Every ethnic group has its peculiar culture. The Norwegian and Icelandic people hunt the whales in certain season, most people of Europe eat lamb. Toraja People treat the mummies as if they are alive. Yanomami tribe in amazon near the border of Venezuela practice endocannibalism. Tibetan has sky burial. Every culture is normal to people who live with it. But for others, it appears peculiar.
Minahasa people is an ethnic group in North Sulawesi. The have weird culture also. They like eating dog and cat meat, which for others are pets, they like eating rats that appears to be disgusting rodents for other people. They also eat bat, python, monitor lizard and monkey and other wild animals. To top it off, you can find them in traditional market, which is very unusual in Indonesia. You can find this extreme meat inside several traditional market. The most famous traditional market for these meats is Pasar Beriman Tomohon. The stalls are not separated from other stalls that sell other meat such as pig, boar and chicken. Those stalls are beside the veggies' and fish market.
Tourists are curious, scared, disgusted, furious, angry and feel sorry for the pets. They show different emotions when they saw the meat at the stalls. Other tourists consider this very normal in life. They take picture as it does not bother them. Others cannot stands the smell nor the fresh blood. Therefore, they avoid this area. Yet, they want to visit the traditional market because there are other things to be seen there. For example, the spices, fruits, vegetables, fish, cookies and many more. This traditional market somehow attracts their attention. It is too bad to be misses. "We are here already, We better see it therefore." or "We should see something on our vacation."
That is fine.
However, some people are not prepared emotionally to see this. Lack of information about "how" and "why" is the first reason. Some fainthearted people think that it is just a common traditional market. But, at the moment they approach the butchery stalls, they become enraged. Alright, the preface is enough. Now, let's have closer look on the matter in order to grasp a little understanding about why and how Minahasa people have this habit.
The Minahasa people belongs to proto Malayo group. This needs complicated explanation, but according to linguistic anthropologists the Minahasa tribe derived from Formosa island in Taiwan. Some sources said they come from Mongolia. Whatever way, Minahasan people have been inhibiting the northern peninsula for centuries. They learnt to survive in the jungle. And later, they become one ethnic group in Indonesia with beautiful culture and elegant custom.
They got everything from the wild centuries ago. The needs to survive taught them to do so. They had to fight for their lives with wild animals. Very little sources of inscription can explain this habit. But, it can be found at some relieves of the lid of waruga.
However, let us see a little closer to the nature of Sulawesi in order to understand their habit. The mammals of Sulawesi nowadays as we know are Anoa, Babi Rusa, Cuscus, civet cat, squirrel, boar and fruit bats. There are also two species of primates. They are Sulawesi Crested Macaque and Tarsius, Those are endemic animals of Sulawesi. Other domestic animals such as cow, pig, cat and dog were introduced to people. Some people claimed that during first migration of human to Minahasa land, the dog and cat were with them as living treasure. They were as veluable as other treasures. Even until this day, most of Minahasa people do not treat dog and cat as pet but living and valuable treasure. Thus, they had right to do anything with their own treasure. Later when pig, cow, chicken and duck are started to be in the house, the other two joined the club. The rest remains in jungle. Later agriculture, aquaculture and livestock husbandary were introduced to Minahasa people.
As mentioned previously, nature provided almost all things for human. Minahasa people also lived from it. They cleared some trees for housing and hunted animals for eating. All of them direct at surviving and continuing life. One must die in order that the other survive. That is the real tragic of life, as is the fate of living being. However, the balance of human and nature is always being preserved. In the sense that people need to preserve both their kind and the nature.
Ancestors of Minahasa people, in terms of administering their culture, always set apart sacrifice as part of offering. Talking about sacrifice, it must come from something precious from us. At the other hand, when they failed on hunting down the jungle, they needed something to feed the mouths who were waiting at home. Therefore, whether for sacrifice or for feeding the hungry at home, ancestors taught the Minahasa people to be considerable and yet rationable. That is the reason why the extreme food only become delicacy.
Becoming question to us now. Why people from other ethnic group do not eat these kind of animals? Don't be wrong. It does not mean that you don't hear them eating those animal presently that they did not do it in the past. It is religious prohibition that people from other part of Sulawesi do not eat such kind of animals. The Minahasa, on the other hand, maintain their culture and custom. It remain unchanged to this very day. Only when a Minahasa person converts to a religion that prohibit on eating certain animal or even animals, the rule is shifted. Nonetheless, some Minahasa people who live on this century started to find congenial on not eating certain animals such as dog and cat. They have found the real meaning of pet from those animals. They also stay away from eating rat, bat, snake, anoa, cuscus, tarsius and other animals from the jungle due to understanding that these animals are endangered and perishing from hunting. Although, they do not really move away from being omnivorous. A good start has already been commenced, doesn't it?
Not for justification, a particular animal is congenial to certain person but edible to other person somehow. Some people do not eat fish because they pet them, other, chicken, other, cow, other, pig, other, lamb or goat. We can name the animal one by one, there must be some people love them as pet, other, love them on the pot and pan. At the end, Minahasa people is given choices either to leave their custom and habit, or to hold it. Last but not least, maybe we might not understand it all. But, it is always interesting to know the story behind it, in order that we will try to accept it as part of life.
Minahasa people is an ethnic group in North Sulawesi. The have weird culture also. They like eating dog and cat meat, which for others are pets, they like eating rats that appears to be disgusting rodents for other people. They also eat bat, python, monitor lizard and monkey and other wild animals. To top it off, you can find them in traditional market, which is very unusual in Indonesia. You can find this extreme meat inside several traditional market. The most famous traditional market for these meats is Pasar Beriman Tomohon. The stalls are not separated from other stalls that sell other meat such as pig, boar and chicken. Those stalls are beside the veggies' and fish market.
Tourists are curious, scared, disgusted, furious, angry and feel sorry for the pets. They show different emotions when they saw the meat at the stalls. Other tourists consider this very normal in life. They take picture as it does not bother them. Others cannot stands the smell nor the fresh blood. Therefore, they avoid this area. Yet, they want to visit the traditional market because there are other things to be seen there. For example, the spices, fruits, vegetables, fish, cookies and many more. This traditional market somehow attracts their attention. It is too bad to be misses. "We are here already, We better see it therefore." or "We should see something on our vacation."
That is fine.
However, some people are not prepared emotionally to see this. Lack of information about "how" and "why" is the first reason. Some fainthearted people think that it is just a common traditional market. But, at the moment they approach the butchery stalls, they become enraged. Alright, the preface is enough. Now, let's have closer look on the matter in order to grasp a little understanding about why and how Minahasa people have this habit.
The Minahasa people belongs to proto Malayo group. This needs complicated explanation, but according to linguistic anthropologists the Minahasa tribe derived from Formosa island in Taiwan. Some sources said they come from Mongolia. Whatever way, Minahasan people have been inhibiting the northern peninsula for centuries. They learnt to survive in the jungle. And later, they become one ethnic group in Indonesia with beautiful culture and elegant custom.
They got everything from the wild centuries ago. The needs to survive taught them to do so. They had to fight for their lives with wild animals. Very little sources of inscription can explain this habit. But, it can be found at some relieves of the lid of waruga.
However, let us see a little closer to the nature of Sulawesi in order to understand their habit. The mammals of Sulawesi nowadays as we know are Anoa, Babi Rusa, Cuscus, civet cat, squirrel, boar and fruit bats. There are also two species of primates. They are Sulawesi Crested Macaque and Tarsius, Those are endemic animals of Sulawesi. Other domestic animals such as cow, pig, cat and dog were introduced to people. Some people claimed that during first migration of human to Minahasa land, the dog and cat were with them as living treasure. They were as veluable as other treasures. Even until this day, most of Minahasa people do not treat dog and cat as pet but living and valuable treasure. Thus, they had right to do anything with their own treasure. Later when pig, cow, chicken and duck are started to be in the house, the other two joined the club. The rest remains in jungle. Later agriculture, aquaculture and livestock husbandary were introduced to Minahasa people.
As mentioned previously, nature provided almost all things for human. Minahasa people also lived from it. They cleared some trees for housing and hunted animals for eating. All of them direct at surviving and continuing life. One must die in order that the other survive. That is the real tragic of life, as is the fate of living being. However, the balance of human and nature is always being preserved. In the sense that people need to preserve both their kind and the nature.
Ancestors of Minahasa people, in terms of administering their culture, always set apart sacrifice as part of offering. Talking about sacrifice, it must come from something precious from us. At the other hand, when they failed on hunting down the jungle, they needed something to feed the mouths who were waiting at home. Therefore, whether for sacrifice or for feeding the hungry at home, ancestors taught the Minahasa people to be considerable and yet rationable. That is the reason why the extreme food only become delicacy.
Becoming question to us now. Why people from other ethnic group do not eat these kind of animals? Don't be wrong. It does not mean that you don't hear them eating those animal presently that they did not do it in the past. It is religious prohibition that people from other part of Sulawesi do not eat such kind of animals. The Minahasa, on the other hand, maintain their culture and custom. It remain unchanged to this very day. Only when a Minahasa person converts to a religion that prohibit on eating certain animal or even animals, the rule is shifted. Nonetheless, some Minahasa people who live on this century started to find congenial on not eating certain animals such as dog and cat. They have found the real meaning of pet from those animals. They also stay away from eating rat, bat, snake, anoa, cuscus, tarsius and other animals from the jungle due to understanding that these animals are endangered and perishing from hunting. Although, they do not really move away from being omnivorous. A good start has already been commenced, doesn't it?
Not for justification, a particular animal is congenial to certain person but edible to other person somehow. Some people do not eat fish because they pet them, other, chicken, other, cow, other, pig, other, lamb or goat. We can name the animal one by one, there must be some people love them as pet, other, love them on the pot and pan. At the end, Minahasa people is given choices either to leave their custom and habit, or to hold it. Last but not least, maybe we might not understand it all. But, it is always interesting to know the story behind it, in order that we will try to accept it as part of life.
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