Chapter 4
Village Level Socio-Political Context
4.1 Introduction
The following general overview of the socio-political context in rural, coastal villages of central
Maluku is based on the results of six case studies carried out on Saparua, Haruku and Ambon
Islands. All study sites are Christian villages. Therefore some of the findings, especially the
role of the church in society, do not pertain to the social structure in Muslim villages.
Although a dominant force, the formal village government is only one of three key elements
generally recognized in Maluku villages. These three key institutions are called the Tiga Tungku,
or three hearthstones: the government, the church (or in Muslim villages, the mosque) and
adat or traditional authorities. In some villages, teachers are also important and may displace
adat leaders in the Tiga Tungku.
4.2 Traditional Village Government Structure
Prior to the enactment of the local government law (Law No. 5, 1979), villages in Maluku were
led by a hereditary chief or raja. Although now considered part of the “traditional” structure,
the position of raja was in fact not part of the indigenous adat social structure, but a construction
of the Dutch colonial leaders. When the Dutch consolidated their power in Maluku and forced
the hill-dwelling people to settle in coastal villages, they appointed the village leader, i.e., the
raja. Previous to this, the clan groups living in the hills were led by warrior chiefs (kapitan).
The raja governed together with administrative and legislative councils (saniri) whose members
were the clan leaders. The raja’s powers under this system were not absolute. He (or occasionally,
she) was obliged to consult with the village council. Other hereditary functionaries included a war
leader (kapitan), persons responsible for communicating government decisions to the people (marinyo),
keepers of sacred knowledge (tuan negeri) and the major land owners (tuan tanah). There were also
the hereditary leaders (kepala kewang) of groups responsible for enforcing social and resource
management regulations. These enforcers, or traditional forest police, were called the kewang and
the management institution was, and still is, called sasi. The kewang applied sasi rules on both land
and sea, within the village territory. Some villages had separate kewangs for land and sea resources.
4.3 Modern Village Government Structure
The Indonesian national government is situated in Jakarta, on Java Island, over 2,250 km
west of Maluku. Each of Indonesia’s 27 provinces is administered by a provincial government,
which in turn is divided into districts either called Kabupatan or, if urban, Kotamadya. Below
the districts are the sub-district government offices or Kecamatan. Government decrees,
guidelines and programs are passed down through this structure to the local administrative
units which are called desa or, for larger land units attached to urban centers, kelurahan. Each
desa is governed by a kepala desa or village head, together with his staff, and may comprise
one or several villages. Villages that are smaller than 2,000 inhabitants are usually not
independent but have the status of dusun under the larger unit (desa). The village head and
Village Level Socio-Political Context 37