Kédang - Settlements

Villages of a few hundred persons, made up of named hamlets, have been reorganized by the Indonesian government into "administrative" villages of 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants, sometimes consolidating two or more older villages. Village government consists of an elected head, treasurer, and secretary. During the wet monsoon, when there is much continuous work on the fields, many people spend extended periods living in field huts several miles away from their villages. The traditional house is a simple bamboo structure, with a grass- or palm-leaf-covered roof supported on house posts. These buildings are carefully oriented according to traditional religious ideas and the Kédang conception of space. Increasingly, with encouragement from the government and the Catholic mission, brick houses with corrugated iron roofs are being erected.