page_title: Omo sebua
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Omo sebua / Background
context_page_description: The Omo sebua is a traditional house style of the Nias people from Nias island, Indonesia. They are built only for the houses of village's chiefs. Situated in the centre of a village, omo sebua are built on massive ironwood piles and have towering roofs. Nias culture, with former frequent inter-village warfare, has made the design of omo sebua impregnable to attack. The houses' sole access is through a narrow staircase with a small trap door above. The steeply pitched roofs can reach 16 metres in height. Apart from a strong defense against enemies, omo sebua have proven earthquake resistance.
context_section_description: Nias (Indonesian: Pulau Nias, Nias language: Tanö Niha) is a rugged island 140 km off the mainland port of Sibolga at the western coast of Sumatra, separated by the Mentawai Strait. Nias is part of the North Sumatra province with Gunungsitoli as its administrative center. The island covers an area of 4,771 km²; the largest of its 131 chain of islands parallel to the Sumatran coast. The population of the island is 639,675 people including Malay, Batak, Chinese) and the indigenous inhabitants Ono Niha.
  Once a megalithic head-hunting society, its economy was based on agriculture and pig-rearing, and was supplemented by export of captured slaves in inter-village warfare. Although its isolation has contributed to the uniqueness of its culture, the Nias Island chain has been trading with other cultures, other islands, and even mainland Asia since prehistoric time. The predominant religion is Protestant Christianity with over 75% of the population; the remaining are about evenly divided Muslim (mostly immigrants from elsewhere in Indonesia) and Catholic.  However adherence to either Christian or Muslim religions is still largely nominal; Nias continues to celebrate its own indigenous culture and traditions as the primary form of spiritual expression.
  Niassan society is highly stratified and chiefs, particularly in the south of island, had access to a wealth of material resources and human labor. It was with this wealth that the early twentieth century saw the chiefs of the isolated island build themselves the grand omo sebua.
caption: Location of North Sumatra, location of the island of Nias.
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