The Sanggoleo Mbae Ritual in the Wet Rice Cultivation Pattern of the Mekongga Community in Mowewe, East Kolaka Regency

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_36How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Local wisdon; Mekongga community; Ritual Sanggoleo Mbae; Values

Abstract

This study investigates the cultural perceptions of Mekongga rice farmers toward Dewi Padi, locally known as Sanggoleo Mbae. Within the Mekongga cosmology, Sanggoleo Mbae is conceived not merely as a mythic figure but as a sacred embodiment that situates rice as a divine gift intricately bound to human existence. Employing ethnographic methods including participant observation and in-depth interviews, this research adopts Julian Steward’s Cultural Ecology Theory to interpret the interrelations between ritual practice, agrarian livelihood, and environmental adaptation. Findings indicate that Sanggoleo Mbae continues to hold a salient position in the ritual and moral universe of Mekongga farmers in Mowewe District. The belief in this sacred figure is manifested through a series of ritual sequences that accompany agricultural cycles from seed selection and field maintenance to harvest and post-harvest ceremonies. These rituals operate beyond their technical functions; they serve as symbolic enactments of spiritual reciprocity and ecological interdependence between humans and the natural world. The ritual complex surrounding Sanggoleo Mbae thus constitutes a cultural mechanism of regulation, shaping the ethos of labor, ethical values, and ecological consciousness within the agrarian community. Embedded cultural principles such as reverence, restraint, mutual respect, and communal solidarity reflect an enduring cosmological framework that mediates human–nature relations. Ultimately, these ritual practices reinforce collective identity, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability within the Mekongga community.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ashmarita Ashmarita
AU  - Pawennari Hijjang
AU  - La Ode Topo Jers
AU  - Wa Ode Winesty Sofyani
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - The Sanggoleo Mbae Ritual in the Wet Rice Cultivation Pattern of the Mekongga Community in Mowewe, East Kolaka Regency
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 454
EP  - 465
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_36
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_36
ID  - Ashmarita2026
ER  -