Bolaang Mongondow

ETHNONYMS: Bolaang-Mongondo, Boolaang-Mongondonese, Mongondou, Mongondow

A 1983 estimate places the population of the Bolaang Mongondow at over 1.5 million. They live on the northern or Minahassa peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. They are a coastal group who merged with the inland Mongondow. Bolaang Mongondow is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of Austronesian languages. Villages are strung along roads, mostly on the upland plateaus. Subsistence is based on wet rice, sago, yams, and cassava. Domestic animals include pigs, cattle, buffalo, goats, and chickens. Islam dates to 1830, and about 90 percent of the people are Muslims. The other 10 percent are mainly Protestant. Descent is bilateral. Bolaang Mongondow society was traditionally divided into nobles, commoners, and slaves, with each group having many subdivisions.

Bibliography

LeBar, Frank M. (1972). "Bolaang Mongondow." In Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia, edited by Frank M. LeBar. Vol. 1, Indonesia, Andaman Islands, and Madagascar, 127—128. New Haven: HRAF Press.