The Deities' Influence in the Dawan Tribe's Oe Kana Ritual: An Arnold van Gennep Analysis

The Dawan tribe is the largest of population in Timor Island. This tribe have a concept of divinity that is different from other tribes. This research aims to examine the concept of divinity in the Dawan tribe through the Oe Kana ritual. The ritual Oe Kana is one of many rituals that show how the Dawaness adore their God. This research uses quantitative analysis of scientific sources related to the theme of the writing. In this research, Arnold van Gennep's study is applied with three approaches: pre-liminal, liminal, and post-liminal, to understand the Oe Kana ritual. This research finds that there are two concepts of divinity known, namely Uis Neno and Uis Pala. In addition, the Dawan tribe also has the figure of Bei Nai as an ancestral spirit. The Dawan tribe honours Uis Neno and Uis Pala as life givers in their daily lives. They also give each god’s mention: Uis Neno, dominant is the sky or heaven (high god), Uis Pala, dominant on earth (low god). This classification means the place of power. Bei Nai have central point of honour in the Dawans tribe. He makes some connection to Uis Neno and Uis Pala.