JUMP STONE - Introducing (Promotion) Nias to the Outer World
South Nias regency is one of the regencies in North Sumatra located on Nias island. With the Capital of Teluk Dalam. South Nias Regency has its own mainstay of tourism besides traditional house and war Dance namely Tradition Jumping Stone or Fahombo is a tradition performed by a man wearing local customs Nias and leap over the arrangement of stones arranged as high as more than 2 (two) meters. This stone jump is only found in Teluk Dalam subdistrict.
It is said that the event was created as a place to test the physical and mental teenage boys in Nias before adulthood. Every adult male participating in the war must pass the stone jump ritual. Stones that must be jumped in the form of a pyramid-like monument with a flat top surface. The height is not less 2 (two) meters with width 90 centimeters (cm) and length 60 cm. Jumpers not only have to cross the pile of rocks, but they also have to have techniques like landing, because if they land in the wrong position they can cause muscle injury or broken bones.
If a son of a family can get past the stone that has been arranged by joining it by way of jumping it, this is a pride for parents and other relatives and even the whole village community in general. That is why after their sons are able to pass, then held a simple thanksgiving ceremony by slaughtering chickens or other animals. There are even nobles who entertain the youth of their village because they can jump the stone perfectly for the first time. These young men will later become the youth of their village defenders if there is a conflict with other villagers.
Seeing the ability of a young man who can jump stones perfectly, then he is considered to have grown and matured physically. Therefore, social rights and obligations as adults can be done. For example: getting married, defending his village or invade enemy villages, etc. One way to measure the maturity and maturity of a man is by looking at the motor skills above the boulder as high! 2 meters.
In the past, stone jumping was a necessity and preparation for defending and defending the name of the village. Many causes of conflict and war between villages. For example: Problems of land boundaries, women and other disputes. This invited one village to attack another village, so the soldiers who participated in the attack, must have the dexterity of jumping to save themselves. However, in the past, when the hunting tradition of human heads was still carried out, inter-village warfare was also very frequent. When human head hunters are pursued or run away, they must be able to jump fences or bastions of target villages that have been built from stone or bamboo or from trees so as not to be trapped in enemy territory.
Jumping is needed because once every village has been fenced or has made a fortress made of stone, bamboo or other materials difficult to pass by the enemy. The young men who returned successfully in another village attack mission, will become heroes in his village.
Today, the rest of the old tradition, has become a spectacular tourist attraction, second to none in the world. Various action and style of the jumper while on the air. Some dare to draw a sword, and there are also clamping his sword with his teeth.
The stone jump tradition that has become a spectacular tourist attraction and able to make Nias known by other tribes, seems to have been less favored by the new generation because of the difficulty level to master it. In addition, the stone jumping feature has also changed functionality. In tourist destinations, young men just want to jump, if the pay is appropriate. There is no more free jumping rock sport. There is a commercial stone jump. Therefore, it is feared, if tourism is dead, then the stone jump tradition will be extinct.
If the stone jumps become extinct, traditional houses are damaged, megaliths are lost and sold, Nias Beo extinct birds, cultural values of society as a lofty social dead, what else is the attraction of Nias? What's more uniqueness? Everything will just be a memorable past that is difficult to repeat again.
Getting a chance to continue my Master's degree in Japan through a scholarship program for me is a boon. How not to imagine a troubled child farmer from a newly powered village in 2003, who had to climb from one coconut tree to another coconut tree or even carry a pebble in order to pay the tuition, was impossible to complete education S2 in the country people. Perhaps I am one of the many other children of the same fortunate and blessed.
One thing that became a challenge and vision for me during the Japanese is how to make Nias Island is known by many people so that one day many tourists will visit there. Although Nias Island is famous for its rock jumping and surfing attractions, not many people know the island of Nias itself.
In addition to attending college activities on campus, I continue to run my secret mission to keep talking about Nias. Whether it is through visits to schools, meetings with some local communities, as well as teaching English in several study groups of local people, even my Master Thesis also discusses the Tourism Sector Development Plan on Nias Island. The climax was when I was invited to the city hall Nagaoka attended the program of cultural exchange program. With a fiery passion, I show videos (some of which I quote from the Visit Nias video of Mr. Agus H. Mendrofa on Youtube), teach traditional Nias dance participants "Maena" and how to make Tamboyo (ketupat), and invite them to taste Gowi Nifufu which is a traditional food of Nias (the ingredients of yam and coconut that are made by my wife Sukma Zebua). It was a satisfaction to see the participants enjoying and enthusiastically asking more about Nias Island.
Perhaps if the promotion of Nias island is done by a child of Nias is a common thing, then a remarkable thing is when strangers use all their efforts to make Nias island more known through its tourism sector. They are Bjorn Svensson and Shanti Dorairaju Fowler, a married couple who are volunteers from Australian Volunteer International (AVI). They have been on the island of Nias since 2013 and will be in Nias until 2017. Their first 2 years on Nias Island succeeded in creating a website www.northniastourism.com which introduces North Nias Regency in its entirety through the tourism promotion website so that most tourists use it as guides to come to Nias (consequently, after the launch of the website, the number of tourist arrivals to North Nias is increasing and many new tourist sites are becoming known).
Currently they are working at Nias Heritage Museum and have started the program of promoting Nias Island tourism thoroughly through the website www.visitniasisland.com (which is in the process of development) also through social media Instagram, and VisitNiasIsland page (please at LIKE). Their totality in work deserves a thumbs up, even as Nias people I salute for their efforts and hard work. Bjorn once told me how he likes his while in Nias, how to fight against death when rolled and dragged by big waves at Afulu Beach while trying to capture a photo for North Nias tour to his camera worth more than $ 10,000 lost somewhere. Recently in October, they attended ITB Asia 2015, the largest Asian tourism expo in Singapore to introduce Nias Island and explore cooperation with tourism industry players to include Nias in their tour packages. They are willing to spend their own money to run this mission because there is still no support from local government in Nias Islands even though they do it for Nias Island. They hope that the Regional Government of the NIas Islands can take part in this week's international tourism promotion activities which are very useful and provide excellent output compared to participation in some Fair events held at the local level that often have no significant impact on tourism promotion the island of Nias (more often used as a reunion place to cure the longing of the Nias people who are outside the region because the majority of the visitors are the people of Nias who live around the location of these activities).
I have known Bjorn and Shanti since 2013 and often take time to discuss and help promote tourism in the Nias Islands. They are just some of the people who have the heart to advance Nias scouts that are NOT supported and under-appreciated (sometimes not even considered), even though they have worked hard to volunteer to promote Nias even willing to spend their own money on the progress of Nias Island.