The beauty of Sumba is evident in its expansive savannah. It is also woven into the million threads of its textiles, which are records of Sumba\'s cultural wisdom that carry the message of sustaining its natural wealth.
By
Siwi Yunita Cahyaningrum, Aris Prasetyo and Luki Aulia
·5 minutes read
The beauty of Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara is evident in its expansive savannah. It is also woven into the million threads of its textiles, which are records of Sumba\'s cultural wisdom that carry the message of sustaining its natural wealth.
Mama Karini Hara, 52, spreads a length of her handwoven textile. The 2-by-4-meter fabric is decorated with a citron-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea citrinocirstata). The textile is bright red, with orange and dark blue accents.
The textile’s design and color is eye-catching and beautiful, with complex motifs.
"I wove it over six months. It bears a cockatoo motif that has been passed down from generation to generation. This motif was taught by our mothers, grandmothers and ancestors," Mama Karini said during the Sumba Weaving Festival, which was held in July in Waingapu, East Sumba.
The motif shows a cockatoo perching atop a branch decorated with four- and eight-petal flowers. Square motifs also decorate the textile, which is dominated by bright colors like the orange hue of the cockatoo’s crest.
Mama Karini has woven a motif that is true to the form of Sumba\'s endemic cockatoo. She said she often saw the cockatoos in farms when she was a child. The bird used to come in a flock to eat the corn growing in the fields. The citron-crested cockatoo is a symbol of communion and communal discussion for the Sumbanese people.
"The cockatoo lives in groups and the parrot lives in pairs. It is the same with us; humans cannot live alone. [We] must be in groups and pairs,” she said.
The cockatoo reminds the people to practice communal discussion, the highest customary law in Sumbanese culture. Katanga Pei Pekuai, 70, the customary leader of Kampung Billa in East Sumba, said that whenever a problem arose, the elders resolved it through communal discussion. The people would obey the results of the discussion, which had a much stronger influence than national regulations or laws.
The manutata, or the green junglefowl (Gallus varius) is the most widely used animal motif in Sumba textiles. The manutata is shown walking, pecking the ground or with outstretched wings.
The manutata is special for weavers because it is revered as a protector of life in the Marapu faith, the indigenous belief system of the Sumbanese people.
The bird is like a guide, its crowing marking the arrival of morning, and every part of its body either symbolizes wealth or has religious meaning. The bird’s liver is used in ritual divination.
A length of Sumba textile has more than economic value. The fabric, with its animal motifs, is also a bond between the Sumbanese and nature.
The images and statues of the junglefowl also adorn the graves of Marapu leaders, illustrating the importance of the manutata in the lives of the Sumbanese people.
The julangSumba, or the Sumba hornbill, is also used as a decorative motif in Sumba textiles. Called nggokaria in Sumbanese, it is a symbol of forest farmers, as it sows seeds while it flies to spread the growth of new plants in the forest. In the Sumbanese origin tale, the Sumba hornbill is the incarnation of King Ndelu, or Maramba Ndelu, who ascended to the eighth heaven. However, he died and was resurrected, returning to Sumba carrying corn seeds so his people would prosper.
The story of the julangSumba is also recorded in handwoven textiles, depicted as a pale yellow bird with dark blue wings and a red beak. This motif reminds the people of Sumba about their King, who continues to protect his people.
Sumba’s weavers create each textile with perseverance and soul: from spinning the threads by hand to tying off sections of thread for the resist-dye process, to steeping the threads in dye and weaving the textile according to the planned design. Thousands of Sumba weavers depend on textiles for their livelihood.
Cultural key
A length of Sumba textile has more than economic value. The fabric, with its animal motifs, is also a bond between the Sumbanese and nature. Sumba weaving uses at least 35 bird motifs.
Sumba is part of Wallacea, which is known for its high diversity of fauna, including parrot species.
The cockatoo motif is also a reminder of the bird’s importance in the Sumbanese universe. Long before it was declared a protected species, hunting the cockatoo was prohibited on Sumba according to traditional law.
One of Sumba’s age-old sayings is “Sambu dutu dunja mata da kaka, lakandoaka, ambu hambulunja nggoru da buti lunggu ana”. This is translated as “Do not carry a cockatoo bird in its nest, and do not disturb a monkey carrying her baby”, which means that respecting animals also affects their habitats.
The citron-crested cockatoos and the Sumba hornbill bird can be found in Billa Forest, which is part of the Manupeu National Park that spans Tanah Daru and Laiwangi Manggaweti (Matalawa). The people of Sumba respect the forest. Anyone who wants to cut down a tree in the forest must first ask for permission from traditional leaders, who then deliberate before making a decision.
"The people of Sumba are accustomed to abiding by traditional law. They believe that anyone who violates it will be subject to nature’s law. This could lead to disaster, even sudden death,” said Yeremias Halakudu, 45, who lives in Billa, East Sumba.
Cultural wisdom is what has maintained natural harmony on Sumba to the present. Maman Surahman, who heads the Matalawa National Park Office, said that cultural wisdom played an important role in conservation efforts. Conservation efforts could be carried out smoothly because animals were key to Sumbanese culture. "There is harmony in it," he said.
Sumba creates natural balance through its weaving culture. The reduction or loss of forests threatens the very existence of the island’s flora and fauna. And if this happens, these many animals will only exist in the textiles of Sumba.