Page 318 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

on the ‘natural strategy’ to continue to maintain good relations among people, including
‘internal relations among tribes’ within the network of local ‘construction kingdom’. Stories
and narratives present ‘roles’ and ‘function’ directly attached to the identity of every ethnic
and community groups to maintain the atmosphere of living together.
Sixth, oral tradition dwells on the attempts to explain the structural relationship
between friends and foes. Often, the stories and the narratives feature rival or opposition
(certain groups) and with that they also feature filial relations of tribes associated as a
partner to create and build harmony in life. The perspective used to describe the roles and
functions of friends and foes is shown as tireless effort in various local struggles to fight
for certain boundary. The boundary is always important to the members of warring tribal
groups, because it is closely related to pride. The content of the description of ‘something’
they are fighting for is often unclear. However, the ‘vague part’ is placed in the context of
the past. Even though the reason for the war is not really logical, that is what drives them
to struggle, for example the war to seize a hill which later turned out to be unreliable or
worthless from the economic aspect.
Seventh, oral tradition describes a panorama of the universe or its ecology by placing
man at the center. It is difficult to separate the position of man from nature and everything
in it. Nature cannot function alone without the involvement of the people in it, and the
meaning and significance on the nature can only be properly appreciated by humans.
Stories and narratives of the past always mention the role of humans in the wider ecological
frame. The community often personifies the ecology to demonstrate that, without
humans, the universe loses its meaning and significance. Melanesian societies believe that
the universe with its ecological wealth is always meaningful because of the people who
use it for the benefit of human life. Since the beginning of life, stories of mythology and
various natural events have involved people or the first man, whose role and function as
the controller of the wheel of life in the universe.
Eighth, oral tradition reveals the nature of human thought, or what is known as people’s
mindset. Although they are simple and rudimentary, stories and narratives of Melanesian
society always refer to the thinking of traditional people about all aspects of life in all forms
of the crowd. The people have stories and narratives about ‘their ancestors’, having certain
experiences. They describe an understanding, and how much they use means and tools to
make the concepts of life. Concepts of life, in addition to a focus on the present, focus on
the past, and they are even highly prospective, assessing the future carefully. However, the
nature of thoughts contained in the stories and narratives is often still hazy and not clear.

318 Chapter 8

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 318 2/10/17 2:11 PM