Rindi

Preface

This study is based on 22 months of fieldwork carried out in Rindi, a traditional community in the eastern part of the Indonesian island of Sumba, and in a slightly different form was submitted as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. The work was funded from a Social Science Research Council project grant awarded to Professor Rodney Needham, with my wife and I named as research assistants, and was conducted under the auspices of the Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia. I should therefore like to express my gratitude to both these bodies.

Since my wife, Christine Forth (who is also a social anthropologist), worked with me in Rindi, many of the data on which this enquiry is based, in particular those obtained from collecting and checking genealogies, are the product of her efforts. I also owe a great debt to my wife for insights provided both in the field and subsequently. But while the present work has thus benefited from her general assistance and support, any shortcomings in the analysis or conclusions are my responsibility alone. Some minor alterations to the original manuscript derive from suggestions made by Dr. Nick Allen and Mme. Brigitte Clamagirand, who examined my doctoral thesis. However, while I am grateful to them for their comments, I have not followed their advice in every case, and the decision as to what changes were to be made was taken entirely by myself.

In the field, there were many persons, notably the noble and other residents of Parai Yawangu, the chief village of Rindi, and the inhabitants of Parai Kahembi, Ranga, and other nearby villages, who by regularly inviting us to observe ritual and other customary undertakings and by suffering our continual impromptu visits greatly assisted our work. But it would be neither practical nor entirely fitting to list all of them here by name. One person who must be mentioned, however, is Kalambaru Mahangu, a priest and major ritual speaker in his seventies, who, we were saddened to hear, died in the year following our departure. What knowledge I have of Rindi ritual language derives largely

VI | Rindi from instruction provided by him; and since he also proved a valuable informant in general and a close friend, whatever success can be claimed for this study is in no small measure the result of his unflagging efforts on our behalf. In transcribing tape-recorded performances in ritual language I was assisted at different times by several young men, notably Nggaba Ngunjurau and Lu Takanjanji, to whom I am also grateful. In addition, I should like to acknowledge the help of Woha Waluwanja, his wife Hara Tola, and their children, who ran our household and greatly assisted us in many other ways.

Before going to the field I carried out an analysis of published and unpublished literary materials concerning social organization and culture on Sumba as a whole (see Forth 1974). This was conducted in Oxford and at various libraries and archives in the Netherlands and submitted for the Bachelor of Letters degree at the University of Oxford. Though I do not propose to assess here the merits and defects of even the longer writings on Sumba*, I should like especially to mention the work of Dr. L. Onvlee, my external examiner for the Bachelor of Letters degree, who as a translator for the Netherlands Bible Society lived on Sumba for some thirty years. Onvlee’s writings, many of which have recently been collected in a single volume (1973), display a profound and thorough knowledge of Sumbanese languages and culture; and these, as well as the several discussions I had with him before going to Sumba, provided a valuable stimulus to my own, by comparison limited, investigations. Onvlee’s Sumbanese colleague, Umbu Hina Kapita, a Mangili nobleman and former school teacher, has also written a good deal on the culture and history of Sumba, and the two volumes of his work (1976a, 1976b) that were published just before I left Indonesia have since been most useful in supplementing my own findings. In addition, Kapita has compiled a Kambera (eastern Sumbanese)-Indonesian dictionary (1974), as yet unpublished), which he kindly allowed me to consult and which served me as a valuable reference work in the field. I am also grateful to Kapita for advice given to us while we were in Waingapu, the main port town on Sumba, where he now mostly resides.

While it is not practicable to mention all the anthropological works that have influenced the general form and approach of this enquiry, I

* The most complete list of published and unpublished work dealing with Sumba, most of which is by missionaries and administrators, is that found in J. J. and I. Fox, ‘A working Bibliography on the Islands of Roti, Savu, and Sumba in Eastern Indonesia’ (unpublished, no date).

Preface VII should like to acknowledge the example set by R. H. Barnes’s detailed and penetrating study of Kédang (1974). As Dr. Barnes’s monograph concerns a society in many ways similar to the one I describe here it has also proven a most useful source of comparative evidence, and the order in which I have chosen to present various topics has been influenced, beneficially I believe, by that followed in his book. From Michaelmas term 1978 until Trinity term 1980, when I submitted my thesis, Dr. Barnes moreover served as my academic supervisor at Oxford. Thus the present enquiry has further benefited from his personal guidance as well.

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Rodney Needham for supervising my earlier studies both at the University of Oxford and in the field, and for his continual encouragement, advice, and assistance to the present date.

Contents

Preface .

List of Maps .

List of Plates .

List of Figures

List of Tables

Introduction

4,

Physical Setting .

Some Themes in the History of Basten sumba ;

A Brief History of Rindi . : f Demography and Modern E T T Subsistence and Economy .

Language

Fieldwork .

The House

Types of Houses .

Form

Structure .

Principles of Order , Numbers

Categories .

The Village and the Domain .

The Domain . a ae oe Paraingu and Kotaku

Spatial Order .

A Note on Orientation .

X

III. Space and Cosmos .

Papa Dia/ Luru aid Dita/Wawa l Lua .

ee

Cosmology

IV. Hamangu and Ndewa 1. Hamangu 2. Ndewa .

V. Divinity and the Ancestors . 1. God .

2. Marapu .

3. Tanggu Marapu .

. Special Attributes of individual Marapi .

VI. The Powers of the Earth .

1. Spirits of the Outside .

2. Witches.

3. Altars, Boundaries, aad Media

4, Summary Remarks on Rindi Religion .

VII. Birth.

Conception and Prewianty Pamandungu Pelungu .

Delivery Naming and Other Rites Confinement

Hangguru

Summary of Major Themes

PE hk

VIII. Age and the Life Cycle .

Age Classes

The Hair

Puru la Wai: initiation

Kikiru Matua .

Age and Authority .

A a ee

Summary Remarks on Orientation in Eastern Sumba .

Other Usages Associated with Maturity

58 59 60 64 65 66

73 73 76

83 83 87 94 98

104 105 113 118 128

Contents

IX. Death.

ASDI,

XI.

AUAWN

Preparation of the ores: Burial ; Funerary Prestations

Bànjalu Wai Mata: The End of Monne ;

The Location of the Soul .

Pahili Mbola .

Hot Death . ; l Distinctions According to ee .

Distinctions According to Rank.

‚An Interpretation of Mortuary Symbolism . . The Symbolism of Numbers .

Class Stratification

Slaves

The Nobility .

Commoners Class, Descent, and Alliance

The Division of Authority .

Ratu and Maramba .

Mangu Tanangu . be Dual Leadership in Rindi .

Tulaku Paraingu and Mbapa Tunu Masha

Authority within the Village and Clan Summary Remarks on Bases of Authority

XII. Descent Groups .

2 5. 4

The Clan

. Segmentation .

Corporations

. Corporate Aspects of the Village ee eee

Categories . ; ; Wife-givers and Wife- aker ; Alliance and Descent

Services . ; Patterns of Behaviour :

XI

214 215 221 227 230

265 265 269 274 280

282 282 284 289 291 295

XII kn ade Ea a

General Remarks

Analysis: Reference Terms (Male Ego) Principles of Classification Analysis: Reference Terms (Female Ego) .

Terms of Address

Mourning Usages

Comparative Remarks on Reference and Address .

N QUAN =

Rules .

The edni of Manias Polygyny

Widow-Inheritance

Divorce and Separation Incorporation .

Marriage among slaves

Njuraku

Adultery

Incest

Summary Remarks on ae Significance of Sexual Transgression

1. 2. Valuation

3;

4. The Significance of Marriage Prestations .

Components

Division of the Bridewealth .

XVIII. Forms of Contracting Marriage .

DARN ya

General Remarks

The ‘High Form’ of Marriage: Aoi Manion.

Tama la Kurungu e a Simpler Procedures .

Elopement and Marriage by Abduction Comparative Remarks on Marriage Procedures .

348 348 349 351

359 359 362 364 368

Contents

XIX. Prescription and Practice . 1. Evidence Eo

2. Interpretation .

3. Cycles .

4. Alliance among Slaves

Appendices I. Genealogy of the Rulers of Rindi .

II. Descent Groups in Rindi: Current Size .

III. Current Number of Ata (Slaves) attached to Rindi Clans and Lineages

Notes .

Glossary .

Works Cited Index of Authors .

Subject Index .

Plates

XIII

395 396 400 409 413

422 423

427 491 499 507 509

LIST OF MAPS page Sumba and Neighbouring Islands 2 Sumba 4 Rindi (core area) 6

LIST OF PLATES

Peaked houses and graves (Kanoru)

A yard altar (katoda kawindu) (Parai Kahembi)

A baby with rudimentary forelock

The unmarried girls’ hairstyle

The hairstyle of mature men

The hairstyle of mature women

A grave with ‘limbs’ and one without (Parai Yawangu)

Hauling a small gravestone (Parai Yawangu)

Carrying a corpse from the house to the grave (Parai Yawangu)

Women placing an offering on a grave (bânjalu pahàpa) (Parai Yawangu)

Paratu during the renovation of the ‘Ndewa House’ of Ana Mburungu (Parai Yawangu)

The senior man of the clan Maleri in formal dress (Kayuri)

LIST OF FIGURES page

Floor Plan of an Ancestral House (Uma Marapu) 26

. Beams and Cross Pieces 33 . Disposition of Pingi and Kapuka in Series of Beams and Other

Horizontal Components 33

Sketch of the Rindi Chief Village, Parai Yawangu 51

Disposition of the Corpse before Burial 174

Simplified Representation of One Version of the Journey of the Soul 204

Genealogical Relations among the Ratu and Maràmbu of Umalulu 239 Segmentation of the Noble Clan Ana Mburungu 272 Physical Passage of the Bride’s Substitute 381 An Instance of Direct Exchange 406

Partial Genealogy of Mahora-Uma Pada Njara showing Marriages with Dai Ndipi and Other Wife-givers 408 pd pd d V N e OO mà è m ë e Nn S

O P N EE

LIST OF TABLES

Relationship Terminology (Terms of Reference, Male Ego) Relationship Terminology (Terms of Reference, Female Ego) Relationship Terminology (Terms of Address, Male Ego) Relationship Terminology (Terms of Address, Female Ego) Categories of Descent and Alliance (Reference Terms, Male Ego) Categories of Descent and Alliance (Reference Terms, Female Ego) Categories of Descent and Alliance (Address Terms, Male Ego) Categories of Descent and Alliance (Address Terms, Female Ego) Women’s Mourning Terms

Relationship of Co-wives in Polygynous Unions

. Marriages of Slaves . Correct and Incorrect Marriages

. Marriages with the Mother’s Brother’s Clan and with the

Genealogical MBD Marriages of Smaller and Largest Descent Groups

Marriages of Higher and Lower Rankin Groups

. Examples of Three-Group Cycles page 302

399 402 402 412

INTRODUCTION

While the main purpose of this enquiry is ethnographic, I have endeavoured to describe Rindi culture, or what they refer to as their huri,! within an analytic framework that illustrates connexions between, and common principles among, often apparently disparate realms of thought and action. The study thus attempts to isolate a limited number of categories, forms, and relations of the most general kind which are expressed either directly in the Rindi language or implicitly in conceptual unities and distinctions that can be abstracted from institutions and representations. I am therefore somewhat more interested in common ideas and social action as it expresses these ideas than in more directly observable patterns or tendencies of behaviour, which are often best presented in statistical form or by citing numerous accounts of particular cases. I have, however, included some data of this sort, in particular where they have proved relevant to an understanding of relations between rules and manifest social organization.

As I have found no natural or necessary place to begin the exposition, the arrangement of topics is somewhat arbitrary; and the material could probably have been presented in a number of other ways. With this in mind, therefore, I have provided cross-references to other chapters and sections throughout. Since I was first attracted to eastern Sumba ? by reports of asymmetric prescriptive alliance there, a large part of what follows is taken up with the analysis of the component institutions and symbolic accompaniments of this form of social order; but I have found it more useful to discuss these topics after considering certain more general categories and principles, in order to place the alliance system within a wider context. The earlier chapters, therefore, deal with such matters as the form and arrangement of buildings and settlements, classes of spiritual entities, the life cycle, bases of authority, and various forms of social grouping. Due to limitations of space I have been unable to present a number of data which could have been accommodated within the framework I propose. I have also had largely to exclude such topics as material culture and economy, though I found spuejs[ SulInoq8teN pue equing "| dVW wy ofz oo? on OO OS è

GO NIWON BN et? Cm < EE E 3 i

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these to have little direct relevance to my primary focus. This is an investigation of traditional culture, and I have paid little attention here to modern elements in Rindi life. To do so adequately would require an entirely different study.

Similarities of language, mythical tradition, and custom found throughout Sumba, and especially within the eastern region, strongly suggest a single derivation for all Sumbanese. It is also consistent with this that the Rindi (in my presence, at any rate) usually referred to themselves as Tau Humba, ‘Sumbanese’, and to their language and culture as Hilu Humba and Huri Humba respectively. To speak only of eastern Sumba, moreover, the territorial groupings which I call domains, though they traditionally formed fairly discrete political units, include members of clans whose segments extend all over the eastern region; and many domains have long maintained regular contact, including a good deal of inter-marriage, with one another. Given also that the island has an area of 12,297 km. sq., of which eastern Sumba constitutes about three-quarters, the ethnographer is thus immediately faced with the problem of how to delimit the geographical scope of his enquiry. A major shortcoming of nearly all that has so far been written about Sumba is that the authors mostly speak of the island as a whole or only of eastern and western Sumba. As the eastern region in paticular does indeed display quite a remarkable homogeneity of culture and language, this is somewhat understandable. But there are nevertheless significant local differences of dialect and custom, some of which the people themselves recognize; and in the interests of ethnographic precision these must of course be controlled. Indeed, it was partly for this reason that I decided to restrict my attention in the field almost entirely to a single domain. Throughout the text, therefore, I have mostly referred to Rindi alone, mentioning eastern Sumba only in places where it is necessary or useful to specify a wider context. One drawback of this approach is that it might suggest that Rindi forms a discrete cultural, historical, and linguistic entity, which it clearly does not. Nevertheless, I think that any disadvantages this entails are far outweighed by the advantage of avoiding unwarranted generalization.

I. Physical Setting

Sumba is the indigenous name of the island and in one or another form 3 is encountered in all regions. Over most of the eastern linguistic area it is pronounced as Humba. According to the myth of Umalulu,* equins °c dVW

VILLINM

the traditional domain just north of Rindi, the name was that of a woman, Kaita Humba, who was the sister of the founding ancestor of Watu Waya, the oldest of the clans presently resident in that district. While Humba is still used as a woman’s name, I could find no independent meaning for the word. I would guess, however, that it might be cognate with homba, a word I discuss in Chapter IV; this seems to find some support in the appearance of homba in the man’s name Tanahomba (tana is ‘land’, ‘island’; see Tana Humba, ‘Sumba’). Kapita (1974) gives as one gloss of humba (and the variant umba), ‘brotheror sister-in-law’; but no one I questioned in Rindi had ever heard of this usage, and following a personal discussion with Kapita, it seems that the word is not used in this sense in the eastern part of the island. The domain of Rindi5 is named after a locally extinct clan which according to myth was the first (or one of the first) to settle there. Sumba, and especially the eastern region, is a hot, dry, hilly and sparsely covered land; and lacking recent volcanic deposits the soil is rather less fertile than that of islands further to the north. 6 (Hereafter I shall refer only to eastern Sumba.) Rain is almost entirely restricted to the brief west monsoon that prevails from December to March on the coast and from November to April in the interior. The yearly rainfall in these two regions averages about 1000 and 2000 mm. respectively, but is subject to considerable local and annual variation. In most areas, however, water is easily available throughout the year from the larger rivers, which originate in the mountainous districts of Mahu and Tabundungu and flow northwards and eastwards to the sea. Owing to the arid climate and irregular distribution of suitable agricultural land, the population of eastern Sumba is concentrated along the lower reaches of these rivers and in some more southerly parts of the interior. Large areas are virtually uninhabited. The most densely populated part of Rindi lies along the lower course of the Rindi river valley, and the centre of the domain is located some 6 km. from the sea. Beyond a ridge of low hills to the north, Rindi adjoins Umalulu. Much of the Rindi river valley is quite extensively cultivated. Crops are planted both on tracts of land located behind the villages, which are mostly situated close to the river, and in riverside gardens (woka mondu), where the soil is a sandy loam. (Rindi is rather better provided with such land than are other parts of the eastern region.) Just south of the river, the terrain rises abruptly and the relatively lush vegetation of the valley, with its many coconut palms and other deciduous trees, is replaced by a short grass savannah — a landscape typical of much of eastern Sumba

*Parai Kahembi *Ngadu long:

Wunga Malet

R. Tatungy

LaNara ©

Tana Ling ue

MAP 3. Rindi (core area) (Source: Maps 78 & 79 - XLVIII, XLIX. Reproductiebedrijf Topographische dienst. Weltevreden 1930. Details of settlements corrected and enlarged by the author)

— which is cut through by several narrow streams. In this region are found extensive pastures interspersed with complexes of fields and scattered hamlets inhabited by clans whose principal villages lie in the valley below (see Chapter II). From here Rindi territory extends southwards to the river Rindi Majangga (or Au Marapu), which forms the traditionally recognized boundary with Mangili. (The Rindi village of Mau Bokulu, which seems to have been founded sometime before the turn of the century, however, actually lies just south of the Rindi Majangga. At present, moreover, nearly 300 Rindi reside in the Kabaru region, also south of the river; but this is apparently a rather more recent extension.) The upstream limit of Rindi is located perhaps 15 km. from the estuary of the river Rindi. I thus estimate the present area of the domain to be about 300 km. sq.

2. Some Themes in the History of Eastern Sumba

Limitations of space preclude me from giving a comprehensive outline of Sumbanese history; so here I shall mostly limit my remarks to several factors which appear to have significantly affected the development of eastern Sumbanese society over the last two to three centuries.”

Though in the fourteenth century Madjapahit apparently regarded Sumba as one of its dependencies (de Roo 1906:1-2), it is not known whether there was any direct or sustained contact between the island and Java at this time. In the seventeenth century the Sultan of Bima considered Sumba to fall within his jurisdiction, but evidence of the extent of Bima’s actual influence is similarly lacking. Contacts between Sumba and the Portuguese in the Timor region were at best brief and sporadic; and due mainly to lack of interest the Dutch East India Company, though it contracted an agreement with the ruler of Mangili in 1756, also had virtually no direct or regular involvement in Sumba’s affairs. In 1800 the Netherlands Indies Government took over the Company’s interests in the region, but not until 1866 were officials first posted on the island, and it was only in 1912 that the Dutch, following a campaign of pacification begun in 1906, established an effective colonial administration.

The main reason for Dutch reluctance to take control of Sumba before the early part of this century was the continual feuding between native domains. This was closely linked with the slave trade carried out mainly by slavers from Ende on Flores. The extensive export of slaves, which various authors have suggested as a reason for eastern

Sumba’s low population density, probably dates from at least 1700 (see Kapita 1976b:147; Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indié 1921-IV:4). Apart from conducting independent raids to capture slaves, Endenese slavers also participated as mercenaries in local wars, from which they received slaves as booty; and they purchased further slaves from Sumbanese rulers. Though slave raids extended far into the interior, they were naturally more concentrated along the coast; so it is possibly for this reason that the main centres of population in coastal regions are now located several kilometres from the sea. According to Kapita (1976b:18), it was also because of slave raids and internal unrest that previously more dispersed populations assembled to found the present chief villages (paraingu) built on elevated sites and fortified with stone walls and cactus hedges. This accords with the fact that such large settlements, and hence the more unified political territories of which they form the centres, are more prevalent on the coast than in the interior. The fact that many clans are now found dispersed throughout eastern Sumba is probably also largely due to the internal strife of earlier centuries. According to tradition, many clan segments in southeastern Sumba derive from more northwesterly parts of the island, where the Endenese, and hence slave raids, were especially concentrated.

Another major factor in the course of eastern Sumba’s political economy during the last century was the export trade in horses. Though horses were already present on the island in large numbers by the latter half of the eighteenth century (see de Roo 1906:55), systematic export on a large scale did not develop until the 1840s. This was mainly initiated by an Arab merchant from Ende, who in 1843 founded Waingapu, the port town and present capital of the East Sumba regency. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the eastern Sumbanese nobility, especially, owned large numbers of horses (see Roos 1872:28), and the very rich profits obtained by these native rulers from the sale of livestock contributed in no small measure to their power. The possession of horses was also closely bound up with the incessant local feuding, in which livestock theft played a large part, all the more so as horses were becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. While payment for horses was mostly received in coins of precious metal, however, this did not introduce a cash economy to Sumba, as the coins were made into traditional ornaments and then used as jewelry or in traditional forms of exchange, or retained as a store of wealth. The nobility of eastern Sumba still hold vast quantities of these precious metal coins. Earlier this century, though, the export demand for horses began to decline, and cattle, first introduced in 1912, have now largely replaced horses as a source of revenue. Until quite recently, many commoners as well as noblemen in Rindi were rich in horses and other livestock. Indeed, in this century Rindi gained a reputation as the wealthiest of eastern Sumbanese domains. But since the war, due in part to epidemic diseases and plagues of worms that destroy grass, the fortunes of stock raisers have declined quite markedly. Thus whereas in 1941 the ratio of horses to persons in East Sumba was 100:134, by 1973 this had fallen to 100:235.9 Nevertheless, many persons still own large numbers of horses, and, as I shall later show, the animals are still important in the internal, traditional economy.

In accordance with the general lack of European involvement on Sumba prior to colonization, with the exception of a Catholic post in western Sumba (Laura) which was maintained from 1886 to 1898 Christian missions were not established among native Sumbanese until this century, thus rather later than on other islands of eastern Indonesia. Missionaries of the Dutch Calvinist Church officially began work on Sumba in 1907. Despite their efforts, however, the majority of Sumbanese, probably more than two-thirds in eastern Sumba, still retain their traditional religion; and, though Muslim Endenese have for a long time maintained relations with Sumba, including the founding of coastal villages, the number of indigenous Sumbanese converts to Islam is apparently negligible.

Another people who occupy a prominent place in the history of Sumba are the Savunese. In the second half of the nineteenth century Savunese emigration to Sumba was encouraged by the Dutch, who hoped that their presence would help check the disruptive activities of the Endenese. Frequent contact between Sumba and Savu, as well as some settlement along the eastern coast, however, well predates Dutch involvement on the island (see Nooteboom 1940:7); and according to tradition the founding ancestors of several eastern Sumbanese clans derive from Savu. Inter-marriage between Savunese and eastern Sumbanese, especially between their respective nobilities, also, is reported from the last century; and Endenese settled on Sumba were also affinally connected with Sumbanese rulers (see Kapita 1976b:145).1° In Rindi, however, marriage with Savunese is uncommon, and, despite the proximity of this domain to Melolo — one of the larger and older Savunese settlements, in Umalulu territory — there were only 15 cases among 2,155 unions I recorded there. The genealogy of the Rindi nobility, moreover, records no marriages with Savunese or other foreigners.

The Savunese maintain their own villages, located mostly on the coast, and though they now number perhaps over 10,000 in the East Sumba regency alone, they appear to have had no direct influence on traditional Sumbanese culture. Contact between Rindi people and Savunese is largely confined to the weekly market held in Melolo. By contrast to the Sumbanese, the Savunese on Sumba are all Christian and virtually all speak Indonesian; they are also very prominent in local government, education, and the health service. The Rindi generally dislike the Savunese who, with some justification, they consider brash, ill-mannered, and aggressive. Since they operate different economies (see Fox 1977), however, at present this is more a clash of personalities than of interests.

3. A Brief History of Rindi

The history of the present domain of Rindi is largely that of its ruling noble clan, Ana Mburungu. Several parts of the myth of this clan appear to be historical in nature, and are worth briefly summarizing here since they bear significantly on topics to be treated further below, in particular the relation between Rindi and its immediate neighbour, Umalulu.

Some ten generations ago, an ancestor of Ana Mburungu, Hiwa Ndapabengingu, was murdered by their enemy, the clan Palamidu; so Ana Mburungu moved to the village Parai Kakundu,!! in the Kambera region, near Lambanapu. Hostilities between these two groups however continued, and later Palamidu hired Endenese mercenaries to sack Parai Kakundu. In the battle the son of Hiwa Ndapabengingu, Renggi Nggilinjuka, was captured and sold as a slave to the nobility of Tabundungu. As a slave, Renggi then accompanied his masters on a visit to their wife-takers, the noble clan Palai Malamba in Umalulu, where he encountered his sister, the wife of a Palai Malamba nobleman. With the help of other Umalulu clans, his affines paid a large ransom to Tabundungu for Renggi and returned him to Parai Kakundu. Later he took a wife from the noble clan Kaliti in Wai Jilu, the wife-giver of the earliest ancestors of Ana Mburungu.

At this time Ana Mburungu shared Parai Kakundu with the clan Karindingu. But following a dispute over a woman, a Karindingu man secretly murdered Teulu Namuparaingu, by one account a son of Renggi Nggilinjuka. The two clans thus began to feud, and Karindingu eventually fled to the interior, as far as Karera. Fearing future reprisals, Ana Mburungu then also evacuated the village and headed for Wai Jilu to join their wife-givers, Kaliti.12 A segment of Karindingu eventually established itself as the ruling clan in Mangili. According to Kapita (1976b:146-47), the Mangili ruler named Lakaru Taraandungu who signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company in 1756, was an evacuee of Parai Kakundu. This indicates, then, that the village was abandoned at the latest in the early part of the eighteenth century.

On their way to Wai Jilu, Ana Mburungu tarried in Patawangu, where the rulers of that district, the clan Lamuru, invited them to stay; but they declined. At this time, however, the Patawangu nobility gave a wife to Ana Mburungu, thus initiating a marriage alliance that is maintained to the present day. They then moved on to Umalulu, where they were offered land and a secure place within the chief village by Palai Malamba and the religious rulers (ratu) of that domain. Accepting the offer, Ana Mburungu thus remained in Umalulu for three generations, during which they began to take wives from the Palai Malamba nobility.!3 In the time of Nggala Lili Kaniparaingu (the SSSS of Renggi Neggilinjuka), however, Ana Mburungu became involved in another dispute, which caused them to remove to Matawai Katàba in Mangili territory. It was then later decided by the leaders of Mangili and their counterparts in Umalulu that the Ana Mburungu nobility should establish a domain of their own somewhere between these two districts. Thus the present chief village of Rindi, Parai Yawangu, was founded in the valley of the Rindi river.