Eka Yuliana Rahman, Nana Supriatna, Erlina Wiyanarti, Haris Firmansyah, Habibi Sultan
This article examines the historical transformation of the Kabasaran dance within the Minahasa community of North Sulawesi, Indonesia, from a sacred war ritual into a contemporary cultural performance and heritage tradition. Although Kabasaran has long been recognized as a symbol of Minahasa identity and a traditional war dance, studies exploring its internal cultural logic across historical periods remain limited. This study employs Spradley’s historical ethnographic approach through participant observation, in-depth interviews, colonial archival analysis, and field notes collected during five months of fieldwork from August to December 2025.The findings reveal three major transformations. First, Kabasaran initially functioned as a sacred communal ritual rooted in the animistic Walak belief system, serving both spiritual and military purposes within Minahasa society. Second, Dutch colonial intervention through Staatsblad 1859 No. 104b institutionalized Kabasaran administratively and transformed its social role while maintaining much of its symbolic structure. Third, contemporary Kabasaran has undergone aesthetic ritualization in which symbolic elements such as the red costume, santi sword, wengkow spear, and kelung shield continue to preserve cultural memory and collective identity. The study argues that Kabasaran communities actively reinterpret and negotiate history, identity, and cultural memory through ritual practices that continue to survive within contemporary Minahasa social life. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Department of History Education, Universitas Negeri Manado, Manado, Indonesia; Social Studies Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia; History Education Study Program, Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak, Indonesia
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