When we talk about Indonesia, one thing that goes on mind is the diversity of our cultures. From each region and province, different habits, languages, accents, and traditions are preserved well. From Badan Pusat Statistik’s (BPS) official website, there are roughly 1,340 ethnic groups spread all over Indonesia.
As a big archipelago country, we never run out of unique traditions and cultures to learn—especially around the eastern region, where the traditions can still easily be found, performed, and practiced regularly, without disturbance of modernity.
West Papua, formerly Irian Barat, with 1,134,068 residents as of 2020, is best known for its potentials in natural resources, cultures, marine diversity, and indigenous people. No wonder it has become the most hunted travel destination, from domestic to international tourists. Not just exotic, but also it’s rich in cultural heritage. Now, let’s take a look at one of West Papua‘s traditional dances, Suanggi Dance.
What
While people usually talk about Welcome Dance and War Dance, Suanggi Dance is one of the important traditional dances in West Papua. Suanggi Dance has a little record as it is not performed freely but as a special ritual.
The background story of the dance is a tragic story about a man who lost his wife to the angi-angi, an evil spirit that can cause trouble to the living people, especially women. Angi-angi comes from people who cannot get redemption and find peace in the afterlife. Thus, Suanggi Dance is performed to repel angi-angi.
Why
The main purpose of this dance is to ward off the evil spirits that can cause harm to locals. It can cause sickness and eventually death. Angi-angi‘s main targets are women. Women who are possessed by angi-angi are known as kapes mapo or Suanggi women.
Women who are died due to childbirth can also turn into kapes (spirits) that transformed into Suanggi. It is believed that Suanggi woman has two biles; thus, people will cut their abdomen to find out. Suanggi women will be beaten to death or forced to drink Tuba root poison.
Angi-angi does not just possess, but it can also be used to curse and harm targeted people. The tribal elders will usually conduct a search to find the victims of the Suanggi. Then Suanggi Dance will be held to expel it.
One of the other causes of angi-angi disturbance is leftover food. It also disturbs and eventually takes over people who are walking alone in the woods.
When
Suanggi Dance is performed when a resident dies in an unnatural cause, which the community believes to be a disturbance of angi-angi. To this day, the people of West Papua still believe in Suanggi’s existence.
This dance is considered sacred by the locals. Therefore, before starting the Suanggi Dance, the traditional elders will perform a special ritual. Due to its sacredness, Suanggi Dance cannot be performed for commercial purposes as it has high magical value.
How
This dance is usually performed by 16 male dancers and two female dancers. The movements of the dance resemble movements from a shaman performing rituals to cure diseases. Until now, this dance is still often performed by the people of West Papua as a symbol of their belief in magical things. The performers will use traditional clothes and use musical accompaniment instruments such as tifa or shells.West Papua‘s local community is still fully involved with magic and myths. From 70 Unique Traditions of Ethnics Group in Indonesia, written by Fitri Haryani (2019), Suanggi dance is an expression of the locals to the response of the magical nuance of their culture, which cannot be separated from their daily lives.
