Aceh Traditional House

Acehnese villages usually lie in the middle of cultivated areas where the houses are hidden among the trees for shade and coolness. An older traditional house is built without using any nails. The house held together with cord or pegswhich are made too small for its hole and is kept in place by large wedges.

An Acehnese house stand on pillars which is well designed for the climate. It is composed of five divisions (rueung). 16, 20 or 24 sturdy pillars, usually 6-8 feet in height, rise perpendicularly up from the floor, providing space for air circulation and for people to move about comfortably.

Situated in the Special Region of Aceh (Now called Nanggroe Aceh Darrussalam) the northernmost provincial-level unit of Sumatra , the more than 3.4 million Acehnese are most famous throughout the archipelago for their militant resistance to colonial and republican rule. Renowned throughout the nineteenth century for their pepper plantations, most Acehnese were rice growers in the coastal regions in the early 1990s. Aceh composed of multi-ethnics groups; they are Acehnese, Gayo, Tamiang, Alas, Simeulue, Kluet and Aneuk Jamee.

The Acehnese

Majority of Acehnese are Moslem. Aceh has many different people who have been colored by the Islamic religion. Nevertheless, The Hindu/Budhist religion strongly influenced the culture long before the arrival of Islam. Still today some Hindu/Budhist influences can be encountered in current traditional through adat ceremonies, arts, customs, and everyday life.   Various faiths, such as Buddhist, Hindu, Protestant and Catholic numbered less than 4% of the population.

People living in the Aceh descended from many various tribes and ethnicities. Some physical features resemble those of Chinese European, or Indian heritages. The ancestors of Acehnese may have come from old , Cham, Kocincina and . The arrival of recent malay with their established culture caused many native people to move inland.


These people are now recognized as the people of Gayo, in Central Aceh , and Alas in Southeast Aceh Regency. The past sailing adventures of Acehnese across the ocean indicated that internationally established contact, especially with the emperrors of , took place for a long time. Various gifts from China are still found in Aceh at present.


Aceh is well known as the area prossessing special autonomy in religion. This specialty is stated in the Republic of Indonesia, Prime Minister decrees No XII/Missi/1959 dated may 26 1959, which declared that Aceh is a Special Province especially in the regards to culture. Another law: No. 44/1999 about the implementation of the specialties offered to this special region was also passed by Jakarta . This laws primary cover four aspects of Aceh autonomy, namely: traditions, customs, education and religous practices when making state policies in Aceh.

Close family ties typify community life in the rural areas. The village, which in Aceh is called gampong, is the smallest administrative territory. Each gampong is led by a gampong head, who is called a keusyik. He takes care of the daily affairs of administration in the village, together with the religious, the teungku imum. The Keuchik is assisted by "Tuha Peut" or four old and highly respected assistants representing the community, and by a "Teungku Meunasah" or "Teungku Imum", a religious leader. In each gampong there is a building called "Meunasah" functioning as the gampong administration center, religious services education hall, a community hall, discussion center and meeting place for other issues of public interest.

In daily communication, the Acehnese people usually speak Acehnese and Bahasa is also spoken, though mainly in cities. In addition to the Acehnese and Bahasa, there are also several different dialects in some parts of the region. In West and South Aceh, a dialect similar to Minang is found, while in Kuala Simpang they speak a Deli-Malay dialect. In Central Aceh, people speak Gayonese, while in Southeast Aceh people use the Alas dialect. Other local dialects are found also in different areas of Aceh.

The exchange of greetings and pleasantries is important in the people's daily lives. Older people, particularly community and religious leaders, are treated with great deference.

Acehnese traditional arts contain religious, communal, democratic and heroic identity. Acehnese literature is written in Acehnese 'and Malay (Jawi) Arabic words and symbols influence the Acehnese literature in many ways. In regard to literature, the Acehnese are quite creative. Acehnese poets are able to create beautiful poetry without any early preparation. This can be seen, for example, when there is a traditional customary celebration such as a poetry contest (poetic polemics).

Since the time of Kingdoms up to the present, the life of Acehnese people has been led by the following guidance: "Adat bak poe teumeureuhom, Hukom bak Syiah Kuala. Kanun bak Putroe Phang, Reusam bak Laksamana. Hukom ngon adat lagee zat ngon sipheut."

The above expression means that questions concerning customs, or meaning of state regulations are decided by the wisdom of the Sultan and his advisors which in this case is symbolized by Sultan Iskandar Muda. Law (meaning Islamic regulations) is in the hands of religious leaders, symbolized by the great and well-known, Teungku Syiah Kuala (Syeich Abdurrauf).  “Zat ngon sipheut" means that laws and traditions are tied up firmly like substance and its nature (fish and water).

The majority of the population is concentrated in and around the coastal towns and cities, which leaves the hinterland almost empty. The coastal areas are generally livelier. The islands Weh and Simeuleu may even be regarded crowded by Acehnese standards, particularly during the years when Sabang, on Weh Island, was an international free port. Many of the other islands, however, are unpopulated.

The data of 2001 show that Aceh is occupied by 4,225,669 people. The data show that the most density area is Banda Aceh.  Because of continuing political and arm conflicts many villagers moved to coastal cities from 2000-2005; coastal cities were hit hardest by earthquake and Tsunami.