REINVENTING “PATUNTUNG

RELIGION” IN SOUTH SULAWESI,

INDONESIA
Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung
Tjahyadi
Faculty of Theology & Philosophy UIN Alauddin Makassar,
Indonesia, Faculty of Philosophy. Universitas Gadjah Mada,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
E-mail: [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract: This study re-scrutinizes Patuntung as a religious

category. The aim is to see the various reasons why Patuntung
is called religion and to re-examine the basic assumptions of
these reasons. The method used in this research is critical
discourse analysis which refers to the Foucauldian genealogy
theory. As a result, it was found that the Patuntung religion was
a new invention from Dutch Christian missionaries in the
colony which was affirmed by Indonesian scholars in the
context of Islam later. In addition, there is a construction bias
towards Patuntung religion, both world religions (especially
Christianity and Islam) and euro-centric bias. Thus, the term
religion attached to Patuntung itself is ambiguous.
Key Words: Religion, Patuntung, re-invention, euro-centric,
bias.

A. Introduction

The Ammatoans of Kajang in South Sulawesi,

Indonesia, for many persons viewed as adherents of the
teachings of the ancestors that called the Patuntung religion or
Patuntung belief (Renre, 2012; Maarif, 2012; Katu, 2014). Like

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

the Tolotang religion in Sidrap, the Aluk religion in Toraja, the

Samin religion in Blora Central Java, and the Kaharingan
religion for the Dayak Meratus in Kalimantan, the teachings
of Pantuntung are believed by this community as a way of
life passed down from generation to generation by their
ancestors. Samsul Maarif (2017) said that this belief is called
an ancestral religion or local religion. The term which is also
often used to refer to indigenous religion and Indonesian
context is also called "Archipelago/Nusantara Religion".

In the other words, these four terms (local religion,

ancestral religion, indigenous religion, and national religion)
refer to the same term, namely, indigenous religion. This
term has begun popular after it was struggled by American
Indian Movement (AIM) and The Canadian Indian
Brotherhood in the 1970s, both of them have advocated the
rights of indigenous people. And it is more massive after
ratified at the International Labor Organization (ILO)
conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1989, which resulted in
the indigenous people convention 169.1 The demands of this

1 Indigenous people have received attention in the ILO

convention 107 of 1957, with the phrase indigenous and tribal population.
In 1982, the World Bank paid the same attention to a broad spectrum of
social groups with social and cultural identities different from those of the
dominant society. Because of these differences, in the development
process, this group is often disadvantaged. By the World Bank, this group
is called indigenous ethnic minority, tribal groups, and scheduled tribes.
At the ILO Convention 169 in 1989, these community groups were agreed
to be indigenous people with three main characteristics, namely: (1)
identifying themselves as different ethnic groups; (2) historical experiences
concerning the vulnerability of their living conditions to disturbance,
dislocation, and exploitation; (3) has a long relationship with its natural

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

convention were the struggle for the rights of indigenous

people regarding economic, social, cultural, political, and
religious rights. The assumption is that every society,
including the indigenous people group, has its way of life and
social system that is different from society in general and is
spread throughout all countries in the world. The differences
in their way of life, including the way of religious life
(indigenous religion), have to be protected by the State.

In Indonesia, recognition of ancestral religions can at

least be seen in the last two decades, especially after the
application for judicial review of indigenous religions was
granted by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Indonesia. The applicants, represented by Nggay Mehan
Tana, Pagar Demanra Sirait, Arnol Purba, and Carlim,
petitioned to examine Article 61 paragraphs (1) and (2), and
Article 64 paragraph (1) and (5) of the Law (UU) Number 24
of 2013 concerning the administration of citizenship in 2017.
As result, the Constitutional Court (MK) allows adherents of
indigenous religions to predicate “believers”/penganut
kepercayaan or also to blank on their Identity Card column.2

area; and (4) the desire to maintain a different ideology (read Sangadji,
2007).
2 According to Saldi Isra, the Chief of Constitutional Court of

the Republic of Indonesia, this granting refers to the Constitution of

Indonesian 1945 Article 28 E paragraphs (1) and (2) and Article 29
concerning constitutional recognition of the right to freedom of religion
and belief. As for Maria Farida Indrawati, who is also a judge at the
Constitutional Court, emphasized that religion in the Constitution of
Indonesia in Article 28 E paragraphs (1) and (2) and Article 29 is the same
as or equal to belief itself (kompas/11/08/2017).

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

The Ammatoans as the adherents of ancestral religion

refer to the recognition of this community group as
indigenous people. According to Maarif that indigenous
peoples consist of two kinds of groups adherents of faith and
customary law communities3 or according to the category of
ILO Convention- although many of them refuse to identify
themselves as adherents of local religions with various
considerations. Furthermore, it was strengthened by the
Ammatoans which become a member of Aliansi Masyarakat
Adat Nusantara (AMAN) – Alliance of Indigenous People of
the Archipelago, an indigenous peoples' organization that
was founded in 1999 to advocate for and fight for the rights
of indigenous peoples in Indonesia.

The Ammatoans inhabit Tanatoa Village, which is a

village that is administratively one of the villages in Kajang
District, Bulukumba Regency. Tanatoa Village itself has been
mutually agreed as a customary area and has been designated
as the boundary for ilalang embayya or rambang seppang
(inside area), and ipantarang embayya or rambang luarayya
(the outside area) is not the customary area. The main
characteristic of the people who live in the area is a simple
way of life or what they call tallasa kamase-mase (modest life),
which is a way of life that rejects modern things as well as
products using machines/ industries.4

3 Samsul Maarif, Pasang Surut Rekognisi Agama Leluhur dalam Politik

Agama di Indonesia, (CRCS: Yogyakarta, 2017), h. 4.

4 Many groups, especially academicians and researchers, see the

Ammatoans as a community group that is separate from the whole of the

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Nevertheless, the recognition of indigenous religions

does not necessarily erase the pejorative labeling such as
animist and dynamist practices of Indonesian society in the
past. As admitted by Faisal Islam, Professor of Islamic
Studies at Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) Yogyakarta, that
"hundreds of years ago the people of the archipelago
originally embraced animism and dynamism which were
purely rooted in local customs, traditions, and culture".5
Meski dalam artikelnya Ismail tidak mendefinisikan agama,
namun ia secara tegas membedakan kepercayaan lokal ini
dengan agama. Although Ismail in his article does not define
what religion is, he does clearly distinguish this local belief
from religion. For him, "local belief cannot be called religion,
because local belief is not a religion". Thus, the term of
religion cannot predict or be predicted by the ancestors or
local belief.

dominant society. They live in simple conditions and adhere to their

customs and religious life. They are not affected or contaminated with
dominant community life. But in the opinion of researchers, having
observed at least the last two decades, this essentialist view is not true.
They have connected with the dominant society. This connection
presupposes the influence of one another. Therefore, although the
customary areas, called ilalang embaya, have been maintained, in many
aspects they have also been influenced by the life patterns of the dominant
society. For example, in agricultural production, they have used machines
in land management systems, and so on.

5 Faisal Ismail, Agama, Kepercayaan dan KTP, (sindo, 16/11/2017).

This article is written by Ismail especially in response to the decision of

the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia which granted the
applicant's petition regarding the judicial review of the Population
Administration Statute as explained previously.

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

Here, it is clear that the fundamental problem of the

concept of indigenous religion deal with patuntung religion
is (1) the category and predicate of religion in the practice of
ancestral belief is new construction; (2) the concept of
indignity or indigenous is a form of unification, as explained
by Linda Smith that the term indigenous from the very
beginning collects various forms of population, even though
their life experiences under colonialism are different from
one another and presuppose inferiority - world religion is
superior to indigenous religious - in the other side, namely;
and (3) naming the Pantuntung religion as an abstract and
imaginary concept.

E.P Thompson6 said that adat, and of course also

ancestral religion (Patuntung), were new inventions of claims
for new rights. Adat is a scene of change and struggle, an
arena in which competing interests make conflicting claims.
Ancestral belief (Patuntung) is found in the research
mechanism, the knowledge produced is discovered from
complex interactions between individual and institutional
authorities and scientific discourse.

According to this context, Edward Said argued that

the East was imaginatively constructed by colonialism is
important to observe. Linda T. Smith7 explained that
research itself is a mechanism of an encounter between the

6 E.P Thompson, Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular

Culture (1993), h. 6.
7 Linda T. Smith, Decolonizing…, h. 5

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

West and other parts. Research is a mechanism to organize

and visualize the code that underlies imperialism and
colonialism. The code is regulated based on formal
institutions such as educational institutions and scientific
methodology. In colonial countries, the method of research
itself was not only an academic discipline but also a formal
institution such as schools and other educational institutions.

Given the above, two important aspects need to be

noted deal with patuntung religion, how the academic
discourse contestation and political discourse shape it. The
aim is to find the discourse interests intertwined between the
academic and political spaces that have constructed the
knowledge of Patuntung religion. This suggests that the result
can appear a new horizon of knowledge that is more
emancipative.

Dealing with Patuntung religion, a few relevant

research are: (1) The Patuntung in the Mountains of Kajang,
Makassar;8 (2) Striving for modesty: Fundamentals of
Religion and Social Organization of the Makassarese
Patuntung9; (3) The Patuntung in West Sinjai: a Socio-Cultural
Perspective (Patuntung di Sinjai Barat: Suatu Perspektif Sosio-
kultural)10; (4) Dimensions of Religious Practice: the

8 AA. Cence, The Patuntung in the Mountains of Kajang, Makassar,

(KIT-LV: December, 1931).
9 Martin Rosler, “Striving for Modesty: Fundamentals of

Religion and Social Organization of the Makassarese Patuntung”, Bijdragen

tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde.(146, 2de/3de, 1990).
10 Abdullah Renre, Patuntung di Sinjai Selatan” Suatu Tinjauan Sosio-

Kultural, (Makassar, Alauddin University Press, 2012).

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

Ammatoans of Sulawesi, Indonesia11; (5) Local Islam in

Indonesia: Religion “Patuntung” in Kajang 12; (6) The
Women in Patuntung Religion (Perempuan dalam Religi
Patuntung). Of the six studies, none of them examined the
Patuntung religion discourse critically, how the Patuntung
religion was constructed, discovered, and explained.
Therefore, this research will analyze these three things both
with the genealogical and the critical discourse approach.

B. “Agama”, Religion and Belief: Problematizing

Definition

I will begin this discussion by re-examining the definition

of religion. Whereas religion has been defined by many
experts, due to the complexity of this problem, not a single
definition is fixed between them. Like W. Schmidt who
defines religion as the word of God, Clifford Geertz who sees
religion as a symbol system in a society's culture, Talal Asad
defines religion as a product of history itself, so there is no
clear and universal definition of it. Therefore, the problem of
definition is not a simple matter by referring only to dictionary
consensus or semantic definition. However, it is further from,
must be examined in three contexts which are intertwined;
social, political, and theological.

11 Samsul Maarif, Dimensions of Religious Practice: the Ammatoans of

Sulawesi, Indonesia (doctoral thesis), (USA, Arizona State University, 2012).

12 Samiang Katu, Local Islam in Indonesia: Religion “Patuntung”

in Kajang, Journal of Islamic Civilization in Southeast Asia, December, Vol. 3,

No. 2 (2012).

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

In Indonesia, although there is a desire to define religion,

in practice the term religion is used very fluidly. Because of
it, many groups often exchange the terms belief and religion
(agama in Indonesia). The desire to define religion can be seen
in Faisal Ismail's writing above. He provided a distinguished
and essential definition. This Ismail's definition has
represented the majority group in Indonesia, especially Islam.
Because, when examined further, attempt to define religion
conducted by the Ministry of Religious in 1952 by asking the
basic criteria of religion, namely: the prophets, the scriptures,
and international recognition,13 and in 1961, added two more
criteria, namely: belief in God Almighty and having a legal
system for its adherents.14 The willing the Ministery of
Religion is none other than to reject local beliefs or ancestral
religions to be recognized as religions. This later crystallized
with the issuance of the statute (UU) No.1 / PNPS of 1965
concerning the Prevention, Abuse, and/or Blasphemy of
Religion. This is seen for example in Article 1 that:
“Everyone is prohibited from deliberately publicly telling
or proposing or seeking public support, to interpret
something adhered to in Indonesia or to carry out
religious activities that resemble the religious activities of

13 Samsul Maarif, Pasang Surut Rekognisi Agama Leluhur dalam

Politik Agama di Indonesia, (Yogyakarta, CRCS, 2017), p. 25.
14 Samsul Maarif, Pasang Surut …, p. 34.

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

that religion, which interpretations and activities keep

from the points religious teachings”.15

According to Maarif, the phrase '... or conduct religious

activities that resemble the activities of such a religion ...
"departing from the general explanation (PENJELASAN
UMUM) of this statute explains that:

“It has been shown that recently, in almost all parts of

Indonesia, there have been several mystical / community
beliefs or sects that contradict religious teachings and
laws. Among the teachings/actions of adherents of these
sects, many have caused things that violate the law, break
national unity and tarnish Religion. From the fact it is
clear, that the mystical / belief schools or organizations
that legitimize and/or use religion as their main, have
recently increased in number and have developed in a
direction that is very dangerous to exist religions”.16

15 (UU) No.1/PNPS Tahun 1965 about the Prevention, Abuse

and/or Blasphemy of Religion. Enacted on January 27, 1965. Article 1 said
that "Every person is prohibited from deliberately telling in public or
proposing or seeking public support, to interpret something adhered to in
Indonesia or carry out religious activities that resemble those activities.
religion from that religion, interpretation, and which activities save from
the main points of religious teachings.
16 General explanation in statute (UU) No.1/PNPS 1965 said

that “It has been shown that recently, in almost all parts of Indonesia,
there have been several mystical / community beliefs or sects that
contradict religious teachings and laws. Among the teachings/actions of
adherents of these sects, many have caused things that violate the law,
break national unity and tarnish Religion. From the fact it is clear, that the
mystical / belief schools or organizations that legitimize and/or use

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The issuance of this statute also seems to have influenced

Koentjaraningrat, the founder of Indonesia Anthropology.
Instead of explaining religion as a translation of religion, he
adopted the term religion (Dutch - Religie) to refer to belief,
which in principle is synonymous with religion (English).
Therefore, in the anthropological studies in Indonesia, the
term religion is often used interchangeably with belief to refer
to the same practice, which is usually referred to as animism
and dynamism practices. However, Koenjaraningrat is also
not consistent in this distinction. Because, a lot of his writings,
he equates both of them. Like in his books entitled a few
foundations of social anthropology (Beberapa Pokok Antropologi
Social17), He categorizes agama (religion) with 'religion on the
other hand and differentiates on the other side.

To scrutinize these issues, it is important to trace the

origin of these terms (religion, religi, and agama) along with
the context of each. In Indonesia, agama is originally from the
Sanskrit word, agomo (order) which refers to a legal system
that regulates society so that it is not chaotic or orderly.
However, in its later development, according to Bagir, it was
adopted to explain Christianity in the sense of "religion"
(English) and Islam in the meaning of ad-Din (Arabic). In
other words, after being adopted, religion automatically gets
titrated from the concept of world religion itself. Meanwhile,

religion as their main, have recently increased in number and have

developed in a direction that is very dangerous to exist religions.”
17 Koenjaraningrat, Beberapa pokok Antropologi Sosial, (Jakarta,

Penerbit Dian Rakyat, 1967), p. 208-276.

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these two terms, both "religion" and "ad-Din", never have an

essential meaning, because they are the result of discursive
construction and contestation in the long history.

In the context of Christian theology, Richard King

found that the term religion was first adapted by Lacatantius,
a Christian writer, by redefining the term religio (Latin)
proposed by Cicero. According to Cicero, this term is related
to the pre-Christian word relegere, which means "to re-trace"
or "to re-read". The meaning was the retracing of ‘the lore of
the ritual of one’s ancestors.18 Religio was the belief by the
'pagan' roman empire in past (represented this the era), which
ancient ritual practices and paying homage to the gods. thus,
in this context, “religio” is virtually synonymous with
“traditio” (English - tradition). The main characteristic of the
religion is tolerance of different traditions, and without
questioning them. But in contrast, Lactantius understood
Cicero's understanding by explaining that religio was
originally from "re-ligere", meaning to bind together or link.
For him,

Religio is the worship of true; superstition of the false.

The most important thing is why you worship, not
how you worship, or what you pray for … They are
superstitious who worship many and false gods; but
we, who supplicate the one true God, are religious.19

18 Richard King, Orientalism and …, p. 36.

19 Richard King, Orientalism and …, p. 36.

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According to King, this is where the origin of 'religio'

has a narrow meaning. Those who did not worship a single
God were seen as pagan followers (paganus: village idiot), and
not religious. Before the Christians were being considered not
religious, because religious or 'religions according to them
('pagan' roman empire), is labeled to those who do not want
to admit traditions of others. In the end, religion becomes
exclusive with the normative monotheistic paradigm. Apart
from this, this fact also has implications for the monotheistic
religious hierarchy as true and modern while paganism is
wrong and traditional.
This concept also applies in the Islamic context
regarding the concept of ad-Din. The plural form is Adyan,
which is a term that refers to an encounter with a particular
community, which further understands ad-Din as a group that
is different from the others. This difference is related to faith
in carrying out Islamic teachings and then ratified in the
definition and demarcation of Islam and non-Islamic
religions.
Here it is clear that there is no sui generis definition
of religion, namely religion as the main category of and as well
as its authority that can protect itself, both for matters of a
reductive nature as well as from other institutions. The search
for the essence of religion, according to King, will only find a
way to go astray or make a search within the shell of
essentialism formed by the phenomenological method. Asad
explained, the effort to define religion departs from the
insistence that religion has an autonomous essence and is

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

transhistorical and transcultural. Furthermore, he said that the

attempt to define religion is in line with the demands of
liberalism; religion is separate from politics, law, and science,
each of which has the authority to articulate modern life.20

C. Patuntung as Religion: The Power of Category

Dealing with the problem of definition aforementioned

definitions, that the definition of religion and its categories
constructed by historical and socio-political context, including
in Indonesia. First, "agama" is distinguished from religion -
religion in this understanding is a belief and tradition; and
second, "agama" is the same with religion - religion in a broad
definition. Thus, religion in the second sense is divided into
two, namely; world religions and ancestral religions or
indigenous religions. According to this concept, Patuntung in
the first understanding was referred to as "religi" or belief, but
in the second meaning, Patuntung is an indigenous religion.
These two definitions presuppose that this issue is not simple,
so rather than it is important to pay attention to the context
in which the category is constructed.

Here, it should be known that the Ammatoans

themselves never call themselves followers of the Patuntung
belief or religion in the above sense. Instead of Patuntung

20 Talal Asad, Genealogy of Religion: Discipline and reason of Power in

Christianity and Islam, (Baltimore and London, the John Hopkins University
Press: 1993), p. 29.

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

categorized as a religion, the term religion has only recently

been recognized. Therefore, even in their native language,
Konjo language, this word or any word that is equivalent or
synonymous with religion is not found. It is not surprising if
they have never been made into Patuntung as an identity like
Muslims or Christians identify themselves.

The term Pantuntung is originally from the local language

of Kajang called Konjo Language. The basic form of this
word is tuntung (verb), the meaning is guided (the progressive
form is mannuntungi). A person who does or guides another
individuals or people called Patuntung. Tuntungan is a noun (n)
that means is guidance or the subject of guide. Patuntung also
can be meant a person how fully learns to obtain or achieve
things that are more abstract or valuable. Because Patuntung
does learn, he knows both physics and metaphysics.
Moreover, the Ammatoans consult a lot of things to him,
including the problem of metaphysics. Maarif said that

the term Patuntung which means a state of being

enlightened, Ammatoans accept it as a part of their
tradition but not as the name of the community. They
argue that their way of life is based on their oral
tradition, the Pasang ri Kajang, and patuntung is one
element of the Pasang ri Kajang.21

In Pasang (message), its term can seem in idiom, “guru sara’ lata
tappa ri patuntung tala assai kaguruanna, sanro tala tappa ri sara’

21 Samsul Maarif, Dimensions of Religious Practice…, p. 28.

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

assai patuntunganna” (a Priest who do not believe with a

Patuntung, he would not be recognized as a teacher, while a
Patuntung who do not believe with a priest, he would not say
as a healer).

To trace the term Pantuntung in the academic literature,

it was first found in Matthes' dictionary in 1875 22 which
mentions Patuntung is a person who can heal other people
(sanro/shaman) only by use drinking water (a sort van sanro, die
uitstend met water genes).23 This term was later found again in the
writing of another missionary work, A.C. Kruyt, Het Animisme
in der den Indischen Archipel, published in 1906.24 According to
him, Patuntung is a teacher who is followed by Makassar
people. However, Patuntung was referred to as the heatens or
unbelievers. Makassaren, die den guru Pantuntung volgen… heidenen
order de Makassaren25 (the Makassarese who follow Patuntung
teachers which is superstitious among Makassar people).

Although the term is found in the writings of Matthes

and Kruyt, according to Rossler, W.A Penard is the first
European to pay serious attention to Patuntung26. The Penard

22Matthes or Benjamin Frederick Matthes was a Dutch

missionary who was assigned by the colonial government to translate the

Bible in Bugis and Makassarese languages. He first arrived in South
Sulawesi on December 20, 1848. After 23 years of living in this place, he
then returned to his homeland and died in 1906. His major services were
compiling the ancient manuscript, La Galigo, and transcribing it,
together with a Bugis 'scholar', Colliq Pujie.
23 Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 292.
24 Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 290.
25 Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 290.
26 Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 290.

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Writing’s can be seen on the jornal of Tijdschrif voor Indische

Taal entitled De Patoengtoeng, published in 1913. Like Kruyt,
Patuntung, according to Penard, is the belief of the pre-
Islamic Makassar people that nowadays it was heavily
influenced by Islam. In addition, Penard writing's focuses
more on the people of Malakaji, one of the sub-districts in the
Tompobulu sub-district, Gowa regency, and does not focus
on Patuntung in the Ammatoans in Kajang district
Bulukumba.

A.A. Cense (1931) is the first person who specially

wrote Patuntung in Kajang two decades later in a short article
entitled "De Patoentoeng in het Berglan van Kadjang"
(Patuntung in the Kajang high land). In this article, Cense
describes the Ammatoans have a closed culture. However,
they have managerial abilities in maintaining and preserving
their trust and social organization. Its members have managed
to preserve many features of an almost archaic type of
religious and social organization.27

If Penard and Cense observed Pantuntung separately,

Rossler weaves these relationships in a more comprehensive
portrait. In his article, he found that at least the distribution
of the Patuntung adherents was spread across five regions,
including: Malakaji and Kasepekang (Gowa), Onto
(Banteang), West Sinjai (Sinjai), and Kajang (Bulukumba).
However, among Patuntung followers, according to Rossler,

27 Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 290.

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Kajang was considered a deviate. However, only Kajang

himself considers 'Tanatoa', the residential area of the
Ammatoans, as the birthplace of mankind, while the other
four refer to Mount Bawa Karaeng, located in the highlands
of Gowa Regency. Furthermore, Rossler also observed how
Islam influences this local belief. In his observations, almost
all the practices and rites of the Patuntung belief had
penetrated the teachings of Islam, the religion adhered to by
the majority of the people of South Sulawesi, except in two
cases; wedding and death rituals.28

The Patuntung as a deviated religion was also denoted by

Friberg (1993). He asserted that the Patuntung is usually
expressed with people possessing 'black' magic.29 In other
words, Friberg’s notions tend same or no different from
previous writers.

The description of Pantuntung as a belief of the

Ammotoans was later followed by Indonesian scholars such
as K.M.A Usop (1978), Abdullah Renre (1987)30 Samian Katu

28Martin Rossler, Striving for Modesty…, p. 302-302.

29 B. Friberg, “Konjo Ceremonies”, in M. Gregerson (ed.), Ritual,
Belief, and kinship in Sulawesi, (Dallas, International Museum of Cultures), p.
100.
30 A. Renre. (1978). Patuntung di Kecamatan Sinjai Barat. (Skripsi).

Ujung Pandang: IAIN Alauddin. This writing was later published as a

book by Alauddin University Press in 2012 with the same title.

18 JICSA Volume 10 - Number 01, June 2021

 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

(200031 & 201432), Azhari Ismail (2007)33, Abdul Hafid

(2013)34, and others. According to them, Patuntung is a belief
or religion that is different from religion in the Islamic sense.
Renre, for example, seen Patuntung not only as a 'religious or
belief system but also as a ritual and worship system using
offerings35. Although he tries to avoid judging him he
compares to Islam based on the criteria of the Islamic religion
itself.

The same opinion was expressed by Samiang Katu.

Although Katu, on the one hand, called the Patuntung a
religious practice in the form of local Islam, on the other
hand, he called also it is different from religion. Moreover, the
approach he used in his research is accommodation theory by
placing Islam as the superior religion. So that, Islam has
accommodated local/indigenous religions.36

31 Samiang Katu, Pasang ri Kajang: Kajian Tentang Akomodasi Islam

Dengan Budaya Lokal di Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar, Pusat Pengkajian Islam

dan Masyarakat (2000). This book is an author's dissertation at the
Postgraduate Program, IAIN Jakarta, 1999.
32 Samian Katu. Local Islam in Indonesia: Religion “Patuntung”

in Indonesia. Jurnal of Islamic Civilazation in Soutesth Asia, Vol. 3, No. 2,

(2014), p.1-19.
33 Azhari Ismail, Perempuan Dalam Perempuan Religi Patuntung: Studi

Tentang Pencegahan Tindak Kekersan Terhadap Perempuan Berdasarkan Ajaran

Pasanga pada Komunitas Ammatoa Ilalang Embayya, Kajang Sulawesi Selatan.
(Doctoral thesis). Surabaya: Universitas Airlangga (2007).
34 Abdul Hafid, Sistem Kepercayaan Pada Komunitas Adat

Kajang Desa Tana Towa Kecamatan Kajang Kabupaten Bulukumba.

Jurnal Patanjala, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 1-19.
35 A. Renre, Patuntung…, h. 137-158.
36 Samiang Katu, Local Islam in Indonesia…, p.

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

Based on this fact, it becomes clear that patuntung as

a category of religion or belief cannot be separated from its
contact with colonialism. Unfortunately, the categorization of
patuntung as a religion is taken for granted by Indonesian
scholars without question. In fact, according to Daniel
Dubuisson, The Western Construction of Religion (2003), as
quoted by Maarif, religion itself is a conceptual category built
on western history and culture. According to him, the West
Scholars was discovered and determined religious
construction based on the conceptual building of Christian
theology (of course also Islam) and the concept of colonial
scholarship in the 19th century.37

Patuntung Religion as a Finding

To consider the genealogy of the Patuntung religion

above, it is clear that the category of the Patuntung religion is
something new. This category appears for the first time in
Kruyt's writing that called Patuntung as followers of animism
and dynamism, so they can be called heathen or superstitious.
His idea was then followed and reproduced by the next
generation, including Indonesian scholars, and finally, it

37 Samsul Maarif, “Meninjau Ulang Definisi Agama, Agama

Dunia, dan Agama Leluhur”, in Ihsan Ali-Fauzi (dkk.), Kebebasan, Toleransi

dan Terorisme: Riset dan Kebijakan Agama di Inonesia, (Jakarta, Yayasan
Paramadina, 2017), p. 17-18.

20 JICSA Volume 10 - Number 01, June 2021

 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

became a fixed category. This category itself is odd for the

Ammatoans by itself.38

In this context, Patuntung religion is a new invention

by the West. Like the indigenous religion in other places, this
was originally practiced by Christian missionaries from
colonized countries. The discovery of Patuntung by
missionaries such as W.A Penard, A.C. Kruyt, A.A. Canse, is
like finding a treasure. As explained by Linda T. Smith that
missionaries like finding a big mine and challenging, because
there are lost and mired souls who need to be saved. They are
described and represented with pejorative words, such as
savage, stupid, etc. These words have been embedded in their
minds and thoughts. What was originally only delusional and
opinionated is later called knowledge. The language (colonial)
is a means of representation and dissemination of indigenous
knowledge. This colonial practice is described by Smith as
being described by the four avenues of indigenous research;
they came, they saw, they named, and they claimed.39

According to Smith, these four roads then legitimized

Western colonialization which at the same time obscured the
interests of the colonizers in the colonized countries. Because

38 Although this category has been recognized by the

Ammatoans, it is then remembered that this category is so hegemonic and
is used continuously to label this identity to them. However, the
Ammatoans themselves never accepted this category. Until now, when
they were asked about religion, this question was not answered or
answered that they are the religion of 'Sallang' - even though this term
refers to Islam, they still distinguish Sallang and Islam itself.
39 Linda T. Smith, Decolonizing…, p. 83

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

their arrival in remote places in the colonial region was

legitimized by a scientific vision. The experience is then retold
heroically based on the colonial imagination and language,
namely about how to survive in a natural condition and the
customs of the indigenous people. They then gave it a name
and claimed it based on their perspective. For these religious
missionaries, the formation of this perspective aims to justify
further financial support from the head office as well as to
justify ideological motivation. The more excited and evil a
tribe, the stronger the imperative to carry out God's work.40

The discovery of the Patuntung religion was in line

with the discovery of the world religion paradigm. This
paradigm was built in the 19th century in the context of
relations between the West and non-Westerners. Moreover,
the term religion has always been associated with Christianity
by the West. Other religions that can be called world religions
must follow the criteria and categories of Christianity. At the
same time, anthropological studies are developing research
that focuses on the beliefs (religion) of primitive societies.
Instead of that, theories about religion, both reductionists like
E.B. Tylor, Frazer, Karl Marx, Emile Durheim, Sigmund
Freud, as well as apologetics such as Mircea Eliade, William
James, Rudolf Otto, and others. All religions by primitive
society are categorized as animism and superstitious. This can
be seen in Tylor's view of religion which sees it as belief in
spirit or animism. They believe in a supreme reality behind

40 Linda T. Smith, Decolonizing…, p. 82

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

nature, so that in itself contradicts rationality. Unfortunately,

Tylor's simplistic and reductionist views influenced
missionaries a lot and legitimized their views on societies that
were different from him.

Jonathan Z. Smith explains that the Western academic

tradition, since Ancient Greek times, distinguishes between
"us" and "them", which in "Greek Anthropology" is called
between Greek and Barbarian (nonhuman representation)41.
This form of Western divergence can also be seen in the
ontological differentiation construction between West and
East. In colonies, the West was seen as a whole human being,
and the colonized is not a human or a colonizer like David
and the colonized as Goliath. So it is not surprising then when
in public spaces in colonized areas it is written: "dogs and
inlanders (natives) are not allowed (Verboden voor Honden
en Inlander)".

Furthermore, this is confirmed by the paradigms of

modernism and universalism. These two paradigms mutually
presuppose each other; modernization necessitates
universalism and universalism necessitates modernization. As
a result, the beliefs of animistic primitive societies such as the
Patuntung religion were seen as artifacts of past religions or
religions, whose viewpoint would develop into world
religions. Therefore, the missionaries who come have the
belief that they carry an 'enlightenment agenda', namely to

41 Samsul Maarif, meninjau Ulang Definisi Agama…, p. 25.

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

convert animists into world religions, especially Christianity,

and later by Islam.

ndonesia sebagai Negara dengan penduduk mayoritas

muslim pada akhirnya tergoda untuk pengelompokkan agama
berdasarkan pandangan Barat di atas. Dengan kata lain,
kategorisasi agama di Negara ini mewarisi model studi dan
pendefinisian agama di Barat […] sehingga pengukuhan
agama-agama dunia di Indonesia serupa dengan yang terjadi
di Eropa.42 In fact, after the establishment of the Ministry of
Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, Islam became the
prototype of religion in this country. Religious criteria are
determined based on the definition of the Ministry of
Religion. In this context, in the end, Patuntung was not
categorized as religion, but as “religi” or belief, an ambiguous
term and category; refuse on one side but affirm on the other.

Conclusion

Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that

Patuntung was a new finding of European missionaries in the
colonies. The category religion and not religion (belief) is a
European construction of local religion based on the
categorization of Christianity itself. This construction was
then followed by Indonesian scholars by affirming these
Western criteria into Islam, considering that Indonesia's

42 Samsul Maarif, meninjau Ulang definisi Agama…, p. 31-32

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 Reinventing “Patuntung Religion” In South Sulawesi, Indonesia

population is the majority of Muslims. As a result, Patuntung

religion as an indigenous religion was never absent from the
pejorative predicates such as animist, superstitious, heathen,
and others. Therefore, instead of being categorized as a
religion, religion itself has experienced a categorical bias and
a Christian bias, and in the Indonesian context, of course,
Islam. This is because, in principle, religion is not essential and
autonomous, but is protected by other dimensions
surrounding it, particularly its discursive and historical
aspects. Thus, the temptation to essentialize religion based on
fixed criteria is another heresy.

References

Asad, Talal. (1993). Genealogy of Religion: Discipline and reason of

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Cence, AA. (1931). “The Patuntung in the Mountains of
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atas-pengakuan-negara?page=all

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Muhammad Takbir, Rizal Mustansyir, Sindung Tjahyadi

Ismail, Azhari. (2007). Perempuan Dalam Perempuan Religi

Patuntung: Studi Tentang Pencegahan Tindak Kekersan
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Renre, Abdullah. (2012). Patuntung di Sinjai Selatan” Suatu

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Ditetapkan pada tanggal 27 Januari 1965.

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