Talk:Nias people

Proper English
I understand this is a translation, but some of the wording doesn't sound like proper English. I'd go through it myself, but have limited time right now. I'll make two or three fixes, but it likely needs more.

Somebody who knows more about the people please check my edits; in some cases, the meaning wasn't fully clear, so hopefully I've interpreted things correctly. If not, please fix them. Alden Loveshade (talk) 01:46, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I did the translation back then along with many other articles at the same time. I could have overlooked on the quality of the translation as I was trying to speed things up with many other articles as well. Will keep an eye if there are any misinterpretations. Thanks for your contribution! -Jeblat (talk) 04:14, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

On the section Decline
Hi Jeblat or other editors here, I think the statement in the section Decline is kind of generalisation and does not reflect the reality. It is surely correct to state that Protestant missionaries "had been responsible to the destruction of Niassan wooden statues as well the suppression of the unique culture of Nias society". However it also wrong to state that the Roman Catholics were also responsible. The Catholic Church practically started to spread in Nias only since 1955.

As Tuhoni Telaumbanua and Uwe Hummel, both are Protestant scholars, have written in their extensive research "Cross and Adu" (ISBN 978 90 239 2216 2) Roman Catholic church has done a lot to preserve the Nias culture when they wrote:

"Especially in the field of conserving the traditional culture of the Ono Niha and integrating it into liturgy, architecture and art, the Roman Catholic Church has, since even before the second Vatican Council (1962-1965), been more progressive than her Protestant counterparts." p. 223

And thanks to the Roman Catholic church's efforts, Nias can now boast about its only museum and the many churches all over the Island built with the Nias architecture with its sculptures as well as the adoption of some its traditional belief practices in the Catholic church's liturgy.

It would be good if an editor can amend this. slaia  talk  13:26, 11 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi . I'm open to adding new information that are backed by reliable (even better, scholarly) sources, as long as it is encyclopedic in nature rather than propagandistic activism. The Decline section was added by, perhaps you may want to discuss it with him. Cheers! -Jeblat (talk) 14:47, 11 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi, I hope Rochelimit will somehow reply. As far as I could see on his talk page, his account was blocked and I haven't seen any message saying that the issue had been resolved and his account unblocked again (I may have overlooked?). slaia   talk  15:14, 11 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi . The Decline section added by Rochelimit was back in 2018. I would suggest that you should just proceed with the editing. Any valuable improvements to the article is welcomed! -Jeblat (talk) 16:29, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

Fanömba Adu
Hi @Blackman Jr., I just read the edit on the section Religion and two things I find are not entirely correct.

1) Muslims are called "Ndrawa". This is not true. Dawa (or "ndrawa" dependes on its position in a sentence/Nias grammar) means foreigners, non-indigenous people, it means simply people from other ethnic groups. Therefore there are Dawa Hulando (the Dutch), Dawa Hagöri (English), Dawa Ase (Acehnese), Dawa Heleni (Greek), Dawa Miserayi (Agyptian), Dawa Zao (Javanese), Dawa Ara (Arabs) etc. The quick way to find out of its usage is to consult Nias bible, which uses a lot of the word dawa. In short it has nothing to do with the religion of someone.

2) "the rest adhere to a traditional religion called Fanömba Adu". This is not correct. First there is no "Fanömba Adu" practice anymore and second the religion in Nias was animism, and "fanömba adu" was only one among many religious practices.

To the first point: I am a Niassan, born in Nias and have visited many places in Nias from the North to the South. I have never met someone who belongs or practice the "Fanömba Adu" religion. And if there is one, I would like to meet him/her, because I want to know more about the practice and to document it for Nias Wikibooks. The reality is since the "mass repetance" in 1915-1930 the tranditional religion was practically wiped out.

To the second point: fanömba adu was only one religious practice. Niassan didn't believe in "adu" (adu means statue). Adu was only the figurative representation of ancestor's spirits. They din't worship "adu", only "appease" them, so that they didn't cause trouble. Adu was not their God. In fact there is no word for God in Nias language! The missionaries chose the word Lowalangi as the word for monoteistic God, but Lowalangi was only one of the powerful spirits alongside Lature Danö, who ruled the world (therefore Lature Danö was called "samatörö ulidanö" (the ruler of the world)). In fact in the old times a Niassan would bring offering to Lature when they got ill, not to Lowalangi!

I would appreciate if you revert the edit, which is closer to reality. Thanks. slaia  talk  09:01, 11 June 2023 (UTC)