MYTHS OF CREATION AND COSMOGONY IN NIAS

A question were emerging when we had a meeting with some cultural leaders in the establishment of Gunungsitoli Nias Culture Board (Lembaga Budaya Nias Gunungsitoli) last 2012, the question is : "Where were Nias ancestors from"? There was not scientific answers explaining about the question at the time. It could not be answered because there is not any scientific research conducted yet to determine where Nias ancestors were from. There were many speculations emerging said that Nias ancestors were from Yunan, China because Nias people is almost similar physically with them, but some others said from Philippines because the language and dialect of Nias people almost sounded similar to them. It becomes mazy information for ages.

While waiting for the justification about the origin of Nias ancestors, here are some myths as fairytale about the creation and cosmogony told by our grandparents when we were in our childhood. This fairy tale has been recorded well by Alain M. Viaro and Arlette Ziegler on their book entitled "Traditional Architecture of Nias Island" which I got from Museum Pusaka Nias.

It is said that the Universe is made of three superposed worlds. The upper world, Tetehöli Ana'a, is the model, the place of origin of the gods, in the sky, in the clouds and long ago near the earth. That world has several villages with different people who are often opposed to each other. Lowalangi is the god of this Upper world. Silewe Nazarata, his sister and/or wife, gave knowledge to humans: she taught them how to cultivate fields, build houses and carve statues.

The Underworld is dark, sometimes identified with a cave or a large hole peopled with evil spirits. From it come earthquakes. It is the home of Lature Danö , the elder brother of Lowalangi. The Middle world, or world of humans, was created by the gods or in certain versions by one of them by means of their skin scales.

The origin of Niha (human) is often expressed in the following way: Sirao, the supreme divinity, lives in Tetehöli Ana'a. He has three wives, who each other give him three sons: Lature Danö, Lakindrö, Lowalangi; Lasore, Gözö, Hia; Lahari, Daeli and Hulu. Sirao is looking for a successor and decides to test his sons. The one who can stay on the point of the spear he has driven onto the ground by its handle will succeed him. Lature Danö, the eldest, has failed and will be banished to the inferioe level, where he will carry the earth. Lowalangi is the only one to stand the test and therefore succeeds Sirao at Tetehöli Ana'a. 

Hia, Gözö, Daeli and Hulu have come down to the Middle world, Earth, by ladder of fourteen rungs and they are the ancestors of the Niha. One version has Hia to descend first, in the South. But he and his belongings are so heavy that the south is nearly engulfed. To make up for this, Gözö goes to the North. The result is that the Earth swells in the middle so that the North and Gözö are immersed. To rebalance the situation, Hulu and Daeli (There is a 6 metre long grave said belongs to Daeli in Onowaembo Village) come to the Center. Now Earth is nice and flat.

A 6 metre grave of Tuada Daeli laid on Onowaembo Village Gunungsitoli

Another version says that these four patriarchs descended to the Center, at Sifagö Gomo Börö Nadu, still considered the place of origin of the Niha. The southern Niha complete this account by referring to Hia's descendants. Hia had a son, Sadawa Mölö, who came from Sifagö Gomo Börö Nadu and settled in the South, near Onohondrö. The water of the Gomo river (which flows by Sifagö Gomo Börö Nadu), a branch of the Fösi tree (a sacred tree symbolizing Niha), and an ancestor figure he had taken with him enabled him to recreate a territory for humans there. Sadawa Mölö five sons (Fau, Dakhi, Boto, Maha and Hondrö) founded the eponymous clans, still effectively the main clans of the South.

Those are about the fairytale we used to hear when we were kids. I still remember when my grandma used the name "Ama Lakindrö" to scare us if we didn't follow her orders, while the name of Lowalangi is used to mention God in Nias language