“It will be an amazing trip during Reba Season. Think about it! The food and drinks served at the festival are always seen as blessings and good luck for everyone who eats them.”

There are interesting things in the social and cultural life of the Ngada tribe, who live remote inland of Flores Island, Indonesia. Once a year they express gratitude for all their life’s journey in a year in a Reba festival. Gratitude for the long journey of their ancestors using canoes (pako nee rajo, rona nee kowa) and gratitude for completing a long and hard pilgrimage to face life’s challenges (lete wei koba leke, daro wei kawi kao). They are grateful for all the universal order that allows them to live. They are grateful for the goodness of nature and the highest being that has provided everything they need. They are grateful because they have escaped the danger of starvation. They are grateful for being able to be at peace with nature and each other. Thankful for the upholding of customary law which allows them to live together in order.

The entire Ngada ethnic community enters into a reflective moment and expresses gratitude for this life in a Reba festival starting from 25 December through middle of February. In this festival, the Ngada people rejoice in bringing offerings to a sacred place outside the village (loka). There they carry out the ritual of slaughtering sacrificial animals (chickens) and offer offerings of rice, meat and palm wine to their ancestors and predecessors. On the same time a leader recite poems that commemorate the long journey of ancestors from a country to the place where they inherit it now. Apart from that, a leader also gives advice, commands and prohibitions as a basic norm for all members of the tribe to obey.

Apart from rituals outside the village, upon returning to their respective homes, each family member will gather in the traditional house. There are discussions which are an evaluation of the use of family resources (land and gold, silver and livestock), relationships and communication in life together, which sometimes involve quarrels, debates and commotion. However, it will all end in peace through the ritual of slaughtering sacrificial animals in the traditional house, making offerings to the Ancestors and continuing with eating and drinking together in a spirit of brotherhood and kinship.

After going through a series of reflections and rituals, the next day they will express their joy through dancing with poetry which is a message from their ancestors for the new generation. They ate rice and meat and drank wine to their heart’s content. They will invite relatives and everyone watching the festival to join in the banquet with them. For the Ngada ethnic community, the food and drinks served at the festival are always seen as blessings and good luck for everyone who eats them.

We also invite you to visit Flores during the Reba season, and prepare enough time to take part in the Reba festival and receive blessings and good luck. (Media Crew)