was chen more or less for- gorten by outsiders for severa! decades, buc in the sevemies another wave of erhnologists and orher researchers started to take an inter- est in the island's culrure.¹⁰ Nevenhdess, their specialized publications were largely known only to Indonesianist scholars and to lovers of tribal art. A tourism trade of trekkers and surfers from Ausrralia has also grown by word of mourh over the last twenry years, alrhough Nias has only larely come co figure in crave! catalogues as a tourist destination, and is still considered a very "advemurous"

Il

one.

Through the influences, economie preoc- cupations, and contributions of foreign reli- gions and cultures, che traditional culture of Nias has of course weakened and changed.

Christianity has been che most important cause of this transformation; anorher decisive factor has su rely be en che island' s integration inro che Indonesian stace. This not only rein- forced social changes srarred in che colonial period, but also inrroduced a new notion not to be neglected: Indonesian identity. This new idea superimposes itself on che local identiries, Niha on the one hand, and clan affiliation on che orher.

If we are relatively weil documented in dis- cussing the above elements, hisrory from a local point of view is much more difficulr to define, for severa! reasons. No research on pre- history has yer been undertaken on Nias, and rhere is rhus no certitude as co the origin and rime of che island's peopling. Also, we are dealing with a people of oral tradition, ¹² who

have no orher wirnesses to their past than their still observable material culture and rheir still transmitted oralliterature, along with observa- tions remembered and transmitted in the recent past.

Outside observers often mentioned the island for its gold, which v.-as present in abun- dance.13 Writers also described the savageness of Nias's cannibal¹⁴ and headhuncing inhabitants.

Also nored was the size of the island's cicies, and what is usually referred to as Nias's megalithism and more precisely, its impressive tall stone monuments, of severa! meters in height.

Despite all this, the island has never acquired the exotic status .which would bring it wide recognition in the minds of the general public and make it figure among the high- lights of our imaginary geography. Head- hunters? The "wild Papuans" come to mind.

Large stone statues? Do not think of them anywhere else than on Easter Island!

An Island of Stones and Feasts

The culture of Nias nevertheless makes vis- itors marvel. Its architecture, made of wood and leaves, is probably one of the most inter- esting in Sourheast Asia. Furrhermore, ir has produced an incredible number of carved stones, among the most impressive ever known, and of particular interest to us here.

But before describing these sculptures and in order to understand rheir social role, we must explain the main aspects of Niha society and the competitive feasr practices which pro- duced them.

The island is usually divided into rhree cultural regions of unequal geographical importance: the North (6/9rhs of the surface), the Center (2/9ths), and the South (119th) (fig.

31). They vary as to their political organiza- tion, architecture, the layout of villages, their

ru!

es for marriage alliance, the types of statues carved, and even the languages spoken. A pre- cise delimitation of these three zones may be based on the construction typology of the bouses. In the north they are oval (fig. 32), whereas in the south they are rectangular, semi-detached in rows, with small façades looking omo the street (fig. 34). In Central Nias they are also rectangular (fig. 33), but present a long side as a front façade; their structure is similar to the bouses of the norrh.15 This division also concerns the other social and aestheric factors mentioned, but it is obvious thar despite variation they ali have a common substratum and belong ^tO the Aus- tronesian sphere. When approaching this soci- ety, a first constant emerges: the Niha were warriors (fig. 35). Of course agriculrural activ- ities have always existed too, practiced eirher by free men or slaves, but in the rraditional moral order warlike qualiries were clearly pre-

Fig. 32. A fine example of an oval ho use in Siwahili (North Nias). The piles are not very high, but are carved in focm; one entas through a verandA on the short side of the building. A small gutter (just visible here} in the pavement of the square acted as a drain for waur running ojfthe roof

Photo Alain Viaro 1986.

Fig. 33. This nobleman's bouse of Central Nias is enlarged by two side lean-tos. Such an arrangement is ftasible since the building technique puu no wûght on the walls, only on the beams. ln front of the bouse stand the monuments erected by the successive gene1·atiom who owned this omo sebua. The village of Gui Gui. Photo Alain Viaro 1982.

Fig. 34. Part of a row ofhoum, omo ada, at Lahusa (South Nias). Sicholi, the long beams seen here, projm from the façades at ground level.

Photo Alain Viaro 1977.

Fig. 35. lmprmive warriors from the south posing for the Dutch photographer Nieuvenhuis at the

beginning of the century. The metal or crocodile skin waisrcoar strved as an armor. ln addition, warriors wore a muai "helmer" and a bark loinclorh from which hung a sword adomed wirh pigs' uerh and boasting a hi!t shaped as a prorecrive lasara head.

Tbeir arms included a spear and a shùld whose shape varied according to the region.

Archives Barbier-Muel/er.

Fig. 36. A superb warrior poses in 1890 for the !talian entomologisr Modigliani.

Archives Barbier-Muel/er.

Fig. 37 ln 1974 the Niha kept their traditional swords, shùld.s and kalabubu, and da nad wirh them for tou rist peiformanas.

Photo jean Paul Barbier 1974.

Fig. 38. Once a gain in 1974 one could still

fi

nd authenric iron he/mets and armor mixed among commercial wooden carvings.

By 1996 the old shields and swords had al! bun sold.

Photo jean Paul Barbier 1974.

39

dominant: war

before tilling the soi!; manu-

facturing arms

(spears, swords, shields, armor) before manufacturing rools; defense systems before cultivation systems. Social and political

structures, as weil as the

megalirhism attached to

them, should always

be

set into this belli-

cose context.

Throughour rhe whole

island rhe clan (mado), named

according to irs eponymous

ancestor, is the largest reference unir. The most presrigious clans are those thar daim to be direct descendants of the mythical original

ancestors.

The orher clans are said

to have

issued from them

by divisions

and

subdivi- sions,

and their

prestige is

proportional ro

rheir

hisrorical d

epth. The im portance of

membership in a descenr line is underlined by the fact thar every Niha certainly knows to

which clan he belongs and is quite aware of hi s persona! genealogy in regard to this clan. Men

always add the nam

e of

their clan to their own when they have contacts beyond the village.

Clanship was also pertinent to territorial orga-

niz.ation: in

their origin time,

each village descended from

a

single clan. Clan cohesion

was chus expressed

and reinforced by sparial cohesion. Nowadays most villages have repre-

sentatives of severa! clans,

although one rypi- cally has supremacy.

Below the leve! of clans cornes the extend- ed family

(sagambatiJ sebua

) which

joins

a

number of nuclear families (sagambatiJ).¹⁶

For-

merly the rule was for ali rhe generations of an

economie unir to live in rhe same ho use, un der

the aurhoriry of the senior father, whom every-

one

had

to ohey.

Filiation

is parrilineal

and residence patriloc3.!, up to the present rime.

Marriages are exogamous to

the

clan, alrhough chis is only a strict rule in Norrh and

Central Nias. In the south, the preference for a

marriage berween matrilateral cross-cousins

(a man marrying the daughrer of

his mother's

brocher) is clearly attested, but is Jess frequen

t nowadays. This is so

for rwo reasons:

first, rhese

weddings are forbidden by the Carholic church,

¹⁷ and, second,

arranged if not imposed marriages are no longer easily accept- ed by

the young people.

When a

marriage is berween members of rwo different social class

categories, a hypergamic

rule

prevails: a

"noble"

man can marry a commoner woman, but the reverse is prohibited.

Clans

and

families are crosscut by

cate-

gories of traditional social class, by identiry as

nobles (ar !east, they perceive

themselves

as

having a superior rank), or as commoners (sato or ono mbanua,

literally,

the children of che village), or, up to this cenrury, as slaves. These social categories are organized differend)' in

the north, the center,

and the

south and

are

closely linked ro the policical

structure and

feast cycles

chat punctuare the

!ife of every

N

iha. Ir is during such

riruals c

hat the stone

Fig. 39. ln the middk of the village, the chiifs houst (omo sebua} ofBawiimato.luo (South Nias) stands 21 meters high. Ir has an overhanging façade similar to thou on other houses, brtt more ornate. ft is not on/y the largest remaining chiefs houu on the island, but the one in the bm condition and the most fomous. We should not forget thar practically ail

visitors to the island stop at Bawiimataluo. The rows of stones, benches and pi/lars in .front of the building mark one end of the assembly square, the other end being the assembly house, bale, sun on the left.

Photo Alain Viaro 1977.

Fig. 40. Public meetings, orahua, are exclusive/y for the men of the village. They to.ke plau on the asumbly square, gorahua newali, in .front of the chiefs house, or in the bale. Everyone 's place is strictt determined according to rank. During these meetings the cu"ent ajfoin of the village are dea ir with, conflicts uttled, and the various to.sks for maintainin;

public spaces allotted (Bawiimato.luo, South Nias).

Photo Alain Viaro 1981.

monuments with which we are concerned are erected.

Society in southern Nias is divided into

"

noblemen"

(si'ulu)

and commoners and the passage from one caœgory to the other is impossible. T he distinction is based on geneal- ogy: the si'ulu sometimes daim ancestry going back fo rty o r fifty generations. W ealth, knowl- edge of cusromary law

(adat),

and in the pasr, bravery in war, ali reinforce birth srarus. Even rhough the ride of

si'ulu is formally heredirary,

ir needs to be confirmed by certain prescribed feasrs. Supreme power in a community belongs ro the one who, among the si'ulu and exclusively among them, has given the

most

numerous and sumptuous feasts called for in

adat.

The ride of village chief (balo

si'ulu or safawa)

i s therefore theoretically called inro contention ar every generation, alrhough in pracrice the son of a chief has serious advan- tages in the race for power.

¹⁸

Nowadays rhe

salawa

has less power chan formerly as, obvi- ously, the villages of Nias have been

inco

rpo- rated into

the

Indonesian administration.

¹⁹ However,

rhe

salawa's

function srill should

not

be underestimated, as he does supervise the application of adat, which still rules many aspects of community !if e.

In his administration, the s

afawa is assisred

by

si'ila,

counselors chosen from among the commoners for their knowledge of customary

law, their wisdom, and, in the past, their merit

as warriors. T heir role has considerable impor- tance in villages in South N ias. Intermediaries and wimesses, the si'ila serve as memory repos- itories for transactions and agreements con- cluded and justice rendered, in a society where matters are mainly setded oral! y.

T he hierarchy of salawa-si'ulu-si'ila has a co unterweight: the assembly of ali the men of the village, a group called orahua (fig. 40). Up to rhe present day these men are active in deal-

ing with village

internai affairs. Each village, independent from ali others, is

a

sort of

"republic" on its own territory, and the village

community constituees most people's primary frame of social reference.

T his social and

political str

ucture is evi- dent in village spatial layour in the south.

Along

each side of

a paved main Jane runs a continuous row of houses, in front of which stand megaliths erected for previous feasts.

The villages are srrongly srructured by the prominent presence of an assembly square and a village meeting ho use, as weil as by a chief

s

house, the

omo sebua. These incredibly com-

plex masterpieces of carpentry can reach up to rwenty o ne merers at their roofrops, the heighr of a seven-story building (fig. 39)!

North and Central Nias have a different social and territorial organizarion, based on the clan as opposed to sharp social class

dis-

tinctions as their main identity reference.

In

the north, clan allegiance

used ro be

marked in concordance to a physical and poli rica! terri tory, the iiri. The iiri, literally the circle (of villages), was form ed of the villages belonging ro a same clan. The iiri was ru led by a tuhenori, rhe eider of the clan, but each vil- lage had a chief governing alone, withour any assembly. However, within the

iiri, these chiefs

did not ali have the same status. They were organized according to a hierarchy based on rhe age of their villages and the ranks obtained during feasts. Each of them therefore enjoyed the prerogatives of

his status, although

srill subordinated to the

iiri. The latter

was gov- erned by the assembly of ali the village chiefs concerned, under the tuhen 'ori.

The major characteristic of this

system is

thar social mobility is closely

linked

co geo- graphical mobility. If , in a village, a man want- ed c o accede to the highest levels, he could only do so by crea ting a new village of which he chen became chief , the

lasr

srep being to srarr a new iiri and become the chief thereof.

Beyond this system's social dynamic of con- stant village fission, ir obviously encouraged the founding of new

iiri; ir also

fostered the formation of villages of a si ze compatible wirh good social cohesion. The creation of an

iiri

could cake either one or severa! generations, and the size of the territories involved fl uctu- ated during the process. This also explains the relarively small number of stone monuments in r he northern villages. There was no compe- tition berween "noblemen" inside the village, as gaining status very soon implied the need to found a new setdement, in which a stone was chen erected to commemorare the importance of the new chief. The fluidity of the system did not encourage establishing whar in rhe south expressed village identity and internai hierar- chies. ln rhe north there are no assembly

squares, village meeting houses, or monumen- tal groups of megalirhs. However, rhere are gigantic chiefs

'

houses with oval roofs,

²⁰ so

ingeniously and srrongly built thar

150 men

could dance

in

them without the slightesr vibration occurring.

These villages present quite a different appearance from chose in the south. Usually consisting of just a few rudimentary dwellings set around a chief s house, according to the earliest writers,

²¹

even coday their layout has little formai structure. Oval houses either fol- law each orher along a path, or encircle an overgrown, only roughly

defined open

space.

Most villages are recent, set out along the roads built by the Dutch. More ofren chan not their borders are not marked.

Afrer the thirries the

iiri no longer existed

in their original form. The Dutch administra-

tion

considered the

iiri a paradigm

for

the

whole

island,

and therefore creared sorne where there did no t seem to be any before-

hand-in

the south and center- remodeling the existing settlements in the north by creat- ing iiri thar no longer corresponded to the ter- ritorialization of a clan but rather to an admin-

istrative division of the land

into districts.

Afrer independence, this type also disap- peared, replaced by rhe division of indonesian national territory into kec

amatan,

the equiva-

lent of

county distri cts.

Finally, Central Nias privileged a social and political organization based on clan and lineage

logic. The

process of poli rica! integra- rion for villages seems to have varied according to the different micro-regions.

²² ln the Gomo

area, the villages were independent fr om each other and small (mosdy

ten to rwelve

house- holds); they were usually inhabited by the members of only one clan.2

³

The village was

tradirionally

under the authority of a chief, who was either the founder of the village or his descendant. He had the ride of

balugu, which

he obtained after having attained the highesr leve! of prescribed feasts.

In contrast

to what we have seen in the south, there was no class of

"noblemen" radically differentiared from the

people. Anybody could reach the highest

ranks, providing he was capable of doing so; in

other words, providing

he sponsored

a suffi-

d ent number of feasts and therefore monu-

ments. This probably explains the incredible

profusion

of carved stones in

the villages of Central Nias.

As in the north, social

mobiliry was linked

ro

mobiliry

in space: if one did

nor belong ro

the

ruling lineage, ir was essential

to

found

a

new village

and rhereby a new lineage to

become village chief.

Paradoxically the cre- arion of this new communiry did

not involve

the maintenan

ce of any parricular ries wirh irs village of origin. To the contrary, conflicrs of

inrerest among villages were so

frequent

thar ali of them lived in a permanent srare of

srrife.

Nowadays

conflicrs

no

longer

rake on the same violence, but strong

tensions remain, as

do most of the mechanisms

legirimizing the

authoriry

of the village chiefs. There are still balugu in

Central

Nias, and

when

a young chief is appoimed

kepala desa

(village head, in the Indonesian administration), he would have no legitimacy

if he did nor

sponsor

the feasts

thar his

status demands,

and

possibly

even erect the required stones.

lt is

rather difficulr ro esrablish the reasons leading ro this specifie rype of social

organiza- tion, combining as ir does aspects of

north and

south and culminating in an original

system.

T opographical and environmental constraints

should be taken

imo account firsr.

In Central Nias, natural barriers are so numerous and so strong

thar

they

prevem the development

of

large villages, and even more so of

iiri.

At such

a scale, onl y the aurhoriry of a lineage head can come imo consideration.

The size

of the vil- lage itself-demographical

l

y

speaking-does not enable competition berween rival nota- bles,

as ir does in the south.

Due to this isolation, each valley rends to

become

a

cultural micro-zone, although the physical organization and layout of the villages have a certain

similariry. The

oldesr settle- ments are built ar the

top of hills for obvious defensive

reasons. Their access from the river confirms this concern: the "stairs" are made of such

high stone blocks thar they lirerally have to be climbed over; the emrance ro the village itself

is obsuucred

by similar blocks. T

he ho

uses are built on stone terraces around a rec- tangular square. The chief's house is on one of the short sides,

the other sometimes being the osali, the terrace on which justice

was

ren-

dered.

We must not

forget thar

this is

the area

where headhuming and slave raids were most acrively practiced, both through warlike expe- ditions from the south and in

strife with the

ether villages of the central region. These nor so distant times are

still remembered today?⁴

Mistrust rowards fo

reigners

is more acute here than anywhere else on the island.

Headhunting is particularly weil described

Fig. 41. The only photograph of an asmnbly ho use, baie, adorned with human skulls thar has come down to us is by Modigliani, who took it in the south at Hili Ziono around 1880 (m no. 25).

Fig. 42. This view ofOnolimbu Lahomi (North) gives us a good idea of what northern villages must have been like at the beginning of the century, except for the corrugated iron roof of the Malay-type ho use in the background. Photo Alain Viaro 1980.

Fig. 43. Rming on a forest of frontal/y famed piles, the chiifs bouse ofOnolimbu Lahomi (North Nias}

overlooked the others. ft showed a façade devoid of any particular ornamentation surmounted by a large oval roof Erected on a plarform, it was in the center of this very long village. No remains have survived of the statues that most probably stood in front of the building. Photo Catherine Becker 1978.

by Modigliani, who adds thar it no

longer

exists

(in the second

half of the

nin

eteenth century) in the

north.

Decapitation was required

in

severa!

instances.

The eut

heads

enhanced the glory of

a chief in the course

of a

"feast

of merit" or when

he built

a large

ho use, and when he was honored at his funer-

al.

In such circumstances the skulls were hung

under the house, before being

put up

in the men's assembly house (baie or osait) (fig. 41).

Ta eut a

head

and

hang it in the baie

was essential

for

acquiring

the starus of warrior (iramatua) " ... before having accomplished this task,

(the young men) do not count in the village,

they are just Niha humans, they have no right

ro take part

in

the assemblies, they are not appreciated

by

the women ... Once they obtain the

name

of iramatua, they are respected by everyone, their opinion carries

the same

weight as thar of the eiders when

decisions are

to be

taken

... The

village chief

(at this occasion) gives them a

necklace of honor, a kalabubu."

Modigliani mentions

an

assembly ho use in the south which at the rime he saw it carried 21

human

skulls.

²⁵ Heads

were also eut to

seal an

oath, or raken

as

a mark of vengeance for

someone

who had beheaded a relative; of course the heads of war vicrims and prisoners of war were also raken.

In short, heads were eut on any occasion,

as they provided honor and prestige, and even financial advanrages. Except

for

young men who had

to show their bravery publicly, no

one needed to act himself

in the raking

of

heads. In fact,

notes Modigliani, "

... the task of finding a victim is entrusted

ro volunteers,

paid

according to the number

of heads required. Two or three

of them go inro the

countryside,

walking at

night, hiding in

the forest during

the day, and

when they arrive near a village or isolated

house, they hide in

ambush ro seize

their victim

s, whatever their sex or age." Headhunting was widespread and played an essential part in numerous pracrices

of

South and North Nias.

Ir

is

also in

this area th at the colonial

administration practiced

a policy of massive

displacement of the population, regrouping it

in villages built along the roads.

Therefore side

by side

there are

recent villages, old villages,

and abandoned ones.

Sorne of

the laner, how-

ever, have been

reoccupied

since the seven-

. 26

h' h h 'fi . b

nes, w 1c as

meant new ran 1

caoon

y foundation

feasts.

Feast Cycle Practices

As we have seen, competitive feasting is one of

the

main

elements

of

Niha

social dynamics

and aestherics.

Feasrs always

impressed visitors ar the beginning of

the cen-

tury, due ro the mass slaughter of pigs. T oday

the history of Niha feasting still asrounds out-

siders, because of the megaliths produçed.

Generally only one type of celebration is

mentioned: the "feasts

of merit,"

²⁷

writers

having

classified

in this

category ali riruals implying

the

erection

of a megalith and (in

rheir view) an ostentatious

slaughter of pigs. ²⁸

But in Nias

no rype of festivity, ranging from

honoring one guest ro a garhering ofhundreds of people, could

take place

without pigs.

²⁹ ln

other words, no pigs, no feasts!

In

realiry,

however, the Niha have

³⁰ quite an

elaborate

system of feasts.

These

rituals'

main

function

is ro reinforce cohesion and

encourage social reproduction at different lev- els

and

by different means.

There are rwo main levels of feasts.

The first consists of the classical

cere-

moni

es relating

to

an

individual's

)if

e

cycle (birrh,

wedding, funeral), and

those

riruals

imended ta concretely express a man's acqui-

sition of the rank in the community he could or must occupy according to customary law.

The

highest stages

of these feasts were also means of access

to

power. These ceremonies comply with the logic of giving and taking,

³¹ an exchange process prevailing in Nias during

an individual's encire

!ife and

even beyond, with a son inheriting

the exchange obliga-

tions of

his father. In other words, everyone is socially

compelled

ta

give,

and therefore

to

receive, and then to give back the equi

valent of what

he has received. The prestige of a man

or a family

is not measured

by wealth accumulated, but by the capaciry to produce

it or have it produced for later redistribution,

thereby ensuring the

functioning and repro-

duction of the community

through

the

exchange obligations forming its dynamic

structure.

The second leve! of feasts refer ta the clan:

they

are

mainly the fondrako

(on

the

whole

island) and, in the south, the boro n 'adu. The

first

is very rare nowadays,

and only seems

to

Fig. 44. During ftasrs, th~ sham of pork for th( m(al ar( carifUlly laid on banana kav(S b(for( bring givro ro (ach guest. Th( choia of th( piu( and rh~ quanrity

offir~d are scrupulously evaluated according ro rank, marriage and family relariomhip, as w~ll as rhe r(lariomhip establish(d at previous pigftasrs.

A br(ach of th(se ru/es could caus( a serious conjlict.

Photo Alain Viaro 1982.

cake place when an old siee is reoccupied; as for che second ir complerely disappeared dur- ing che first quarter of chis century.

The

fondrako

feasr confirms or confirmed che foundation of a village or possibly of an

ori

or clan. le could merge wirh the feast esrab- lishing a man as a new chief of a clan or a vil- lage. Stone sculptures seem seldom ro have been made ro celebrare a

fondrako:

the few monuments explicidy arrached ro such feasts are in che north, and are rough megalichs wirh- our interesr from an arcis tic point of view.

In the south, the

boron 'adu

feasr cyclically assembled descendants of a group of clans descending from rhe common ancesror Sadawa Molo.³² Ir can be considered a feasr of the re-creation of rhe world. Ar this occasion, only wooden eiger effigies were made.

Among rhe feasrs thar concern rhe individ- ual in his family and communiry, wedding cel- ebrations are wirhour doubr the most ofren mentioned. In Nias, as in many orher cultures, the concept of the individual per se is nor given separare high social value, and a man or woman only "make sense" rhrough rheir descendants, once continuiry wirh the ances- rors has been ensured. Even roday marriages srill involve major rirual expenses and require high bridewealrh paymenrs. To use our West-

ern rerminology, the latter represent the max imum amount of economie effort the bride receiving group is prepared ro concede co rhei wife-givers. Megalirhs are never erecced for : wedding.

But, ir is nor our intention ro explain al the feasrs in detail here.³³ We shall only men rion the main characrerisrics of chose involvin;

stone monuments erecced for the acquisirio1 of social rank, where one arrains his "prope social station." These are the "feasrs of merir.

These feasrs are always the occasiOn fo presenting gifrs of rwo k.inds: cooked pig mea earen during rhe feast, and

urakha,

the piece o raw pig each guesr receives ro cake home.³

Urakha

imperarively must be given back i1 raw form by an equivalent piece of pig, in rh course of anorher feasr as opposed ro durin sorne orher gifr exchange mechanism. The dis tribution of pig meat is the central act of rh feasr (fig. 44). One need only warch how care fully the livesrock is evaluared, and see rh smiles ar the firsr bloodshed announcing rh meal, ro know thar the main logic of thes feasrs is ro parricipace in an exchange (eve rhough ir may exrend over a long period c rime). The more feasrs an individual has spon sored, and the more numerous the guesrs, rh more pieces of pig shall be rerurned. This is S•

rrue thar for a Niha ir was un til recencly quit

inconceivable to kill a pig for personal use, without going on to give a pig feast.

The

essential components of rhese feasrs could be summed up in rhe following way:

holding feasrs allows a person to enter into one (or several)

pig exchange circuits and establish or increase his social status, which also requires

the manufacturing of gold ornaments, and in

sorne cases parricipating in power scruggles.

The cusromary law of each area, but also of

each clan or village, defines

the number

and order of the feasts co be held. Numbers of pigs and sto

ne monuments are defined

by adat in the same way,

but it would be wrong ro

say that such rules are truly conscraining. Accord- ing to

ali

tesrimonies gathered, there

has always

been great latitude: in

reality as

many

pigs are

slaughtered as possible in regard to individual and family strategies, wirhin

the logic of

exchange described earlier. This is also

the case for che stones:

the personal tasœ of the recipient and the talent of che carver can express themselves freely. ln Central N

ias,

for

instance,

there is

no prescription chat an osa osa musc

be

round

or rectangular:

ir is just a

question of choice and

local custom.

South Nias's cycle of feasts calls for up to eleven feasts for the

si'u/u,

although only the first ranks of such ceremonies are accessible to commoners. In the course of che first feast, a

stone pillar

(batu foulu or batu nitaruo) is

erected. A stone hench

(daro daro) is built for the last feast, which

for

commoners merges with

the funeral.

For si'u/u,

however, this

hench is

erecœd during the penultimate feast, as

the last

rimai- the funeral-

does

not require any stone.

³⁵

At ali the celebrations,

rhere is pig

meat

eaten

and pig

meat

given, whereas only rwo of rhese riruals

are com- memorated by a megalith. Batu foulu

are only sculpted for m en, while daro daro benches are also carved for wo

men.³⁶

T

his

being said, in sourhern villages, competition for power berween c

he si'ulu

seems co

have

favo

red

a proliferation of

the prescribed stones. The largest

number of megaliths are in villages where chere were several

lineages

of noble-

men.

ln

the

north

festive cycles were

direcdy

relaœd to the fo

unding of

an

ori. They there-

fore disappeared with colonization and C

hris-

tianization, implanted earlier and more deeply

in this region chan anywhere else on the island.

Pig feasts are often forgonen,

³⁷

and there no longer seem to be any in

this part of the

island. Feasts were attached to the notion of

bosi, or ranJc Each clan had a certain number

of ranks

(nin

e, ten, or rwelve) deœrmined at

the cime of irs founda

cion, the upper on

es cor-

responding to noblemen.

However, chere was

a possibility

of

passing from

one

grade

to

Fig. 4 5. The villages of Central Nias are organized around a rectangular square bordered by dry-stone terraces on which the houses are built. This quadrangle is bordered by groups of monuments, round tables (niogaji), uats with hybrid heads (osa osa}, and pillars (behu}. The bouse of the chie, is at one end, on a higher terrace (Orahili Gomo).

Photo Alain Viaro 1979.

Fig. 46. A remarkable gowe at Hilibadalu, near Soliga (North}. lts siu (ouer 2 m) makes it a good example of this caregory. Photo Hiimmerle 1992.

Fig. 47. Chan of stone rypes.

Category North Center South

Stones related to the village community

foundation stone batu fondrakii

symbolic village center (nave!) juso newali

assembly terrace gorahua newali

cerrace for rendering justice harefo or osali

prorective effigies (male and female) nio bawa lawol

shield at village emrances niorane

carved flagstone or stringer vanous names

Stones related to a person's cycle of feasts

male rough raised stone gowe be hu batu nitaruo

male rough horizontal stone daro daro daro daro daro daro

cut/carved commemorative male pillar:

commoner batu nitaruo

nobleman be hu batu nitaruo

chief gowe be hu batu nitaruo

pillar replacing the chief naha gama-gm

pillar with zoomorphic osa osa on top be hu

male or female seat rectangular or round daro daro osa osd daro daro

round female table niogaji daro daro nich.

rhrone kursi batu

amhropomorphic chiefs figure gowe ?*

figure with raised arms holding an osa osa behu or lawolii horo

anrhropomorphic village protector lawiilë

Funerary monuments

pyramidal comb tsjuho

skull urn tsjuho (?)

• Anthropomorphic chiefs sratues are nor noted in the Center. However there is a doubr about them and we shall come back to ir lacer.

another: a commoner, in fact, could accede ro the highesr leve! of power.

To maintain or increase his

bosi, every man

had

to give feasrs.

This implied the inevitable

pigs bath given and earen, and sorne feasrs also

demanded the acquisition of

gold jewelry.

Ali of this

gave

honor ra

ancestors

and

allies.

Apparendy, for

people

who were only con- fi

rming an inferior

grade, a

few stones would

suffice; these

would be simple, uncarved megalirhs. But, for whoever wished ra

accede

ta

a higher rank or ro

ratify his standing in the latter, anthropomorphic

figures, gowe, would

be carved. These

were among

the most impressive sculptures of the island. They enabled their owner ro carry the

ride

of

balugu.

³⁸

The feasrs

thar accompanied the accession

to power rock place at every stage of a village

or an

ori foundation. Sorne of them seem

ro

have possibly merged with th

e feasrs given for

arraining the ride of balugu.

In Central Nias, the cycle could have up ra

ten feasrs. Ali the men of the village could give

nor

just one

owasa:³⁹ they could

sponsor ail the

feasts required to reach rhe highesr leve!.

T

he firsr

feast

is usually

given in

a wife's honor, then in the husband's, then in honor of the couple and the husband's parents. Stones were and are srill somerimes erected for each of

these feasts.

Formerly their number could be up ro six for one feasr. Of course pig meat is

given and earen.

In the past,

g

old

ornamenrs were also necessary, but in lesser quantiry than in North

or

South Nias,

as they

did

not

include the beauriful headdresses

which adorned chiefs of

highesr rank.

Such a profu-

sion of stones for feasrs, and for so many peo- ple, is only the case in Central Nias.

As we have seen, rhese "feasts of merit" are closely linked ro whar is called the island's

megalithism. Ali

stone monuments and statues are erecred du

ring feasrs, but not ali

feasts nec-

essarily produce

megalirhs. Alrhough they

are

the most

specracular expression

thereof,

and the one

remaining over the

years, we

must

remember thar if stones speak of feasrs, they

do not speak of

ail feasrs. One co

uld go on ro say thar

the

Niha's idenriry,

the

individual's

insertio

n of himself inra social

and physical space in the village, and power relations wirh-

in and among villages, all expressed rhemselves

(and

ro sorne exrenr

still

do)

through

these

works thar were fashioned of stone and N

iha talent.

The

Stone Monuments of Nias

Ir would be

well ra

indicare

the various

major

types of stones

found in Nias,

albeir

wirhour rrying ro

enumerare each and

every name they have ever been

given.

Each stone, in fact, may have severa! names used according

to comexr and ro a logic of

language frequent- ly invoked on the island. A statue, for instance, may

be called

by the honorary name given ro

irs

owner when ir was erecred, by the ticle the latter received, by its material

or location, by one of irs

formal

characteristics

(in rerms of how ir was carved with the knife), or in refer-

Fig. 48. Group of stones in a former hevea ( rubber) plantation at Olajama (Soliga, North), stiU intact in 1990. ft is said to have bun erected eight gmeratiom aga by the same artists responsibk for the group at Bitaha, t:Udicated to two brothers of the Tohalawa clan who are thought to be the first to have settkd in this area. They were probably also the first to have had statues carved. Photo Schroder 1917, fig. 21.

Fig. 49. This gowe nio niha (literally

"anthropomorphic stone") measures 260 cm and displays all the regalia of a no bk and brave man (Daeli clan, Onowamzbo ldanoi, North Nias). PhotoAiain Viaro 1981.

Fig. 50. Detail of a gowe at Bitaha (North Nias}.

Photo Jean-Louis Sosna 1990.

Fig. 51. This statue, from the Barbier-Mueller collection, cornes from the northwestern part of the island and represents a chief, gowe salawa.

!nv. 3254. Height: 90 cm.

Fig. 52. The Bitaha group (North Nias} has about 20 monuments standing on the osalé, a terrace of large flat stones. The small monuments (fao gana' a) were erected during Jeasts to celebrate the

manufacturing of gold ornaments. The statues, be hu or sirao-gowasa, honored the glory of the clan 's chiefi.

Photo Alain Viaro 1980.

ence co a symbolic representation (such as a rooster perched on a spear), which re fers co myth. This specifie case just mentioned recalls the foundation myth, according co which Sirac, the ru! er of heaven, knowing he is soon to die, has to choose his successor from among his ni ne sons. T o rest them he sticks a spear into the soi!, tip upwards, and says chat the one co succeed him will be che one who "srays like a rooster, perched on che point of the spear." The third son managed it, and crowned with gold and glory, he took over from Sirac. His brothers by contrast descend- ed to Nias, to earth, to found the original clans. That is, except for one son, whose task it was to carry the world.⁴⁰

Each object therefore has severa! categories of names, which of course hardly simplifies identification. F urrhermore, local usage engenders variations in terminology. We shall therefore use the most general and frequently applied descriptive appellations.

A chart (fig. 47) should familiarize rhe reader with the different rypes of monuments as well as their usual names according to their location. For each region, only the stones arrested co by earl y wrirers which we have seen our.selves are mentioned. Ar issue he re are only monuments and representative carved ele- ments, not any features of stone village archi- tecture or equipment. In the villages of South Nias, for instance, in addition to sculpture one can also still observe jumping pyramids, which used to serve for the training of young war- riors, and monumental staircases, along with baths built near the river. The forrified walls

surrounding the villages have, however, com- pletely disappeared.

Most monuments are just rough stone slabs, found rhroughout the whole island.

There is, however, a large rypological and for- mal variery of eut and/or carved stones which can be classified in three categories, more 01

Jess corresponding co the three main regions.

Only rwo types of stones are erected in the north: daro daro, simple, grossly eut benches without any aesthetic qualities, and gowe. If the latter are often just raised stone slabs, they may also be impressive anthropo- morphic statues severa! meters high.

Between these extremes, there is a vast array of different sculptures: stone shafts wirh vig- orous male attribuees and headhunters' necklaces, pillars with barely perceptible low-relief faces, massive sœlae ending with a human head adorned with ail of a presrigious chiefs jewelry-his headdress, earring, and necklace-or noble-looking effigies squat- ting on their heels, holding the welcoming beœl pot in their joined bands. The largest gowe can reach a heighr of 2.8 m, alrhough most of them measure less chan a merer.

Many villages have one or even rwo gowe.

Even more impressive are che arrays of gowe standing on a mound on ancient sites of che Soliga area, now hidden in the forest (figs.

48 and 52). Ali rhese statues stem from the same clan and seem co have been carved by

the same arrise.

The Barbier-Mueller Museum has three stone sculptures from the north, rwo gowe

50

Figs. 53 and 54. lmpressive gowe (270 cm) of the Gulo clan in Mandrehe (Hiligowe, North Nias), phorographed in 1914 and 1980. Photos Schroder

1917. fig. 113, and Alain Viaro.

Fig. 55. Dating back four generations this gowe of the Gulo clan stands in lraonogambo (Norrh Nias).

Height: 220 cm. Photo Alain Viaro 1980.

Fig. 56. The large gowe (380 cm} of Mandrehe (North Nias), probably in 1887. Thm wooden adu can be seen under the bouse.

Photo Schnitgcr 1939-1942,fig. 24.

Fig. 57. Gowe (260 cm) in Ko 'zndrafo, near Soliga (North). Photo Alain Viaro 1979.

Fig. 58. Gowe salawa ftom the Barbier-Muel/er collection (fig. 61} photographed in situ (site unknown) around 1970. North Nitu.

Phoro Catherine Becker 1978.

salawa and one figure of a human head.

One of che gowe (fig. 51) has been assigned ta the Go mo area, but the qualiry of the stone, the general oudines, and the detail of the headdress make ir more likely ta originare from che Idano ⁴¹ Lahomi area. The figure

is

a gowe salawa (a stone erected in honor of a chief) rypical of this area. Ir represenrs a squat- ting man, wirh arms on his chest, a frequent position in thar part of the island. This ani- rude draws attention ro the chest, and although the breasts are not visible this mode of representation means thar the chief is "like a mother for his people," a qualiry combined with the viriliry expressed by the penis. The gowe bears the regalia of a high ranking chief:

gold necklace, an earring worn on the right ear as prescribed by tradition, shell bracelet and also headgear, showing thar the ornamems and the different feasts required by his status have been acquired and organized.

The other gowe salawa (fig. 62) is sitting, his phallus erecred berween his knees. His right arm is on his chesr, whereas the lefr is on his sromach. The gowe salawa of course wears chiefs ornaments, but slighdy different ones:

the headdress is higher and encircled at its base by a headband wirh sruds, the armlet is on the upper arm and the necklace represents a ring which in realiry would be auached by a cord on the nape of the neck. Although the starus is relatively old and weathered, this detail, care- fully carved by the arrise, can still be seen.

Gowe sa!awa of a similar qualiry of sculpture and stone can still be found at Ambugha, sourhwest of Gunung Sitoli.

The head fragment (fig. 59) is more enig- matic. The face protrudes from a stone slab which may have been a very· narrow s~arue.

·The ka!abubu (headhunter's necklace) under the straight chin shows chat the sculpture is male. The finely carved mouth and the dia- mond-shaped eyes are frequendy encountered in the nonh, but the angle of the eyes and the eyebrows forming a Y with the nose are more unusual. Unforrunately che top of the head is missing, depriving us of a precious source of identification. The rype of srone, however (a very fine yellow sandstone only found in the area of the Moro' a and Lahomi valleys in the norrhwest part of the island) makes us rhink thar ir could come from thar area. We have seen a statue of similar sryle and idemical quai-

iry of stone as chis fragment at Onowaimbc Sarua, on the Lahomi River (fig. 61). Ir carrie~

a knife in a sheath on irs chest, and has larg<

almond-shaped eyes and eyebrows attached re rhe nose, which is unfortunarely broken. BUJ in spire of this, indications are insufficiem t~

determine the precise origin of the piece, anc ir re tains sorne of its mysrery behind irs dosee eyes.

In Central Nias stone expressions are mon varied. Besicles the vertical or horizontal slab:

previously memioned, terraces of either dry .o1 drafred stone can be seen. Now abandoned they used ta serve as places for rendering jus·

rice and as squares of ho nor and power. Thei:

names vary according to valleys, harefo or osafi but rheir funcrion seems identical in the whol<

of Central Nias.

Wirhout a doubt the most srriking ele·

ment is the behu, a vertical srone symbolizinl the importance of a village founder or chief The village of Lahusa Id. Tae is a perfec example of the imagination and artisric sens•

of the Central Niha. Ir has a behu 2.8 rn high a rectangular piHar measuring about 60 cm or each side. The top supports an osa osa in th<

shape of a srag, as can be seen on an old pho rograph (fig. 63). Most behu had such seats S<

thar the recipient of the feast could sir on toi and thereby symbolica!ly reproduce the feat o the Niha pantheon memioned previously. I seems thar rhese osa osa were an intrinsic par of the behu, and not added at lacer ceremonies They were fiXed by mortise-and-tenon joint o built in, sa as ta avoid toppling over. Som<

have kept their osa osa at rheir summits; rhes<

are always animal figures, usua!ly stags or bi rd (figs. 63 ro 65 and 69). In other cases the ost osa have been replaced (fig. 66).

Another impressive monolirh (fig. 60) o equal size has sreps hewn from the black on it.

sides, enabling the honored recipient ta climl omo ir and preside over the ceremonies mark ing his preeminence. This behu has a ring probably for hanging gold ornamems on dur ing feasts. Other behu have large masculin<

features. Ir is impossible ro describe them ail as from the most modest ta the most imposin!

rhere are still 44 behu in Lahusa. This village i.

only one among orhers, ali with exceptiona sculptures. ln Teregewo, for instance, rhere i:

a splendid specimen. Ir has a hook on which tc

52

Fig. 59. This fragmmt of a h~ad from th~ Barbi~r·

Mu~lkr collection apparmtly com~s from th~ Laho

r~gion. Srylistically, rh~ Y-shap~d ry~brows, th~ thi.

mouth and eut chin r~call th~ traits of fig. 61. No1 Nias. lnv. 3256. Hûght: 29 cm.

Fig. 60. Th~ great number, divmiry and b~aury Oj itr ston~s rank Lahusa Id. Ta~ (Cmtral Nias) arno

th~ most important sius ofGomo cultur~. One oft behu {hûght: 290 cm} is surmounted by a small o osa with on~ head. Photo Alain Viaro 1979.

Fig. 61. At Lasara {North Nias}, asta~ 14 generations old from Durunaja, wher~ rh~ Lahom, ori was founded 25 generations a go a fier a trtary t

allianu was drawn up bmuun th~ Hia and Dael.

clans. This detail shows th~ fin~ curv~ of th~ ry~brc

Photo Alain Viaro 1981.

Fig. 62. Gowe salawa from th~ Lahomi arM, fron

th~ Barbif:r-Mu~lkr colkction. Th~ ryp~ ofston~ a sryk her~ suggm thar ir may possibly corn~ from Lasara or Durunaja and could b~ attributed to th.

Daeli clan, but nûther ir:s ag~ nor history ar~ kno~

North Nias. lnv. 3259. Hûghr: 131 cm.

54

Fig. 63. Thniu of Lahwa Id T ^tU (Cmtral Nias) at th~ starr of th~ twmti~th cmtury. Photo V .Mc.

Figs. 64, 65 and 66. Behu surmounud by zoomorphic osa osa in Orahili Gomo and Gui Gut Swuwa (Cmtral Nias). Photo Alain Viaro 1979 (figs. 64 and 65), and 1982.

Fig. 67. Seat with thru heads, osa osa si ccilu mbagi, at Sisarahili Susuwa (Central Nias).

Photo Alain Viaro 1979.

Fig. 68. Seat with one head, osa osa si sara mbagi, at Hel.esalulu (Central Nias).

Photo Stéphane Barbier-Mueller 1976 Fig. 69. The site of what used to be the village of Tuegtwo (Central Nias) south of the Susuwa River, a seulement said to have bun founded about 300 years ago. One of the behu, approximately 3 m high,

with a sai ca gari book near the top bas steps carved in the sides, enabling one to climb onto it.

Photo Lionel Morley 1972-1973.

exhibir che chiefs regalia, cloches, and helmer, during ceremonies, while che side is adorned wirh a sword, funher enhancing ics prestige;

sreps and roserres contribuee to irs splendor (fig. 69).

Osa osa are impressive for rheir qualiry of stone carving. They are round or recrangular sears wirh eirher a central column or four feer, one or rhree heads in che front, and one or rhree rails ar che back (figs. 67 and 68).

All

of rhem are erecred borh for men and women.⁴² Two fearures disringuish them from che daro daro found in che sourh and north. The firsr distinction is social: osa osa may be carved for all che feas cs of the cycle, whereas daro daro are reserved in che south to che lasr rirual (or che penulrimare feasr, for si'ulu). The second ele- ment of difference is formai: daro daro do nor have che heads or rails char characrerize osa osa.

ln our chan we have shown char osa osa only exisr in Central Nias, which is correct for stone monuments. le should, however, be added char North Nias has wooden osa osa (fig. 71), used as palanquins to carry che highesr of che hierarchy in rriumph during feasrs. Their shape reminds one of che stone osa osa of Cen- tral Nias.

ln neirher Central nor South Nias did peo- ple use such wooden sears of honor. During che ceremonies involving a stone, che honored recipient climbed onto ir and was carried

(always by men from his village) nme nmes round che central square, before being ser clown wirh che stone in front of his or her house. All Niha say char chis pracrice symbol- izes che rebinh of a person in his village wirh a new srarus; ir rhereby adds a rires-of-passage ⁴³ dimension to "feasrs of merir."

In Central Nias rhe name mosr frequendy used for osa osa refers to rheir number of necks. The face char che srone may be round or recrangular is nor raken into accounr. One rherefore speaks abour an osa osa si sara mbagi or an osa osa si tolu mbagi, meaning a sear wirh respecrively one or rhree necks. The heads are unquesrionably che predominant fearure of rhese sears. They can represent hornbill

b . d

_{1r s,} 44 _srags, 45 _{or 1.a0ara.} /__ 46 _{T e}

h l

_{aerer are a} recurrent rheme on rhe whole island. Lasara effigies have a prorecrive role and rein force che assertion of power. Highly srylized, chey adorn rhe frames of che openings of norrhern ho uses;

in more realisric form chey prorrude from chiefs' house façades (fig. 70) or guard rhe entrance of sourhern villages. In Cenrral Nias, however, chey are only seen on srone sculp- tures. A lasara head has a srrong open jaw wirh heavy lips, a hanging rongue, and boar or eiger fangs; irs snour is surmounted by an excres- cence similar to che one on a hornbill's beak.

The eyes are well marked, ofren diamond- shaped, and che head has horns, probably srags' anders, and somerimes ears wirh or