Aceh: History, Politics and Culture

12. Nias and Simeulue

12 Nias aNd simeulue Wolfgang Marschall A chain of islands follows the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra at a distance of about one hundred kilometres. Some call this chain the Barrier Islands. It consists — from the southeast to the northwest — of Enggano Island and the Mentawai archipelago, situated south of the equator, and the islands of Nias (with Hinako to the west and the Batu Islands to its south) and Simeulue (with the Banyak Islands to its east) situated north of the equator. It is the latter two, Nias and Simeulue, and some adjacent small islands just mentioned, which were highly affected first by an earthquake and then, the tsunami on 26 December 2004, and again by an earthquake (of 8.7 on the Richter scale) on 28 March 2005. This chapter offers a summary of the social history of Nias (and Simeulue) and the cultural repertoires and attitudes of their inhabitants. some similarities, maNy differeNces Geologically, these islands are part of the non-volcanic outer arch of the Sunda continent; they are, in general, formed of sedimentary rocks (Scholz 1983, p. 191). The soils of Nias and Simeulue are similar, podsolic soils, which in spite of high temperatures and abundant rainfall, allow mainly swidden agriculture. Beyond these few though important elements, Nias and Simeulue are quite different. In terms of administration, Simeulue forms one kabupaten, and the Banyak islands, being a part of the kabupaten of Aceh Singkil, belong to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (the official name of the province of Aceh), 228 Wolfgang Marschall while Nias, consisting of two kabupaten, belongs to the province of North Sumatra. Language-wise the inhabitants of Simeulue and Nias both speak languages and corresponding dialects that belong to the Austronesian language family. However, they differ in that the Simeulue language is closely related to Acehnese, with strong Malay influences, whereas the Nias language, with its two dominant dialects, is more closely related to languages from Sulawesi and probably Oceania. On the other hand, one of the languages of Simeulue, Sikhule, is related to Nias and is probably proof of the assumption that, in earlier, pre-Islamic times, Simeulue was inhabited by Nias-related people. Also, in cognitive ordering and religious attitudes, people on Simeulue and people on Nias differ widely, with Simeulue being inhabited almost exclusively by Muslims, while Nias has a mainly Christian population. Before going into this in some detail, a last field of differences shall be mentioned, i.e. the history of research on Nias and Simeulue. While there have been only a few publications on Simeulue, written mainly by linguists, literature on Nias is wide and encompassing. While there are three monumental early works on Nias by the Italian natural scientist Modigliani (1890) and the two Dutch authors Schröder (1917) and Kleiweg de Zwaan (1913–15) and also, an important early travel report by Brenner-Felsach (1998), nothing comparable can be found for Simeulue. While there is more recent anthropological literature based on fieldwork for Nias, e.g. Marschall (2002), Feldman et al. (1990), Beatty (1992), Viaro (1980), Ziegler (1985), Scarduelli (1985, 1990) and others, one looks in vain for scientific results based on field research in Simeulue. And, if there did not exist the mainly linguistic studies by Kähler (1938, 1940, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1963) on Simeulue, one would also have to look in vain for something comparable to what has been described, analysed and compiled by missionaries and physicians, working for them, on Nias, in the works of Thomas (1886), Fehr (1911), Sundermann (1905), Fries (1911) and Steinhart (1934), and in the analysis of religion by Moelder and of a religious movement by Müller (1931; cf. Müller-Krüger 1968), and more recently, in the writings of Hämmerle (1982, 1999). Nor has Simeulue social and cultural history ever given rise or added to wider anthropological comparison or theory like Nias has in the work of Heine-Geldern (1961), Birket-Smith (1946), Kunst (1939–40), Suzuki (1970), and others. And finally, nothing comprehensive has been written on or recorded of Simeulue music, whereas Kunst (1939–40) has done so for the rich music of Nias, and nothing comparable to Nias wood and stone carving has ever been detected on Simeulue. Nias and Simeulue 229 Nias settlements and Houses The island of Nias is a hilly and very rugged country of close to 5,000 square kilometres. Due...