Tentena is a town in Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tentena is the capital of the district Pamona Puselemba. The city is located on the edge of Lake Poso, approximately 54 km southeast of the district capital Poso and 258 km southeast of Palu, the capital city of Central Sulawesi province.^[1]

Tentena has a total area of 82.49 km2 with a population of 11,233 people. Tentena is the second largest town in Poso Regency, after the district capital. The urban area of Tentena generally consists of three sub-districts, namely Tentena, Sangele, and Pamona.^[2]

Tentena is the center of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church. Tentena is also the location for the annual tourism festival held since 1991, the Poso Lake Festival.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

The word "Tentena" is generally used by people to explain to others about their area of origin. By mentioning the word "Tentena" as the area of origin, the individual can be identified as to where he/she comes from even though the individual is not from Tentena.^[a][9] Since the early 1940s, the people of 38 villages around Tentena have considered themselves to be the Tentena people.

The name "Tentena" is better known by the people of Sulawesi in general and this has been going on for a long time, since Tentena had its glory in the past, which was specifically related to the formation of the first traditional market or called pasar subuh 'dawn market', so that the name of one of the administrative areas of Pamona Puselemba district is used as the identity of all the people who live in that district.^[9]

Tentena was prepared by the Dutch East Indies Government to become a new residential area because of its strategic location. This had been prepared long before people were ordered to come down from the mountains to occupy the area (Tentena). Zending has the autonomous right to process it in preparing locations where various community service centers will be built and placed.^[10][11]

In the late 1800s to the 1900s, The efforts of Albert Christian Kruyt and Nicolaus Adriani in inviting the Pamona people to come down and occupy the settlements that had been prepared was a long process in realizing an area integrated with community service system. Kruyt and Adriani initially invited To Wingke M'Poso, a member of a tribe who lives in the mountains around Tentena. Kruyt finally succeeded in inviting To Wingke M'Poso to settle in Tentena, the prepared area. In 1902 there was a large migration from the settlements of To Langgadopi, To Wawolembo, To Wawopada, To Tinoe, and To Tamungkudena to Tentena.^[10]

At the end of the 19th century, Tentena was a center of public services. The two types of public services at that time were education and health.^[12] In fulfilling the interests of society, Zending established many service offices in Tentena, such as Limbue, which was the first synod office before the establishment of the GKST synod office on Jalan Setia Budi, Sangele sub-district.

In 1902, Kruyt invited the people living in the mountains^[b] to come down, and then occupy the new settlements that have been provided. In 1905, the missionaries effectively carried out their development in Tentena. In 1917, Kandepe Kasina was moved to Tentena and became part of various missionary service centers. Kandepe Kasina was finally able to accommodate and serve a large number of people in its medical center.^[10]

In 1940, the old King Talasa sent his eldest son, Wongko Talasa, as viceroy to head the government in Tentena. In 1950, the Dutch East Indies government, which was still in power there at that time, brought in several sawing machines and instructors to train the community in the Tentena area as a new residential area. One of the places to produce raw materials for people's homes is in the Tandongkayuku area. In 1950, Tentena also experienced a famine. This situation encourages people to look for other ways to survive, and the way they anticipate this includes processing corn as a food ingredient or called corn rice (in Pamona language called kina'a bose).^[c]

The population in Tentena is very flexible, every year the population increases due to migration flows from other regions, not only from Sulawesi but also from outside Sulawesi, with the percentage increasing very sharply.^[10]

Before the conflict, the Sangele sub-district area was the most densely populated area with a population density percentage of 36.61%, followed by the percentage of population in Pamona sub-district with a total of 34.53%, then Tentena sub-district with a total population density percentage of 28.84%. Currently, the densest population is in Pamona sub-district with a percentage of 50.79%.^[9]

The majority of the town's population is Christians (mainly Protestant), while the number of Muslims has decreased since the riots in the 2000s and only a few have returned after the riots. The native ethnic group that inhabits this town is the Pamona people, they are also spread almost throughout the province of Central Sulawesi. Tentena is the center of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST). Christianity was accepted as the people's religion. The members of this church are spread across all regencies and cities in Central Sulawesi and parts of South Sulawesi (East Luwu Regency).

Migration of residents from the coastal town of Poso (former refugees) during the conflict had an impact on the development of economic activity centers. The development of economic activity centers that occurs is the emergence of new points of economic activity.

In the past, the center of economic activity was in Sangele sub-district, and now it has shifted to Pamona sub-district. In addition to the Tentena II Central Market, the Pamona sub-district area also has other public service centers such as the religious affairs office and institutions that organize education at secondary education to higher education levels.^[9]

In addition, Tentena's location is strategic and situated on the edge of Lake Poso and fertile land is of interest to certain business people in connection with sogili (lake eels) and the trade sector for agricultural and plantation products. Some of the tourist attractions around Tentena include Lake Poso, Latea Cave, and Saluopa Waterfall.

• Official Website of Poso Regency