The UGM Maritime Culture Expedition Team succeeded in revealing the underwater potential in Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi. In the expedition entitled Sangihe the North of Nusantara, which was held from 25 April until 10 May 2017, they succeeded in mapping and inventorizing the maritime cultural heritage in Sangihe.
“The UGM team succeeded in identifying 25 sites spread across 3 sub-districts in Sangihe,” said the expedition team leader, Fuad Anshori, on Tuesday (13/5) at the UGM campus.
Fuad said that, in this expedition, the UGM Team was divided into three small teams to be deployed in three locations in Sangihe area. These teams explored the maritime cultural heritage in Tahuna, Manganitu, and Southern Manganitu.
“For 10 days, the teams observed and collected data from the sites which were located in each area,” he added.
Before the deployment, the UGM team held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with related institutions and local communities. Through this discussion, they disseminated information about the intention and purpose of the expedition in Sangihe.
This expedition involved 15 students from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences and Vocational School UGM from several Departments, including History, Anthropology, Archeology, as well as the Department of Computer and Information Systems. They succeeded in collecting the data from the sites and communities in Sangihe. The survey results of the Tahuna Team, which was led by Muslim Dimas Khoiru, showed there are 12 sites in Tahuna, including buildings and archeological sites. Colonial-style buildings dominate the cultural heritage in Tahuna, such as churches, tombs, houses, old anchors, and shipwrecks.
“The team collected data from shipwrecks using a patterned radial technique to recognize the condition and size of the shipwreck as well as the sea floor topography,” said Fairuz Azis, one of the expedition team members.
Meanwhile, the expedition team in Manganitu, which was led by Sultan Karunia AB, noted that there are five archeological sites, including the royal tomb and house, churches, as well as caves that are spread in several villages. Those caves are heritage from the prehistoric times. In the caves, which are located on the shore, there are paintings of human faces and pictures created using a chiseling technique. Besides recording data through the heritages, they also conducted interviews with the local people as well as Alfian Walukow, a historian who lives in Sangihe.
The survey team in South Manganitu, which was led by M. Destrianto succeeded in obtaining anthropological data through interviews. The survey result indicated that there is a tendency for the local people to bury their family members near the house, even under the bed. This is one of their beliefs: the spirits of their ancestors and relatives still live with them.
“We have presented our expedition results at Archeological Hall in Manado,” said Fuad.
The Head of the Archeological Hall, Drs. Bonny A. Tooy, M.Si. expressed his appreciation to UGM expedition team which had explored Sangihe. These expedition activities have many benefits in terms of collecting data on historical and cultural heritage both on Sangihe Island and in its waters.