The Face of Sumba : Entry No. 1

Saturday – July 19

                Salam dari Katiku Loku! Yesterday, we went to a community for a burial rite service. The place called Patimbu was an hour drive from the parish. Well, it was quite remote as it was situated in the hills of Sumba Tengah. It was my first time to witness the local burial rite of the Sumbanese people.

                The house of the family was on top of the hill and below was a shallow river that we have to cross. So we left the car on the riverside and crossed the river and climbed up the hill. When we reached the house there were already people in the house, men and women and children. Some were chatting together while chewing the “Siri-Penang” and other men were playing cards. Then I noticed that those who are playing cards had stones hanging on their ears. Later I understood that those men who have stones hanging on their ears were the losers of the game. I thought they were gambling just like in the Philippines that if there is a funeral wake people would come and play cards and literally gambling.

                With Pater Umbu and two youth and myself, we were received by the family and entered the house where the deceased person (Kristoporis) was and perhaps sitting in a small open wooden-coffin. As it was the custom, the family gave us teh (tea) that usually tastes like sugar with tea (not tea with sugar) or kopi (coffee) that is also very sweet and the siri-penang. I asked why the teh and kopi are always very sweet. I was told by Pater Umbu that a very sweet teh or kopi means the family is generous and a teh or kopi that is tawar (not sweet) means the host is stingy.

Going back to the coffin, it was covered with the traditional cloth on the Sumbanese people. Later on, while we were sitting near the coffin and having conversations with some of the men, I could smell something that was really coming from the dead. Hence, Pater Umbu who also smelled the odor asked me to move farther and so he himself as well.

                In the Sumbanese culture, embalming the dead was not customary and since the person was already dead for four days, hence, a foul smell was already coming out from the open coffin.

                The time came for the funeral service. I thought that we would have funeral mass but I was told that we would have only the Liturgy of the Word since majority of the people were not Catholic. Hence, we had the burial rite. It was started with the presentation of the two pigs and by stabbing the side of the pigs.

When the body was taken out from the house and brought to the traditional kuburan (sepulcher), it was accompanied with traditional drums made from the skin of the buffalo and gongs played by children. The kuburan is also interesting here in Sumba. This practice actually began in the megalithic age however, until now is being practiced by the Sumbanese people. This kind of burying the dead has been practiced by many parts of Europe. Nevertheless, today only the Sumbanese people have preserved this practice. The traditional kuburan is actually made from limestone and is being carved to make a hole where the dead person is buried. On top of it, a flat limestone is made separately that would serve as the cover of the kuburan. I was also told that the size of the kuburan would differ depending on the status and the wealth of the family. However, today since cement and other materials are more accessible and easier to make, many have let go of the limestone and instead make use of the cement in making the kuburan. Usually, these kuburans occupy the front of the house. Hence, there are big and small kuburan and the bigger ones are of those who are wealthy and the family would prepare cows, buffalos, and pigs for this occasion. Since, this family was not that rich they had only two pigs and a small kuburan for Kristoporis.

It is also interesting because other kuburan that I saw just beside the road have images being carved and today the Christians would use the images of Christ. Others would even make a roof for these kuburan that would serve like a house for the dead people. Indeed, Pater Ani told me that Sumbanese people, especially in indigenous Marapu belief, believe in the spirit hence, after the body expires the spirit of the person remains. This is the reason why the remains of the dead are given respect and veneration by the family and the whole community.

Therefore, when the body was transferred to the kuburan there was really a terrible smell that I thought people would not mind because I thought it might be an insult. However, they themselves could not take the smell anymore so people began to move away. Nevertheless, before they transferred the body, I saw that inside the kuburan they put a Tikar (a woven mat) and a pillow inside. Finally, when the body was inside the kuburan, the body was wrapped with the traditional cloth. The final commendation of the dead was given and the final blessing to the people. And so, the burial ended there and later we had lunch together with the meat of the pigs which were slaughtered at the start of the burial service.