Faces of the Dewa Family
Made. “Mah-day.” This is the name/title given to every second-born child.
by Mike
In Indonesia, children are given names based on their birth order: First is Butuh, then Made, Nyoman and Ketut. Males are I, females are Mi, so a fourth male child is named, for example, I Ketut Ari. There is no family name. (more photos)
Tags: bali, chocolate farm, coffee farm, dewa family, homestay, munduk, portraits
Posted in Indonesia and Photography and Southeast Asia and Travel and Uncategorized
at 2:35 pm.
2 comments
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Doesn’t this make kindergarten role call very very confusing?
I think this tells so much about a person. If you know from the first meeting that someone is the oldest or a younger child, you will have different expectations. For instance, without fail the oldest children here have been the most patient, we’ll often times see them carrying their younger siblings. Most people have a lot of children, so you can count on Made and Nyomin being in the middle.
I also wonder if this places more importance on birth order than it does on individuality, which is quite opposite from our culture. The fact that families don’t seem to record their family history also places an importance on the here and now. With names, I wonder if it doesn’t matter so much about who the person is, but more how they fit in to the overall family group and relate to one another in the here and now.
Obviously, I have no proof of any of this, so these are just thoughts.