Earthquake and Durian
Apparently indigenous people of Mentawai doesnt have a word for Tsunami. As they are living in the middle of the island or in the banks of rivers, they dont have the concept of tsunami. They have a word for an earthquake, which is Sigeguegue. In their culture, when there's an earthquake, they are taught to take a refuge under the banana tree. They also believe, when a sigeguegue happens in the morning, which they call it sipananduk, the durian season is coming. When an earthquake happens in the afternoon, it's time for them to look for induat, a type of fungi.
The closest thing to tsunami for them is oju, it's when the river's flooding from the direction of the estuary.
Since those who lives/d in the coast of Mentawai are non-indigenous people of Mentawai, it isnt a wonder that Mentawai people oppose the notion of relocating that is mentioned by Marzuki Alie after the tsunami.
2 comments:
Impracticable and extreme as it may seem to be, perhaps relocation is a solution which should be studied and considered.
That is if indeed, like I read, experts are convinced the "big" one ( earthquake of about 9.0 on Richter's scaler) is still to come and already overdue.
The thing is, unless you live in Kalimantan, earthquake is practically a daily hazard in this place.
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