Jayapura, Jubi – The rhythmic beat of eight tifa drums echoed across Yobeh Village as Yafet Felle, playing the traditional kerembut (also known as kelambut), directed a performance welcoming visitors to the Indigenous Community Festival in Yobeh Village, Sentani District, Jayapura Regency, Papua, on Saturday, 1 August 2026.
“We perform this dance to welcome our guests and invited visitors,” Felle told Jubi after the performance, explaining that the tifa drummers follow the commands of the kerembut player throughout the performance.
Felle said the kerembut is a traditional musical instrument unique to the Sentani people and forms an important part of the cultural identity of the Sentani community, including the people of Yobeh Village.
“The kerembut is one of the ceremonial regalia of the Ondoafi (traditional chief). It cannot be used during customary celebrations without the Ondoafi’s permission, and obtaining that permission can cost tens of millions of rupiah,” he said.
According to Felle, the instrument is carved from a hardwood known in the Sentani language as Enaye, a timber prized for its resonant sound. The wood is sourced from the Cycloop Mountains.
“The timber is extremely heavy and usually requires around ten people to carry it. After carving, it is dried in the sun to produce a clear, resonant tone,” he said.
Felle explained that the distinctive sound of the kerembut serves as the cue for the tifa drummers, allowing them to strike their drums in unison while synchronising with the rhythmic footwork of the dancers encircling the kerembut player.
“I stand in the centre playing the kerembut, surrounded by the tifa drummers, while the women dance in the outer circle,” he said.
He added that, according to Sentani custom, only men are permitted to play the kerembut. Women are traditionally prohibited from doing so because of a cultural belief that playing the instrument could affect their fertility.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr I Wayan Rai S. of the Publishing Centre at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Denpasar, in his study Kelambut Music: An Ethnic Identity of the Sentani People of Papua, examines the kerembut from an ethnomusicological perspective. He argues that the kerembut is an essential marker of Sentani cultural identity and that understanding its role is vital to preserving the heritage of the Sentani people.
The kerembut is a traditional Sentani instrument shaped like a small canoe and played with wooden beaters during customary festivals, musical performances, and cultural seminars.
“In Sentani society, the kerembut symbolises togetherness and serves as a source of tolerance,” I Wayan Rai said.
He described the instrument as a particularly significant subject of ethnomusicological study whose existence must be understood within the broader context of Sentani culture.
According to his research, kerembut music performs important roles in both secular and sacred ceremonies. In secular settings, it functions primarily as entertainment, while in sacred ceremonies its significance is closely tied to religious beliefs and spiritual traditions.
Its meaning may relate to the community’s relationship with God, ancestral spirits, deities, or other spiritual beings regarded as possessing supernatural powers, depending on the beliefs and worldview of the community that performs it. (*)
