Nage people
 Wife and daughters of Raga Noli, theRaja(King) of a village in Nage,Ngada Regency,East Nusa Tenggara(Flores),Indonesia | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 68,400[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Indonesia(East Nusa Tenggara) | |
| Languages | |
| Nage language,Indonesian language | |
| Religion | |
| Roman CatholicChristian(predominantly),Islam,Folk |
TheNageare an indigenous people living on the easternIndonesianislands ofFlores(chiefly in the eponymousNagekeo Regency), andTimor.[2]They are descended from the indigenous population ofFlores[3]They are largely assimilated by the neighboring people. They speakNage,one of the major languages in theAustronesian languagesgroup.
Agriculture[edit]
The Nage people mainly engaged in manualslash-and-burnfarming (tubers, rice, corn), hunting and gathering. Until the middle of the 20th century, communal land ownership with large families participation were still preserved. They live in cumulus-type settlements, located on the slopes of mountains and surrounded by stone walls. Houses are piled up in rectangular position and connected by an open gallery into a single complex, which is intended for joint residence of several large families.[4]
Lifestyle[edit]
The clothes of the Nage people are loincloth and skirt orkain.Women fasten it over the breast, and men around the waist. The diet is dominated by plant based foods (cooked groats and tubers with spicy seasoning), while meat is eaten only on holidays.Agrariancults have survived and are still being practiced. Before the sowing, rites of cleansing the field and the grains of rice will be performed on the first new moon, before the start of cultivating the fields.[5]
Study of the tribe[edit]
In 1940, Officer Louis Fontijne produced aDutch Colonial Servicestudy entitledGrondvoogden in Kelimado(Guardians of the land in Kelimado), Kelimado being a region included in the Nage district of central Flores. Commissioned as an investigation of indigenous land tenure and leadership, the study was the only comprehensive description of Nage society and culture produced during the colonial period.[6]
In 1983, anthropologistGregory Forthrenewed interest in the tribe, revisiting the islands while seeking a copy of Fontijne's complete study.[6]
Forth has also hypothesized a possible connection between the local stories of theEbu Gogo,a creature in Nage mythology,[7]and the discovery ofHomo floresiensis,a possible species of extinct hominid, hence a renewed interest in the tribe.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Nage in Indonesia".Joshua Project.Retrieved2014-09-24.
- ^Институт этнографии имени Н.Н. Миклухо-Маклая (1966). Александр Андреевич Губер (ed.).Народы Юго-Восточной Азии.Наука. p. 576.
- ^В.А Тишков (1966). "Научное издательство" Большая российская энциклопедия "".Александр Андреевич Губер.Большая Российская Энциклопедия. p. 321.ISBN58-527-0155-6.
- ^Бернова А. А. (1998).Население острова Тимор.Советская этнография.p. 119.
- ^В.А Тишков (1966). "Научное издательство" Большая российская энциклопедия "".Александр Андреевич Губер.Большая Российская Энциклопедия. p. 322.ISBN58-527-0155-6.
- ^abForth, Gregory (March 2003)."A small world after all".University of Alberta. Archived fromthe originalon June 13, 2008.Retrieved2009-12-01.
- ^John Hawks (24 June 2005)."Stalking the wild ebu gogo".Retrieved2016-11-01.
- ^Forth, Gregory (2005)."Hominids, hairy hominoids and the science of humanity".Anthropology Today.21(3): 13–17.doi:10.1111/j.0268-540X.2005.00353.x.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-05.Retrieved2009-12-01.(Abstract, Wiley Interscience)
Further reading[edit]
- Fontijne, Louis; Gregory Forth; Han F. Vermeulen (2005).Guardians Of The Land In Kelimado: Louis Fontijne's Study Of A Colonial District In Eastern Indonesia.University of Washington Press.ISBN978-90-6718-223-2.
External links[edit]
- "Ancestral Couple (Ana Deo), 19th–early 20th century".The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Retrieved2009-12-01.- an example of Nage art
- Forth, Gregory (September 2009). "Separating the dead: the ritual transformation of affinal exchange in central Flores".Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.15(3). Royal Anthropological Institute: 557–574.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01572.x.
- Forth, Gregory (14 March 2003)."A Small World After All".University of Alberta. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008.
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