Between Wisdom and Ritual: A Biblical Response to Raego among the To Kaili and To Kulawi of Indonesia

Abstract

Raego remains an important oral tradition among the To Kaili [Kaili people] and To Kulawi [Kulawi people] communities of Central Sulawesi, yet its theological significance has received limited scholarly attention. Using a qualitative literature-based approach, this study undertakes a close reading of documented Raego chants informed by oral tradition studies, ethnographic research, and biblical theology. The findings show that Raego simultaneously embodies communal wisdom and ritual cosmology. While the chants preserve values such as solidarity, gratitude, and intergenerational continuity, they also contain sacred invocations and patterns of spiritual mediation that raise theological questions for Christian communities.
Contribution: This article proposes a biblically grounded framework for engaging indigenous oral traditions through critical contextualisation. It demonstrates how close textual analysis of documented ritual chants can help distinguish communal values that may be affirmed from ritual meanings that require theological evaluation in light of Scripture.