The Case of the Keo People, Central Flores

The Case of the Keo People, Central Flores

The case of Keo traditions is a particular example of the interplay be- tween conversion and transformation both of indigenous communities and of the Christian and Muslim religions. The idea of conversion is based on the missionaries’ agenda to spread their religious values and proselytise to encourage the indigenous people to embrace these world religions. Proselytising involves a particular model of conversion and a particular way of being Christian or Muslim among the Keo natives. “For the Keo people, Islam and Christianity are not only the revealed re- ligions embedded in their Holy Books, but also the basis for what they believe and do and how they live in their local context” (Tule, 2004: xv, 21).

1 So, for example, the Salafi movement in Islamic spheres, or globalisation and transnational interaction as a challenge to the circle of harmony among religious

followers.

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The Keo people have safeguarded spiritual values in the form of the divinity or Lord God (Nggaed Ndewa), to whom they give the honoura- ble title of the Lord below and the God above (Nggae Rade ne’e Ndewa Reta). Tule (2004:198) notes that, under the Nggae Ndewa, they believe in the existence of spirits (nitu), both the ancestral spirits such as multi- coloured gods of the upper world (ndewa keda) and multicoloured fe- male gods of the underworld (nitu nggiku).

Enculturation is the specific pattern of interplay between local spirit- ualism and Christian or Muslim values. Philipus Tule researched the case of enculturation in Keo as a type of transformation of both Catholi- cism and Islam. Conversion does not lead the Keo to fully adopt Cathol- icism or Islam but still leaves a space in their mentality for adhesion to their local beliefs and cultural values. In the case of conversion, the in- digenous tradition of ritual and spirituality encourages religious values, especially in Christian and Muslims rituals.

Indigenous spirituality was accommodated with the basic pattern of ritual among the people, based on the influence of missionary endeavour in the long history of the Keo. In the case of conversion, missionaries spread the ideas of their religion through ritual and celebration, embody- ing the religious meanings in daily life. Joining one of the two religions should not be seen as a radical change in indigenous ideas. Rather, there is a complex layering of identities and adaptations of practice.

The ritual of pala in Keo is a particular example of encouraging in- terplay between indigenous spirituality and religious values. Pala is a ritual festival that involves killing a buffalo or buffaloes in the centre of

a hamlet by tying them up to sacrificial posts, either a permanent bifur- cated post (peo) or a temporary standing lined-post (laka) before killing them. Tule (2004: 204) says that “the term pala seems to be cognate with other terms in central Flores dialects, such as para from Ngada, which mean tie up and kill buffalo.”

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The interplay between indigenous culture and Christian and Muslim rituals is important in analysing the pattern of the Keo people. In Keo, the Christian religion has maintained the indigenous ritual based on spir- itual values and daily tradition. “The liturgical adaptation in the Catholic Church as manifested in the masses around a sacrificial post (peo) with the offering of a buffalo (or buffaloes) is one example” (Tule, 2004: 235). Tule illustrates the “inculturation” of Catholicism (a concept de- veloped by Vatican II) by describing two large masses celebrated in Da- ja and Worowatu.

Similarly in Islam: Tule shows how the circumcision of a Muslim boy and a ceremony at the beginning of a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca have taken into account local values. The depiction of the hajj ritual shows how Muslim Keo people attempt to maintain the ancestral values and kin relationships. Also worth noting is the enculturation of syariah law, especially in inheritance law and in the law of the unlawful (haram) and lawful (halal).

In every case, it is a question of translating the two major religions into local ideas. Islam and Catholicism acquire certain symbolic, ritual and organisation elements from Keo culture, and vice versa.

The history of conversion starts from the colonial period, in the age when the Portuguese came to Sumba Island. The missionaries from Por- tugal colonial groups spread Christian values among native people, par- ticularly in the Keo area. Today Catholicism is the largest religion in the area, embracing almost 90% of the Keo people. The Christian followers in Keo area influence the identity of indigenous people because the overwhelming majority embrace the values of Jesus in an interplay with indigenous culture. The Christian values emphasise the rethinking and reformulating the basic identity of indigenous people throughout the ideas of local culture, ritual and the pattern of traditions.

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Islam is the second largest religion, with the largest number of reli- gious followers after Catholicism. Muslims figures have had an im- portant influence on local traditions in the Keo area.

The history of conversion has seen conflict between these two world faiths. Religious pioneers showed a particularly militant spirit while ex- panding their religions and also undertaking their trading business. Mus- lims murdered some missionaries and Catholics in Flores. Religious conflict occurred in Ende Islam between 1595 and 1605 (Tule, 2004: 224). Today, however, and unlike some other areas of Indonesia, Catho- lics and Muslims coexist peacefully, taking part in each others’ rituals and also in common local rituals.

The case of the Keo illustrates important values about conversion and enculturation as a pattern of transformation arising from the inter- play between indigenous culture and Catholic or Islamic rituals. The transformation reformulates the pattern of tradition among the people, within the idea of daily life in interfaith discourse.