The Mongondow or Bolaang Mongondow people are an ethnic group native to the north-eastern part of the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

n island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

. The Mongondows are predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. They have traditionally been concentrated in the provinces of

North Sulawesi North Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the Minahasa Peninsula of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia. It borders the Philippine province of Davao Occidental and Socc ...

and

Gorontalo Gorontalo ( Gorontaloan: ''Hulontalo'') is a province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. Located on the Minahasa Peninsula, Gorontalo was formerly part of the province of North Sulawesi until its inauguration as a separate province on ...

. This ethnic group used to be united by a single entity, the Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow, which became the western regencies of North Sulawesi after the Indonesian independence.

Etymology

The name Bolaang originated from the word ''Bolango'' or ''Balangon'' which means Sea. ''Bolaang'' or ''Golaang'' could also means "Bright" or "Exposed and Undark", while Mongondow originated from ''Momondow'' which means "Cries of Victory".

History

The beginnings to the 8th and 9th century

The people of Mongondow believed that their ancestors originate from the offspring of ''Gumalangit'' and ''Tendeduata'', as well as from ''Tumotoiboko'' and ''Tumotoibokat'' that were living on Mount Komasan, in today's Bintauna, North Bolaang Mongondow Regency. The descendants of both of their offspring later became the Mongondow people. The population of the Mongondows grew and spread beyond their native region such as Tudu in Lombagin, Buntalo, Pondoli’, Ginolantungan, Tudu in Passi, Tudu in Lolayan, Tudu in Sia’, Tudu in Bumbungon, Mahag, Siniow and so forth. The source of income for the Mongondows in those days include hunting, fishing, processing of

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

, and harvesting of

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

in the jungle. In short, they have yet to learn farming in those days.

Development

In the 13th century, the ''Bogani'' (leaders of the groups of Mongondow community that occupied a certain area) became united to form a government rule for the Mongondow people called Bolaang. Bolaang itself means "the sea" (''balangon'') which identifies this kingdom as a maritime kingdom. The results of the meeting (''bakid'') of the Bogani came to an agreement to appoint Mokodoludut, a Bogani Molantud man as the first king (''Punu) of the Bolaang kingdom. In the 16th century, after King Mokodompit departed to

Siau Island Siau is an island in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, located in the Sangir Archipelago approximately off the northern tip of Sulawesi in the Celebes Sea. Covering a land area of 160 km2, it is the main island of the Sitaro Islands Regency of North Sula ...

in the years of power vacuum in Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom; moreover Prince Dodi Mokoagow, the strongest candidate to succeed the throne from King Mokodompit was killed by the

Alfur people Alfur, Alfurs, Alfuros, Alfures, Aliforoes, Alifuru or Horaforas (in Dutch, ''Alfoeren'') people is a broad term recorded at the time of the Portuguese seaborne empire to refer all the non-Muslim, non-Christian peoples living in inaccessible are ...

in an incident in the interior of

Manado Manado () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 Census giving a population of 451,916 distributed over a land area of 162.53 km2.Badan Pusa ...

. In that period, the governance of the kingdom was taken over by a Mulantud Bogani man named Dou'. After the prince of King Mokodompit in

reached adulthood, he was appointed as the 7th King of Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom. The Abo (meaning, "prince") is called Tadohe / Sadohe, while his mother is a princess from the Siau Kingdom. It was in his era that the governing system of the Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom was restored. During the era of King Salmon Manoppo (1735–1764), there was a fierce conflict with the Dutch which ended with the King Salmon being captured and exiled to

Tanjung Harapan Tanjung Harapan is a notable tourist attraction in Selangor. It is located near the Northport in Port Klang. Trivia ''Tanjung Harapan'' is also the Malay name for the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. This incident triggered protests and a great riot that was carried out by the Mongondow people of which the Bolaang kingdom belonged to. Finally, the Dutch returned the King of Bolaang and ever since then the name of Bolaang Kingdom has been added with the name of the ethnic group, the native of the Bolaang Kingdom to become Bolaang Mongondow to this present day. In 1901, administratively the area of Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom is part of the Bolaang Mongondow Subdivision ("Onderafdeling" in Dutch) which includes the Administrative Area ("landschap" in Dutch) of Bintauna, Bolaang Uki and Kaudipang Besar from Manado Administrative Division ("Afdeling" in Dutch). The Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom officially ended on July 1, 1950, when the Majesty of King Tuang Henny Yusuf Cornelius Manoppo abdicated and made a declaration to join the

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. In ...

. Currently Mongondow is interpreted as a mountainous area and Bolaang as a coastal area. When Oemarudin Nini Mokoagow became regent of

Bolaang Mongondow Regency Bolaang Mongondow Regency is a regency of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, situated on the island of Sulawesi. The principal town lies at Kotamobagu, which is now administratively separated from the regency, the administrative centre of which i ...

(August 1966 to January 1976), a new village was created with the name Mongondow in

Kotamobagu Kotamobagu is a city in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is the principal centre of the southern part of the province - the Bolaang Mongonow region, which is projected by the Indonesian government to be separated from the rest of North Sulawesi and f ...

as a result of the redelineation from Motoboi Village.

Sub-ethnics

The Mongondow people are made up of several sub-ethnicity that resides in

and

such as:- * Bolaang Mongondow people * Bolaang Uki people * Kaidipang Besar people * Bintauna people * Buhang people * Korompot people * Mokodompis people

Language

The everyday Mongondow people use the

Mongondow language Mongondow may be, * Mongondow people * Mongondow language See also * Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow *Bolaang Mongondow Regency Bolaang Mongondow Regency is a regency of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, situated on the island of Sulawesi. The pri ...

, Bolango language and

Bintauna language Bintauna is a Philippine language spoken in North Sulawesi (Celebes), Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 ...

on a daily basis. Linguistically, these languages belong to the

Greater Central Philippine languages The Greater Central Philippine languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian language family, defined by the change of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*R'' to ''*g''. They are spoken in the central and southern parts of the Philippines, and in ...

branch; alongside the

Gorontalo language The Gorontalo language (also called Hulontalo) is a language spoken in Gorontalo Province, Sulawesi, Indonesia by the Gorontalo people. Dialects Musa Kasim et al. (1981) give five main dialects of Gorontalo: east Gorontalo, Limboto, Gorontol ...

, Minahasan language and

Sangir language Sangirese, also known as ''Sangihé, Sangi'', and ''Sangih'', is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines by the Sangirese people. It belongs to the Philippine group within ...

. The Mongondow people also use

Manado Malay Manado Malay, or simply the Manado language, is a creole language spoken in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province in Indonesia, and the surrounding area. The local name of the language is , and the name Minahasa Malay is also used, afte ...

as a form of communication with the other

people.

Geographical redelineation

The region of the Bolaang Mongondow covers 50.3% of the area of

so much so that the Bolaang Mongondow government together with the community leaders, customary leaders and religious leaders had agreed to divide the region with the full support of the Bolaang Mongondow regent, the then Marlina Moha Siahaan. With the full support of every community as well as the local Bolaang Mongondow government, the committee of the regional division managed to convince the central government and the Parliament that the Bolaang Mongondow region has officially divided into five regencies, namely: *

(city) * North Bolaang Mongondow Regency * East Bolaang Mongondow Regency * South Bolaang Mongondow Regency

References

{{Portal, Indonesia Ethnic groups in Indonesia Gorontalo (province) Muslim communities of Indonesia North Sulawesi