Sigale Gale
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Sigalegale (
Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...
: ᯘᯪᯎᯞᯩᯎᯞᯩ ) is a wooden
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
used in a funeral dance performance of the
Batak people Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...
in
Samosir Island Samosir, or Samosir Island, is a large volcano, volcanic island in Lake Toba, located in North Sumatra, North Sumatra Province on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Administratively, Samosir Island is governed as six of the nine districts withi ...
, Northern
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
. Sigale Gale is a well-known feature for visiting tourists. During the dance, the puppet is operated from behind, like a
marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...
, using strings that run through the ornate wooden platform on which it stands. The setup enables its arms and body to be moved and its head to turn. Traditionally the performance was carried out of childless person. Batak Toba believe souls become an ancestral spirit and the children of the deceased perform funerary rites. If a person died childless a si gale-gale is created as a substitute. Complicated sigale gale could be life sized and featured actuation using wet moss or sponges that could be squeezed to make the dolls appear to cry. The wooden figure has jointed limbs were mounted on large, wheeled platforms on which, weeping, they danced during funerary ceremonies called ''papurpur sapata'', held for persons of high rank who had died without offspring. The ritual dispelled the curse of dying childless, and placated the spirit of the deceased so that he would do no harm to the community.Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, ''Art of Island Southeast Asia: The Fred and Rita Richman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'' - 1994 p. 27
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Legend

The use of the si gale-gale figure is said to have originated from the legend of a childless woman named Nai Manggale, who on her deathbed instructed her husband to have a lifesize image made of herself to be called si gale-gale and to have a dirge played before it. Unless this was done, her spirit would not be admitted to the abode of the dead, which would in turn force her to put a curse on her surviving spouse. To avert this misfortune, the si gale-gale was created. Si gale-gale figures are either male or female, depending on the gender of the deceased.


Early reference

Among the earliest references to the ''si gale-gale'' is the German missionary Johannes Warneck's description of the sculpture's use in the early twentieth century. When a rich man died without a surviving son, his relatives held a special feast both to mourn his death and to demonstrate his wealth. For this festival a wooden figure in the likeness of the deceased was commissioned and clothed in traditional costume, with shawl, headdress, and gold jewelry. Mounted on a wheeled platform and manipulated by an elaborate system of strings, the figure danced while the deceased's wife, parents, and brothers danced alongside, weeping. The image was led ceremoniously to the market, where pork, beef, or buffalo meat was distributed·among those gathered. After the prescribed period of dancing, the ''si gale-gale'' was shot and thrown over the village walls. The Batak saying "Wealthy for a moment like a ''si gale-gale'' figure" thus refers to a rich man with no heirs to care for his spirit in the afterlife.Warneck 1909, p. 108.


Gallery

File:Sigale Gale dance.jpg, Sigale Gale puppet from
Samosir Samosir, or Samosir Island, is a large volcanic island in Lake Toba, located in North Sumatra Province on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Administratively, Samosir Island is governed as six of the nine districts within Samosir Regency. Th ...
File:Sigale-gale-face.jpg, Sigale gale face File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Si gale gale dans te Simanindo TMnr 20000329.jpg, Puppeteer operating from behind the figure (1970)


See also

*
Tor-tor dance Tortor (Batak languages, Batak: ᯖᯬᯒ᯲ᯖᯬᯒ᯲) is a traditional Batak people, Batak dance originating from North Sumatra, Indonesia. This dance was originally a ritual and sacred dance performed at funerals, healing ceremonies, and oth ...
* Tandok dance *
Dance in Indonesia Dance in Indonesia () reflects the country's diversity of Ethnic groups in Indonesia, ethnicities and Culture of Indonesia, cultures. There are more than 600 ethnic groups in Indonesia. Austronesian people, Austronesian roots and Melanesian t ...
* '' Sigalegalephrynus'', a
toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...
genus named after the puppets


References


External links


SIGALE GALE
at PT.MASCOT TRAVEL
Sigale-gale at the front cover ''Art of island Southeast Asia : the Fred and Rita Richman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art''Black and white footage of Sigale gale with audio of the music (1993)Video of a performance Sigale Gale and footage of the craftsman making one (audio in Indonesian)
{{Dance of Indonesia Batak Puppets