Housing and economy Social organization Religion

4 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE tehi. An exception must be made for the village of Loghia, located on the east coast and for centuries Munas most important window on the outer world. During this century there have been major changes in the settlement patterns. Firstly, the choice of Raha as the capital of the local colonial government has caused the population centre to shift from Tongkuno to Katobu. Raha is now a small provincial town with a population of approximately 16,000. Secondly, in the 1960s several villages from the driest areas in Tongkuno were transferred to the northeast, where living conditions are more favourable. As a result Tongkuno is now the least populated area on the island.

1.1.4. Housing and economy

Living conditions and material culture are relatively simple. The staple food is maize, grown in small fields sometimes a considerable distance from the homes. Maize is supplemented by roots and vegetables and, in coastal areas, fish. Dry-rice agriculture is found in some parts, but generally the area is too dry for rice. Cash crops such as cashew and cacoa trees are increasingly popular. Traditional houses are built on piles, with woven bamboo walls and roofs of dried grass. The building of wooden or even brick houses is encouraged by the government, but such houses are still seen as a sign of wealth. Art seems to be mainly functional. Weaving of sarongs is common and beautiful patterns can often be seen. Certain villages specialize in producing earthen jugs, but these are not decorated.

1.1.5. Social organization

According to Couvreur 1935, social strata were still quite distinct on Muna in the 1930s, but nowadays this division is increasingly felt to be incompatible with modern life. Traditionally there were four classes: kaumu are the high nobility, walaka the lower nobility, maradika the commoners who in turn are subdivided into three classes and finally the slaves ghata. Each class had its own rights and prerogatives, relating to marriage, clothing, ornaments and so on. Only the nobility were entitled to bear the title La Ode men or Wa Ode women before their names. These classes were also determinants in language use. Social deixis, for example, was an important parameter in the choice of the different terms of reference for wife. A kaumu would use the term isamiu lit. your polite older sibling to refer to his wife when speaking to somebody from a lower class, whereas the lower class would use aimiu lit. your polite younger sibling to the higher class. Presently such differences are tending to fall into disuse.

1.1.6. Religion

The vast majority of Muna people are Muslim 97, although pre-Islamic beliefs and practices are still widespread. Islam entered Muna probably through Buton, which was itself converted to Islam by the sultan of Ternate in the late sixteenth century. As a result of the work of Catholic missionaries starting in the 1930s, a few villages in the south are predominantly Catholic Wale-ale, Lakapera, Lawama, Lolibu. The Catholic church has done much work in the area of community development, schooling and health care. They were the first to relocate a poor village from the dry south to a more fertile area see Mingneau 1974. Unfortunately no language material was published, although some of the mission- 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 aries had a good command of the language and parts of the New Testament have been translated in draft form. In addition to a Catholic church there are two small Protestant churches in Raha, the members of which are almost exclusively non-Muna.

1.1.7. History