During the 1990s, the remote island of Nias became well-known on the surfing circuit. It also started attracting backpackers who were interested in its extraordinary hilltop villages, with their remarkable collections of traditional houses and megaliths. Its isolation meant that mass tourism remained a long way off, but Nias drew a steady trickle of curious travellers. Further development of tourist infrastructure and services seemed inevitable.
These hopes were dashed by the earthquake of March 28, 2005, which killed at least 915 people and devastated the island’s towns and villages. For the next decade, the most common foreigners on Nias were neither surfers nor backpackers but relief agency workers trying to rebuild the shattered island. During this time, numerous bridges had to be rebuilt and travel around Nias became painstaking. Few travellers were willing to brave the difficult conditions on the island. The reports we heard of misfortune and hardship were enough to keep us away. However, in early 2019, we finally made it to Nias to see its remaining villages. Over the next few months I intend to post multiple posts on Niassan villages, starting with the often-overlooked village of Hilisamaetano.
The ‘showcase’ village of South Nias seems to be Bawomataluo, which will be featured in a later post. However, if you’ve gone all the way to Nias, you might as well see more than one village. While Bawomataluo is deservedly the most famous, preserving the best range of ancient houses and megaliths, Hilisamaetano is also no slouch. With more than 100 traditional houses surviving, as well as numerous other antiquities, it repays leisurely exploration. It is also very much a living village; its cobblestone main street is thronged with people doing laundry, drying rice, chatting with friends, chewing betel and flying kites. If you want to see a workaday village with a rich architectural legacy, you won’t do better than Hilisamaetano.
For the historically minded tourist, the village offers some vestiges of its megalithic past. There are stone slabs, tables and carvings outside many of the houses, some of the modern reproductions and others antiquities in various states of repair. The village also has the obligatory jumping stone (batu lompat), which young men were once expected to leap in displays of acrobatic prowess. The best of its stone antiquities is probably a ceremonial staircase at the far end of the village. It also includes a small canon as part of the display. While earthquake damage is plainly evident on the staircase, it still retains a hint of its former glory.
Nearby is a modern version of a chief’s house (omo hada) with a narrow, soaring roof. The original was completely destroyed, probably either in an earthquake or a fire. In fact, there are only five remaining examples of omo hada on the entire island. As a general rule, these chiefly houses were not rebuilt after they were destroyed. As far as I know, this modern reproduction is a one-off in Nias.
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