The Modo tribe is an indigenous tribe from a village in Komodo Island, East Nusa Tenggara. They play an active role in protecting and preserving the Komodo dragons in this island. This can be seen from the customs and culture of the Modo tribe, which believes that the ancestors of the Modo people and the Komodo animal are the same, born from the same womb. The myth of humans being born as twins with Komodo dragons is a knowledge that continues to be passed down to the descendants of the Modo tribe. Therefore, the Modo tribe and Komodo dragons can live side by side and look after each other until now.
Based on the results of initial studies from the Community Service Team (pengmas) of Universitas Indonesia (UI), information was obtained that the Modo tribe has a long civilization. One of the oldest pieces of literature about Komodo Island is written in the Bo Sangaji Kai Manuscript, an ancient manuscript belonging to the Bima Kingdom, originally written using the Bima script. This manuscript was then rewritten in the 19th century using Arabic-Malay letters. At that time, Komodo Island was the territory of the Bima Sultanate. The arrival of Dutch missionaries in Manggarai Regency also intervened in this matter, namely giving control of Komodo Island from Sultan Bima to the King of Manggarai in the early 19th century.
For indigenous people, having a traditional house is an identity and a symbol of pride that differentiates them from other tribes. The emergence of awareness among the Modo tribe to continue to maintain their culture and traditions is by continuing to maintain the spiritual values as well as traditions inherited from their tribal ancestors. Unfortunately, traces of the Modo tribe’s civilization are still difficult to track down. Some aspects that are still held strong are oral traditions. Meanwhile, physical aspects such as traditional clothes, traditional houses, and other symbols were no longer found.
Seeing this, the UI community service team made their contribution by revitalizing the Modo tribe’s traditional house. The inauguration of the traditional house of the Modo tribe was marked by a handover from UI as well as a ribbon cutting by the Director of the Directorate of Community Service and Empowerment (DPPM) UI, Prof. Agung Waluyo, S.Kp., M.Sc., Ph.D. to the Chief of the Modo Tribe on Saturday (14/10) in Komodo Village, Komodo District, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.
The UI Community Service Team was chaired by Dr. Hendra Kaprisma, S.Hum., with Dr. Bondan Kanumoyoso, SS, M.Hum., who currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (FIB) UI; Dwi Kristianto, S.Hut, M.Kesos; and Albertus Donny Kurniawan as the members. Together with the Modo tribal community, the UI Community Service Team is bringing back this old civilization in the form of a traditional house.
Dr. Hendra Kaprisma expressed his hope that the traditional house built by UI and the Modo tribe could be used as a center for cultural preservation activities as well as a tourist destination in Komodo Village. This is an effort to advance culture as well as develop creative industries, especially the tourism sector.
“The construction of this traditional house is a form of our commitment in assisting the residents of Komodo Village to preserve their cultural heritage—as well as building cultural tourism potential,” said Dr. Bondan Kanumoyoso.
