The Form and Meaning of The Mekongga Custom Marriage Ritual in South East of Sulawesi

This article discusses the form and the meaning marriage ritual in the Mekongga custom in Kolaka Regency, South East of Sulawesi. The data was collected through observation, interview, and documentation. The discussion uses semiotic theory with qualitative research design, and uses three stages of data analysis, namely data reduction, presentation, and makes conclusions. The marriage ritual in Mekongga custom consists of several stages, namely mesuko-suko or menduutudu (pre propose), tebua (propose), mokondetoro (engagement), mombekaako (bring the wedding fees), and perapua stages (wedding party). Each stage has a lot of meaning, such as the meaning of openness, prudence, consistency, and courtesy. The implementation of these rituals make the intensive interaction and communication among of the family members widely. In addition, rituals like this can bring back the kinship relationship that are broke or have been far apart. This kind of ritual has a very broad function, beside of has a function as balancer in social institution it also functioning to convey the message of the ancestors in order to create a conducive situation of the society. In short, marriage ritual in Mekongga custom has several forms which is preceded by preproposed and ended by wedding party, and each form or stage has certain meaning.