Kaili people

To express "Kaili people" it is called in the Kaili language by using the prefix "To", namely To Kaili. There are several opinions that put forward the etymology of the word Kaili, one of which states that the word which is the name of the Kaili tribe comes from the name of the Kaili tree which generally grows in the forests of this area, especially on the banks of the Palu River and Palu Bay. In ancient times, the coast of Palu Bay was indented 34 km from the current beach location, namely in Bangga village. As proof, in the area from Bobo to Bangga there are many corals and sea grasses. There is even a well where the water rises when the sea is high and also recedes when the sea water recedes.

According to the story (tutura), a long time ago, on the shore near Bangga village grew a kaili tree that grew tall. This tree became the direction or guide for sailors or fishermen who entered Palu Bay to go to the port at that time, Bangga.[1]

The Kaili is an ethnic group that has its own sub-ethnic. The Kaili family consists of more than 30 families or sub-ethnic, such as, Kaili Rai, Kaili Ledo,[2] Kaili Ija, Kaili Moma, Kaili Da'a,[3] Kaili Unde, Kaili Inde, Kaili Tara, Kaili Bare'e, Kaili Doi, Kaili Torai, etc.[4]

The Kaili people know more than twenty languages that are still alive and used in daily conversation. Uniquely, among the villages which are only 2 km away we can find different languages from one another. However, the Kaili people have a lingua franca, which is known as the Ledo language. The word "Ledo" means "no". This Ledo language can be used to communicate with other Kaili languages. The original Ledo language (not yet influenced by the language of the immigrants) is still found around Raranggonau and Tompu. Meanwhile, the Ledo language used in the Palu city, Biromaru and its surroundings has been assimilated and contaminated with several languages of the immigrants, especially Mandar and Malay languages.

The languages that are still used in daily conversation, namely Tara language (Tondo, Vatu Tela, Talise, Tanamodindi, Lasoani, Kavatuna, Poboyan, and Parigi), Rai language (Mamboro, Taipa, Tawaeli, Labuan, Toaya, and Tompe), Doi Kaili language (Pantoloan and Kayumalue), Unde Kaili language (Ganti, Banawa, Loli, Dalaka, Limboro, Tovale, and Kabonga), Ado language (Shibalaya, Sibowi, and Pander), Ido language (Pakuli and Tuva), Eja language (Bora and Vatunonju), Da'a Kaili language (Balan, Uwemanje, Rondingo, Pobolobia, Kayumpia, Wayu, Dombu, and Jono'oge), Moma language (Kulawi), and Bare'e language (Tojo, Una-Una, and Poso). All the root words of the language mean "no".[5]

The main livelihood of the Kaili people is farming in the fields, in the fields and planting coconuts. Besides that, the people of the Kaili tribe who live in the highlands, they also take forest products such as rattan, resin, and candlenut, and raise livestock. While the people of the Kaili who live on the coast besides farming and gardening, they also live as fishermen and trade between islands such as to Borneo.

The native food of the Kaili tribe is generally rice, because most of the plains in the Palu valley, Parigi to Poso are rice fields. Sometimes in the famine season the people plant corn, so they often eat rice made from corn rice (a mixture of rice and ground corn).

The Kaili people's farming tools include: pajeko (plow), salaga (comb), pomanggi (hoe), pandoli (crowbar), and taono (machete); fishing tools include, panambe, jala, and meka.

Traditional clothes of the Kaili Tado.

Like other tribes in the Nusantara region, the Kaili tribe also has customs as part of cultural wealth in social life, has customary law as rules and norms that must be obeyed, and has sanctions rules in customary law.

Traditional ceremonies are usually held at weddings (no-rano, no-raego; youth rhyming art), at the death ceremony (no-vaino; tells the goodness of the deceased), at the harvest ceremony (no-vunja; giving offerings to the God of Fertility), and ceremonial healing of diseases (no-balia; enter the spirit to treat the sick).[6] In the era before the introduction of Islam and Christian religions, traditional ceremonies like this were still carried out with incantations containing animism.

After the arrival of Islam and Christianity, weddings and funerals have been adjusted between local traditional ceremonies and ceremonies according to the adherents' religion. Likewise, ceremonies that follow Islamic teachings such as: circumcision (posuna), khatam (popatama), and hair cutting for babies aged 40 days (niore ritoya), are held based on Islamic teachings.

Some of the musical instruments known in the art of the Kaili people include: kakula (also called gulintang; a type of pentatonic gamelan), lalove (flute), nggeso-nggeso (two-stringed fiddle), gimba (drum), gamba-gamba (flat/small gamelan), goo (gong), and suli (flute).

One of the crafts of the Kaili people is weaving sarongs. This is an activity for women in the Wani, Tavaili, Palu, Tipo, and Donggala areas. This woven sarong in the Kaili language is called buya sabe but by the general public it is now known as the "Donggala Sarong". This type of buya sabe also has its own names based on the woven motifs, such as bomba, Subi, and Kumbaja. Likewise, the designation of the color of the Donggala sarong is based on natural colors, such as the color of sesempalola (eggplant flower; purple), lei-kangaro (red parrot; red-orange), and lei-pompanga (red spit of betel).

In the Kulawi area, it is still found that clothing made from bark is known as katevu. These clothes made of katevu bark are mostly worn by women in the form of closed traditional clothing.

Before the arrival of religion to the Land of Kaili, the Kaili people still adhered to animism, worship of ancestral spirits and the god of the Creator (Tomanuru), the god of fertility (Buke or Buriro), and the god of healing (Tampilangi). The religion of Islam entered the Land of Kaili, after the arrival of a Muslim Cleric, descendant of a datuk who came from Minangkabau named Syekh Abdullah Raqie. He and his followers came to Land of Kaili after years of living studying religion in Mecca. In the Land of Kaili, Sheikh Abdullah Raqie is known as "Dato Karama" (Sacred Datuk), because society often sees his abilities that are beyond the capabilities of humans in general. Dato Karama's grave is now a cultural heritage under the supervision of the Regional Government.

The kinship of the Kaili people is very evident in their cooperation in the activities of traditional parties, funerals, marriages and farming activities which are called sintuvu (mutual cooperation).

Government in the past, it was known that there was a government organizational structure within a Kingdom (Kagaua) known as Magau (King), and Madika Malolo (Viceroy). In administering the government, Magau is assisted by Libu Nu Maradika (Royal Government Council) which consists of: Madika Matua (Chairman of the Royal Council/Prime Minister) with Punggawa (Supervisor of Customs/Internal Affairs), Galara (Traditional Judge), Pabicara (Spokesperson), Tadulako (Security Affairs/War Commander), and Sabandara (Treasurer and Port Affairs).[7]

Besides the Libu Nu Maradika council, there is also the Libu Nto Deya (People's Consultative Council) which is a representative of the people in form Pitunggota Ngata (Council Representing the Seven Corners of the Region) or Patanggota Ngata (Council Representing the Four Corners of the Region). The shape of the City of Pitunggota or the City of Patanggota is based on the extent of the kingdom's territory which has many soki (village) representatives from several directions. The head of Pitunggota City or Patanggota City is called Baligau.

The social strata of the Kaili people used to recognize several levels, namely Madika or Maradika, (groups of royal or noble descent), Totua Nungata (descendent group of community leaders), To Dea (community class), and Batua (servant/slave class).

In the pre-Dutch colonial era, The Kaili Land area has several kings who each control their territory, such as Banawa, Palu, Tavaili, Parigi, Sigi, and Kulawi. These kings had kinship ties and marital ties with one another, with the intention of preventing fighting between one another and strengthening kinship.

When the Dutch entered the Land of Kaili area, The Dutch tried to pit one king against the other in order to make it easier for the Dutch to control all the royal areas in Land of Kaili. But, most of these kings fought against the Dutch army, they fought and were not willing to be colonized by the Dutch. With Dutch cunning after receiving reinforcements from Java, finally several kings were conquered, some of them were even captured and taken prisoner by the Dutch and then exiled to the Java Island.

Some of the war weapons used by the Kaili tribe include: guma (a type of machete), pasatimpo (a type of dagger), toko (spear), kanjai (trident spear), and kaliavo (shield).

• Pamona people
• Poso Pesisir people