ROLES OF BUAPAK

The suku was sub-divided into several perut. The head of a perut is called buapak or bopak in the local dialect.However, in some suku, such as Semelenggang,Mungkal, Tiga Nenek and Selemak, there was only one buapak for all the perut in the suku. The number of buapak, too, varied over time: in 1910 there were only 64 buapak [loco dt.], by 1943 the number had increased to 102,9) and by 1963 it had dropped to 73.10).The buapak's responsibilities, power and authority were limited to his perut only. Since a buapak was elected by unanimous vote, the members of the perut could depose him. Otherwise, he would remain in office for life. The buapak was elected in rotation from several ruang within the perut.