On the edge of Lake Laut Tawar, Takengon, Central Aceh.
This incident shows evidence that the Gayo Tribe itself is committed to maintaining the sovereignty of Aceh as a whole from the invasion of imperialism and colonialism of the Dutch government.
In the Melalatoa report (1982) that the Gayo Tribe occupies three parts of the Level II Region, namely the Level II Region of Southeast Aceh, the Level II Region of East Aceh, and the Level II Region of Central Aceh. The largest part occupied by the Gayo People is the Level II Region of Central Aceh known as Gayo Lut and Gayo Deret. Traditional Gayo society does not know the written culture so that various aspects of culture that exist are only in the form of folklore or folk stories that are developed orally.
This oral culture is quite developed, including how the Gayo ethnic group believes that the history of the origin that before the arrival of Islam in Aceh, there was already a kingdom in the Gayo area called the Linge kingdom. However, until now there has been no definite information and sources and evidence to support the information on the origin.
Currently the Gayo ethnic group is the largest ethnic group after the Acehnese ethnic group. The number reaches 10% of the total population of Aceh which is the second largest ethnic group after the Acehnese ethnic group. The population is around 500 thousand people or 10 percent of the total population of Aceh which is 5,096,248 people (Aceh Province in Figures, 2016).
In the historical records of the Gayo ethnic group, Islam has been internalized in the socio-cultural life of its people. If so far there have been views and stereotypes that doubt their Islam and religious identity, but in its development Islamic civilization has become the basis for the development of culture which is currently used as a platform for the development of strategic areas based on culture through the determination of the Gayo Highlands as a National Strategic Area.
This area is also called "Negeri Antara" which is believed to be the birthplace of holy people and developing Islamic propagation in Aceh (Waspada.co.id). The internalization of Islamic values in the life of the Gayo ethnic group can be traced from the existence of Joyah. Joyah is a place of worship specifically for women. Joyah Uken and Joyah Toa are different from Joyah-Joyah in other areas.
Joyah in both areas is used as a semi-permanent residence for elderly Gayo women. In their daily lives, the residents of Joyah spend their time devoting themselves to religion (Verdenbregt, 1980).
This shows the antithesis of the stigma attached to the Gayo ethnic group which views them as less Islamic. In addition, the Islamic identity of the Gayo ethnic group has characteristics that are a comprehensive integration of Islamic values and are enriched with several unique features in religious expressions that are manifested in several rituals, namely marriage, kenduri, divorce, and inheritance rights.
Of course this is possible, because the development of Islam in the archipelago often experiences adjustments to local characters, syncretism, acculturation, and cultural appropriation.
However, on that side, it is then seen that the democracy that developed in Tanoh Gayo has a unique and harmonious character, with a balance point between tradition, customs, and religion that is different from the political character of coastal Aceh. This example also strengthens the politics of Central Aceh so that there are minimal violations and "crimes" as recorded in the kaleidoscope of the 2019 Simultaneous Elections.[]
