E Lopeh | |
|---|---|
 An Enggano man performing a war dance. | |
| Total population | |
| 1,500 (2000)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Indonesia (Enggano Island) | |
| Languages | |
| Enggano language,Indonesian language | |
| Religion | |
| 60%Sunni Islam, 38%Christianity (Roman Catholicism 2%Folk religion (animism,totemism,ancestral worship)[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Batak andNias |
TheEnggano people are an isolated, but contacted, tribe which inhabitsEnggano Island. Enggano Island is a small island located adjacent to the southwest coast ofSumatra inIndonesia. The population of Enggano people is not closely tracked. As such, no population estimates beyond the year 2000 appear to exist. Furthermore, the estimates from 1990 and 2000 are not in agreement. The source for the year 2000 estimates that there were 1,500 Enggano people inhabiting the island,[1] while the 1999 source estimates that there were approximately 1,000 Enggano people inhabiting the island.[3] However, both sources agree that the population is likely to continue decreasing.
The Enggano people are further divided into 5 tribes, namely Kauno, Kaitora, Kaarubi, Kaharuba, and Kaahoao, each of them are led by a tribal chief.[4]
TheEnggano language is generally classified as being part of theNorthwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands subgroup of theAustronesian languages.[3] However, its actual classification is controversial.[5] Some suggest that it's its own primary branch ofMalayo-Ploynesian - or even alanguage isolate.
Enggano is known for sharing few words with otherAustronesian languages, having many unusualsound changes on those it does, and other irregularities between it and its relatives. Some features more closely resemble languages from Melanesia and Eastern Indonesia Austronesian languages than its own West Indonesian neighbours and relatives.
It is unclear whether its words and grammar derive from heavy internal changes, or that the language is actually an isolate that borrowed heavily from Austronesian.
Due to cultural and some linguistic similarities with theNicobarese, there was a theory that it was Austroasiatic. However, this has been debunked.
The Enggano people are one of the oldest tribes ofSumatra. They were first encountered byPortuguese explorers in the early 1500s, and at that time referred to themselves asE Lopeh people.[6] Ethnically, they are closely related to the indigenous tribes ofJava andSumatra, from where migration flows directly toEnggano Island.[7] The most anthropologically related people of the Enggano people are theBatak andNias people, and they are distantly related to theLampung people (Abung and Pepaduan).[8]
The social organization of the Enggano people largely resembles the social model of theNias people and retains the paternal features of the family. Rural communities are of a neighbor-large-family type. The main social unit ismarga ormerga (surname), an expanded genus whose members are descended from a common male ancestor and retain its name, usually legendary. Outsiders from othermargas that came later also live in the settlement. Within themarga there are alsosaompu, large patriarchal families, where each of them occupies one house. A large family has land and is governed by its elder. Communities are governed by elective village councils.[8]
%2c_1596%2c_RP-P-OB-80.238.jpg)
It is thought that they strictly observe matrilinealexogamous traditions, where men and children of the village belong to themarga of their forefathers, while wives are taken from othermarga. One cannot marry into the samemarga or to a woman from themarga from which the groom's sister marries. But this is not exactly the case, as Enggano couples from the same clan are still allowed to married, provided they are of a different sub-clan.[9] The core family unit in Enggano society is based onmonogamousmarriage, aspolygamy is strictly forbidden.[10] Marriage settlement ispatrilocal. A married woman passes into the family of her husband and takes on hissurname, preserving it as her family name. The groom's father allocates a piece of land to his son, the child that receives the family name of his father.[8]
Today, the Enggano people, due to prolonged cultural isolation, are on the verge of extinction. They are alien to the neighboring peoples, for example, unlike theBatak people in recent decades, the appearance and growth of ethnic self-awareness are prevalent, especially among the mainstream Indonesians.[11]
Among the Enggano people, approximately equal parts of the population professChristianity (mainlyCatholicism) andIslam (mainlySunni). Apart from that, there are places whereanimism,[12]totemism, andancestral worship are still being preserved.[3]
Enggano settlements are structurally cumulus. Their houses have stilt frames, stacked and rectangular in shape (whereas in the past, they were rounded), while the walls and roof are strengthened by rigid leaves.[3]
The Enggano people engage in manual farming (maize,yam,peanuts,taro, coconut palm), hunting forturtles, breeding ofchickens, andfishing. Handicrafts include weaving, pottery, woodcarving, making of masks and necklaces, weaving mats and ornaments from beads.[3] Wood carvings by the Enggano people have resemble those inPolynesia.[13]
Enggano men wearkain loincloths of various lengths, and the length of thekain in direct proportion testifies to the economic status of its wearer. Enggano women always wear longkain. Men's outer garment is a shirt with long sleeves and a blind collar, while women have a shirt without a collar.[8]
Enggano food is mainly vegetable, and rice is usually bought.[3]
Due to limitedcurrency circulation on the island, items are usually obtained throughbartering rather than buying and selling.[14]