CULTURAL HERITAGE MAINTENANCE OF RU-KETU TRADITION OF SABU PEOPLE

Abstract

This research describes the Sabu People’s attempts to
preserve their tradition, especially the Ru-ketu tradition.
This is a descriptive qualitative study. This study gathered
data by interviewing as primary data and documentation as
secondary data. The descriptive qualitative approach was
utilized for data analysis, with stages of finishing the
transcription process of interviewing, data analysis, and
concluding. Unstructured interviews and documentation
were employed as data-gathering instruments. The study’s
findings indicate that the Sabu people still maintain the
Ru’ketu tradition due to some views (1) as a symbol of
kinship and love for family and their birth. (2) Death
custom that collects and brings together living people as
faces of the departed. (3) As a socio-cultural symbol of the
Sabu people that explains the feeling of love for their native
land which is considered the center of the world.