This article reports on the notions of orientation among the
Galela in North Halmahera as compared with peoples on Halmahera
Island. the adjacent islands and Sula Island. The data was collected
by the present writer in 1976. The studies on the notions of
orientation among the Alfuren of West Seram by Jensen and the
Kedang on Lembata Island by Barnes are reexamined in the light
of the findings of this research.
It is commonly said that the opposition of 'land (or mountain)
and sea' seems to be a basic notion of orientation widely observed
among the Austronesian speaking peoples. This opposition is also
used among the North Halmaheran peoples whose languages belong
to NAN. Another basic notion of orientation is the opposition of
'up and down', which is found throughout the area from Halmahera
to Bacan, Sula, Buru and probably Lembata. As to the particulars
of opposition, some variation in the two basic oppositions has been
recognized by some scholars. Moreover, the relative direction of
'up' usually corresponds to the south among these peoples except
for the Ternate. In Ternate the Sultan's castle is located on the
north side of the town, and accordingly the north may have been
recognized as the updirection. However, it is questionable as to
why 'up' is widely considered as being the south.
The Galela employ both the relative orientation of the 'land
and sea' and 'up and down' oppositions and the absolute orientation
of the cardinal points; the latter being calculated according to the
position of the sun and the direction of the monsoon. The people,
thus, have a double system on orientation in contrast with the
Alfuren of West Seram who lack the absolute orientation system.
The terms of orientation of the peoples in Halmahera are
derived from pronouns of place and affixes of position and direction.
In Galela there are 92 terms of direction and position made by
combinations of pronouns and affixes. If the terms further combined
with the affix of stress are added they number 151. Thus
from a large number of terms which seem so complicated to us the
people can select one which is appropriate for their situation.
As to the way of constructing terms of direction and position
through the combination of pronouns and affixes, two basic types
may be distinguished in the area covered in this study: (1) The
Halmahera Type and (2) The Sula-Bacan Type. The former
combines four affixes which indicate the cardinal points with
pronouns, but the latter uses the one or two prepositions of position
instead of affixes. The Halmahera Type can be subdivided into
two : (a) the North Halmahera Type, distinguishing the four
pronouns of direction with 'near' and 'far', and (b) the South
Halmahera Type, which lacks such pronouns. Tha latter can be
further subdivided into two types : (i) Makian Type and (ii). Maba
Type. In the Makian Type affixes are used as prefixes and suffixes
interchangeably. When an affix is used as prefix it carries a meaning
different from that when the same affix is used as suffix. In the
Maba Type such affixes are only used as suffixes.
The Sula-Bacan Type of constructing terms of direction can he
observed among many peoples in Austronesia, whereas the Halmahera
Type, which is characterized by indicating such a direction as
"heading from upward to downward on the sea" in one word 'idai',
has not been found in any other areas as far as the present writer
knows. Therefore, the Halmahera Type may be regarded as being
unique in the terms it uses for direction and position. It may be
possible to speculate about Austronesian speaking peoples : that the
Halmahera Type of orientation might have developed independently
as a result of the peoples' lives being intimately connected with
the sea, or that it may be the surviving part of a prototype which
has already disappeared from the other areas. As to that matter,
however, further investigation is necessary.