THE LIFE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE RAMPA PEOPLE IN KOTABARU: RESPONSES TO TRADITION AND MODERNIZATION

Muhammad Said Husin; Etty Nurbayani

doi:10.24198/sosiohumaniora.v28i3.68048

THE LIFE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE RAMPA PEOPLE IN KOTABARU: RESPONSES TO TRADITION AND MODERNIZATION

Muhammad Said Husin, Etty Nurbayani

Abstract

This study investigates the core philosophies of life of the Rampa People, a significant Bajau Samah community in Kotabaru, to understand their responses to the tensions between tradition and modernization. They maintain their core philosophies, Pappu Meto'oh (Believe Firmly in the Almighty) and Memiyah Leuk Keleut (Sea as a Source of Life), while beginning to abandon the philosophy Tandeh Dekanek Tandeh Dale (Many Children, Much Fortune). Despite growing recognition of indigenous knowledge in environmental management, limited research has examined how communities differentially prioritize cultural elements for preservation or abandonment. This qualitative ethnographic study employed: 1) participant observation; 2) in-depth interviews with 17 key informants including internal and external religious leaders, adat leader (Sandro), community figures, local public figures, village staffs, and local government officials; 3) focus group discussion with 65 participants including Rampa village residents, local young figures, and schoolchildren; and 4) document analysis over a 5-month fieldwork period. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, involving coding and categorizing themes, within a dual theoretical framework of Postcolonial Theory and Acculturation Theory. The findings reveal that core cosmological beliefs are maintained through institutional leadership (Sandro) and their embeddedness in daily practices. In contrast, the abandonment of the third philosophy reflects generational disengagement and the erosion of communal support systems. The study contributes to understanding the differential logic of cultural change, demonstrating that indigenous communities strategically negotiate modernity by preserving identity-constituting beliefs while adapting pragmatic values to new socio-economic realities.

Keywords

indigenous people; philosophy of life; Rampa People; acculturation; postcolonialism

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24198/sosiohumaniora.v28i3.68048