This folktale originates from Jampea, where I am from. It has been passed down from each generation in my family. I first heard it from my grandmother. Everyone from Jampea knows this story and I believe that it truly happened. I can see the evidence: a village that is completely uninhabited and no longer touched by humans.
An outbreak of disease began in the 1960s in Paranglandina, a village in the southern part of Jampea. Even though Indonesia had become independent at that time, the villagers remained very traditional due to their remote location.
Paranglandina was enveloped by beaches and mountains, and lush with gardens and rice fields. Many of the villagers worked as Papekang na Pakoko (fishermen and farmers). The villagers lived peacefully, until the outbreak of this disease.
Strong winds and heavy rain lashed the village. The Papekang na Pakoko
had to return to their homes. Well into the night, the wind continued to blow from all directions and the rain showed no sign of letting up.
When the sun rose, the sea was calm once again, though something was amiss. Usually after it had rained the temperature would drop, but that day the heat was sweltering. At noon one of the villagers fell ill. The disease caused severe diarrhea and vomiting. It became known as Jammbang-jambang and Ammiruak-miruak.
The villager grew sicker as the day went on. No treatments or traditional medicines were able to heal him. By the end of the day, he was dead. The news of his death spread through the village and many of the villages assisted with the burial. Later, those who had been in direct contact with the body began to experience the same symptoms.
One by one, the villagers died. The mourning cries of the families of the dead echoed from the north to the south and from the east to the west. No one was safe from the disease. Children were made orphans overnight, calling out for their dead parents. They kept asking for help, shouting ‘Allekang, allekang… Allekang kodong!’. At night, the villagers were unable to sleep for fear that they, or their loved ones, would not wake up.
Conflict grew amongst the remaining villagers. Some felt that there was nothing that could be done and that they should stay with their remaining family members. Others chose to flee the village, leaving unburied corpses in their desperation to escape. They fled to the opposite island by boat, but they too soon fell ill and died. No one survived the disease.
This frightening incident on Jampea island caused it to become abandoned. A place that was once bustling with people is now empty and silent. Those who cross through the village have described the feeling that they are being haunted. People have begun to re-open plantations in the village, although sometimes the spirits of the residents still haunt them.
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