- Rawa tribe
"This article is about Rawa tribe."
The Rawa ("
malay " Orang Rawa) (also known as Rao) are a little known indigenous community in West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia ). They are slightly referred to theMinangkabau tribe. They also known as one of the multipleethnic groups inNusantara . [Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a source of diverse modern identities http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=90301]Origin
The Rawa migrated to the Malaysian mainland from the town of Rao in Minangkabau Province (West Sumatra Province) in modern-day Indonesia and are descended from the kings or Sultans of
Johor . The Rawas are descended from a prince of Johor who settled in the kingdom of Minangkabau. He founded the town of Rau, where he started a family with one of the Minangkabau Sultan’s (Yang Dipertuan Besar ’s) children. [Rawa tribe Malaysiana1 archive [http://malaysiana1.blogspot.com/2007/08/about-rawa-tribe.html] ]Geography
The centre of the Rawas in the Peninsula is
Gopeng , a small town inKampar ,Perak . The main area is Sungai Itik village. The Rawas were invited by the Sultan of Johor to settle in the Malaysian mainland and they chose to live in Perak, a protectorate of Johor ruled by one of the Johor king’s descendants. [Rawa war of 1848 http://www.mandailing.org/Eng/rawawar.html]Ritual belief
The Rawa have a special ritual called Adat Jojak. Every child who reaches the age of one has to undergo this ritual before setting foot on land outside his / her home village.The child’s feet, palms and forehead are smeared with
saffron paste and he / she is made to walk on a mat strewn with petals of seven flowers.A medicine man (dukun orbomoh ) performs special prayers for the child’s well-being.The child walks across the mat thrice and is then bathed in water with a slice of lime in it.Finally, the child is fed with some chicken in coconut milk (santan ).In the modern-day, Adat Jojak has become very seldom practiced by the Rawas.
Traditional Cuisine
The Rawa traditional cuisine is Sumur. Fried fish or chicken mix together with coconut milk-based paste (
Gulai ) along served with white rice. This cuisine is very little known by the to-date ancestors.References
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