The phenomenon of the Indonesian-Philippine border community who often travels across borders in order to meet their economic needs and family visits with the kinship and economic motives has been going on for a long time so that the Indonesian and Philippine state regulations accommodate them in the policies of border crossing area (BCA) and of border trade area (BTA). This community interaction has caused inter-ethnic acculturation in which the strong influence of Filipino culture has affected significantly the culture of Sangihe and Talaud people in the border area. The cultural resilience of cross-border communities especially in Sangihe and Talaud islands is very vulnerable because the cultural influence of the Filipino people is quite strong. It can be seen from various forms of fishing traditions by Sangihe Talaud fishermen adopting Filipino culture in the use of pumpboats by all fishermen in Bowongbaru village who often travel across borders. So in order to maintain their nationalism and Indonesian identity, the elites in society, namely formal figures, traditional leaders/community leaders and religious leaders participate in strengthening cultural resilience in which the Bowongbaru village community still preserves their customs and traditions as the Sangihe Talaud ethnic groups. They still maintain their customs and traditions such as the Eha custom as a model for utilizing natural resources typical of the Talaud people; organizing Tulude or Mandulu'gu Tonna routinely at the beginning of every year; performing Bara'a and Dobol Line dance arts, and so on. These cultural forms make Talaud ethnic group different from the Philippines people. The cultural resilience of these border-crossing communities strengthens the Indonesian identity of border residents.

Keywords: Strengthening, Cultural resilience, Border crosser, Talaud