Massapeo - a Duri custom

There is a story, that is told by the old people, which is related to what is called Massapeo'. The story goes like this: There was a man from Kalosi, whose name was Manai. It is said that he was king or ruler at Kalosi and he was also a brave man.

One time he went to get married in Dante Mararih, which is a village in Baraka, above Balla village. After the marriage, he stayed in Balla and he was made the king of Balla. At that time Duri and Toraja were at war. Torajanese forces came all the way to Salubarani to war with the Duri and the Duri were loosing.

 

One man came from Salubarani to tell Manai, "Toraja is about to win. If you do not come help us, we certainly will lose." Manai said; "Let's gather all the people who are going to go to war in the Balla field." At that time the field was not yet called Balla, because the field that is called Balla, at the time when the people gathered there, was the place where they opened mats [ballaran]. In Indonesian ballaran means to open a scroll. That's the reason the place is named Balla to this day.

 

After the people had gathered in Balla, they all returned to their homes to prepare provisions to go to the war. Manai was their leader and he too returned to his house. But when he arrived at his house, his wife's rice was not yet done, and because he was in a hurry to go, he had to lift his wife's rice, and he knocked over the cooking pot and all the rice spilled. His wife was very ashamed, so she fled to her village Mararih.

 

Manai left also, going with the people to war in Toraja. When he warred against Toraja, Toraja lost and they were chased to their villages. But when they arrived in their villages, many Torajanese helped them so then Duri lost again. At that time Manai was killed and the torajanese cut his head from his body. His friends carried it from there and buried it in Tarunjung.

 

This was the story. Because his and his wife's  journey were in different directions that day, calamity came to him when he went to war and so he was killed in Toraja.

 

This is called Massapeo', which is a belief of the Duri whose understanding of Islam is not deep. They do not want to spend the night with someone who is going another direction the next day. So if there are people staying in the same house, who are going different directions, they must be separated during the night, so that they will not sleep in the same house. Otherwise they should leave at separate times, one leaving now, and the other leaving the next day. This is because they are afraid that calamity will come upon them, like when Manai went to war and his journey was in a different direction than his wife's. So Manai was killed in Toraja and his head was cut off. Until today, many Duri people still believe in Massapeo' . But those who have a good education and whose understanding of their religion is deep do not believe it anymore.