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Religion and rituals Nowadays 40 per cent of the population of Enggano is Christian; the other 60 per cent is Muslim. Islam has gained influence mainly due to the immigration of people from Sumatra and Java. Muslim leaders are usually local people who have been trained on Sumatra and have returned to Enggano to lead the services. They are regarded as locals, while the protestant missionaries are seen as outsiders. In the past, European missionaries worked on the island (from 1903 onwards), but some time ago the mission was taken over by Batak missionaries. Not much is known about traditional Engganese religion. The old sources are very vague about religious matters. Even during the 1994 fieldwork, the people were unable to give any relevant information on the subject. Some old sources stress the belief in evil spirits, but a clear description is lacking. Van der Straaten and Severijn [28] state that the Engganese had not the slightest notion of religion, and that the authors' attempt to explain the existence of a supreme being evoked the reaction that "this supreme being should bring many gifts if it ever came to the island". Walland [29] also says that there are no traces of religion, although evil spirits are known. He discusses them in the context of death, for the dead are supposed to change into evil spirits who tease the relatives of the deceased. On the other hand Walland [30] does mention a story about a culture hero, named Liho, who divided the population into eight groups, giving each of them a part of the island to prevent further fighting. This culture hero is also supposed to be the creator of rules on how to deal with marriages, adultery, theft and murder. Liho ends up as a character of the underworld, able to cause earthquakes and diseases. | |
