There are a large number of rituals in the Marapu religion. The rituals are generally performed to ask the Marapu’s permission, or blessing, for all manner of ceremonies that are needed to maintain harmony in ones everyday life. The Sumbanese believe that bitterness and heat, which cause people to fall ill and prevent animals and plants from thriving, are caused by human transgressions, such as incest and violent behavior, or the killing of sacred animals. As a balance, a series of Podu rituals take place throughout the year to cleanse and revitalize the land……
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The Textiles of Sumba
Sumba’s elaborate textile tradition finds its most colorful expression along the island’s east coast where weavers combine animal and plant motifs with geometric patterns and ethnographic symbolism. What to the western eye is artistic, even fanciful, for the Sumbanese forms the basis of a complicated literacy that is the foundation of their culture.
The Island
Although only 185 miles long and 50 miles wide, the island of Sumba generates two distinct climates. The west receives considerably higher rainfall than the east and is consequently much greener with systems of rice fields fed by perennial rivers; the east is a dry savanna throughout its eight month dry season, the land fit only for horses, cattle, goats, and the growing of corn. Of the island’s population of 425,000, half maintains its belief in the animistic merapu religion. Rural life still revolves around the ancestral village. Such villages tend to stand on hilltops and are formed by several large clan houses arranged around a central graveyard………
DPRD Sumba Barat Bahas Lima Ranperda
WAIKABUBAK, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah (DPRD) Kabupaten Sumba Barat sedang membahas lima rancangan peraturan daerah (Ranperda) yang disampaikan pemerintah pekan lalu. Lima ranperda itu, tentang pedoman pembentukan dan mekanisme penyusunan peraturan desa, tentang pembentukan, penghapusan, penggabungan desa dan perubahan status desa menjadi kelurahan, tentang kerjasama desa, tentang pembentukan, penghapusan dan penggabungan kelurahan dan pengelolaan barang milik daerah.
Bupati Sumba Barat, Drs. Julianus Pote Leba, M.Si, dalam sidang paripurna DPRD yang dipimpin Ketua DPRD Sumba Barat, Alexander Dapawole, mengatakan, pengajuan kelima ranperda ini sebagai wujud pelaksanaan terhadap prinsip desentraliasi sebagaimana
Sumtim Dapat 335.000 Liter Minyak Goreng Bersubsidi
Kabupaten Sumba Timur (Sumtim) mendapat alokasi 335.000 liter minyak goreng bersubsidi dengan total dana Rp 837.500.000,00. Jumlah itu meningkat dari alokasi sebelumnya 20.000 liter dengan total subsidi Rp 50.000.000,00.
Kepala Dinas Perdagangan Kabupaten Sumtim, Ir. Siliwolu, M.Si saat ditemui Pos Kupang di ruang kerjanya, Senin (14/4/2008), mengatakan, besarnya alokasi subsidi minyak goreng untuk Sumtim diketahui dari Surat Edaran Kepala Dinas Perindustrian dan Perdagangan Propinsi NTT Nomor: Perindag.Prov/511.4/358/2008 perihal penyaluran minyak goreng bersubsidi tanggal 19 Maret 2008. Penegasan tentang alokasi subsidi minyak goreng untuk Sumtim diikuti surat dari Direktur CV. Lumbung Sejahtera Kupang tentang permohonan untuk menyalurkan minyak goreng bersubsidi di daerah itu……………
