The Structure of Tempuutn Langit Tana: An Ethnographic Study of an Indonesian Myth
The Structure of Tempuutn Langit Tana: An Ethnographic Study of an Indonesian Myth

Summary/Abstract: One of the myths in Indonesia is Tempuutn Langit Tana, namely the myth of the creation of the world (heaven and earth) in the Dayak Benuaq and Tunjung communities. This study aims to describe the structure of Tempuutn Mate in the Benuaq and Tunjung Dayak tribes. This research is a qualitative descriptive study with an ethnographic method following the Levi Strauss approach. The data source is the mythological book entitled Tempuutn: The Myth of Dayak Benuaq and Tunjung by Michael Hopes, Madrah, and Karaakng. The data were collected by reading and recording. The data were validated using library source triangulation and interviews with Dayak Benuaq community leaders. The study results revealed that Tempuutn Langit Tana could create a cultural phenomenon still being preserved today based on (1) a geographic level scheme in the form of a journey to meet a human god couple and their descendants who will inhabit the earth and heaven, (2) the techno-economic level in the form of creation process of the earth and heaven, (3) the sociological level related to society regarding the history and purpose of the wedding ceremony, as well as problem-solving, and (4) the cosmological level in the form of the unseen world since at that time the world had not yet been created, the purpose of the creation of astral beings, and the original emergence of religious ritual activities remaining to be carried out by the Dayak Benuaq and Tunjung tribal communities today.

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