CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES OF POWER: The Role of Sekaten and Tabot in the Formation of Local Identity

Abstract

This study focuses on local traditions in Indonesia, specifically Sekaten in Yogyakarta and Tabot in Bengkulu, as manifestations of local community identity. The primary data sources are colonial historical archives, magazines, newspapers, and secondary documents related to both traditions. The study aims to analyze how Sekaten and Tabot shape local identity through ritual practices, symbols, and community participation. Data were analyzed using a postcolonial approach combined with cultural identity theory, as well as power relations and resistance theory. The findings indicate that Sekaten and Tabot do not function merely as religious rituals, but also as social arenas in which local identity, symbolic authority, and power relations are continuously negotiated and reproduced. Although the two traditions operate within different configurations of power, their persistence amid regime changes from the colonial to the modern period demonstrates the existence of cultural strategies through which communities maintain and rearticulate their respective local identities.

Keywords: Sekaten, Tabot, Local Identity, Cultural Tradition.