The Political Myth of "Betheno Ne Tombula" as the Embryo of the emergence of Local Democracy in Ancient Kingdom of Muna
La Bilu, Haryanto, Mada Sukmajati
a. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Halu Oleo
b.Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada
c. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Abstract
Betheno Ne Tombula is known by the Munanese in Southeast Sulawesi as an appellation given to the first Muna-s King named La Eli who was also known as Djul Zaman. La Eli ruled Muna Kingdom around 1417-1467. In the local language (Muna), this appellation means born from bamboo. It is, in fact, not only revealed the birth of the King who was born from bamboo, but also contains the political myths. The title of Beteno Ne Tombula has even become an archeology of peoples knowledge about democracy in Muna Regency up to these days, particularly in the era of direct regional head elections. Without ignoring its historical aspects, this work emphasizes the analysis of aspects of political anthropology in explaining how the process of democratization began in Muna through the analysis of political values and systems within the myth of Betheno Ne Tombula and their implications today. In the analysis of the political myth of Betheno Ne Tombula, it begins with concretizing the symbolic meaning of "Betheno Ne Tombula" which contains the cultural values, namely; the values of agreement, representation, honesty, and reciprocity. In addition, the embodiment of the nature of King (leader) will be analyzed through the code of identity and behavior
Keywords: The Political Myth; Local Democracy; Muna; Betheno Ne Tombula
Topic: Culture