Forgotten Islands of Indonesia: The Art & Culture of the Southeast Moluccas

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Forgotten Islands of Indonesia

To Mgr. Andre P.C. Sol msc

Forgotten Islands of Indonesia

The Art & Culture of the Southeast Moluccas

Nico de Jonge & Toos van Dijk

This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition of "Forgotten Islands" in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, The Netherlands.

PERIPLUS EDITIONS

© 1995 Periplus Editions (HK) and the authors

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Nothing in this work can be reproduced in any manner or form without written permission of the publisher and the authors.

Printed in Singapore ISBN: 978-1-4629-0946-9 (ebook)

PUBLISHER: Eric Oey EDITORS: Martijn de Rooi, Thomas G. Oey, Berenice B. Oey DESIGN: Allard de Rooi PHOTOGRAPHY: Ben Grishaaver, Ave, Leiden PRODUCTION: Allard de Rooi, T.C. Su, Teresa Tan, Mary Chia

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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

All photographs are made by Ben Grishaaver, with the assistance of Cees van de Wilk, with the exception of: Akerboom, N. msc Photograph 5.4. Dennis Anderson: Photograph 7.5. Archives MLV: Photograph 4.27. Archives Mgr. AP.C. Sol msc: Photographs 1.3, 7.13, 9.4, 9.6. Burger (1923): Photograph 6.7. Toos van Dijk and Wim Wolters: pages 11, 13, 14 and Photographs 2.4, 2.6, 7.14, 8.11, 8.12, 10.3. Drabbe, P. msc: Photographs 5.3, 5.13, 5.16, 6.2, 6.21, 7.9, 8.17. Egging, A. msc: Photographs 6.13, 6.14, 9.2, 9.3. Eigen Haard (1907): Photographs 2.8, 2.9. Geurtjens, P.H.: Photographs 5.9, 6.11. Heekeren, H.R van, The Bronze-Iron Age of Indonesia (1958): Photograph 1.5. Hoop, AN.J. Th. a Th. van der, Indonesische Siermotieven (1949): Photograph 1.4. Indonesië Reisbibliotheek, Maluku (Periplus Editions, 1990): Photographs 22, 2.3. Jasper and Pirngadie (1912): Photograph 8.8. Jeanson, Br. msc Photograph 6.5. Nico de Jonge: Photographs 1.1, 2.5, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 7.4, 7.7, 7.8, 10.2. Scott McCue: Photographs 7.2, 7.3. Merton H. (1910): Photographs 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 6.3, 6.6 and Figure 5.4. Kal Muller pages 10, 12 and Photographs 5.14, 5.15. MüllerWismar, W.: page 2 and Photographs 3.5, 3.6, 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 4.18, 4.19, 4.20, 4.22, 7.12, 8.6, 8.9, 10.4. Riedel (1886): Photograph 2.1 and symbol Chapter II. Hans Visser: Photograph 2.7. Ien de Vries: page 15.

The figures are made by: Peter Homan: Figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1 (source: Horridge 1978), 5.2 (source: Mckinnon 1991), 5.3 (source: Barraud 1979), 5.4 (source: Merton 1910), 5.5, 7.1, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 (source: Bühler 1943). Mechtild Paauwe: Figure 5.6 (source: Geurtjens 1910).

ABBREVIATIONS OF COLLECTIONS

RMV: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, the Netherlands. RJM: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum für Völkerkunde, Cologne, Germany. TM:

Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, MLV: Museum voor Land-en Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. MV-N: Museum voor Volkenkunde, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. MV-w: Museum fur Völkerkunde, Vienna, Austria, MNK Museum Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. PC: Private Collection.

Page l. Ancestor statues from Babar, probably representing a mother and child Height 15 cm; length 22 cm (RJM). Pages 2 and 3. Statue of the heavenly deity Lamiaha, in former times situated in the ritual centre of the village of Emroing on Babar. In 1913 the German ethnlogist W. MüllerWismar collected the statue. Before removing Lamiaha, Müller-Wismar photographed the deity's image in the original setting. Height 212 cm (RJM). Page 4. Ancestor statue from Leti. Height 26 cm; length 31 cm (RJM).

CONTENTS Preface Introduction Part I

Part II

Part III

9 10 16

The Past Chapter I Traces of Prehistoric Times 18 I Dongson bronze drum Chapter II A Turbulent History 22 II Boat from Kei Boat and Crew 30 Chapter III Boat Symbolism of the West 32 III Prow decoration from Damer Chapter IV Deceased and Deities of the West 48 IV Ancestor statue from Leti Chapter V Boat Symbolism of the East 68 V Wooden fish figure from Aru Chapter VI Deceased and Deities of the East 86 VI Ancestor statue from Tanimbar-Kei The Language of Things 106 Chapter VII The Heat of Gold 108 VII Imported earring from Babar Chapter VIII The Coolness of Cloth 124 VIII Rimanu-motif from Kisar Chapter IX Pottery Full of Vitality 140 IX Bandanese pot, made in Kei

Chapter X Life and Death in Plaiting X Food cover from Wetar Afterword Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

146 153 154 156 158 160

PREFACE

Every western scientific researcher travelling to Indonesia for research in Maluku Tenggara during the past decades, sooner or later encountered Andre P. C. Sol, who was bishop of the diocese of Amboina from February 1964 until October 1994.

In Keuskupan Amboina, the episcopal residence, one was not only warmly welcomed, but also informed about the most recent developments in the region and provided with all kinds of practical tips and especially encouraging words, before journeying on to the far, isolated island world. Andre Sol was more or less the gatekeeper of the Southeast Moluccas.

When we stayed in Ambon in the early 1980s in connection with our anthropological fieldwork on the Babar archipelago, we also had the pleasure of being "accompanied" by him. He casually expressed the wish that the cultures of Maluku Tenggara which, according to him, had been insufficiently investigated, would once get the attention they deserved, in the shape of a specific publication. It appeared to be one of his heart's desires. In 1987, during our next visit to the Moluccas, he once again brought the subject up for discussion and the plan was born to write a book about the region.

At the beginning of the 1990s this plan began to take concrete shape. In order to enable publication Andre Sol opened up all kinds of sources, both in the informative and the financial fields. At the same time we extended our research to the entire region of Maluku Tenggara and directed ourselves to the material culture, which seemed to be the best starting point for a description of the Southeast Moluccan peoples.

The result of the joint efforts is now at hand. Hopefully this book will contribute to more knowledge of the cultures of Maluku Tenggara in a wide reading public. For it does, after all, concern a region that has produced objects which can be counted among the most fascinating cultural manifestations of Indonesia.

Toos van Dijk and Nico de Jonge Deventer/Alkmaar, the Netherlands, July 1995

INTRODUCTION

MALUKU TENGGARA: THE FORGOTTEN ISLANDS

Maluku Tenggara, the Southeast Moluccas, is the name of a chain of islands in the east of Indonesia which stretch in a gentle arc over a distance of almost a thousand kilometres between Timor and New Guinea. The islands he between the easterly longitudes of 125° 45' and 135° 10' and the southerly latitudes of 5" and 8°30' and have a total land surface area of 25,000 square kilometres. Administratively, the region is part of the province of Maluku, which consists of three districts (kabupaten); from south to north, Maluku Tenggara, Maluku Tengah (Central Moluccas) and Maluku Utara (North Moluccas).

Maluku Tenggara is a sparsely-populated, isolated area and in many respects it lies on the periphery of the Indonesian archipelago. It has 288,248 inhabitants (1990), which amounts to a population density of less than twelve inhabitants per square kilometre. Large parts of the region are very difficult to reach, notwithstanding improvements in the infrastructure in recent years. Only the eastern islands have airline links with the outside world (Ambon). The western islands can only be reached by boat and only then with difficulty.

Tourists seldom visit the area. It lies far from the beaten tourist paths. The only Westerners to have visited the islands for long periods of time during this century have been Dutch administrators and military personnel, scientists from all over the world and missionaries of various persuasions. In the last two decades western Maluku Tenggara has been practically cut off for long periods from the outside world as a result of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the war which followed.

The isolation of Maluku Tenggara, however, is just as much an inheritance of Dutch involvement in the islands. Before the arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century, the Southeast Moluccans had lively trading links with places both inside and outside the region. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) put a violent end to that with disastrous consequences for the local economy. Despite a relaxation of the restrictive regulations during the latter period of colonial rule, the economy did not recover, nor were there improvements in external relations.

In fact, with the departure of the Dutch contact between the remote region and the outside world was reduced to almost nothing. Becoming part of the Republic of Indonesia, the government of which is situated in faraway Jakarta, did not substantially change the isolation of the "forgotten islands."

A tiny part of Maluku Tenggara: a coral island in the Banda Sea.

Disappearance of Cultural Objects

The Dutch presence in Maluku Tenggara also had far-reaching consequences in the cultural field. The pacification of the area and the introduction of Christianity at the beginning of this century went hand in hand with— among other things— forced resettlement of complete village communities and the suppression of the important cult of ancestor worship.

The collective exertions of the government and Christian missionaries had disastrous consequences for the traditional material culture. It was the Protestant missionaries, in particular, who proved to be fanatical in the destruction of ancestor statues. Those which survived were "appropriated" by art collectors, among them both Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries. Payment sometimes consisted of expensive goods such as axes or a priest's robe, but often nothing more than, for example, a little tobacco. These "exchanges" did not always enjoy the full endorsement of the population and were sometimes concluded under coercion.

Later this century, collectors came across other cultural manifestations which, like the wood carvings, were evidence of a unique artistic, appreciation. This particularly concerned the products of sophisticated goldsmiths and the rich weaving tradition of Maluku Tenggara which, in addition to the wooden statues, became highly-desired collectors' items. Even sacred heirlooms which, thanks to their ancestral powers, protected their owners from calamity and which traditionally only left the house in an exchange of gifts between families, found new owners. Though the export of such pieces is now forbidden, poverty still forces families to sell them.

Within the space of a century the population of Maluku Tenggara was robbed of a significant part of its cultural heritage. Nowadays, a great number of unique cultural objects can only be admired in museums and in private collections. In general, these are regarded as among the most fascinating to have come out of Indonesia. They are unknown, however, to a wider public, because an exhibition or a published work specifically directed at the culture of Maluku Tenggara has until now never been realized. In this respect, too, one can rightly speak of the "forgotten islands."

The Content and Arrangement of this Book

The void has now been filled by this book and by the special exhibition of the same name which opened in October, 1995 in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden in the Netherlands. The book is divided into three parts and offers a survey and description of the traditional culture of Maluku Tenggara. In addition to the objects which have almost wholly disappeared in the region itself, such as ancestor statues and jewellery, attention is paid to the products of the weaving, plaiting and pottery-making traditions which have always flourished in the islands.

In the descriptions, the traditional significance of the objects within the Southeast Moluccan culture is dwelt upon comprehensively, as far as possible, the pieces are set in their cultural context. Boat symbolism, which permeates practically all southeastern Moluccan cultures, and ancestor worship, which is at the heart of the traditional religions, function as important frameworks. The discussions of these, brought together in Part II, form the core of the book. In order to do justice to local differences, a distinction is made between the eastern and western islands. The cultures of the islands between Timor and Tanimbar, for example, were characterized by a great fertility ritual which did not take place in eastern Maluku Tenggara. Moreover, in order to measure the richness of the island cultures as broadly as possible, a separate line of approach is followed for each region. A thematic approach has been chosen for the western islands,

while a more geographical oriented approach has been followed for the eastern islands.

In treating boat symbolism and ancestor worship, conceptual dichotomies come continually to the fore. Heaven and earth, sea and land, man and woman, hotness and coolness, represent poles whose coming together is thought to be of essential importance to the functioning of man, society and the cosmos. In Part III, this dualistic way of thinking is expressed succinctly in the discussion of jewellery, textiles, earthenware and plaited objects.

The descriptive parts are preceded by a historical sketch of Maluku Tenggara (Part I) in which attention is devoted to both the prehistoric, as well as the more recent, past.

The coastline of the island of Marsela, Babar archipelago.

THE LAND AND ITS INHABITANTS

Administrative Divisions

Maluku Tenggara consists of a number of separate groups of islands. The biggest of these are the Aru, Tanimbar and the Kei archipelagos, all lying in eastern Maluku Tenggara. Under Dutch administration these three groups of islands were known collectively as the Southeast Islands; the other islands were known as the Southwest Islands. These names refer to the position of the islands with respect to the island of Banda (Central Moluccas), which at that time was of great economic importance. The distinction made between eastern and western Maluku Tenggara in this book corresponds to the original administrative dividing line.

Nowadays the district of Maluku Tenggara is divided into eight sub-districts (kecamatan). Five of these— Pulau-pulau Aru (Aru islands), Kai Besar (Greater Kei), Kai Kecil (Lesser Kei), Tanimbar Utara (North Tanimbar) and Tanimbar Selatan (South Tanimbar)— lie in eastern Maluku Tenggara. Pulau-pulau Babar (Babar islands), Kepulauan Leti (Leti archipelago) and Pulau-pulau Terselatan (the Southern Islands) lie in western Maluku Tenggara. Tual, in the Kei islands, is the capital of the Maluku Tenggara district.

Administratively speaking, the islands of Teun, Nila and Serua belong to the district of Maluku Tengah (Central Moluccas) but because of their great cultural similarities with the more southerly islands, in this book they are regarded as being part of the southeastern Moluccas.

Natural Conditions

The landscape of Maluku Tenggara is extremely varied. Some islands are mountainous, with peaks of 400 metres on Wetar, 650 metres on Moa and 868 metres on Damer. Others, such as the Aru islands, the highest point of which is only 70 metres above sea level, are fairly flat. Green, forested islands lie close to bare rock formations. Rugged, rocky coastlines, plunging steeply into the sea, contrast with beautiful white sandy beaches. A savannah-like landscape, featuring here and there tall Mi-palms (Borassus sundaicus) is characteristic of the interior of most of the islands. Kayuputih-forests (Melaleuca Leucadendron L) also appear. The coral-rich coasts are girdled with coconut palms (Cocus nucifera).

The Kei islands, paradise on earth.

Geologically speaking, two types of island, corresponding with the same number of "island arcs," can be distinguished. What is known as the Outer Banda arc stretches from the Leti archipelago in a northeasterly direction through Luang, Sermata, the Babar, Tanimbar and Kei islands and then runs in a northwesterly direction through to Seram (Central Moluccas). The islands in this arc consist of coral and are dry and fairly infertile. Fossilized shells can be found on the high coral rocks, which indicates that these are areas of geological upheaval. The highly-remarkable, layered terraced forms found on some of the islands were created by successive upheavals.

Many smaller islands in this arc are largely deforested and have a dry, almost parched aspect. The alang-alang (Imperata arundinaced) which covers the ground colours the landscape almost red during the dry season. The larger islands are more richly forested and have more water. The sago palm (Metroxylon rumphii) can also grow in these islands.

The Aru islands lying to the east of the Outer-Banda arc also consist of elevated coral but are very different in appearance to the other eastern islands of Maluku Tenggara. Their vegetation consists of mangrove swamps and palm forests. The six main islands—unique in the world— are separated from each other by long, narrow straits.

A smaller, more westerly-lying series of islands forms the Inner-Banda arc. This runs from Wetar through Roma, Damer, Teun and Nila to Serua, and then northwards through Banda (Central Moluccas). The islands in this arc are of volcanic rocks and in most of them the soil is much more fertile than it is in the coral islands. The earth under Teun, Nila and Serua is still moving and in 1978, the government considered it necessary to move the population of these islands

to Seram (Central Moluccas).

The flora and fauna of Maluku Tenggara, like the whole of Maluku, form a transitional zone between Southeast Asia and Australasia. It is for this reason that scientists have long felt drawn to this part of Indonesia. The fauna of the Aru archipelago is particularly unusual. The presence of the kangaroo, the bird of paradise and the cassowary in these eastern islands is evidence of their close affinity with New Guinea. In contrast, the fauna of, for example, the western island of Wetar, shows clear Asian characteristics, although the large mammals of West Indonesia do not live here.

The climate of the region is dominated by the monsoons, whose season and direction is determined by the position of the continents of Asia and Australia. The powerful westerly monsoon blows from December to April and this may bring severe storms, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. After a short transitional period the second rainy season, in which the less powerful easterly monsoon blows, follows from April or May until August The hot, dry season begins in August and lasts until November. Following a second transitional period, the rains of the westerly monsoon break again in December.

The Economy

Maluku Tenggara is a fairly poor region with limited economic opportunities. The population exists largely by agriculture and fishing. In addition, goods are exchanged with inhabitants of other islands.

The population is very dependent on climactic circumstances in all its economic activities. In agriculture, the main food crop is generally planted twice a year— just before the westerly and easterly monsoons. On most islands this is maize. On Aru and Damer sago is the principal foodstuff. The staple that is

supplemented by rice, sorghum, root vegetables and pulses and small quantities of green vegetables and fruit.

Failure of the harvest is not an unusual phenomenon on the small, dry, eroded coral islands. Hunger is an almost annual occurrence. The inhabitants of the more fertile islands exchange food for goods such as homemade plaited work. Rice is also obtained from Chinese traders, but money is required for this. Money is obtained by selling copra, shells and other products of the sea to Chinese shopkeepers. Old and new homemade textiles are also offered for sale. Money can also be earned by pearl diving around the Aru islands and by working on Ambon and Seram (Central Moluccas).

The sea always yields a great deal, although the catch is also dependent on the seasons. During the easterly monsoon, for example, a village on the east side of an island cannot harvest much from its fishing grounds.

February and March is the mating season of a little seaworm (Polychaeta). On certain nights coastdwellers trek with torches and lamps to the reef, where the surface of the water is covered with these little creatures. Bucketfuls are scooped out of the water with nets and then eaten roasted or fried.

During the hot season, the fish harvest is a celebration! The wind has died away and sometimes the reef is almost completely dry. The women and children spear fish and collect shells. The men, as elsewhere, set their bamboo fish traps out in deeper water and fish from their canoes. Sometimes a large sea animal is caught —a dugong (sea cow) or a turtle, sometimes even a whale.

In the hot season the smaller islands suffer from a serious shortage of water. Village wells might dry out completely. Cisterns which catch rainwater offer the only relief. Then, instead of water, palm wine is drunk. This is the fermented

juice tapped from the flowering stems of the koli palm and the coconut palm. The dry season is pre-eminently the opportunity to brew a strong drink, sopi, from this palm wine. This is done with a simple distillation apparatus made from bamboo. Eighty litres of palm wine produce eight litres of sopi. This drink is indispensible for the traditional feasts and it is also an important medium of exchange for obtaining food.

On Aru the hot season is the traditional time for pearl diving. Pearls, mother-ofpearl and other products of the sea such as tripang (sea cucumber, Holothurioidea) and agar-agar (seaweed) are bought by the local Chinese merchants. Nowadays a few Japanese companies are also cultivating pearls in these waters.

Wild pig and buffalo are hunted in the forests of the interior; in Aru deer and kangaroo are also hunted. On very special occasions the meat of these animals forms part of the festive feast. Domestic pigs are also kept in the village and goats are kept in fields outside the village.

Because of difficult economic circumstances on the islands, large numbers of island-dwellers live semi-permanently on Ambon or Seram (Central Moluccas), or even in Irian Jaya, the Indonesian half of New Guinea. The lack of medical and educational facilities in Maluku Tenggara also induce many to leave. The medical care for an entire island is often in the hands of only a few nurses. The larger islands have a health centre. Opportunities for education have been improved by the authorities in recent years; besides a sekolah dasar or primary school, many villages now have a secondary school.

Tall koli palms are characteristic of the landscape of many islands in Maluku Tenggara. In the hot season fermented, tapped from the flowering stems of the trees, is drunk instead of water.

Language

Austronesian languages are spoken on almost all the islands, as they are in most of Indonesia. The exception is in two villages in the southeast of the island of Kisar, where the inhabitants speak Oirata, a non-Austronesian language.¹ The dozens of Austronesian languages spoken in Maluku Tenggara, according to a recent classification, belong to the Central Malayo-Polynesian (CPM) group of languages. The Austronesian languages of the Central Moluccas and the islands to the east of Sumbawa, such as Flores, Sumba and Timor, are also CPM languages.²

The languages spoken in western Maluku Tenggara, 24 in all, are classified as a sub-group of CPM languages.³ The people of Luang believe they are all derived from the ancient language of Luang, which in their eyes was once the cultural centre of this region. The languages of Aru, Tanimbar and Kei in eastern Maluku Tenggara form two separate sub-groups of the CPM group of languages.⁴ Despite great linguistic heterogeneity, a clear language affinity can be observed throughout the whole of Maluku Tenggara. One striking fact is the linguistic unity of the Kei islands, the pride of the inhabitants.⁵

Malay was introduced to the region centuries ago through trading contacts. Moluccan Malay is peppered with Portuguese and Dutch words and is still the lingua franca. It has been assimilated into Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia which is taught in schools.

A fish trap is set on the bottom of the sea; coral stones are used to prevent it from being washed away.

Religion

According to 1990 statistics, half the population of the Southeast Moluccas (158,107 inhabitants) belong to the Protestant church. About 23 percent (66,770) are Roman Catholics and more than 21 percent (61,360) are Moslem. The small residual category belong to other faiths.

Islam was the first modern world religion to arrive in Maluku Tenggara. From the 15th century onwards, the people of Kei and Aru, in particular, were introduced to Islam though their trading contacts with the Javanese and Malayans. It was only in the second half of the last century, however, that Islam built up a large following, originally on Kei and then on Aru.

Protestant Christian belief came with the arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century. The conversion of the population sometimes occurred in an abrupt and forced manner. The first attempts at conversion failed; it was only at the beginning of this century that Christianity began to make headway (see Chapter II).

From the end of the 19th century onwards Roman Catholic missions were also active, first on the Kei islands and then on the Tanimbar islands. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart—dispatched by the Dutch province of the Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu (MSC)—were active there and did a great deal of work in the social and medical fields. The people of Aru were only introduced to Roman Catholicism in the 1960's.

Today, branches of the Moluccan Church, Gereja Protestan Maluku, the successor of the Protestant mission in 1935, are found all over the district. This church practically has a monopoly in the western islands. In addition, there are also Seventh Day Adventist churches in Tanimbar. The Moslems and Roman Catholics are concentrated in the eastern islands. The Dutch Catholic missionaries who worked here have now been largely replaced by Indonesians. The last Dutch bishop of the diocese of Amboina, of which Maluku Tenggara is part, was succeeded by an Indonesian in 1994.

The activities of the mission at the beginning of this century were characterized by the heavy-handed suppression of the traditional religions of Maluku Tenggara. Central to these was ancestor worship. In the traditional notions of the universe the contrast between heaven and earth played a large role. In the past, the cosmic entities were sometimes represented as a masculine sun god and a feminine earth. In a "holy marriage,'' they provided for the continued existence of life on earth.

Traces of old religions and former fertility rites— extremely important on the preponderantly infertile islands—can still be found. Ancient rituals have melded with western celebrations such as Christmas and the New Year's feast Nor is the role of the ancestors a thing of the past! Great influence on the lives of their descendants is attributed to them throughout the islands.

Social Organisations

Southeast Moluccan society, like many others in Indonesia, can be typified as a "house society," in which the house forms one of the most important social units. In former days a single large house built on poles, with smaller annexes, could constitute a whole village. There were also larger-scale village complexes with a great number of houses, however. The villages were situated in isolated, easily-

defendable locations, such as hilltops or headlands, and were surrounded by a thick stone wall. This strategic position was to provide protection in frequent violent wars. At the beginning of this century, the colonial administration required the village peoples to settle in new, more easily controllable villages along the coast.

Much has changed over the course of time. In the modern villages, houses built on poles are scarcely to be found any longer and bricks have replaced wood as the basic building material. Moreover, the authorities are attempting to discourage large households consisting of three generations, in favour of singlefamily households. As a consequence, the traditional rules concerning descent and residence have come under pressure. On Leti, Lakor, Luang, Sermata and Damer, descent was determined for centuries through the female line; after marriage, the man went to live in the family house of. the woman. On Damer this situation has changed and— as on most of the other islands—the male line is sustained. In the Babar islands both principles apply side by side and in various hybrid forms.

On many islands, the social rank of the man and woman is still of importance in choosing a marriage partner. On Kei, Tanimbar and various islands to the west of Babar, men must traditionally marry within their own caste, on pain of hefty fines. There are generally three castes: a nobility, a middle caste and a slave caste. The middle caste is regarded as the autochthonal population. The holders of the important offices within the village mainly belong to the nobility, certainly in areas where social stratification still holds sway. Offices are inherited. The village is controlled by a headman who is supported in his task by a council of family elders.

SOURCES

Material for this book is derived from a variety of sources, ranging from the reports of Dutch administrators, missionaries and scientific researchers to the

dissertations of cultural anthropologists of various nationalities.

In the last 25 years much cultural anthropological research has been carried out in Maluku Tenggara, particularly on the eastern islands. From 1971 onwards Cecile Barraud carried out repeated fieldwork on the Kei island of Tanebar-Evav (also known as Tanimbar-Kei). Susan McKinnon (in 1979 and 1980 on Fordate, Tanimbar), Simonne Pauwels (in 1984-86 on Selaru, Tanimbar) and Patricia Spyer (in 1986-88 on Barakai, Aru) also carried out research. In the western part of Maluku Tenggara fieldwork was conducted in 1986-87 by Sandra Pannell on Damer and in 1981-83, the authors of this book carried out fieldwork on two of the Babar islands.

Despite all this recent work, this book could not have been written without the efforts of three people who in the past made accurate reports of what they saw and heard. They appear time and again in this book.

The fauna of Aru, notably the cassowary, shows dose affinity with New Guinea.

The first is the German ethnologist Wilhelm Müller-Wismar, who was attached to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and who travelled throughout the area in 1913 and 1914. During his travels he kept diaries in which he entered scientific data and he was also active as a photographer and collector. His most detailed information concerns the western islands.

We know a great deal about the situation on the Kei and Tanimbar islands during the first three decades of this century through the monographs, articles and collections of the Catholic missionaries Henri Geurtjens and Petrus Drabbe who were active in the area as priests of the MSC. Geurtjens worked from 1903 to 1922, mainly on Kei but also on Tanimbar, while Drabbe carried out his duties on Tanimbar from 1915 to 1935.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Numerous people and various institutions have assisted us in the preparation of this book. We are only able to mention a few of them here. First and foremost, we owe our thanks to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) in Tilburg, particularly to A.P.C. Sol, former bishop of Amboina, who was the stimulator of this project. We also wish to offer our heartfelt thanks for practical assistance and help regarding the contents of this book to the following missionaries of the Congregation: father A. Egging of Merauke, who was a missionary in the Aru islands from 1979 until 1984; father A. Vriens, father A. van de Wouw and father N. Akerboom of Tilburg; and the late father K. Sträter, who worked in the Moluccas from 1946 to 1988.

We would further like to express our special thanks for the assistance given to us by our informants in Ambon and in the Southeast Moluccas, in particular by the people of the Babar islands. Space permits us only to mention the Eipepa, Talle, Lekawael and Lurey families and the local administrators Bp. S. Puimera, Bp. J. Inona and the late Bp. Th. Marer.

Museums in the Netherlands and abroad were most hospitable and helped us to select the objects portrayed. Pieter ter Keurs, curator of the Insular Southeast Asia department of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden, rendered us numerous services for which we would like to thank him. We also thank staff members of the following museums for their assistance: Koos van Brakel, Itie van Hout and David van Duuren of the Tropen-museum in Amsterdam; Fer Hoekstra of the Museum voor Volkenkunde in Nijmegen; Anneke VeldhuizenDjajasoebrata and Sietske Kenti of the Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde in Rotterdam; and Pim Westerkamp of the Museum Nusantara in Delft.

Gisela Volger, Jutta Engelhard and Brigitte Khan Majlis, of the Rautenstrauch-

Joest-Museum fur Volkerkunde in Cologne, supported us enthusiastically. We thank Clara Wilpert of the Hamburgisches Museum fur Volkerkunde for her help concerning W. Müller-Wismar's material.

We are grateful to Herman de Vries for his helpfulness, in particular for allowing us to photograph objects from his collection. In this respect we also thank Frank Wiggers, Bruce Carpenter, Cherry P. Brown and Alfred C. Glassell of the USA. The splendid photographs were delivered in good time, thanks to the marvellous cooperation of photographer, Ben Grishaaver, and his assistant, Cees van de Wilk.

A special word of thanks goes to designer Allard de Rooi. His enormous efforts and enthusiasm have played a great part in the preparation of this book. We thank Peter Homan for drawing the figures, Martijn de Rooi for editing the Dutch text and Jacqueline Meijer and Tony Burrett for translating the text into English. We are grateful to Fenny Hoekstra, Jacqueline Leyen, Wim van Dijk, Marianne van Vuuren, Maggie de Moor and Klaas de Jonge for their comments on an earlier version of the text.

Finally, we owe thanks to our families, in particular to Mary Vink and Wim Wolters, for their whole-hearted support, understanding and practical assistance during the long and often difficult journey which has led to the realization of this book.

Detail of the tympanum of a bronze kettle drum. The complete drum is depicted in Photograph 1.2.

Detail of a basta, a long cotton textile originating from India, labelled with a VOC-stamp (PC).

Photograph 1.1. Dongson bronze drum on the island of Luang, weathered by the tooth of time. The maximum diameter is 105 cm; the height is 50 cm.

The roots of the cultures of Maluku Tenggara, as well as those of the rest of the Indonesian peoples, lie hidden in a distant and misty past. Although much research has been done during the last few years to understand these origins more clearly, the available knowledge is still mainly speculative.

Nevertheless some general developments in the prehistory of Southeast Asia which influenced the life and culture of Maluku Tenggara can be indicated with a reasonable amount of certainty. This chapter takes a look at those "traces of prehistoric times" still visible.

The First Inhabitants

Little is known about the very first inhabitants of Maluku Tenggara. It is possible that early inhabitants arrived on foot from the Asiatic mainland during the late Pleistocene era (the so-called “Ice Age”), more than 250,000 years ago. During most of the glacial periods the bed of the China Sea was above sea level, and the Indonesian archipelago was joined by a land bridge to the Asian continent, the "Sunda Shelf.” On Java, remains of anthropoids ("Java Man" or the so-called Homo erectus) dating from this period have been found. We assume that they mainly lived from hunting and gathering products from the woods and sea. We hardly know anything more about the predecessors of the present human inhabitants of the region, and it is a point of debate among scientists as to whether they became extinct, at least in the Indonesian archipelago.

Recent archeologic research makes it likely that the first human beings set foot

on the Indonesian archipelago in a migratory wave around 50,000 years ago. (This is approximately the same time that migration began from Asia to the American continents, through another land bridge across the Bearing Strait.) At the time, the Moluccan islands formed part of a land bridge through which Melanesia and Australia were subsequently populated.¹

The early Moluccans were frizzy-haired and had a dark skin colour. They were representatives of what is called the Australoid race. From excavations elsewhere in Indonesia it appears that they fed on shellfish, among other foods. It is highly probable that besides the gathering of food, hunting and fishing played an important role. Based on physiological evidence, the present-day inhabitants are thought to be descendants of both these early Austroloids and the Austronesians.

The Austronesians

A process that began circa 10,000 years ago seems to have been decisive for the current picture in many respects. Migrants speaking Austronesian languages set out from a region of origin which must have been located in present-day southern China. These Austronesians, belonging to the so-called Mongoloid race, travelled southwards and gradually started to populate an extending region over a period of centuries. Using rafts, the Austronesians first crossed the China Sea, which had filled again since the last glacial period. They reached, among other places, the island of Taiwan, becoming the ancestors of the present-day aboriginal inhabitants. Research of physical anthropology and linguistics shows that the migrants then sailed to the Philippines, and consequently on towards the western and eastern islands of the Indonesian archipelago. It is assumed that they were present on the Moluccas about 4,500 years ago— during the Neolithic or late Stone Age.

The arrival of the Austronesians caused a complex situation in different parts of the Moluccas. Racially, for example, the inhabitants of many Moluccan islands

can not be classified in a simple way. They resemble both the Australoid and the Mongoloid types; hybrids appear in differing degrees per group of islands. The linguistic situation also shows traces of a distant past. Both on the northern and southeastern Moluccas not only Austronesian, but also older, non-Austronesian languages, are spoken (see the Introduction).

The complex situation on the Moluccas can largely be explained by their location: they may be considered a transitional region constituting the periphery of the Austronesian wona, because, in general, the Austronesians did not migrate to New Guinea and nearby Australia, already populated by the earlier Austroloids. Nevertheless, there are indications from eastern Indonesia that Austronesians traveled further east to populate other parts of Oceania.

With the arrival of the Austronesians, many new cultural forms and traditions made their entry. These cultural forms soon became dominant on many Moluccan islands and have been maintained up to the present day. From linguistic research, it appears that the population, besides hunting and fishing, began to develop pastoral activities of pig and chicken breeding. Moreover, agricultural activities were developed; tubers and bananas were cultivated as well as coconut and sago palm trees. In addition, the inhabitants began to use shifting cultivation, an agricultural method utilised for dry rice cultivation.

Photograph 1.2. Dongson bronze drum from China, probably the cradle of metal culture. The maximum diameter is 71 cm; the height is 47.5 cm. The star motif and the frogs depicted are characteristic of prehistoric kettle drums (RMV).

The introduction of certain ceramics and of a quadrangular axe also signified important changes. The latter implement was produced by grinding a large, flat stone into a rectangular shape. Moreover, the arrival of seaworthy boats with outriggers, nowadays a common feature on every Moluccan island, must have been virtually a revolutionary development.

The architecture that until recently determined the appearance of many villages in Maluku Tenggara, might also be considered to be part of the Austronesian tradition: a raised floor structure on piles; decorative gable finials in the shape of crossed horns; and a saddle-backed roof with outward slanting gable ends.² Due to these, the ridge has the shape of a boat. This architecture suggests that the forms of boat symbolism found in the region (see Chapters III and IV) is also part of the Austronesian heritage.

A number of ideas connected with the function and architectural style of the house are still found on the islands today. Data from western Indonesia suggests that the Neolithic Austronesian immigrants were organised in tribes or groups of related families. Each tribe, as a visible symbol of its community, often owned a large, communal house on piles.³ The house, which had been built by the founders of the tribe, presumably played an important role as a ritual centre of ancestor worship. The building was probably decorated with hunting trophies, which propagated the status of the group. In Maluku Tenggara both these religious and social functions are still connected to many family houses.

Cave drawings on the Kei islands suggest that the Austronesians did not limit

their display of prestige to their buildings. Near Dudumahan and Ohoidertawun on Kei Kecil, several drawings have been discovered. According to archeologists, these represent the so-called Austronesian rock art style. Each drawing was made to bear witness to a victory in a sea battle.⁴ Besides human figures and body parts, figurative signs and boats are depicted.⁵ The drawings have an estimated age of 2,000 to 2,500 years. They were made during a timespan when attainments of the southeast Asian continent were once again adopted on the islands, the most significant of them being the knowledge of metal working.

The Metal Era

The arrival of the Austronesians is not the only prehistoric development that has left its traces. From research it appears that a large number of Indonesian islands, among them the Moluccas, were part of an extensive Asiatic trade network during the first millenium B.C. This gave rise to a lasting contact situation with other peoples and about 2,500 years ago this must have led to the pervasion of the bronze and iron ages on the archipelago. It seems that the cradle of the metal culture, just as the region of origin of the Autronesian traditions, lay in presentday China.

It seems that the spread of the new culture across the Moluccan islands was effected without many detours. Among other things, large bronze kettle drums— usually called Dongson drums from an excavation site of bronze objects in present-day Vietnam—are cultural manifestations from the metal era. Instruments made on the Asian mainland have been found at various locations on the Moluccas, including eight places in Maluku Tenggara: on the islands of Leti (three), Luang (one), Tanimbar (one) and Kei (three).

Archeologists presume that the drums turned up on the Moluccas some centuries before our era. They relate the drums' presence directly to the spice trade. They base their theory on Chinese sources dating from the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to

A.D. 220), in which mention is made of spices originating from the Moluccan islands. According to this view, comparable kettle drums found in other locations can be said to mark a prehistoric trade route from present-day South China, via the Lesser Sunda islands, to the Moluccas.

As it did elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago, the arrival of metal culture led to important changes in Maluku Tenggara. In many places a hierarchical society with leaders, freemen and slaves arose, partly due to tribal conquest and the need for progressive labour specialisation. Divested of its sharp edges, this social stratification is still present on various islands (see the Introduction). At the same time, display of status must have received more emphasis. Head-hunting (which was not banned until the end of the nineteenth century) played an important role in the determination of status. The knowledge of metal working led to, among other things, the development of the "lost wax" technique (see Chapter VII). Moreover, weaving and ikat making are also presumed to have made their entry at this time. Despite the introduction of modern ready-to-wear clothing, these arts are still practised in Maluku Tenggara, owing to the great symbolic significance of the cloths (see Chapter VIII).

Traditional Art Styles

The arrival of the Austronesians and the introduction of metal culture are the two main prehistoric events that influence the current picture in the Indonesia archipelago. A final remark may be made concerning the distinctive characteristics of the local art. It is usually assumed that both Austronesian culture and the metal culture had their own, characteristic formal or artistic "language." The style considered to be connected to the Neolithic is typified as "monumental symbolical" and is characterised by large-scale representations of humans and animals. The style connected to the metal era, especially to the bronze culture, is called "ornamental phantastical." The latter is more decorative in nature and holds the spiral form as one of its main motifs. This style has, for example, been found on the Dongson drums. They are often covered from top to bottom with decorations of curved lines and spirals and extremely stylised

humans and animals (see Photographs 1.4 and 1.5). This "ornamental phantastical" style can as well be called the "Dongson style."

It must be noted, however, that relating art forms to the prehistoric cultures of Indonesia has become a matter of dispute. Recent excavations of ceramic materials reveal that the "Dongson style" is probably much older than the metal culture itself.⁷ For that reason no precise assessment as to the age of the traditional art styles of Maluku Tenggara can be made.

Photograph 1.3. Remnant of the tympanum of a bronze kettle drum in the village of Ami Das on Tanimbar. The name of the matching drum is ibur riti, "copper sack." The exact measurements of the drum are unknown.

Photograph 1.4. Picture of fragment of a bronze kettle drum showing a peacock figure, found on the island of Leti.

Photograph 1.5. Rubbing of a part of the tympanum of a kettle drum, found on Kei, showing flying birds and hunting scenes, among other things. On the tympanum were four bronze frogs (see Photograph 1.2).

Photograph 2.1. Ceremonial boats, belang, of Keiese village leaders. Each family monopolised certain flags and pennants flown on them.

As discussed in the introduction, the inhabitants of the remote islands of Maluku Tenggara lead a scanty and arduous existence. It is hard to imagine that this was once entirely different. In the past there were intensive trade contacts with islands within and outside the region, and Maluku Tenggara was even indirectly involved in world trade. Voyages played a dominant role in the culture of the region (see Part II).

With the arrival of the Dutch, this situation changed. The Dutch appeared as merchants and colonialists striving to monopolise trade and pacify the region. The inhabitants were robbed of their main trade contacts and income sources, and in the name of "civilisation" the Dutch set bounds to the Moluccans' traditional culture. It is ironic that the isolation of the "forgotten islands" nowadays, is to a great extent the result of the strong interference from outside during this period.

Lively Mutual Trade

There are no known written sources from the first and fifteenth centuries to provide direct information about the Southeast Moluccas. However, it can be inferred from other evidence that the islands maintained an intensive mutual barter trade during this period. The trade was extremely varied in character. Certain islands became well-known in the course of time for the special products they provided: the Kei islands for their boats, Kisar and Luang for their fabrics, Damer and other islands for their nutmeg, and the Aru islands for their birds of paradise and sea products, including mother-of-pearl and pearls.

Beside this, slaves were traded in the entire region. Inhabitants from the island of Kisar, for instance, traded very profitably in slaves and spices with the inhabitants of the surrounding islands. They also sailed to Timor and even to Malacca, where they traded their cargo for high profits. In 1643, when the sultan of the northern Moluccan island of Ternate heard about the great wealth of Kisar, he sent an invasion fleet to the island to capture many precious treasures.¹

The islands of Maluku Tenggara were also called at by traders from outside the region. From southern Sulawesi, Macassars and Buginese shipped elephants' tusks, gold ornaments, swords and textiles to various places on the eastern Molucccas, and bartered these for copra, shells, turtles and other sea and reef products. The islanders in the western part of Maluku Tenggara obtained gold from Timor, which subsequently found its way eastwards via barter trade. Many of these imported goods still play an important role as precious family heirlooms in southeastern Moluccan society.²

Photographs 2.2. and 2.3. For centuries the exotic birds of paradise were among the most important produce from the Aru islands. The feathers were used in headgear throughout the world.

Photograph 2.4. Ceremonial dance performance on the Babar islands, during which women wear basta around the upper parts of their bodies. The sarongs are locally made ikat cloths.

The Spice Trade

Besides this traffic, Maluku Tenggara was involved in world trade via the Banda islands (Central Moluccas), long an important trade centre. The southeastern Moluccans readily disposed of their boats and birds of paradise as well as their sea and agricultural products, mostly obtaining metals and textiles in return. Beginning at least as early as the 15th century, the brilliant bird of paradise feathers from Am were transported to Banda and thence, via an extensive trade network, to other parts of the Indonesian archipelago and more remote regions; they were used as plumes on head decorations by Turks, Arabs and Persians.³

Written sources indicate trade activity by the inhabitants of the Banda islands was already being carried on by the 15th century. However, trade in the Moluccas existed from about the beginning of our era, according to annals dating from the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220). From these annals it appears that the Chinese were familiar with doves from the Moluccas.⁴ Cloves and nutmeg also found their way to the Roman Empire via Arab traders. ⁵ In later centuries, the spices were spread across large parts of the world by means of barter-trade through numerous intermediate stations. We may assume that the inhabitants of Maluku Tenggara must have come in touch with products that came in as barter for spices at an early stage.

The Banda islands were by far the most important staple market for spices. The inhabitants cultivated nutmeg and mace and obtained cloves from Ternate, and Tidore, as well as from some other small islands in the northern Moluccas. Later they also obtained these from Ambon and Seram. The Bandanese were entirely

dependent on imports for their food supply due to the emphasis on intensive spice cultivation. The islands even had to import rice and sago.

Sago was shipped in to Banda from Seram and Irian Jaya, as well as from Kei and Aru in eastern Maluku Tenggara. The trading ships also contained slaves, reef products, dried parrots and birds of paradise as cargo. The people from Kei and Aru bartered their products for, among other things, textiles. These were brought to Banda by Javanese and Malayan traders from Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara and the Indian subcontinent, where they were exchanged, together with rice, for spices.⁷

Striking among the abundance of textiles that reached Maluku Tenggara up to the 19th century, are the so-called basta. These are very long cotton cloths, printed with mostly red and blue patterns. They can still be found, especially on the Babar islands, where they fulfil important economic and ceremonial functions.

Photograph 2.5. Detail of an India-motif basta, found on Sermata.

Not only new products, but also new ideas made their entry via trade. Thus Islam spread across the mid-and northern Moluccas from the 15th century onwards in the wake of the Javanese and Malayan seafarers. The inhabitants of Maluku Tenggara were also brought into contact with Islam during this period.⁸

The Arrival of the Europeans

The lucrative spice trade had also drawn the attention of the seafaring European nations. The Portuguese were the first to succeed in tracking the route to the "Spice Islands." In 1512 they arrived on the Banda islands, and began to trade textiles from India and other Asian countries for spices, thus reducing Javanese and Malayan commerce. They monopolised the spice trade during most of the 16th century.

Portuguese influence on Maluku Tenggara was fairly superficial. On the western island of Kisar and the eastern Aru islands they built fortifications, but other evidences of a lengthy stay, such as the Roman Catholic churches found elsewhere, can not be found on Maluku Tenggara. However, traces of their language have continued to exist in Moluccan Malay, which is also the lingua franca of the southeastern Moluccas.

The United East India Company

Apart from the Portuguese, the French, the English and the Dutch tried to

acquire the monopoly for spices. In order to coordinate the trade in the East, the Dutch founded the United East India Company. Profiting from the declining power of the Portuguese in the Moluccas, the Dutch succeeded in beating the competition after years of harsh battle. In 1605 they captured the Portuguese stronghold on Ambon and in the course of the 17th century all the Moluccas were brought under Dutch authority.

The United East India Company, and notably the ruthless governor-general Jan Pietersz. Coen, put a violent stamp on the monopolisation of the spice trade. By regulating the production of spices at the source, the supply was kept low and the price high. Contracts were concluded—forced or unforced—with local chieftains, who had to guarantee exclusive delivery to the Dutch. Breach of contract meant severe punishments. Thus in 1621 almost the entire population of the nutmeg and mace producing Banda islands, as many as 15,000 people, were murdered or chased away.

The measure to concentrate the cultivation of spice on only a few of the islands had far-reaching consequences too. At other locations the nutmeg and clove trees were destroyed as much as possible. Military expeditions had the assignment of destroying illegally planted trees. For the local population hunger and misery were the result.

Disruption of the Local Economy

The Dutch appeared in Maluku Teriggara at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1605-06 they reached the eastern islands of Kei and Aru, and not much later the islands more to the west. Contracts were concluded with the inhabitants, in which the sovereignty and monopoly of the United East India Company were acknowledged. The islanders were only allowed to trade with the Bandanese—in slaves who could be employed on the nutmeg plantations of Banda, among other things. On several islands an occupational force was stationed, usually consisting of "a corporal and two private soldiers."¹ Furthermore, schools and churches

were erected and Protestant Christianity was preached on the islands. ¹¹

In 1668, Fort Vollenhove was built on Kisar to protect against attacks by the Portuguese who were quartered on Timor. A small European garrison supervised the observance of the trade monopoly. When the military occupation was abolished almost 150 years later, the garrison's Dutch soldiers and their families remained on the island. Mestizos, the descendants of Dutch soldiers and Kisarese women, have Dutch names and physical features such as blond hair and blue eyes.¹²

Strongholds were also built on the important trade centre of Aru and on Damer to protect the spice monopoly. In order to concentrate the nutmeg trade on Banda permanently, nutmeg cultivation was terminated on the whole of Maluku Tenggara from 1648 onwards. On Kei, Damer, Moa, Teun, Nila and Serua tens of thousands of nutmeg trees were destroyed, despite heavy protests by the population. Nutmeg had always been an important means of barter in local trade. Kisarese for example had a flourishing barter trade in slaves, mostly originating from Timor, with the inhabitants of these nutmeg producing islands.

Counter measures by the affected islanders soon made themselves felt From 1666 onwards, for example, the population of Damer repeatedly stormed the Dutch fortification. Yet to no avail. In the first decade of the 18th century the Damerese—presented by the Dutch as the prototype of "those stubbornheaded island peoples"¹³ —were permanently defeated. After the extirpations, the islanders, especially those of the small islands of Teun, Nila and Serua, led a miserable existence. They had been deprived of their main source of barter and they dared not plant any trees out of fear of a new confrontation with the Dutch. ¹⁴

Around the end of the 17th century the Dutch took more measures to monopolise trade. From 1692 the inhabitants of Maluku Tenggara were prohibited from trading with the Bandanese and other "strangers." This meant the end of the age-

old, intensive trading in the region. As a result of this the southeastern Moluccans were also devoid of many import goods that were of great importance in mutual barter trading. The population resisted once more, notably on Aru, but again unsuccessfully.

However, Dutch measures did not prove water-tight and there was illicit trade via the old channels. Moreover the Dutch themselves became aware of the disadvantages of their merciless politics. On Banda there was a shortage of foodstuffs after the supply of sago by the Keiese and Aruese had been prohibited and food from elsewhere was considered too expensive.

Therefore the United East India Company encouraged Christianity on the islands of Kei and Aru at the end of the 17th century, after the termination of the extirpation politics, hoping to create peace and quiet and to "civilise" the population. Under such conditions, it was hoped, they could be persuaded to start trading again with the Bandanese. In 1705 the 1692 trading ban was lifted.¹⁵

Nevertheless the trade between the southeastern Moluccans and the Bandanese ceased once more around the middle of the 18th century. Macassars and Buginese from South Sulawesi came to trade, especially in the eastern part of Maluku Tenggara. An attempt of the United East India Company to prevent this trade led to new revolts. Resistance was especially heavy on Aru. In 1787 the Dutch stronghold was attacked and the occupational force murdered, and in 1794 even the Keeper of the Post, the local Dutch representative, was killed. In that same year the Aru archipelago was abandoned by the Dutch "because it was a real nuisance": it was becoming too expensive.¹

During this period the entire Dutch position on the Moluccas weakened. Wars, corruption and mismanagement sapped the United East India Company. Furthermore, the clove monopoly of the Company was affected due to the fact that cloves were now also cultivated elsewhere in the world. By the end of the 18th century the English succeeded in driving out the Dutch from the Moluccas.

In 1795 they occupied Ambon and a year later they were in possession of Aru.

From Merchants to Colonists

After two periods of intermediary rule by the English, the Dutch returned to the Moluccas in 1817. In 1789 the bankrupt United East India Company had been taken over by the Batavian Republic, so that it was now the Dutch State which ruled over the islands. The Dutch freed trade within the Moluccas and formally opened the region for Macassar and Buginese traders in 1827. In 1853-54 Banda and Ambon, among others, were declared free ports. During the second half of the 19th century the economy of the Banda islands flourished once again, enabling trade with the southeast Moluccas to start up again and Macassar ships to call at these islands.¹⁷

A period of renewed contact with the southeast Moluccas was ushered in by governmental journeys of inspection. The aim was to establish Dutch authority more firmly on the islands and to bring the inhabitants Christianity and "civilisation." In the course of the 19th century views of social justice gradually started to play a role in the relationship between mother country and colony, but it would take until 1900 before the well-being of the natives would become important in Dutch policy under so-called "Ethical Politics."

The Dutch were received in divergent manners on the islands. During the first official journey in 1825 the Dutch authorities were welcomed in many places as the "Tuan Company" and were carried across the island in sedans. On Wetar, however, civil servants met savage and shy inhabitants and on Babar the islanders were even considered murderous and rapacious. The population of Damer had "lapsed into barbarism" and were barely able to support themselves.

On other islands the Dutch came into contact with the descendants of inhabitants

who had been christianised in previous centuries and who could often read and write, revealing a thorough biblical knowledge. Bibles and prayer-books dating from the 18th century were found. On Leti they saw bridegrooms who wore 18th century Dutch military or civil clothes at church marriages. On Moa someone was encountered who was entirely clad in Dutch clothing, including a wig, triangular hat, skirt and high-heeled shoes with heavy silver buckles. The western clothing of the christian population contrasted strongly with the clothing of the "heathens," which consisted of nothing more man "a piece of tree bark." The islanders repeatedly requested the Dutch to provide a military occupational force and to appoint a religious instructor.¹⁸

Photographs 2.6. and 2.7. Traces of Banda's troubled past: old Portuguese dwellings and fort Belgica.

Missionaries

From 1825 onwards Dutch missionaries were active on the western islands of Maluku Tenggara. Persons like Heymering, Luyke, Bar and Dommers, sent out by the Dutch Missionary Society, stayed there under very dire circumstances, some of them with their families. They lived among the population. As a consequence of the bad climate and the very inadequate communication, they had to relinquish their work and in 1841 the mission on the southwestern islands was discontinued.

The reports of governmental journeys convey an increasing sympathy for the poor, remote districts. Preachers, who often travelled along with the government ships, also described the Southeast Moluccas as a problem region. Resident Riedel noted in 1886 that nothing was done to enhance the inhabitants' social and moral development.¹ In short, firmer Dutch rule, good education and missionary attention was deemed necessary.

Slowly but surely missionary work on the western islands was started up again. After freedom of religion was decreed for the entire Kingdom in 1848, missions could develop activities in the region. During 1888-89 the first Roman Catholic Station of the Cross was established in Tual (Kei islands) in the east of Maluku Tenggara, where the Protestant mission had failed to do any work after its first attempt in the 17th century.²

The government saw the mission as an instrument for strengthening its power

and calling a halt to the advance of Islam, which was considered damaging for Dutch authority. On the Kei and Aru islands Islam had been introduced by Islamic traders—Javanese, Macassar and Buginese—and more than four centuries later, in the second half of the 19th century it had a form footing there.²¹ Apart from the religious aspect, the influence of Islam on Kei is especially noticeable in the material culture (see Chapter V).

Art Collectors

During the second half of the 19th century numerous international scientific expeditions to Maluku Tenggara were undertaken, sometimes with the purpose of collecting ethnographica ordered by museums. The latter undertakings had varying success. Religious objects, especially, could not be collected without coming to blows. At times the owners did not wish to sell the desired objects "for even three hundred axes." On other occasions collecting was done by use of strong force to the great sorrow and pain of the owners.²²

Younger Christians proved more obliging. They sold statues of ancestors and immediately afterwards carved new ones.²³ Interest in collecting caused the population to produce statues especially for trade. As a travelling preacher noted, "This has even become an industry." ²⁴

Objects other than the traditional religious ones, were gradually replaced by imported European articles, "factory work of the shabbiest kind, with which the European market inundates the East Indies". For this reason, travellers were encouraged to collect objects "full of originality" for as long as it remained possible, so that they could be kept in museums.²⁵

Rigorous Pacification

Around the turn of the century the colonial government tightened its grip on Maluku Tenggara. Government, education and mission work were intensified in order to strengthen the local economy and to bring the inhabitants "civilisation" and the acceptance of Dutch authority. The outside world penetrated southeast Moluccan society in a myriad of forms, and fundamentally changed it.

In order to have more effective control of the population, the Dutch forced the inhabitants of the villages located higher up to move to the coast in the first decades of the 20th century. Due to many mutual wars, the southeast Moluccans traditionally built their villages on hilltops that were difficult to reach; with their thick ring-walls they formed true fortifications. Naturally the Dutch measures evoked protest. Subsequently, punitive expeditions were launched against unobliging villages by Dutch military functionaries, who were assisted by Ambonese. That harsh measures were taken can be read in the proud victory reports of the Dutch.² After many violent confrontations, especially on Tanimbar, Maluku Tenggara was finally pacified in the 1920s. ²⁷

Missionaries used no less rigorous methods. Ancestor worship was prohibited and the attempt was made to put an end to all its manifestations; songs, prayers and rituals for the ancestors were taboo and statues of ancestors were destroyed wherever possible. Inhabitants of the Babar islands related how they were forced to bring all their statues to the centre of the village. There the statues were burned, but not before the missionaries had appropriated the beautiful specimens in order to send those to national museums.

Curates in the service of the Indian Church, assisted by Ambonese religious instructors were stationed on all the islands. They executed their task under extremely difficult circumstances. Despite great efforts the results of their work were very meagre during the first years of this century. Traditional religion still retained many followers, especially among the older population.²⁸

The missionaries' harsh line was not always championed by the Roman Catholic missionaries. They were usually more lenient in their approach towards ancestor worship. This attitude might well be explained by their own religious background, in which veneration of saints has an important place. It enabled the pastors to create a link between the traditional cult of the deceased and Christian feast days, such as the celebration of All Souls.²

From their first post in Maluku Tenggara on the Kei islands the missionaries expanded their field of work westwards to the Tanimbar islands. These two groups of islands, as well as the Aru islands remained, from the 1960s onwards, the mission's most important area of work. In 1921 the appointment of Mgr. Aerts at Langgur (Lesser Kei) marked the installation of the first bishop on the Moluccas.³ It was not until 1960 that the seat of the diocese was moved to the city of Ambon.

Second World War and Indonesian Independence

Upon the arrival of the Japanese military forces in 1942 Maluku Tenggara became involved in the Second World War. Until 1945 the Japanese controlled the region, of which the eastern islands were of great strategic significance due to their location with respect to Australia. Especially on the Babar and Kei islands, the Japanese presence caused deep wounds which have not been healed to this day.³¹

After the proclamation of Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945 and the final Dutch recognition of this independence in 1949, an arduous process of decolonisation and of reconstruction began. Ambon's separatist strife, resulting in the declaration of the Republic of the South Moluccas (Republic Maluku Selatan) in 1950, was not supported by the population of Maluku Tenggara. The southeast Moluccans preferred a situation in which the dominance of Ambon would be "diluted" into a broader political unity.³² That broader unity arrived: the Moluccas form one of the provinces of the Republic of Indonesia and have been

governed since 1966 by President Suharto's administration of the Orde Baru, the "New Order."

After three centuries of Dutch domination, Maluku Tenggara has been pacified and—according to Dutch standards—civilised: peace, education and Christian religion have been made common property, albeit under economic circumstances that reveal little perspective. During this process the population was deprived of an important part of its cultural treasures. However, cultural patterns are difficult to erase and some have endured, though in forms other than previously, as will be seen in the next chapters.

Photographs 2.8 and 2.9. In 1507 a punitive expedition was launched against the village of Wakpapapi on Babar. Afterwards the Dutch government official Schadée (centre) stood with his adversaries near the scaling ladder that was used. The village was captured via a staircase at the back. During the action a part of the wall, about two metres high, was broken away.

Prow decoration from the island of Dama. length 61/68 cm (RMV).

Letinese rusna, made of ivory. This statuette (2.5 cm in height) was worn on a chain around the neck as a "war talisman" (TM).

Wooden fish figure, used as an emblem at the stem of an Aruese boat Length 35 cm (RJM).

Stone garden statue from Yamdena (Tanimbar). Height 102 cm (RMV).

Photograph 3.1. Prow decoration from the island of Damer. Length 89 cm (RMV).

The cultures of the islands between Timor and Tanimbar, in western Maluku Tenggara, are related in many ways. There are, for example, close resemblances in the social, economic and linguistic fields (see also Introduction). Besides this there have always been great parallels in the religious sphere. A central element in traditional belief was the performance of a great, orgiastic fertility ritual, best known under the Letinese name of porka (see Chapter IV). Until the arrival of Christianity, the "holy marriage" of heaven and earth was celebrated during this ritual.

In the former porka communities comparisons can also well be made in another field: mat of boat symbolism. This predominates on many islands and has functioned as an essential part of the culture presumably since prehistoric times (see Chapter I). This nautical symbolism will have a central place in this chapter.

In general two kinds of applications can be distinguished. Boat symbolism is used as a principle of ordering, notably in a spatial respect, and as a means of expression, to convey a message. Both applications will be dealt with based on the culture of the islands of Dawera and Dawelor, which belong to the Babar archipelago. In essence the description is representative of how nautical symbolism functioned in the old porka cultures.

Life on Board

Soon after arrival, every visitor to Dawera and Dawelor will be aware that the boat signifies more to the islanders than a means of transport. As a model of

ordering it plays an important role in the local culture. This is above all apparent from the symbolism relating to the village.

The settlements have been built according to an age old pattern, in which nautical concepts such as pilot and helmsman function as spatial categories. The basic structure has undergone many adaptations in the course of the years, but can still be clearly recognised.

From the stories of "olden times" it appears that the present-day location of the villages—they are almost all of them located at the beach—is the consequence of a relatively recent development. Traditionally each settlement lay on an elevated cone of rock which was difficult to reach, in many cases only accessible via one or more series of wooden steps which could be pulled up if necessary. The reason for this isolated location was the continuous threat of war. Out of fear of enemy attacks most of the villages were also surrounded by walls.

Within each of these "eyries" lived merely one large descent group, in and around an impressive house which was called the "sacred" or "great house." The structure resembled a "roof on poles." On poles measuring about two metres in height a bamboo floor was applied, on which a roof of coconut palm leaves rested without any form of walls. In this house or in one of the outbuildings one was born, entered into marriage with a member of the group, had children and died. The village, or better said the "great house," was a completely selfsustaining community.

The members of such house communities saw themselves as the crew of a boat, a fact that was elaborated on in many ways. This was most strikingly evident in the architecture. On either side of the ridge beam of the "great house" gable ends were applied, providing the ridge line with the basic shape of a ship. The gable ends (called sorsorlol) were shaped in a "forked" fashion, a characteristic motif of both the prows of sailing vessels and the tree-trunk canoes on the islands (see Photographs 3.6. and 3.14).

Less visible was the elaboration of the notion of a ship in spatial orientation. The "great house" was associated with a boat, "sailing" following the orbit of the sun, from east to west. Inside the house this symbolic course was reflected in the names of the living spaces. The interior was divided into two halves, separated by a relatively narrow, central space (see Figure 3.1). In accordance with the "sailing direction" the eastern living-half was called the helmsman's part, whereas the western half of the house was called the pilot's part.

Both halves of the house were, in turn, divided into two "rooms," separated from each other by a fireplace. The names of the four compartments thus created also reflected the symbolic course. Standing with one's back to the east, looking westward, the "right helmsman's room" and the "right pilot's room" could be found on the right side of the "great house," and on the left side the "left helmsman's room" and the "left pilot's room" (see Figure 3.1).

The symbolic crew of the ship was led by a symbolic helmsman, the head of the descent group. He was a man who was traditionally connected with a specific room of the "great house." Each of the four rooms represented a descent line which went back as far as the founder of the house. The mutual relationship was compared to that between older and younger brothers, denoting the "right helmsman's room" as the oldest descent line. Of old this line supplied the leader of the house community, the man who represented all members of the descent group to the outside world and officiated at rituals in the name of the group. The symbolic helmsman was addressed in the local language with the word orletol "lord of the village"; in the Moluccan Malay he was called tuan tanah, "lord of the land."

Figure 3.1.

Traditional house on Dawera/Dawelor

A Doors

B Main post

C Right pilot's room

D Fireplaces

E Left pilot's room

F Right helmsman's room

G left helmsman's room

The superiority of the right helmsman's room was symbolically expressed in the construction of the house. The main pole, the post which is erected the first during the building of a house, was situated in this room and was called

mekamulol, "the one who holds the helm" (see Figure 3.1). Furthermore, the sacred heirlooms of the house community were kept in the right helmsman's room. These goods, called pusaka in Moluccan Malay, mainly consisted of gold ornaments and so-called basta, imported cloths, decorated with motifs obtained by means of block-printing (see also Chapters VII and VIII).

New Villages, an Old Course

Until what time the cones of rock served as a place of settlement for the small "republics," cast in. a nautical mould, is not known. For reasons that can only be guessed at, the continuity of the descent groups must, however, have been exposed to danger in a distant past (probably centuries ago). A majority of the groups broke away from their isolated existence and began to live together on larger mountain plateaus. Here villages arose consisting of three or four originally isolated house communities, societies that again shaped themselves into a symbolic boat, once more sailing westwards.

Instead of the four living rooms a number of "great houses" situated together now formed the boat, so that the placing of each descent group's "great house" showed the symbolic role within the larger whole. The groups living to the east functioned as helmsmen, those to the west as pilots and in addition the function of "bailer boy" was created for the benefit of the descent groups living at the centre of the village (see Figure 3.2).

These new settlements were also acquainted with the function of "lord of the village." The ritual leader was supplied by the descent group who had settled first on the plateau and could be considered as founder of the new settlement. The leader of this group therefore came to have a double role: he was the symbolic helmsman of both his group and the newly formed community.

The symbolic role of the "lord of the (new) village" was reflected in the layout of the village. The "great house" of his descent group was usually located at the eastern edge: his group functioned within the larger whole as a symbolic helmsman. By this means, the traditional pattern of ordering of the house community remained: at the level of the larger villages there was a symbolic ship's crew led by a symbolic helmsman.

To the Coast

Today, however, this situation also belongs to the past. Despite the fact that the "eyries" had been abandoned, waging war remained part of the normal way of life and for that reason the villages on the mountain plateaus were also supplied with impressive fortifications. In 1890 the Dutch Government official Van Hoëvell wrote about this: "The native villages on the various islands forming the Babar group, have all, with the exception of the principal village of Tepa and a few native villages on Wetang, been constructed on steep heights and provided with heavy walls, which is a necessity in view of the incessant state of war. Nowhere, however, did I see such thick and high walls as on the islands of Dawera and Dawelor. The native village of Angkoeki, among others, has walls three metres thick and six metres high, entirely built of stacked blocks of sandstone and fitted out with doors."¹

Photograph 3.2. Shutter of the "great house" depicted in Photograph 3.6, decorated with the motif of the hunter and his prey. Height/width 26 cm (RJM).

The situation was a thorn in the flesh of the Dutch colonial government and around the turn of the century the islands were pacified. All settlements located on the mountain plateaus were evacuated and the present-day villages arose along the coast at places that could be controlled well (see Chapter II). The commonly used boat model served as a guideline for the layout: the hilltop settlements were simply copied on the beach. In some cases during the forced removals, a few villages were merged. However, also in the larger existing communities thus formed, the familiar boat figuration was retained: the villages were then constructed as two or three "ships sailing together."

During the process of scaling-up—from the isolated house community to the villages on the beach—the endogamous marriage principle was given up, although the tendency to marry a "member of the house" has continued to exist. Influenced by the missionaries, the construction of the house itself altered as well in the course of the 20th century. Besides reducing the horizontal measurements, the poles became shorter, while at the same time the floor and the roof were separated from each other by increasingly higher bamboo walls. The final result can be seen in the houses that have been built recently: the earth has become the living-room floor and the roof is carried on walls for the height of a man.

The members of a descent group now live in single-family houses around their strongly diminished "great house," which is deprived of its original interior. It is commonly inhabited by the members of merely one descent line, that of the right helmsman. As in former days, they guard the ancestral heirlooms here; the members of the eldest line will not readily neglect this task.

Photographs 3.3 and 3.4. Two combs from the island of Babar. length 21.5 cm (3.3) and 12.5 on (3.4) (RJM/MLV).

The "lord of the village" has come under the influence of Christianity during the past decades. Ever increasingly a Protestant vicar serves as the symbolic helmsman of a settlement. Only during the celebration of the western New Year's feast, based on the former porka ritual, does the old tuan tanah still figure predominantly in some villages.

In the above text the dominant role of boat symbolism on Dawera and Dawelor has been presented in a nutshell. It appears that the islanders have been making use of the image of a boat and crew to order their world for centuries. both the layout of the house and of the village are traditionally inspired by this.

However, the role of boat symbolism on Dawera and Dawelor has only been partially described above. Apart from the application as a model of order, the image of the boat also functions in an entirely different way in the culture of the island: as a means of expression it conveys an important message.

With the help of nautical symbolism a dependency relationship is expressed on several levels. It will be endeavoured to clarify what this entails below. Subsequently the following levels will be discussed: man, the family and society, and the all-embracing cosmos.

Man: Vital Force and Identity

Strongly simplified, it can be stated that a person on Dawera and Dawelor is considered to be a body in which two components have merged: mormorsol, a kind of vital force which exclusively reveals itself in a physical form and is expressed in man in the growth and the movements of the body, and dmeir, a component which is less bound to the body and which is related to the identity of a person. Although much can be told about both elements, we will limit ourselves to some general remarks here, sufficient to come to an understanding of the role of boat symbolism.

The presence of mormorsol in man is especially expressed in the beating of the heart and in breathing. In daily life the term for breath (arol) is sometimes used as a synonym for vital force. Moreover, mormorsol is strongly associated with blood, notably menstrual blood. This is apparent, among other ways, from myths and rituals.

A human being is only complete when the vital force present in him is combined with dmeir. This complex component, which is difficult to describe, concerns the "uniqueness" of a person. Dmeir reflects someone's identity and has been compared by some people to "soul" or "spirit." However, the character of dmeir differs considerably from the notion of the soul as it exists in the western world.

Experience teaches that two important aspects adhere to dmeir. To start with, the component refers to the personal characteristics and is therefore associated with a person's name and facial features, voice, bodily shape and shadow or reflection. Instead of dmeir the islanders also speak of yalelol, someone's "shadow image." However, the fact that dmeir is related to the social identity of a person carries more weight. Due to this the concept is closely related to someone's reputation, i.e. to the image that exists of someone in society. Although related to all ways in which a person is distinguished from others, dmeir especially concerns a person's image.

Dmeir, in contrast to mormorsol, is immortal. After death someone's "shadow

image" continues to exist, whereas the vital force fades away, together with the decaying of the body. Until recently a small statue, usually carved from wood, was produced as a new point of address for the deceased person. The "shadow image" could take residence in it, enabling continuation of communication with the person who has died. These statues will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.

Photograph 3.5. Houses built on poles in the village of Kokwari on Babar in 1913. The front of the house on the left is decorated with the motif of the "moon with rings."

The components each have a different origin. As for mormorsol the matter is simple: the human being receives his vital force with his body from his mother. As regards dmeir, however, there is less clarity. Yet it is certain that the father plays a main role here. As was said before, dmeir is especially related to someone's social identity, someone's image, and after the birth of a child, the father provides the basis for this.

The way in which he does this corresponds entirely with the common manner in which one distinguishes oneself from others within the community. Traditionally there is only one method on Dawera and Dawelor to acquire a grand name and build up an image: other forms of life have to be killed. Esteem is gained by successes in hunting and fishing. Besides this the hunting of heads was an excellent manner to get a reputation in former times.

After the birth of a child a small ritual is performed, providing the baby with a name and introducing it into society. The father here has the obligation to kill a number of animals (mostly fish) in the name of the child and to distribute them among all members of the community. This last deed dominates the entire ceremony. The significance of the father's acting in the name of the child is great: the baby kills, as it were, the animals and thus shows the villagers that from now on, his or her person has to be reckoned with. Due to the death-dealing activities of the father, the child establishes the beginning of a reputation, on receiving its own name.

Photograph 3.6 Front of the former "great house" of the descent group Kapressy on Dawelor (1913). The insert shows a shutter, decorated with the motif of the sun, from the "great house. "Height/width 33 cm (RJM).

Photograph 3.7. Decoration at the stem beam of a boat on Dawera, showing the wheel of the sun. The insert shows two prows of tree-trunk canoes-from the island of Damer. Length 153 cm (top) and 132 cm (below) (RMV).

Figure 3.2.

Traditional village on Dawera/Dawelor

A Entrances

B Pilot

C Bailer boy

D Right helmsman

E Left helmsman

Man as Boat and Helmsman

During the process of creating new life, the parents' role seems to be the most significant. However, in the minds of the islanders, they are entirely dependent on their ancestors. According to these notions the ancestors are the ones who determine whether both components (mormorsol and dmeir) will be available via the parents; without consent and help from the ancestors no new, "complete" human being can be formed. This dependency relationship is expressed in a botanical idiom. The ancestors are considered to be the "trunk" of a tree, of

which the living represent the "top." And just as the development of new shoots depends on the functioning of the basis of a tree, the survival of man lies in the hands of the ancestors.

As far as the woman is concerned, the notion exists that she received the potency to give birth to children, her fertility, from her mother. The latter, in her turn, received it from her mother, a series dating back to the first female ancestor who arose from the soil of the island. In a similar manner a father, during his activities to provide dmeir for a baby, is dependent on the male ancestors. For, without their help he is incapable of killing and cannot distribute fish to the villagers, in the name of his child. This potency to kill dates back to the first male ancestor, a mythical immigrant (see below).

Returning to the boat symbolism in relation to man, the distinction made between dmeir and mormorsol is very important. The language of Dawera and Dawelor reveals that a person's body, the part in which mormorsol manifests itself, is compared to a boat. The local terms for nose and toe correspond with bow and helm, and the shoulder blades are called wedyol, a word which means paddle. On the basis of this, the identification of dmeir, someone's image in the community, as a helmsman, a person who represents the boat to the outside world, is obvious. This association is indeed made on the islands. The boat represents the vital force and the helmsman a person's image.

Of course the question arises: What does the use of these nautical terms amount to? Is it just a matter of "playing games" in a world steeped in boat symbolism, or is there more to it? The latter is probably the case.

It seems that an interdependence is expressed by the terms boat and helmsman, as constituent parts of a whole. The nautical terminology presumably reveals that the creation of the whole depends on the availability of the constituent parts. On various occasions, creating something is worded or represented on the islands as bringing something "on course" (see also below). And boats can only set sail

when two preconditions have been met: both boat and helmsman have to be available.

Boat symbolism seems to indicate that mormorsol and dmeir are indispensable components of the human being. Without both vital force and social identity or image, there can be no talk of a "complete" person. At the same time the ancestors' role in society is also symbolically emphasised.

The Family and Boat Symbolism

The nautical symbolism regarding the founding of a family is certainly not a matter of "playing games." In order to bring a family "on course," entering a sexual relationship is necessary, something that has to take place within the framework of marriage. This "precondition" for the creation of progeny is expressed through boat symbolism.

Imagery is an important form of expressing this symbolism. The woman is compared to a boat with an open waste pipe lying on the beach, waiting for a man who wants to go sailing. Only when the man, the helmsman, embarks and— as it is put—seals up the drainage hole, can the boat set sail, that is to say: a family can come into being.

The image presented may seem familiar (the "marriage boat" pushing off), yet there is a notion involved which is far less easy to Understand. In the islanders' ideology the creation of new life depends on the killing of existing life, an old religious concept that is also found many other places in Maluku Tenggara. The tradition is expressed in the idea that a man, before he can marry and beget children, must have killed life present in the "outside world." In fact this is considered to be his contribution to the creative process. Once he has returned with his hunting spoils he can marry and the spouse can then contribute to the

process of creation in her way: developing and giving birth to new life. Aside from the imagery, this is very explicitly expressed in a ritual in which the founding of a family is represented in a nautical manner.

The Boat-Building Ritual

The imagery of boat symbolism does not stand independently, but is reflected in a larger context. This is seen in the construction rules for boats built on the islands. On Dawera and Dawelor two types of boats are built. Besides tree trunk canoes used for coastal fishing, boats made of planks and measuring about seven metres in length are built mainly to visit the other islands. In former times this latter model also functioned as a war proa. The construction of the plank boat is bound to special rules: the building ritual reflects the founding of a family.

In short, the boat is labelled—by taking heed of various rules—as a symbolic woman, with the exception of one construction part which is depicted as a symbolic, male helmsman. During the building ceremony this part is used, as it were, to "seal the drainage hole"; the sexual union of man and woman— marriage—is thus depicted. At the same time, however, it becomes apparent that the symbolic man is a successful hunter, someone who has killed. He possesses hunting spoils and the ritual role of these illustrate in a splendid manner that there cannot be life without death.

In practice the following takes place. A keel beam is chopped from a straight part of the trunk of a tree. It is extended on either side with two other pieces of wood, knees, from which a fine slanting bow beam and a rising stern beam are chopped with the help of a measuring cord. The name of this cord, lerlol, is derived from the name of the belt with which the women on the islands traditionally hold up their sarongs. In this manner a female label is already put on the boat as a whole at the beginning of the construction.

Then the first planks of the hull are placed on either side of the keel beam. These planks are called papan pomatt in Moluccan Malay, words meaning something like "sacred planks." Although all the work during the construction of a boat is done by men, it is a rule that these two planks are laid against the keel beam in a ceremonial manner by a woman. It is said that, together with the keel beam, they form the vagina of the boat. Here an explicit comparison of the boat with a woman can be seen.

Photograph 3.8. Boat made of planks on the beach of the village of Welora, on Dawera.

Photograph 3.9. Stem of the boat depicted in Photograph 3.8. When sailing, two rudders are hung from the cross-beam, on the right and left side.

The construction part representing the symbolic man, is the stern beam. This is associated with a helmsman. The male identity of the beam is expressed in several ways, one of which is identification with the sun.

This heavenly body is considered to be a "great hunter," a notion based on its "heat." Heat is a quality with a strongly associative meaning and is generally connected with concepts of death. This can, among other ways, also be seen during a hunt. Before the start, the hunters are brought into a "hot" condition by magical means, an atmosphere in which it is said that their deadly powers prevail.

The identification of the symbolic helmsman with the sun manifests itself, among other ways, in the orientation of the boat under construction: the stern beam must be directed eastwards, towards where the sun rises. Moreover, the identification is traditionally expressed in the decorative motifs on the stern board at the top of the beam. In many cases a sun motif is depicted on it (see Photograph 3.7).

Photographs 3.10 and 3.12. Four wooden statuettes that used to be wound with measuring cord, from the island of Kisar. The height of the largest statuette is 24 cm (PC).

Photograph 3.11. Part of a statuette with measuring cord, from the island of Babar. Height 26 cm (RJM).

In the past the symbolic helmsman was also represented as a "great hunter" by other stern board motifs. Usually a figure of a cock, a bird which is associated with the sun, or a dog, an animal kept for hunting, and sometimes the snake, especially a kind of water snake, would be used as a stern board (see also Chapter V).

The marriage of the symbolic woman, the boat as a whole, and the symbolic helmsman, the stern beam, is very graphically expressed in the construction: the bottom of the stern beam is moulded onto the keel beam by means of a dowelled joint, emphatically referring to a sexual union. The symbolism of the imagery is thus, as it were, made visible. The union of the "boat" and the "helmsman," woman and man, sets the family "on course."

By representing the male party as a "great hunter," the religious relationship between life and death has more or less implicitly been incorporated into the building ritual. However, the notion is also expressed in another, more outspoken, manner. This takes place with the aid of jewellery.

Traditionally a pair of gold earrings are bound to the joint between the keel beam and the stern beam, the point of union of man and woman. Nowadays nobody knows the significance of this anymore. The symbolic meaning of the earrings, added to a number of traditions on the surrounding islands, leads to the presumption that it concerns an elaboration of the old religious concept of the relationship between life and death. On several islands in Maluku Tenggara this notion is expressed by comparing the man's semen with the spoils of the hunt (see also Chapter VI). Life that is killed is considered to be a source of new life. A ritual translation of this notion is probably apparent in the boat building. For,

the jewels symbolise hunted heads (see Chapter VII) and their location strongly indicates a representation of semen.

The building ritual is concluded with the launching of the boat. Just before this moment the woman's contribution to the creative process is expressed. The boat, the symbolic woman who has received the semen, is then "cooled down" by a sprinkling of coconut juice. Like heat, coolness has a strongly associative meaning. This concept represents a calm, safe situation in which life flourishes and can mature. The family can start to develop.

Figure 3.3.

Traditional village on Luang

A Entrances

B Gaini ("front")

C Letgarni ("centre")

D Liirnu ("back"; literally "tail")

Boat Symbolism and Society

The kind of nautical symbolism which represents the founding of a family, also functions at the level of community. Myths which recount the creation of society usually involve a marriage of a maiden from the island and an immigrant. The maiden is often represented as a woman standing close to nature. She is more or less part of the soil of the island, an image labelling her as the source of fertility. The man from afar, on the other hand, generally possesses gold jewellery and can be considered a successful hunter on the basis of the symbolic meaning of these valuables. With their marriage the foundation of society is laid.

On Dawera and Dawelor the mythical marriage ceremony is represented by means of the boat symbolism. The myth of creation is reflected in the building ritual of the "great house," the building which represented the entire community in the traditional situation and which, as was stated before, represents a symbolic boat with a helmsman, the main post of the house.

The house building ritual corresponds essentially to the boat building ritual and the imagery dealt with before. The first female ancestor is represented as a boat, of which "the drainage hole" is "sealed" by a helmsman, the first male ancestor. The ancestors' sexual union— marriage—is represented, enabling society to be set "on course."

The House Building Ritual

The building of the "great house" begins with plotting a piece of land. Just as in the building of a real boat, a measuring cord, named after a woman's belt, is used. However, there is an important difference: the founding mother's belt is represented in the house. The measuring cord is traditionally unwound from a wooden statuette representing this woman (see Photograph 3.11). The plotted land, the space "inboard," thus emphatically represents the first female ancestor.

All sections of the house construction are considered as parts of a "boat." However, an exception is made for the main post. It has a separate position from a symbolical point of view. This is apparent, among other ways, from the name that the pole bears. The post is called— see also above— mekamulol "the one who holds the helm." The main post is seen as the helmsman of the symbolic boat. It is the representative of the first male ancestor, the hunter with his spoils.

During the ritual this latter element is especially expressed in the phase when the main post is placed on the piece of land that has been demarcated by the

measuring cord. Before the placing ceremony, the pole is wrapped in a basta, an imported cotton cloth several metres long which, due to its foreign origin, is sometimes compared to the hunter's spoils (see also chapter VIII).

Moreover, a large number of pigs and goats are slaughtered in the name of the main post, while the expression "Iwamat" is uttered: "he [the main post] stabs [the animals] to death." Thus it is expressed in a clear manner that the first male ancestor is a person with impressive lethal capacities.

Besides this there is once again an identification with the sun as a "great hunter." The post has to be erected simultaneously with this heavenly body's rising above the horizon. The identification also appears from the placing site: the main post has to be situated, within the demarcated area, to the east, the corner of the earth where the sun rises.

Additionally there is also an identification with the full moon, which is considered to be a "great hunter" as well. Its status is partially founded on the rich nocturnal catch of sea animals during the full moon tide. The full moon, and especially "the full moon with rings" (halos) shows, thereby, a man heading for his prey. The identification is expressed in the moment when the post has to be erected: at full moon.

By placing the main post in a hole within the demarcated piece of land, the symbolic helmsman boards the boat, as it were, representing the sexual union— marriage—of the first female and male ancestors. The boat can be set into motion: the foundation for society has been laid.

It is interesting that, besides the depiction of the founder father as a "great hunter," life and death are once again expressed in the use of jewellery. Just before placing the main post in the ground, a pair of gold earrings is traditionally

deposited in the post hole. Thinking in terms of the symbolic meaning of the jewellery and its situation in the post hole, it appears that, as during the boat building ritual, male semen is represented by hunting spoils.

After the placing ceremony the finishing of the house is entirely dominated by the idea of coolness. All building rules are aimed at achieving a condition under which life in the symbolic boat can grow, that is to say: society can start to develop. We are looking at a situation, identical to the one at the final phase of the construction of a plank-boat.

Heaven and Earth as Helmsman and Boat

Traditionally, the highest level at which interdependence is expressed through boat symbolism, is the cosmos. The islanders consider the universe a composition of two cosmic categories, ratlewaw, "down" or earth, and ratleul, "above" or heaven. The universe is thought to have been created by the male deity Uplerlawl, the highest being known. Uplerlawl represents the totality of the cosmos. Uplerlawl stands more or less outside the universe as a Creator and bears many characteristics of a so-called "resting deity." Nowadays Uplerlawl is usually addressed with Tuhan Allah. Here one can speak of a merging with the Christian God.

Until recently both cosmic halves, heaven and earth, were thought of in a personified manner. The earth was considered to be a woman, in the person of the earthquake spirit; the heaven as a man in the person of the deity Leyo Wulol, a name literally signifying "Sun-Moon." In traditional religion, life on earth was made dependent on the "holy marriage" contracted by these beings. And this dependence relationship was expressed in boat symbolism.

Whenever a disaster had occurred—the "great house" had been burned down or

the harvest had failed—there was cause for renewing the "creation." This was attempted by performing a great fertility ritual, the porka feast mentioned previously. During this feast, the "holy marriage" was, as it were, repeated: a wooden stake, representing Leyo Wulol, was put into the earth, right beside a stone representing the earthquake spirit (see also Chapter IV). Meanwhile, in songs, the earth was mentioned as a boat and Leyo Wulol as a helmsman. By boarding symbolically and "sealing the waste-pipe," the "creation" was in this manner once again "set on course." The dependence of the earthly life on the sexual union of the two cosmic halves was thus expressed.

Photograph 3.13. Stake with the impressive horns of killed buffaloes, functioning as a status symbol. Photograph taken in the village of Tela on Babar in 1913.

During this fertility ritual the religious notion regarding life and death was once more expressed. Leyo Wulol was represented as a "great hunter," in the first place because of his name, but also by binding weapons (a bow and arrow, a fishing-spear) to the stake which represented him (see also Chapter IV). Besides this, the comparison of the hunting spoils with male semen was explicitly enhanced. On Leyo Wulol, a pig or a dog was hung as spoils on the stake. The animal was killed in a ritual way, the blood being caught and spread out over all the gardens, ensuring the result of a good harvest. Death was here literally connected with the creation of life.

Life, Death and the Community

Boat symbolism, used as a means of expression, reveals on various levels that new life depends on the marriage between man and woman. The respective contributions to the creative process are apparent. Men "produce" by killing, women by means of their life-giving potency. These "production methods" are not limited to the process of creation, but are encountered in many more fields. In fact they form the basis for the traditional division of tasks between the two sexes.

In short, women are directed "inwardly" in their way of acting. Their domain concerns generating and taking care of life, both in the house and in the garden. Men, on the other hand, are aimed outwardly. They have to keep up the group's reputation and traditionally do this by killing. The status of a group mainly depends on their hunting successes. In the past this was, among other ways, visible in the decoration of the "great house."

Esteem was propagated by "hunting trophies" attached to this house. Decorative gable finials in the form of crossed horns, for instance, represented the horns of killed animals. By means of a shell decoration on the "prows" of the house, the heads of the vanquished were depicted. Besides this the decoration motifs on the walls referred to the men's status as "great hunters.” Representations of the sun and the "moon with rings” could be found here as well as something that we will call the motif of the hunter and his prey: a "predator" striking (see Photograph 3.2).

However the group members always remain dependent on their ancestors both for killing and for giving birth. These ancestors eventually determine whether the boat-man, the family and society-will sail on.

Dawera and Dawelor and the Other Islands

The nautical symbolism as described above can, in the main, be called representative for the former porka cultures. From ancient sources it can be deduced that on Sermata, Luang, Leti, Moa, and Lakor, for example, boat symbolism functioned in a similar manner and this is probably still the case nowadays.²

In a distant past, just as on Dawera and Dawelor, most villages elsewhere in the area lay on hilltops and were provided with fortified walls. There are indications that the majority of these settlements consisted of an endogamous descent group composed of four descent lines. As on the islands dealt with before, boat symbolism was expressed, among other ways, in the spatial orientation of the villages. The walled-in village generally had a symbolic sailing direction which was reflected in the nautical terms of the places of residence of the members of a descent line.

The spatial elaboration of the boat notion in the "eyries" on Dawera and Dawelor appears to have represented an eastern tradition within the region. To the west of the Babar archipelago, the village layout revealed a similarity less often. From Sermata onwards most descent groups did not have one large house structure at their disposal, but each of the four descent lines constituting the group had its own residence with outbuildings. Here the inhabitants of the four separate houses, and not the inhabitants of four "rooms," formed the crew of the symbolic boat. Reconstruction of the traditional village layouts shows that the location of these houses could differ per island, depending on the elaboration of the boat notion locally.

An example is the former village of Luang. This was compared to a boat. On the basis of a symbolic sailing direction, the village had an internal division into three zones: front or prow (gaini), middle (letgarni), and rear or stern (liirnu). The ship's crew was formed by the members of four matrilineal descent lines, which all had their own residences. These houses had been erected according to a fixed pattern based on the four points of the compass. Members of two descent lines always inhabited the middle zone and members of the other two descent lines inhabited the front and rear zones (see Figure 3.3).

Boat symbolism, used as a means of expression, was very much apparent on the level of the universe. On Dawera and Dawelor the heavenly deity was symbolised by a wooden stake. However, on many other western islands the deity was represented by a male statue seated in a boat. From this it can be deduced that the dependency of earthly life on the "holy marriage" was expressed by boat symbolism in a large region. In the next chapter this subject will be discussed further.

Photographs 3.14 and 3.15. Sacrificial house in the village of Nurnyaman on Dawelor. The back and front sides of the house are decorated with, the motif of the sun. Photographs taken in 1913.

Photograph 4.1. Mask from the island of Leti, formerly used while performing dances at the porka ritual. The mask was held in the mouth while dancing. Length 13.5 cm; maximum width 6 cm (TM).

The statues of ancestors and deities are undoubtedly among the most appealing cultural manifestations of the islands between Timor and Tanimbar. Until the arrival of Christianity they played an essential role in the islanders' lives. Nowadays they can only be found in the collections of museums and in private collections; on the islands themselves the statues have disappeared.

This chapter describes the former function of the objects. Both the important religious concepts and the porka ritual, the fertility feast that had a central place in the traditional religion of the western islands, are discussed.

The statues relate to two levels. First the statues that were connected to the world of humans will be discussed, then attention will be paid to the objects that were related to the structure of the universe. Furthermore, a distinction can be made on the former level between statues of ancestors who were worshipped as founders of a descent group and statues of "common" ancestors. Attention will be paid to these last statues first.

Representation of the Deceased

In the previous chapter the concepts about man existing on the islands of Dawera and Dawelor were explained. A person is considered to be a body in which two elements have united: the vital force of the body, and the identity, the "unique element" of a person, compared by some to the soul or spirit. However the character of this last element differs from the western concept of soul. On the

islands it is usually referred to as "shadow image." On the basis of field data and source material it seems presumable that this notion about man exists in the whole of western Maluku Tenggara.

In general the islanders are convinced that someone's "shadow image" continues to exist after death. The body decays, left by the vital force, and the deceased's "shadow" remains. It is assumed that, after a person dies, this shadow lingers on at the place of residence for some days and then leaves for a village of the dead. This village is nearly always situated on an uninhabited island, a reef or a cape, not far from the world of the living.

Until the beginning of this century, when Christianity gained a form foothold, a wooden statuette of the deceased was made on most of the islands. In many villages this was done by a skilled in carver. As a form of remuneration a pig or a goat was given on many islands, on Leti also cotton.¹

On the islands the kind of wood commonly used for the statuettes is called kayu kenawa in Moluccan Malay, defined by Heyne as Pterocarpus indica.² Research into the statues, carried on by the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), shows, however, that it is probably Cordia subcordata Lamk., which closely resembles Pterocarpus indica.³

Photograph 4.2. Ancestor statue from the island of Sermata. Height 57 cm (PC).

Photograph 4.3. Ancestor statuette from western Maluku Tenggara, showing a headdress with cock figures. Height 16 cm (RJM).

The majority of the statuettes had a height of between five and forty centimetres. Naturally, the name which they were given differed according to the language region. On Dawera and Dawelor for instance, they were referred to as raklol and on Led as yene.

A statuette was an important means of communication for the relatives of a deceased person. It enabled them to keep in contact with the deceased. The deceased's "shadow" was thought to reside temporarily in the statuette on these occasions. For the next of kin it was of crucial importance to venerate the ancestral "shadows." As was explained in the previous chapter, there was a strong dependence on the ancestors for, among other things, realising off spring. Paying tribute to the ancestors was mostly done by sacrificing to the "shadows," which were presumed to reside in the statuettes. Generally they were offered sirih and pinang, sometimes combined with palm wine.

The fact that the statuettes were only "occupied" temporarily, explains the easy way in which former western travellers—often to their own amazement— could obtain the objects. The statuettes were bartered against coveted articles such as cloths and tobacco. After barter the islanders simply produced a new specimen. This willingness to sell had nothing to do with a lack of religiousness, as was supposed by some westerners.

Reflection of Identity

In many cases the statuettes reflect the identity of the deceased person. Gender

and personal characteristics can be carved into it and sometimes a speciality of the deceased was represented too. A particular example of this concerns the statuette of a blacksmith from the village of Letsiara on Babar (see Photograph 4.7). It was carved around a forged nail previously struck into the wood, and reveals the blacksmith with the iron in his hands.

At places where a caste system existed (see the Introduction), the statuettes usually indicated the rank to which the deceased belonged. In his travel accounts about Leti, where he stayed in 1888, Jacobsen extensively reported on this subject.⁴ In pictures and words he indicates that members of the highest caste, the mama, are represented with earrings (of the lorlora type; see Chapter VII) and head jewellery "reminiscent of bishops' mitres." Here Jacobsen undoubtedly refers to the gold headdresses (wutulai), which serve as a sign of distinction in the region (see Chapter VII). Some statuettes with "bishops' mitres" from the collections of European museums reveal the ornamentation of these headdresses in detail. Illustrative is the statuette that is shown in Photograph 4.3. The motif of the cocks in the headdress corresponds exactly with the ornamentation of some gold wutulai of Luang (see also the luli statue on Photograph 4.13).

According to Jacobsen members of the lowest caste (ate, the slaves) were mostly represented without jewellery and members of the intermediary caste (wusuru) with a kind of earring differing from the lorlora (which type he is referring to can unfortunately not be deduced from his work), together with some plumage.⁵ This latter decoration would exclusively concern men, as a feather ornamentation indicates a role as a warrior (see below).

However, a remarkable phenomenon appears from Jacobsen's description of the statues: the gold headdress (wutulai), which, we were assured in 1981, could only be worn in the region by a noble woman (see Chapter VII), was also used by noble men, on Leti more than a century ago. It might be a local variant. Another possibility is that the customary distinguishing pattern has altered in the course of time.

Several authors indicate that on Leti the posture of the legs was gender bound. Deceased men were represented with drawn up legs, in a squatting position; deceased women with their legs crossed in what is called the bersila posture. On the other islands this pattern is known to be less consistent. It is true, though, that the "common" ancestors in practically the entire region were depicted sitting or squatting.

A striking thing is that some statuettes, carved during the period transitional to Protestantism, reflected the Christian identity of the deceased person. In 1895 Van Hoëvell made the following remark regarding this: "The Christians on these islands still produce these figures, yet in a more modern manner, painted, dressed, with high hats on their heads and sitting on chairs."⁷ He illustrates his remark with drawings of statues he collected in the village of Jerusu on Roma; statues in the collection of the Museum voor Land en Volkenkunde in Rotterdam strongly resemble the drawn specimens (see Photograph 4.6). These "modern" statuettes also convey the deceased persons' status. By converting to Christianity, one could in a way be on an equal footing with the Dutch ruler and distinguish oneself in a superior manner. Painting the statues, however, was not a specific "Christian" criterion, in contrast to what Van Hoëvell notes. On many islands it used to be common to provide the statues with colours or coloured motifs (see below). Much more characteristic are the hat and also the western chair on which the deceased person is depicted. Both functioned as marks of distinction.

Photograph 4.4. Two ancestor statuettes from Luang (left height 30 cm) and Leti (right, height 34 cm). The ancestors are represented in the bersila posture (MLV).

Photograph 4.5. Two ancestor statuettes, showing headdresses, from the island of Leti. Height 27 cm (left) and 28 cm (right) (RJM).

Photograph 4.6 Two "modem" ancestor statuettes, from the island of Damer. Height 17 cm (left) and 18 cm (right) (MLV).

Photograph 4.7. Statuette of a black smith from the village of Letsiara on Babar. Height 5 cm (PC).

Locations

The site where the statuettes were placed, varied. In the Babar archipelago they were, for the major part, placed in caves in the vicinity of the village. Here, in the half-dark, the villagers maintained the bond with the "shadows" of their ancestors. The statues were only taken out of the caves during the great fertility feast, the porka ritual. The celebration of this feast required the presence of all members of the community in the village, both the living and the dead, and the latter were, in the shape of statues, provided with a place at the centre of the village.

More to the west, on Leti, Moa and Lakor for instance, the statues generally had a place on the loft of the house. Riedel describes how a deceased person's "shadow" was "lured" into a newly-made statuette by laying this on a gold plate (mas bulan, see Chapter VII) and subsequently carrying it to the loft.⁸ On Roma, Damer and Kisar a comparable situation existed. The "shadows" were thought to reach the loft of the house via openings in the facade. Sometimes a special hatch was fixed for this purpose.

The "Hardness" of an Ancestor

Not all statuettes had a permanent place. Besides the statuette that was placed in a cave or on a loft, an extra specimen was often made of ancestors with whom a special bond existed (notably the "namesake," after whom a person was named). This statuette was meant to be carried. They were referred to by a separate name

(on Leti e.g. rusna) and have a height of only a few centimetres. They are produced from various kinds of material; besides wood, ivory and buffalo horn were used, and, according to some authors, gold and silver statuettes also existed. In the museum collections the latter kind was not found, in contrast to the presence of considerable numbers of wooden specimens and various ivory and horn statuettes (see Photograph on page 30).

Unlike the statuettes placed in caves and on lofts, the hardness of the material in this small type of statue was very important. This criterion was strongly linked to the use as a "war talisman." Traditionally the statuettes were especially made to be carried along during the waging of wars. The warriors wore them, on chains, or in small baskets around their necks, or in girdles on then-bodies. The statuettes represented the male ancestors who enabled them to kill their enemies (see Chapter III).

The great reputation of the aid-giving ancestors was expressed in the hardness of the statuettes. On the islands hardness is a symbol of a warrior's power and invincibility. In songs the warriors are often compared to kinds of hard wood, and this relationship was also expressed in other cultural manifestations. Thus the statues representing the heavenly deity—a "great hunter"—are denoted on various islands with the common noun aitiehra, a term literally meaning "hard wood" (see also below).

The ancestors' lethal powers were also expressed by means of the pieces of red, imported cloth with which some statuettes were "dressed" (see Photograph 4.8). The colour red, used in the context of war, refers to a condition of "hotness," the atmosphere in which lethal powers are dominant. During times of war the warriors themselves often wore red bands (in Moluccan Malay: kain beran) around their heads. Self-made cloths were never used to convey heat; these cloths are associated with "coolness," that is to say fertility (see Chapter VIII). Instead of pieces of red cloth, basta cloths, imprinted with red patterns, were also used (see Chapter VIII).

Statues of the First Ancestors

A special category of statues represented the ancestors who were connected with the origin of the descent groups—the man and woman whose mythical marriage, described in the previous chapter, formed the basis for the founding of the former community, which had lived in isolation.

Only a small number of the statues examined can be ascertained as portraying the founders of a descent group. Making general statements about this category of objects is therefore a rather precarious undertaking. However, on the basis of the literature and the information that was gathered on the islands, it is possible to mention some characteristic aspects of the statues of the first ancestors. They seem be distinguished from the statues mentioned above on three points: size, location and the decorations applied to them.

In general the statues of the first generation of ancestors were taller than those of "common" ancestors. In various cases this was related to the posture in which the forefathers were represented. With the statues of "common" ancestors the squatting posture predominates, whereas a founder father or mother was quite often depicted upright and, moreover, sometimes with the arms raised high, causing the statues to have a height of over one metre.

As far as their location is concerned, there is a difference from the pattern described above. The majority of the statues representing first ancestors was not located on a loft or in a cave outside the village, but on a conspicuous site in or near the settlement. Due to this and to their size, the statues often had a prominent place in the community.

The last point of difference concerns decorations. In many cases there were decorative motifs or attributes, causing the statues of first ancestors, more so

than those of "common" ancestors, to refer emphatically to the roles of the man and the woman during the process of creation.

In the islanders' ideology, as we have already explained, the creation of new life depends on the killing of existing life, a notion expressed, among other things, in the tradition that a man, before he is allowed to marry and beget children, must have killed another form of life first. This can, in fact, be considered as the male contribution to the process of creation. The moment he is in possession of hunting spoils—on many Moluccan islands compared to male semen—he can marry and enable his spouse to contribute her share in the creative process: developing and giving birth to new life. However, both for killing and giving birth a man and a woman depend on their ancestors, so that the power to kill goes back as far as the first male ancestor and life-giving potency as far as the first female ancestor.

The decorations applied on the statues undoubtedly referred to this role of the first ancestors. The statue of the first female ancestor was quite often entirely dominated by fertility symbols, whereas that of the first male ancestor was provided with attributes labelling him as someone with great lethal powers. As such he formed the base of a descent group's reputation.

Just as outstanding as the characteristic, corresponding aspects of the statues of founder-parents, are differences in design. Besides an increasing refinement in carving from east to west—which can also be seen in the statues of "common" ancestors—almost each group of islands had its own style. Moreover it is striking that not everywhere is the same amount of attention paid to the first female as to the first male ancestor. This can be explained from the existing situations of kinship. Although all sorts of combinations occur on the islands in western Maluku Tenggara, there are definite matrilineal societies which generally consider the founder-mother of greater importance than her husband. In a number of cases this was expressed in the extra attention paid to her effigy. And although there is no proof available, it is likely that in the purely patrilineal communities, extra attention was paid to the image of the founder-father. In

many cases, further to the east, in the patrilineal societies of Tanimbar, this was the pattern.

Photograph 4.8. Two ancestor statuettes from western Maluku Tenggara, formerly used as "war talismen." Height 6.5 cm (left) and 6 cm (right) (RMV/TM).

Resemblances and differences can be illustrated from a number of characteristic statues of founder-parents, which were collected at the beginning of this century. First some objects from the western part of the region, notably the islands of Leti and Lakor, will be discussed. Then attention is turned to the east, to the statues produced on the Babar archipelago. Finally there will be a short discussion about some plank statues from the northern island of Damer; their size and decorations seem to strongly indicate that these are statues of first ancestors.

A Sacred Source of Fertility

The descent groups on Leti and Lakor are characterised by matrilineality. Descent is reckoned through the female line and it is therefore not strange that special attention was paid to the statues of founder-mothers on these islands. The statues of the first female ancestors, called luli ("sacred") in the local language, are often so splendid that they can be counted among the highlights of Southeast Moluccan culture, together with, for instance, the Tanimbarese tavu (see also Chapter VI).

Photograph 4.9. Luli statue, from the island of Lakor. Height 62 cm (RMV).

Photograph 4.10. Luli statue, from the island of Lakor. Height 103 cm (RMV).

The luli reveal two striking extremes in design. On the one hand they can represent a fairly realistically depicted female figure, decorated with motifs referring to the role of the founder-mother as the source of fertility. On the other hand a luli can be entirely dominated by these motifs, causing the female figure to be hardly or not at all recognizable. There are all kinds of mixtures between these realistic and abstract luli

Whenever a founder-mother is represented realistically, she usually holds her arms raised high into the air, somewhat sideways. The palms of the hands can be directed towards the head or forward. In the latter case they are often provided with decorations, just as the upper body.

Two ornamental moths are predominant on this type of luli the boat and the tree. The boat generally has prows that are strongly curved inwards. The motif is often applied to me statue at the height of the lower abdomen, although it can also be found on other places, for instance on the palms of the hands. The image is mostly carved in wood. However, me motif is sometimes painted on the founder-mother's abdomen in red; examples of this can be found on some luli from Lakor (see Photographs 4.9 and 4.11), which belong to the collection of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden.

The boat motif applied on the statues is probably the most important fertility symbol in western Maluku Tenggara. In the previous chapter it was extensively discussed how boat symbolism is used on the islands to symbolise the founding of the family and the society, and even creation itself. In all these cases the boat represents a woman, in whom new life can prosper and develop in an atmosphere of coolness; from her, sprout the children of the family, the members

of the community and the produce of the earth. In essence the boat could be compared to a womb, and that is what the boat motif on the statues seems to refer to.

The position of the motif on various luli at the height of the lower abdomen, could be explained in thus manner, and the shape in which it is represented on many statues—with prows strongly curved inwards—becomes understandable too. As will appear in Chapter V, the association of a boat with a womb is explicitly expressed on several islands in eastern Maluku Tenggara, where similar forms of boat symbolism exist.

The colour red in which the motif on the abdomen of some luli is painted, also refers to growth and new life. This colour has a double meaning on the islands. As was mentioned before in this chapter, in an atmosphere of hotness it refers to death. However, in a context dominated by coolness, red—associated with menstrual blood—represents the opposite.

Photograph 4.11. Luli statue from the island of Lakor. Height 61 cm (RMV).

Photograph 4.12. Abstract luli statue, from the island of Lakor. Height 57 cm (RMV).

The reference to fertility is evident also from the other predominant ornamental motif: the tree. The founder-mother is sometimes depicted against a background of a high-rising tree and an abundance of leaves (see both luli mentioned above), which can be interpreted as symbols of new life. With some statues she even seems to have blended into the vegetation. Illustrative is a third luli from the Leiden collection (see Photograph 4.10), which also originated from Lakor. The first female ancestor is depicted by the motif as a part of a tree, a manner of representation also encountered in the local myths of creation. As described in Chapter III, there is usually in these myths a marriage between an immigrant and a maiden of the island— the founder-mother—who still stands, as it were, with one leg in the earth, a floralistic image stamping her as a source of fertility.

The abstractly shaped luli are in fact a combination of the two fertility symbols, the boat and the tree. It is quite striking that both motifs have nearly always been applied the same way: the tree rising from the boat. The idea of a womb, out of which new life originates, seems to be enhanced even further in this manner. A typical example is a fourth luli collected on Lakor, and conserved in Leiden (see Photograph 4.12), on which the vegetation in open-work carving, towers high above the boat. Only from the raised hands, on either side of the tree motif, can it be deduced that the statue represents a human creature.

The luli statues which can be considered a mixture, regularly have the shape of a boat out of which a female figure, sometimes part of a floral motif, emerges. This makes the founder-mother part of the pattern on the abstract Mi, and she represents new, awakening life in a splendid way. A realistically represented founder-mother also seems to depict this pattern by the posture of her arms. The raised arms, stretched slightly sideways, can be considered to be the basic line of a boat, from which the founder-mother originates. The abstract luli of Lakor mentioned before (Photograph 4.12) also contribute to this thought due to the

hands being on either side of the statue.

Photograph 4.13. Luli statue, from the island of Leti, representing Huxrainna-Huxtualinna from the village of Luhuleli. Height 105 cm (RJM).

The Founding Mother as Representative of a Group

The luli show in no uncertain manner that on islands such as Lakor and Leti, the founder-mother is primarily associated with life-giving potency. Traditionally she functions as an important source of origin for the members of the descent group: the fertility of the female group members is traced back to her.

Besides this, many statues reveal another, entirely different aspect of the founder-mother. For, as the first female ancestor of a matrilineal descent group she also functions as a representative of the group. She fulfills an important symbolic function.

As such she promotes the status of the descent group, something that can be seen on the realistic luli statues, in the decorations with which the figure of the founder-mother is adorned. Thus some statues show a gold headdress (the previously mentioned wutulai), which indicates that the wearer and her the group belong to the mama, the local nobility. Several luli also show a necklace which is called mas tanduk ("gold horns") in Moluccan Malay. As is the case with all gold jewellery in western Maluku Tenggara, the mas tanduk represents a hunting trophy, propagating status (see also Chapter VII).

The aspect of status is represented in an extremely impressive way by a luli which was collected by Müller-Wismar on Leti in 1914 (see Photograph 4.13). The statue, now part of the collection of the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum at Cologne, represents Huxrainna-Huxtualinna, the first female ancestor of the

descent group Halupnu from the village of Luhuleli. This luli is not only provided with the two before-mentioned ornaments, but is also decorated with the status propagating motif of the hunter and his prey, in mis case a cock about to strike. This motif was mentioned before in Chapter III.

However, at the same time it becomes clear that Huxrainna-Huxtualinna is also a source of fertility. This appears among other things from the typical arm posture, the boat motif carved into the "palms of her hands," and the floral representation applied to her body. On the headdress are also references to fertility. In me top part, above the cocks, the boat and the tree are present in the pattern mentioned before.

Wooden pedestals, such as the one on which Huxrainna-Huxtualinna stands, are only known from Leti. They were probably called yademu and exclusively produced for luli¹ In collections the ornamentation on the pedestals, forms a unity with the decorations on their statues. Sacrifices to the founder-mother were placed on a yademu.

On many islands a luli statue was traditionally situated in a centrally located small temple belonging to the descent group. After the merging of several descent groups, into larger villages, the luli were often moved to a dwellinghouse. Regarding Leti, it is known that this was the place of residence of the oldest of the four matrilineages in a number of cases; on Leti the four matrilineages of a group each had their own house of origin, just as on Luang (see Chapter III).

Photograph 4.14. Luli statue, probably from the island of Left. Height 64 cm (MV-N).

The High-Seated Founding Father

In former days it is likely that the luli in the small temple was accompanied by the statue of the first male ancestor. What such a figure exactly looked like on Leti and Lakor, is not known with any certainty. In the collections that were studied no founder-father statue, originating from these islands, was found. There are, however, some data from which it can be roughly deduced what the shape of the image was.

An important indication for this is the local type-denotation mentioned by Riedel.¹¹ He refers to the statue of the founder-father as dople or dere. These terms seem to have been collective names for small ancestor statues. The names were presumably synonyms for the previously mentioned term yene, indicating the statues of "common" ancestors.¹² Assumedly the statue of the founder-father was relatively small.

Photograph 4.15. Pillar statue, representing a "house establisher" from the island of Leti. Height 81 cm (RMV).

Photograph 4.16. Pillar statue from the island of Leti. The ancestor figure and the pillar are made of one piece of wood Height 74.5 cm (MLV).

Still the sources also call a large pole statue, situated in the middle of the village, the representative of the first male ancestor. Although this statue also appeared to us for quite some time to be the image of the founder-father—primarily based on genealogical research by Müller-Wismar¹³ —recent research in a broader context has shown that this idea is incorrect The centrally placed figure did not represent the male founder on the level of the microcosmos, but his macrocosmic likeness (see below).

Although the founder-father was presumably represented by a relatively small statue, his placement probably gave a very good indication that it was a special ancestor. On Leti and Lakor the statues of ancestors who represented a collective interest, were usually placed on wooden pillars. These were quite often beautifully tooled and provided with splendid socles. It is likely that these pillars functioned as marks of distinction.

We illustrate this, by two "pillar statues," which were collected on Leti at the turn of the century and which presumably reveal a strong resemblance to the figure of the founder-father. The collection of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden contains the statue of a "house establisher," the male founder of an annex of one of the four houses of origin traditionally belonging to a descent group on Leti. The thirty-centimetre high ancestral figure is seated on a round wooden pillar more than half a metre high (see Photograph 4.15). Van Hoëvell calls the figure a "Protective Spirit."¹⁴

The second example is a statue belonging to the collection of the RautenstrauchJoest-Museum at Cologne (see Photograph 4.17). It represents a man who, in his function as a war leader, once acted as the "right hand" of a founder-father. On the islands there was a tradition of a "dual" leadership. At the head of a descent group was a ritual leader, generally a descendant of the group founder, who was assisted by a war leader. The latter acted in the name of the first; their mutual relationship resembled that of an older and younger brother. As with statues of the first ancestors, the statue of the first war leader had a prominent place in the village. The figure was situated in a "house of war." Here he guarded the village and controlled the "sacred sword" of the descent group. The statue of the war leader from the Cologne collection, 23 centimetres in height, rests on a pillar more than 49 centimetres high. Originally the "sacred sword" was tied to the pillar.

Photograph 4.17. Pillar statue, representing "war leader from the island of Leti. Originally a 'sacred sword" was attached to the pillar. Height 72 cm (RJM).

Photograph 4.18. The former ritual centre of the village of Tutuwa-wang on Babar, showing a wooden stake symbolizing the heavenly deity. Photograph taken in 1913.

Photograph 4.19. Group of statues in the village of Manuweri on Babar, representing the male ancestor Erkai, his wife Pirai and their son Lalirai. Photograph taken in 1913.

As was stated before, the figure of the founder-father presumably bore a great resemblance to both statues mentioned. It was assumedly a relatively small statue, placed on a pillar. Possible decorations are mere guesswork. The founderfather, as well as his assistant, may have possessed a weapon. At least this was the pattern on several other islands in western Maluku Tenggara; dual leadership existed in the entire region (see also below). The lethal powers of the founderfather would in that case have been expressed both by the statue of the war leader, acting in the name of the first male ancestor, and by the figure of the founder-father himself. The esteem of the descent group would also have been propagated by two statues.

First Ancestors of Babar

In order to make the picture somewhat more complete, attention will now be turned from Leti and Lakor to the ancestor statues of the Babar archipelago. As far as design and decoration are concerned, the figures of the first ancestors differ per region here, a phenomenon connected with numerous other local variations in the culture, including those in the field of kinship.¹⁵

In the following text, statues of three different regions in the Babar archipelago will be discussed. Attention will be paid to the statues of a founder-parents couple from the northern coast of Babar and some founder-father figures from the northeastern coast of this island. For the sake of completeness the representation of a war leader from the island of Marsela will be discussed as well. Just as on Leti and Lakor he acted as an "extension" of the founder-father and the lethal powers of this father were also made visible by the figure of the

war leader.

The statue from the northern coast of Babar is only familiar from a picture (see Photograph 4.19). This was taken in 1913 by Muller-Wismar in the village of Manuweri and shows three figures on what is called "a stair construction" by the German researcher: Erkai, his wife Pirai and their son Lalirai.¹ Erkai and Pirai are described by Muller-Wismar as "forefathers" of the descent group initially forming the village. Although not mentioned explicitly, it can be assumed that they represent the founder-ancestors on account of the situation of the group of statues in an open space in the village.

On the Babar archipelago the founder-parents' statues usually had a central location. They were often placed near the ritual centre (see below), in the open air. Besides these statues, most villages had a statue of the first war leader. Bearing a sword and a red turban (kain beran, see above), it was generally situated near the main entrance gate.

Photograph 4.20. Statue of the "founder" of the village of Nakarhamto on Babar. Photograph taken in 1913.

Photograph 4.21. Ancestor statue, probably from the northeast coast of Babar. Height 140 cm (MNI).

Photograph 4.22. Statue of the 'founder" of the village of Yatoke on Babar. Photograph taken in 1913.

According to the literature researcher Scholz, who incorporated Müller-Wismar's photograph in his thesis,¹⁷ the large figure in the centre represents the "Foundermother Pirai." It is not known where Scholz gained this information. As the female line is very important in many villages on the northern coast of Babar, his information could however be quite correct.

The group of statues reveals that not all founder-parents' figures in western Maluku Tenggara were provided with significant decorations. With the exception of a kind of headdress, both Pirai and her husband are undecorated. The shape of the upper "step" merely seems to have functioned to characterize the depicted ancestors as members of the crew of a ship.

The villages of Nakarhamto and Yatoke lie in the northeast, separated from the north coast of Babar by a mountain ridge extending into the sea. Until the beginning of this century there were striking, almost identical, statues in the ritual centres of both villages. Each of them represented the founder-father of the descent group out of which the village had developed.

Both figures were upright statues, with their arms raised high, and provided with attributes. In 1913 Muller-Wismar photographed the statues in their traditional setting (see Photographs 4.20 and 4.22). Not much later, under the influence of Protestantism, they were removed and probably destroyed. Despite this at least one representative of the typical style of the region seems to have been preserved. The Museum Nasional Indonesia in Jakarta houses a figure which resembles both statues in close detail (see Photograph 4.21).

The statues in Yatoke and Nakarhamto merely represented the founder-fathers in a metaphorical manner; they were not the images of the village founders themselves. Here a phenomenon is encountered that is known from more islands in western Maluku Tenggara. A weather beaten ancestor statue was not always directly replaced. Therefore it could happen that in an emergency, requiring communication with a village founder for instance, there was no image of this ancestor available. In such situations another statue, shaped in a similar fashion, was simply used. Thus the figure in the village centre of Yatoke actually represented the founder-father of a descent group which had arrived later in the village and the figure of Nakarhamto was the image of Rurnamtoa, a Luangese man of high rank who was buried in the village.¹⁸ The changed role of the statues could be deduced from their location and the fact that only the oldest male descendant of the village founder (the tuan tanah) was allowed to offer them sacrifices.

Photograph 4.23. Statues of the "guardian" of the village of Serili on Marsela (Babar archipelago) and his wife. Height 130 cm (man) and 123 cm (woman) (RJM).

Attributes which are connected with lethal powers predominate in the design of the figures. The statue of Nakarhamto is adorned with a bow, a weapon referring to feats of valour during hunting. Moreover porcelain shells can be seen. As was indicated in Chapter III in connection with house ornaments, a shell decoration symbolises killed life. This link was expressed, among other things, by the fact that only a "great hunter" could wear a necklace made of porcelain shells. Together with the large decorative comb, belonging to each warrior's outfit and present on both figures, the shells reveal a great military past.

On the northeast coast of Babar the role of the first male ancestor in society could be deduced quite clearly from the attributes of the founder-fathers' statues. As the source of origin he was above all associated with lethal powers. Because of this he was at the same time at the base of the group's reputation.

Finally the before-mentioned statue of the war leader will be discussed. On visiting the island of Marsela in 1913, Muller-Wismar discovered two statues near the main entrance to the village of Serili, representing the war leader of the village and his wife (see Photograph 4.23). Both are now part of the collection of the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum at Cologne. In the village the figures were called mekku: guardians (of the village). The couple is depicted upright, with raised arms, the war leader originally wielding a shield and a sword. The manner of representation can be considered typical of the way in which the figures of war leaders were designed on several other Babar islands.

Plank Statues of Damer

Various styles of founder-parents' statues were mentioned above, yet an entirely unique variant was to be found on Damer. Although it could not be ascertained, the first ancestors on this island were probably represented by plank statues until the introduction of Christianity (see Photographs 4.24 and 4.25). Indications for this are the size of the statues—an average height of more than one metre—and in particular the decorative motifs.

In general the planks on which a female figure is to be found are dominated by floral representations, combined with a—sometimes heavily stylised—boat motif with prows curled inwards. Quite often, as with the luli statues, a tree-like figure rises from it midships. On several "female" planks whole series of boatlike, interconnected shapes occur which are placed on top of each other. On top of the planks the motif, often stylised and then with open-worked carving, returns (see Photograph 4.24). The impression is gained that the boat motif on the plank statues of Damer were applied in a similar fashion as on the luli of Leti, and that as such the founder-mother symbolised the source of fertility.

The only male plank statue known to us contrasts greatly with the "female" planks as far as decorations are concerned. On this a motif dominates which can be interpreted as representing a hunting trophy. On the plank, belonging to the collection of the Tropenmuseum (Museum of the Tropics) in Amsterdam, a series of buffalo horns, placed on top of each other, can be seen, which, in former days, were attached to posts on various islands in western Maluku Tenggara to increase the esteem of a descent group (see Photograph 4.25). It is most likely that the motif applied on the plank represented the lethal powers of the male figure, the founder-father.

Where the plank statues had their exact place is unknown. The sources indicate that they were situated outdoors as well as indoors.¹ In the last case it probably concerned the umtuvtuvcha, the "oldest house" of the former matrilineal descent group on Damer.²

Statues of Heaven and Earth

After the statues that formed part of the human world, attention will now be paid to the objects connected with the structure of the universe, objects which represented the cosmic powers in pre-Christian times.

Traditionally the cosmos is conceived on all islands in the region as a compound of two categories, which are usually referred to as "above" and "below." This does not mean, however, that no different notions exist about the universe. The cosmic dichotomy has received various interpretations across the islands.

Of old on Leti, for instance, there is the idea of a firmament built up of seven stories and an earth consisting of just as many layers.²¹ On Wetan, the most western island of the Babar archipelago, there is a prevailing notion of a heaven of two stories and an undifferentiated earth.²² And the traditional universe of Dawera and Dawelor consists of a firmament numbering seven layers and an "unlayered" earth.

In general an almighty male creature is taken to be the creator of both cosmic halves. He resides above, or in the upper layer of the heaven. Just as the structure of "above" and "below" can differ per island, so can the name of this creature. The most common names are Uplerlavna or It Matromna (on Babar, Sermata, Luang and Leti), Uplera or Mochrom (on the Babar island of Marsela), and Opolera or Ik Makromod (on Kisar). For decades the creator has been imbedded into Protestantism and is referred to as Tuhan Allah, god of the Christians.

Photograph 4.24. "Female" plank statue, from the island of Damer. Height 115 cm (RMV).

Photograph 4.25. "Male" plank statue, from the island of Damer. Height 108 cm (TM).

Until the recent past heaven and earth were represented in a personified manner. "Above" was considered to be a man, in the person of a heavenly deity; "below" was considered to be a woman, in the person of an earth goddess. The names of these deities could also vary per island, and even per village (see below).

Communication with both the heavenly deity and the earth goddess took place by means of religious objects. Each village had a ritual centre where the male deity was represented by a wooden stake or pole statue, and the earth goddess by a flat, round stone or a shell. Here sacrifices were made to the gods and assistance was entreated.

Photograph 4.26. Pole statue representing the heavenly deity, from the island of Lakor. Height 187 cm (RMV).

Stake and Pole Statue

On the basis of field work data, literature and museum collections, it has been possible to form a good picture of the manner in which the heavenly deity was represented in the ritual centres. In the east of the region, notably on the islands of Dawera, Dawelor and Marsela, it was usually only a simple wooden stake with a length of about one metre. More to the west, for instance on Luang and Leti, the heavenly deity was mostly represented as a human figure, often seated in a boat or a boat-shaped construction, which was generally provided with a beautifully tooled, forked prow. The entire structure was attached to a high stake with a total length of about two metres, and often stood, like the "bare" stake in the east, on a stone base.

As far as the design of the deity is concerned, Babar was a transitional region. Müller-Wismar's photographs dating from 1913 show that there was a wooden stake in the ritual centre of the village of Tutuwawang which is located on the east coast, whereas the centre of Emroing which is located on the west coast, was dominated by the statue of a human figure, seated in a boat (see Photograph 4.18 and pages 2 and 3).

It is very likely that on all islands the boat shape was connected to the nautical symbolism described in Chapter III. Life on earth was considered to be dependent on the "holy marriage" contracted by the heavenly deity and the earth goddess, a dependency relationship which was expressed in the boat symbolism (see also below).

The decorations and attributes applied to the objects, all reflected the male contribution to the creative process: the killing of life. It concerned a similar symbolism as was described with regard to the statues of the founding fathers of the descent groups, but then on a higher level. In the following review of the porka ritual this will receive further attention.

The heavenly deity was represented as a "great hunter," a man with impressive lethal powers. On many eastern islands this status was expressed by the weapons attached to the stake. Often this was a spear or a bow and arrow, sometimes designed in a symbolical fashion (see Photograph 4.22).

The statues in the west were usually adorned with "hunting trophies." The "boat prow" was often decorated with shells and fish figures, representing the spoils. Besides this many statues on the western islands were provided with ornamental motifs characterising the heavenly deity as a "great hunter." Here they were often motifs that were also used on the traditional prow boards of boats. The cock as a symbol of the sun—due to its heat considered a "great hunter" (see Chapter III) —had a prominent place among these motifs.

Illustrative is a pole statue, from the island of Sermata, which is now part of the collection of the Museum voor Land en Volkenkunde in Rotterdam. The cock figure is very prominent on the statue, integrated into the motif of hunter and prey (see Photograph 4.28). Cock figures on comparable statues on Sermata were called siwi resresi, the "cock that is always victorious."²³

Photograph 4.27. Pole statue representing the heavenly deity in the former ritual centre of the village of Wulur on Damer. Photograph taken in 1000.

Photograph 4.28. Pole statue representing the heavenly deity, from the island of Sermata. Height 200 on (MLV).

The depicted heavenly deity himself had names that characterised him as a "great hunter" in the entire region. Besides general denotations such as "valiant, courageous man" (on Sermata²⁴), these names can be roughly subdivided into three categories. A considerable number referred to the sun and the full moon. Here, just as with the term Leyo Wulol ("Sun Moon") used on Dawera and Dawelor, it implied an identification with the heavenly bodies as "great hunters" (see Chapter III). A second category of names was connected with weapons. An example of this is Tarlavna, "Great Spear," as the heavenly deity was called in the former Luangese village of Letluli. A third group associated the heavenly deity with gold. In Maluku Tenggara this precious metal, as was stated before, has a very important symbolical meaning: it refers to killed life, to the strength of a successful hunter (see also Chapter VII). An example of this category is Vorlamiaha, the heavenly deity of the former Luangese village of Ilmiarang, whose name means "Mountain of Gold."

On the islands to the west of the Babar archipelago the invincibility of the heavenly deity was also expressed in the local type denotations of the statues. They were commonly referred to as aitiehra (on Luang and Sermata among others) or aukerhe (on Kisar), a term literally meaning "hard wood." As was stated before, hardness is a symbol of strength on the islands. In many cases the kind of wood used was kayu kenawa; this was the case with the statues of the "common" ancestors and those of the first male ancestors. Statues of foundermothers were more than once made of a different, "sacred" kind of wood, unknown to us.

Stone and Shell

Much less can be told about the representation of the earth goddess in the ritual centres of the villages. On the eastern islands such as Marsela, Dawera and Dawelor and also on Babar she was usually represented by a round, flat stone, a reference to the sexual nature of the goddess from "below." In the depiction of the heavenly deity, the sexual element was of course also present. The stakes and pole statues were in fact phallus symbols; this sometimes also appeared explicitly from the decorations applied (see Photograph 4.26).

On Sermata and the islands to the west of it, the earth goddess was mostly venerated in the shape of a shell. As far as is known, this was always the baptismal font type of shell, the Tridacna gigas. From Müller-Wismar's descriptions of ritual centres it appears that both the stone and the shell traditionally lay beside the stake or the pole statue, to the left.²⁵

Photograph 4.29. Wooden top part of a porka flag, from the island of Leti. Height 24 cm; width 28.5 cm (RJM).

Photograph 4.30. Porka flag, made of wood and cloth, from western Maluku Tenggara. Height 117 cm (MV-W).

The earth goddess was widely considered as being responsible for earthquakes, something which also reverberated in her name. From Babar to Leti she was addressed by the name Rivnoha "[the person] who carries the island [the earth]." Besides this, names were used which characterised her as the "owner" of the earth. In this capacity she was considered to be the source of all fertility, the source of life on earth.

The Porka Ritual

The sexually tinted design of the objects, as well as the representation of the heavenly deity as a "great hunter" and his location in a boat, can probably all be traced back to a great fertility feast, the before-mentioned porka ritual.

As was briefly touched upon in the previous chapter, the ritual was usually performed when a catastrophe occurred. Besides this there was a periodical celebration on many islands. Thus Luang had a porka feast once every seven years. The aim of the ritual was similar everywhere: the renewal of creation or, as Muller-Wismar noted down on Leti: "Multiplication of man, cattle and vegetation."²

The manner in which this aim was pursued, was closely connected with the religious notion in which life on earth was made dependent on a "holy marriage" contracted by the heavenly deity and the earth-goddess. During the ritual this marriage was, as it were, repeated: the wooden symbol of the heavenly deity was renewed and driven into the earth near the stone or shell representing the earthgoddess. The sexual union of both cosmic halves was thus represented and the design of both objects was actually grafted on this.

As stated before, situating the heavenly deity in a boat was presumably also connected with the "holy marriage." The boat almost certainly referred to the nautical symbolism described before in which the dependence of the origin of new life on the union of man and woman is expressed. In Chapter III it was indicated how the foundation of a family on the Babar archipelago is represented as a male helmsman who seals the drainage hole of the boat—his symbolic wife. In this manner the family is, as it were, "set on course." A comparable symbolism was probably applicable to the cosmic "holy marriage," in which the earth (the earth goddess) was taken to be the boat and the heavenly deity the man who "seals the drainage hole." Due to the sexual union of both cosmic halves, creation was "set on course."

The representation of the heavenly deity as a "great hunter" was undoubtedly related to the "holy marriage." This characterisation reflects man's share in the creative process. According to tradition the man is only suitable to marry and beget new life when he possesses hunting spoils, which are compared to the male semen on many Southeast Moluccan islands. This notion is based on the old religious idea that the creation of new life depends on the killing of existing life.

During the porka ritual this concept was very literally expressed. For the "solemnisation" of the "holy marriage" involved a violent event: a head-hunting raid. The heads seized by the warriors were brought ashore and to the village community in a ceremonial manner, the hunting spoils representing the source of new life. On Luang, for instance, a woman pressed the heads to her breast as if it

they were her own babies. This strikingly visualised the deep bond between life and death.

As a sign that the porka feast was being celebrated, a special flag was hoisted in the ritual centre of the village on many islands. From the shape of the flag the character of the ritual could be deduced. On eastern islands such as Babar it was usually a pennant, about one and a half metres long, in the shape of a phallus. More to the west, on Sermata, Luang, Leti and Kisar, for example, the flag generally had the shape of a male figure, provided with an erect penis. The top part of this flag was mostly made of wood, the bottom of cloth (see Photograph 4.30). Sometimes a flag in the shape of a female figure was hoisted beside the "male" flag.²⁷

The fertility character of the porka feast was not only expressed by means of the ritual symbolism. During the traditional celebration, which often lasted for weeks, there was a large amount of sexual freedom for the unmarried during certain phases.

Apart from the head-hunting, this promiscuity formed a reason for both the colonial authorities and the mission to oppose the performance of the ritual. In the course of this century this opposition proved more and more successful. On many islands the celebration of the western New Year's feast has taken its place.

Dances, performed during the New Year's ceremony, are still reminiscent of the old porka feast. During the former celebration, dances constituted an important part of the ritual. Among others, a "great circle dance" was performed, in which men, dressed up like warriors, imitated the head-hunting. On many islands the dancers donned cock feathers, young leaves of palm-trees and basta cloths, and often splendid ornamental combs full of "war symbols" were worn (see Photograph 4.32). Besides this, bringing the hunting spoils ashore and to the village community was depicted in a circle-dance and furthermore, several sexually tinted dances and games were performed.²⁸ In the cultures of western

Maluku Tenggara the theme of the "holy marriage" has been preserved in dramatic form.

Photograph 4.31. Two torch holders, formerly used on eastern Babar. Length 37 cm (left) and 32 cm (right) (RJM).

Photograph 4.32. Three wooden animal figures: a dog, a kind of water snake and a cock from the island of Dawera (Babar archipelago). The figures formed part of a comb, which was worn by a "great warrior" while performing the war dance at the porka ritual (PC).

Photograph 5.1. Panel of Keiese house with representation of a chick-en (RMV).

As in the western part of Maluku Tenggara, the proa is also an indispensable means of transport with great symbolic cargo in the eastern part—the Tanimbar, Kei and Aru archipelagos. The dominant role of boat symbolism in the culture of the region illustrates an attitude strongly orientated to the outside world, an attitude firmly rooted in the culture (see also Chapter II).

Missionary Geurtjens, who was quite familiar with life on Kei during the first two decades of this century, therefore expressed the following opinion: "The Keiese is born [as] a traveller." According to the missionary the "why" of the journey is of less importance, as long as one was journeying: "Because who does not stand in awe of a person who has seen much of the world?"¹ And that is exactly what the islanders were doing: making a name by accomplishing long journeys. The reputation or "grand name" of a person, a house or a village thus gained is honoured in many ways. In boat and house decorations particularly, it is depicted in a splendid manner. The high esteem to which the islander attaches so much importance is not an isolated instance; according to local views the acquisition of status is a necessary precondition for the survival of man and society.

As is the case on the western islands, status is one of the two central values in society on the eastern islands. The other important value is fertility. Traditionally the man derives status from glorious feats in the outside world, from where he returns with a "precious catch." Fertility is embodied in the woman's life-giving potency and is in general connected with the earth and the "inside world." Both values supplement each other; their union is deemed necessary for the continuity of the community of the village and the family house. Individual man can also only function from the union of a male and a female component.

This notion is expressed on the eastern islands just as in western Maluku Tenggara by means of boat symbolism, although certain elements of it have developed somewhat differently. In this symbolism both man and society are represented as a boat, composed of male and female components. Through the union of these two, man and society are "set on course." This theme forms the subject of the first part of this chapter. It will be discussed against a background of the building process of an actual boat, revealing an identical composition of "male" and "female" parts.

Subsequently attention will be shifted to the spatial and social lay-out of the house and the village, in which the boat symbolism and the above-mentioned ideas play an important role. Both house and village are traditionally compared to a ship and the inhabitants consider themselves often to be the crew and the passengers.

Finally this chapter will discuss the voyages which the islanders of old regularly made—as missionary Geurtjens already established. Despite their specific aim (trading, strengthening bonds of friendship or—in former times— waging war) they provide esteem for the society and as such contribute to the survival of the community.

Photograph 5.2. Boar with ancestral crew and passengers on board, from Sera (Tanimbar). Length 65 an (MLV).

Figure 5.1.

Stern of an Aruese boat with animal emblem.

The "Birth" of a Boat

Until the first decades of this century the Keiese were the pre-eminent boatbuilders of eastern Maluku Tenggara. They even sailed to Ambon and Banda to trade their boats, but also supplied them to the Tanimbarese and Aruese, who later built boats—besides their own tree-trunk canoes and plank vessels—after the Keiese model. ²

The measurements of the Keiese boats, especially, could be considerable. Geurtjens reports a record of 31 metres in length.³ Keiese and Tanimbarese ceremonial boats were decorated at the ends with beautiful prow and stern boards in open-worked carving, which have become famous all over the world. The special ornaments at the sterns of the boats from Am—mostly animal figures—are on the other hand rather unknown.

Building a boat is a time-consuming process and is surrounded by intricate rituals. As is the case on the western islands, on each of the three island groups of eastern Maluku Tenggara it mainly involves a ritual union of "female" and "male" components, which are necessary to make the boat ready to sail (see also Chapter III).

On the small island of Tanimbar-Kei, in the south-west of the Kei archipelago, the building process is compared to the birth of a child, the most precious possession of the community.⁴ Just as with a human being, the boat is "born" through the union of male and female components, in this case the main parts of the boat. The keel beam, forming the base of the boat and made first, is considered to be female. It is taken from the bottom part of a tree-trunk, that part of the trunk which is rooted in the earth and is considered the origin of the tree. That is why the keel beam is not only associated with the woman, but also with the female earth as a source of life.

Photograph 5.3. Boys at Tanimbarese prow board in which a dog figure is carved among the scroll motifs. Photograph about 1930.

Photograph 5.4. Boy at stern of Aruese boat, on which are fixed the family emblem of a bird figure and a round stem board underneath.

Photograph 5.5. Tanimbarese prow board with depiction of the motif of hunter and prey: the cock catching fish. Height 77 cm (RMV).

The extension beams which are attached at the front and rear sides of the boat to the keel beam-the prow and stern beams-are considered to be male. The tap and hole joints between the three parts resemble "the openings between the penis and the vagina," according to the islanders.⁵ The tap studs themselves at the prow and stern beams are also called "penis" in the Kei archipelago. A final “male” element that used to be attached to the boat before it could sail, were the prow and stern boards. On the Kei islands these generally tooled boards have almost completely disappeared, but in several museums fine specimens can be seen sometimes provided with a wooden cock or dog, symbols of male power and status. The animal figures often represent first ancestors, who were considered to pilot the boat through the waters and protect the passengers and crew.

Corresponding with the situation on Kei, the hull of the boat is taken to be a female symbol of fertility in the Tanimbar archipelago. It is even explicitly compared to the new moon, which in its turn is identified with a pregnant woman.⁷ On the other hand the riggings (sail, rudder, oars) and the beautifully tooled prow boards that were formerly used-on which besides cock and dog also fish, snakes and the sun are depicted—are considered to be male symbols of esteem and status.

In the Aru archipelago a similar pattern can be detected. Here, just as on Kei, the keel is associated with fertility. Making the connection between the keel beam and the planks on either side of this beam traditionally involved a ritual in which a sacrifice of rice, a symbol of fertility, was laid on the keel beam. Subsequently some small children sat down around the beam and ate the rice.⁸ Nowadays, before an Aruese proa sets sail, it is still a common usage to place a wooden animal figure, representing an ancestor from mythical times who symbolises esteem, at the stern (see figure 5.1).

It is evident that most of the islands in eastern Maluku Tenggara have their own variations on the familiar theme: the “birth” of a boat. The female component, the keel beam or the hull, forms the base of the boat; the male component, the prow and stem with attributes or the riggings, is subsequently attached to it. Now the boat is complete and can set sail. In the following it will become clear that this image is also used as a symbolic representation of man and society, whose functioning also depends on the union of male and female parts. These express the values of fertility and esteem, which together are all-determining for the survival of life.

Photograph 5.6. Tanimbarese prow board, on which "the fearsome seasnake" is represented. Height 90 cm (RJM).

Figure 5.2.

Plan of a traditional Tanimbarese house.

A "Inside of the house"

B Front platform

C Sleeping platforms for married couples

D Sleeping place of marriageable girls

E Hearth

F Stairs

Man, Society and Boat Symbolism

Man can be symbolically represented as a boat on the eastern islands just as in western Maluku Tenggara. Although the comparison is usually less explicit, there are obvious correspondences with the western islands (see also Chapter

III). Here man's functioning is also thought to be dependent on the union of a female and a male component. Just as on the islands of Dawera and Dawelor, which were discussed in Chapter III, the female aspect is, at some places, represented as a boat and the male aspect as an element that sets this boat on course.

The female component is generally identified as a person's "vital force." This is passed on via the blood of the maternal line, which, notably on Aru, is very directly related to the earth. After the physical birth of a human this component becomes visible in the shape of the body. Breath, the beating of the heart and growth indicate the presence of vital force. Whenever these body functions cease to work, the body and the vital force connected with it are dead.

The male component consists of a number of characteristics representing man as a social being.¹ Here it mainly concerns the social identity, a person's image. The basis for this is laid at the name-giving and at what is called the "social birth" of man. The islanders conceive that a man does not know one, but two births: a physical and a social one. When the child makes its first contact with the outside world the social birth takes place and the child receives its place in society, it is named after one of the ancestors from its own family group—the "namesake"— who from then on acts as his protector. On Tanimbar the ancestral names are passed on via the line of the father; it is less clear how this occurs on Kei and Aru.

Photograph 5.7. Tavu from the island of Sera (Tanimbar) with representations of two cocks and family heirlooms. Height 138 cm (TM).

Figure 5.3

Plan of a house on Tanimbar-Kei.

A Main cross beam

B left room

C Hearth

D Right room

E Verandah

F Stairs

The essential significance of the social birth is best expressed in the ceremonial name-giving on Tanimbar-Kei. On this occasion the father, it is said, has to "search for the name of his child in the sea," that is to say he has to kill turtles or fish for a ritual meal in honour of this grand event.¹¹ Corresponding to what was observed about this with regard to Dawera and Dawelor in Chapter III, the child hereby receives the beginning of a reputation. After the ritual meal the child is carried to the threshold of the house for the first time and there it is shown to the

entire village, of which it now forms a part. It is said that the child has now come ashore like a boat.¹² It has, as it were, returned with a rich catch on board from a long voyage, during which the boat—the body— has "caught" a name. On Kei name-giving was traditionally accompanied by the mimicry of cock's crows, which symbolises the first light after darkness and is associated with the heat of the sun.¹³

Male and female components together form the complete human being. The latter element relates to blood, the living body and that which is called "coolness," the former to reputation, man as a social being and the name which is related to certain ancestors. It is furthermore associated with the outside world, the sea, the light of the sun, esteem, killing and "heat."

After physical death, when the vital force has left the body, the male component continues to exist as an ancestor. The relatives can communicate with the ancestor by means of his neck vertebrae and skull or a statuette. These objects are kept in the house or are carried along during a journey (see Chapters IV and VI). In times of need, the ancestor can be invited to reside in these objects. Thus the male component appears to be connected with the concept which is denoted as "soul" in the western world. On the Kei-archipelago the "soul" is considered as a person's shadow, which follows him everywhere and can return after death in an ancestor statue.¹⁴

A living person's "soul" can also roam around, outside the body, for instance during sleep. It can then take possession of another body, just like an ancestral soul. A fine example is the image that was used on the Tanimbar archipelago for a medium in a condition of trance, in which an ancestor temporarily resides. The medium was represented as a boat rolling in the water at anchor, waiting for the ancestor to come and sit on the boat, in order to have it set sail.¹⁵

The image of a waiting boat, which is set into motion by an element from outside, is the symbolic representation of a birth in these cultures. The keel or

the hull of a boat, associated with the woman, fertility and the earth as a source of life, was completed by the prows and sterns and the riggings, exponents of the reputation or the "grand name," which is derived from the outside world. Thus a union arises from the "vital force" and the "soul": the complete human being.

Photograph 5.8. Upper part of tavu with two cocks opposite each other, from the island of Selaru (Tanimbar). Height 111 cm (MLV).

In a similar manner the marriage between man and woman is represented as a symbolic boat, as well as society as a whole (see also below). In myths the "birth" of society is sometimes represented as a marriage between a woman of the island, source of fertility, and a man who came down from heaven or who came sailing from overseas (see also Chapter III). They are the founderancestors, with them society arose. The man brought gold valuables from the outside world, symbols of status which continue to determine his progeny's esteem as sacred heirlooms. The "birth" of society is—sometimes annually— commemorated in harvest rituals or, as in Southeast Aru, in the casuaris ritual¹ (see also Chapters III, IV and VI).

The Boat on the Land: the "House/Boat"

On the eastern islands, as in western Maluku Tenggara, the boat also functions as an ordering model in local culture on the level of society. The inhabitants of houses and villages consider themselves as the crew and passengers of a ship, a notion which is clearly apparent in the lay-out of house and village. In the following text the "house/boat" will first be discussed by paying attention to the houses of the Tanimbar, the Kei and the Aru archipelagos successively. Notably the houses of Kei in many respects still reveal similarity with boats.

On the Tanimbar archipelago the former houses could be compared with large ships, which were directed seawards with their prows. The decorative gable finials in the form of crossed horns on both the sea and land sides were denoted by the term kore, the same word that is used for the the splendidly tooled prow boards attached to the proas and the stone boat that sometimes formed the centre of a village¹⁷ (see below). The "prow"—the side facing the sea—of the

Tanimbarese house was, just like the prow of a real boat, beautifully ornamented. From the decorative gable finials in the shape of crossed horns, hung cords with strings of white porcelain shells, sometimes with a wooden fish or another animal figure, whereas between the gables there could be a wooden cock or dog.¹⁸

Representations of these animals also occur in the carvings of the prow boards of the boats; the boards were attached to the house whenever a boat had become too old to sail.¹ Such an animal figure can be compared to the coat of arms of a house. It represents the first ancestor, who protects the house and symbolises its grand name (see Chapter VI).

In former days the carvings in the interior of a house also bore witness to this reputation. From a house in the village of Adaut, for instance, a wooden panel has been preserved with the depiction of a giant turtle. Nowadays it forms part of the collection in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum für Völkerkunde in Cologne. The status of a house was best expressed through the beautifully decorated family shrine, the tavu, on which sometimes cocks, dogs and sea animals are depicted (see Chapter VI). Behind the tavu was the sleeping place of the daughters of a house; their fertility was guarded by the ancestors who could reside on the tavu (see Figure 5.2).

The precious family heirlooms, such as gold and elephant's tusks, likewise proclaim the grand name of a house and are therefore also represented on some tavu. According to tradition they had, in a mythical past, been brought to Tanimbar from distant places, even from extraterrestrial regions, by the ancestors. Their denotation as "fish," which were so to speak caught at sea, underlines their association with the outside world.² Some pieces are also named in terms of a ship's parts. Thus a gold pendant can be denoted as a large sail or the blade of an oar, and an elephant's tusk as the right helm.

These valuables are like the "riggings" of the house.²¹ The riggings make a ship

ready to sail. Without them there is merely the hull, which like a womb symbolises the fertility of the woman, the house and the island. And just like the hull of a ship lies ready on the land before departure, awaiting its riggings, the "house/boat" needs the valuables which were once collected by the ancestors in far regions. Only when these are "aboard," can the house boat "set sail" headed by the ancestors; on its symbolic voyage through the outside world in a state of full rigging, it acquires new esteem, new "valuables," which contribute to the continuing existence of the house.

On Tanimbar-Kei the house as a material structure is considered to be a female human body, a pregnant symbol of fertility. Besides this the house bears characteristics labelling it specifically as a boat. The main cross beam in the middle living quarter is equated with the keel, which, as has appeared before, is also denoted as female and as a symbol of fertility. In the two adjoining rooms, comparable to the prow and stem of the boat, the crew of the "house/boat" resides: the left room is called the "pilot," the right one the "captain." Both rooms are inhabited by a descent group of the house²² (see Figure 5.3).

The entire picture is reminiscent of the imagery on Tanimbar-Kei, in which there is talk of a bride and groom: the woman resembles the sailing vessel and the man is the captain. In similarity with Tanimbar, the house represented as female, housing fertility, can only exist on Tanimbar-Kei when it has a crew who enables it to "set sail" and contributes to the name of the house by means of this symbolical voyage.

Somewhat comparable with the "riggings" of gold valuables of the Tanimbarese house, are the representations of animals which used to be carved into the beams of the houses on Aru. Two posts on either side of the entrance, as well as two specimens on the opposite site, were finely decorated with ornaments representing cocks, turtles, crabs, fish and human figures. At sea such representations still adorn the sterns of Aruese boats. Before a man goes diving, he puts an animal figure on the stern of his boat. On returning, he places it in his house (see also Chapter VI). The statuettes mostly represent sea animals, such as

fish and turtles, sometimes also sea-birds, cocks and dogs.²³ They are considered to be the ancestors, who in days long past arrived on Aru from other islands.²⁴

Each family on Aru uses its own animal emblem, to which no other family can claim a right and with which one house distinguishes itself from another. It provides a house with its own social position, its name. Just as on Tanimbar and Kei, where the animal figures on the prows and sterns and on the houses also represent the first ancestors, the ancestors actually bring the boat and the house on course and steer them (see Figure 5.4).

Photograph 5.9. Traditional Tanimbarese dwelling with decorated facade in front of which-below-is hanging a wooden fish. Photograph taken circa 1920s.

Figure 54.

Plan of a traditional house of a village head on Aru.

A Main room

B Side-rooms

C Hearths

D Store-rooms

E Entrance (shutter to stairs outside)

The Boat on the Land: the "Village Boat"

Just as with houses, villages on these islands are also traditionally considered to be boats with passengers. The resemblances between house and village are not strange, as many a large family house or house-complex could originally form an independent unit and could operate as a small village (see also Chapter III).

From the discussion of the Tanimbarese, the Keiese and the Aruese village following below it appears that the identification of the village with a boat is, of old, expressed in two ways. In the first place the boat shape is often visible in the spatial lay-out. The "village boat" is sometimes represented very realistically in the middle of the village. This especially holds true for the elevated, nowadays deserted villages. Around the turn of the century the inhabitants of these villages were forced to move to the coast by the colonial government, Just as on the western islands (see Chapters II and III).

Besides this, the social organisation of a village shows that the village leaders considered themselves to be a symbolic ship's crew. This is evident, for instance, from the names of ritual offices of certain houses. The ritual activities traditionally take place in the middle—the so-called "navel"—of the village, the ritual centre where there used to be the statue of the village founder or symbols of veneration for the deity (see Chapter VI). This is the place for dance and meeting of the ship's crew—the village elders, and the passengers—the other inhabitants of the village.

The "proa yards" of the elevated, deserted villages of Tanimbar, which were only allowed to be laid out by certain villages, are famous. They consist of a boatshaped elevation, surrounded by a small wall of stacked stones. On both ends there are sometimes high stones, which, due to their shape and fine masonry, represent the prows and sterns of a ceremonial proa. The stone boat of the village of Sangliat Dol has a beautifully tooled prow, on which fish are depicted between the spiral motifs. Around the dancing site of the old village of Olilit there is even a heavy chain on both outer ends with a giant anchor, originating from a stranded Dutch ship.²⁵

Traditionally, in the social organisation of the Tanimbarese village, ritual offices are incorporated which refer to the functions of a crew on an actual ship, such as pilot or "prow," helmsman, bailer boy, and harpooner.² Three other, very important crew members of the village boat are the herald, who is the "father" of the village, that is to say the leader in all community affairs, in former days

mainly war issues; the sacrificer, the "mother" of the village, who fulfills an important function on the land when others are at sea; and finally the "village owner," who is the descendant and the family heir of the village founder. The latter is in many cases also the herald, thus the "father" of the village. He can also, simultaneously, be the "prow," the person who takes the lead in all activities.

It is evident that the structure of the village organisation, just like the structure of a real boat, is based on the opposition of man and woman, sea and land. Notably "father" and "mother," who were denoted by Drabbe as the "master" of the village, embody this dichotomy.²⁷ Their cooperation, as man and woman in a marriage, has to guarantee the continuing existence of the village (see below).

At certain ceremonies the dignitaries occupied the stone seats reserved for them in the stone boat in the village centre. The "prow" had his seat near the prow of the boat, which was situated at the side facing the sea. Viewed from here, somewhat to the rear, the village owner had a seat on the left and the sacrificer sat on the right. The place of the herald was at the far end, to the left. Also at the rear, to the right, was the seat of the speaker, the person who had to speak in the name of the village (see Figure 5.5).

Drabbe calls all the ritual village offices the "ministry of Foreign Affairs." According to him these dignitaries spend most of their time on war and friendship relationships with other villages and much less on internal affairs.²⁸ They are orientated toward the outside world and as such promote the status of the village.

Photographs 5.10 and 5.12. Family emblems, like cocks, cabs, centipedes, a human figure and geomerical ornaments. Photograph taken circa 1910.

Photograph 5.11. Traditional dwelling in the village of Meriri on East Aru. Photograph taken circa 1910.

On the other hand the Tanimbarese consider the village from the perspective of the fertility of the crops, the live-stock and the woman as an introverted unit. For this purpose they traditionally use the metaphor of the chicken's nest, in which the houses represent eggs, symbolising fertility.² Thus we once again see the by now familiar dualism: that which is considered as "inside" and female, is "set on course" by that which is male and orientated on the outside world, thus safeguarding the survival of village and house (see also Chapter VI).

In the coastal villages that arose around the turn of the century after the Tanimbarese had left their elevated villages by order of the Dutch, boat symbolism is less visibly present. No more stone boats were built in the village centre. The modern village square is an open space, often serving as a soccer ground. On the site of the former sacrifice pole there is nowadays the flagpole.

However the square has remained the ritual centre, which is still considered to be a boat, although some ritual offices have meanwhile disappeared.³

On the Kei islands the village community is also headed by a symbolic ship's crew. Besides a pilot, comparable with the "prow” on Tanimbar, there are two captains: a "land captain” and a "sea captain.” The latter, who is sometimes also the pilot, has important tasks both at sea and on land. The former captain only functions on land, for instance at agricultural rituals and during the so-called

travel-ritual, when the sea captain is at sea. His function can be compared to that of the sacrificer on Tanimbar (see further below).

Figure 5.5.

Positions of stone seats in traditional Tanimbarese village centre.

A Prow

B Sacrificer

C Village owner

D Speaker

E Herald

Photograph 5.13. Stone boat in the village centre of Sangliat Dol. EastYamdena (Tanimbar). Photograph taken circa 1930.

The "village boat" was not found in concrete form in the village centre on Kei. Often a house, located near the beach, served simultaneously as a shed for the boats and as a meeting place for the village. During meetings it was as if the symbolic ship's crew were almost literally seated in the village proa.³¹

On Kei the village as a whole is considered to be a woman; the ring-wall around the village is her protective sarong. Viewed in this manner, the village, just as on Tanimbar, reveals resemblances with the house. Like a woman it incorporates fertility, which is brought together with the "treasures" of the outside world under the leadership of the sea captain.

During the symbolic voyage of the village boat, the ancestors, in the perception of the Keiese, always take the lead. As a pilot they precede their descendants³² (see also Chapter VI).

On Aru the ship's crew of the village community is represented in the important ritual offices of "prow'"and "stern," which can be compared to pilot and helmsman. The houses of these functionaries are located in the middle of the village, where they form a ritual boat in the eyes of the Aruese. Besides this, the house of the "prow" is considered to be the "navel," the origin of the village; the family of this house settled here first.³³ During numerous ceremonies the "prow," just as on Tanimbar, is the leader, he who starts; the "stern" is the person who concludes the ceremony.

Photograph 5.14. In the sculpture of the prow of the stone boat, represented here. fish figures are depicted.

When, on Southeast Aru the men of the village head for the woods in boat formation for the ritual hunt, which is considered to be a kind of waging of war, the "prow" forms the symbolic front side of the boat. He is the person who stabs first.³⁴ As a "war-leader," who is also village founder, he can be compared to the Tanimbarese "father" of the village.

The hunt is held annually during the casuaris ritual, which precedes the pearldiving season in October. Then the villagers present their village as a "boat of origin." It repeats the journey of the first ancestors, who came to Aru from elsewhere. The ultimate aim of the ritual is to catch the casuaris, symbol of the original Aru, in the woods and kill it later in the village.³⁵

The Boat at Sea

Large proa voyages are regularly organised in this island-world. By undertaking far journeys, a village intends to acquire a grand name and prove and safeguard its own position in the outside world. Just as a child receives its position in the village community by means of its social birth, a village acquires its place in the familiar island-world by its voyages and creates the space, within which the community can prosper. On special occasions in former times, notably on the Kei and Tanimbar islands, a beautifully decorated ceremonial feast—or war-proa was used, which was the pride of each village and was built for this purpose especially.

Photograph 5.15. Present condition of the stone boat of Sangliat Dol.

There are three reasons for undertaking an important proa voyage, involving the entire village. Corresponding to these reasons, three types of voyages will be discussed below: voyages with a trade purpose, to collect valuables and nowadays to earn money; voyages to maintain friendly relationships with other villages, which still take place on Tanimbar; and voyages for warfare, usually head-hunting. The last mentioned took place frequently until into the first decade of this century.

The three types of voyages are surrounded by an elaborate ritual, which reveals their close mutual connection. The final aim of the voyages becomes clear only upon returning home, when the "spoils," enveloped in "heat" are brought in. These testify to the enhanced reputation and symbolize the male contribution to the continuing existence of the society. By bringing the spoils into the safe haven of the village, they are "cooled down."

Trade Voyages

From Kei and Tanimbar, and to a lesser extent from Aru, the so-called travel rituals are known. Geurtjens gives an extensive description of the ritual on Kei, as it was performed until the beginning of this century when a journey was intended for trade purposes. The ritual reveals close resemblance with the travel ritual of Tanimbar and is comparable to the ritual that had to be performed during a situation of war.³

The Keiese were the most famous boat-builders of eastern Maluku Tenggara. In order to trade their boats they sailed out in the large village proa, which pulled a

string of newly-built boats behind it. With the sale of the boats they procured treasures, which were mainly used as bride-price goods, to be paid to the family of the bride in case of a wedding.

During the absence of the traders, those who stayed behind performed a ritual which had to guarantee the safety of the travellers and the success of the mission.³⁷ From this it appears that travelling was a matter involving the entire village community and that the boat at sea formed a unity with the "village boat" on land—as is still the case nowadays. During the travel ritual the seafarers were under the command of the captain at sea, whereas those who remained behind were represented during the voyage by the captain on land. During the voyage both land and sea crews were tied to strict regulations, which were not lifted until the village proa had returned home.

Figure 5.6.

Various types of "eyes" of Keiese boats.

Before the journey started the land captain on Kei lighted a fire for the travellers' farewell meal in a house which was positioned with its facade in the direction of the sea. This fire was not to be extinguished until they had returned home. It was considered to be a sacred fire, representing the travellers' well-being; if it would the out, it would signify a disastrous omen. Three or four very young girls, the helpers of the captain on land were on guard by the fire. They were not allowed to leave the house and had to remain seated motionless.³⁸ In the very same house energy expedients were stored for the benefit of the travellers. An example was the claw of a sea eagle. Just as this bird of prey uses it to catch many fish, it was expected to enable the travellers to capture many treasures.

On either side of the prow of the large boat a ring was drawn with chalk and coconut oil before departure. In the middle of this ring was a small hole, in which a tiny piece of red cotton with some scrapings of gold or silver were put. The Kei man called the rings with holes the 'eyes' of his boat. They radiated heat, as is also apparent from the fact that some "eyes" had the shape of a sun symbol.³ (see Figure 5.6.). Due to these attributes the prow had become 'hot' and had acquired such power that from that moment onwards everything would have to yield to the boat. On the other hand the heat protected the boat and those sailing on it. Ancestor statuettes and the wooden cock or dog on the prow or stern offered protection also.

Some days after departure a "land boat" was built on the beach, a cubicle somehow shaped like a boat. In it the land captain investigated the travellers' fate on the basis of a flame, one for each person. A flame mat burned well indicated that the person involved was doing fine.

When the travellers returned home safely after months, they, their treasures and their boat were sprinkled with holy water by the land captain. Their heat was "cooled down," enabling them to be incorporated into the village community. The holy fire was sprinkled as well and was extinguished. The travellers were the "heroes of the hour." They showed off their new clothes and valuables from foreign regions.⁴

In only a few places does the travel ritual still occur in a faded form. However, travellers still show off their valuables on returning home. This used to concern gold and silver jewellery and coins, small bronze canons and elephants' tusks; nowadays the treasure mainly consists of money. The travellers hand out their valuables and brag about their experiences. The journey has been successful: the name of the village has been aggrandised, the man has contributed his share to the continuation of society.

Friendship Voyages

Another motive to set out on an important proa voyage is strengthening the friendship ties with other villages on one's own group of islands. On Tanimbar this is called "going dancing" or "going to sit in a village," indicating the meetings on the dancing or meeting sites of the village that is visited.⁴¹ Such visits are still an elaborate ritual event here. They have been extensively described by the researcher Mckinnon and in the past by missionary Drabbe.

The friendship tie between villages, which is also important on Kei, entails mutual help, notably in former times during wars with other villages. On Tanimbar the tie is not only indicated as a relationship between friends, but also as one between an older and a younger brother. Some befriended villages have their relationship traced back to a distant past, in which their ancestors left the land of origin as brothers and jointly set out to search for a new place of

residence on a sea full of dangers. The present-day friendship voyages can, according to McKinnon, be seen as repetitions of the ancestors' voyage.⁴²

The relationship between brothers characterises itself—especially in the Indonesian cultural region—by rivalry. Therefore the friendship visits also bear witness of a far-reaching competition between the villages. They can be seen as a trial of strength between peers in a ritual war, with as its aim the confirmation of the greatness of the personal name.⁴³

Besides the supreme being's support and that of the ancestors, the "brothers" also have energy expedients, derived from roots and leaves, at their disposal. The prows of the boats have been treated with them before departure and have thus become "hot." Once "hot" the boat will destroy everything it encounters on its course; it is now "fearsome as a sea-snake" and perilous for others.⁴⁴ Moreover it is loaded and decorated with all village valuables, mainly gold jewellery. For the Tanimbarese this makes the boat like a cock whose gold feathers glitter like the beams of the sun.⁴⁵

Photograph 5.16. Women dancing in the stone boat of the village of AruiBab, East Yamdena (Tanimbar). Photograph taken circa 1930.

The passengers embark splendidly adorned. The first to go aboard is the ritual functionary who is the "prow" of the village. Very appropriately Geurtjens calls him "cock of the walk."⁴ On the Kei islands the pilot has this function; he is always seated at the front on the lookout. In his village the "prow" has been provided with hot energy expedients that have to safeguard him against possible damaging expedients applied by the village to be visited.⁴⁷ While singing, drumming and dancing on the boat, the party approaches the befriended village. The entire performance makes a big impression on those waiting on the beach.

On the dancing site of the guest village the inhabitants and visitors dance and sing for days on end on a hostile tone. The noblemen, wearing the finest gold of their villages, thus try to outdo each other in status and power.⁴⁸ Everything is dominated by competition and making a name. When one fails, writes McKinnon, death will follow. This means that one has not succeeded in compelling sufficient respect, in other words in creating space for one's own community. Thus the basis for the survival of that community has disappeared. However if one appears to be equal, one has proven one's power and then the hostile attitude is replaced by a continuation of the friendship.⁴

During the following days negotiations are held in a somewhat more peaceful atmosphere about the great gift, which the guests expect as the prize of their visit. Eventually the hosts hand over elephants' tusks or gold or silver jewellery. The heat of the competition has passed into the coolness of friendship. Before the guests finally leave, they are sprinkled with water, so that the evil influences of the hot expedients are "cooled down."

After a successful mission the party returns to their own village, singing and

dancing on the boat, which is decorated with victory flags. The valuables received are taken back home in a triumphant voyage as if they were hunted heads, brought home from war. The name of the village boat has once again been aggrandised by the friendship visit and the position of the village in the outside world has been safeguarded.

War Voyages

Besides friendship ties there are hostile relationships between villages. Until the first decades of this century these manifested themselves in an almost permanent state of war on all these islands. The aim of the war was hunting heads, which were brought back home as signs of victory, together with the war booty, mainly consisting of gold and elephants' tusks. They were needed as status symbols to aggrandise the name of a proa, house or village.⁵

Photograph 5.17. Female ancestor statuettes of bone, from Tanimbar, wrapped in a piece of woven sarong. Height 8 cm (left), 10 cm (centre) and 7.5 cm (right) (PC).

The Tanimbar islands, especially, had a formidable reputation in this field. Father E. Cappers wrote in 1912 that many heads were still hunted: "Headhunting is a kind of sport, exercised by youngsters as a means of recreation and in order to acquire fame." He was of the opinion that "headhunting is in the people's nature here" and mentioned several cases, including the following. In the capital of the Tanimbar islands, home of, of all people, the government official, the headquarters of the police and the place with a jail and—for more than ten years—a Protestant school, inhabitants, including some who had been baptised, hunted five heads in October 1910.⁵¹

During the waging of war the ceremonial village proa could be used. Before departure the prow was made hot and invincible with energy expedients. The young men received a fighting potion, a "hot" brew consisting of palm wine mixed with a piece of a certain tree root and a piece of snakeskin, producing valour.⁵² Special hot expedients that were carried along were small ancestor statuettes or neck vertebrae, often of the "namesake," in which the ancestors, who had to protect their descendant, resided (see also Chapter VI).

On Tanimbar the functionary who was called "father" of the village organised the war actions. The "mother" of the village, the sacrificer, stayed at home. The latter acted as official mouthpiece of the supreme being.⁵³ During a state of war he had to guard a female family member—an old woman or a young girl—who was in the daughters' room, behind the family shrine. She was not allowed to leave the house. This is reminiscent of the regulations which had to be observed during the travel ritual on Tanimbar and Kei (see above). The woman took care of the community during war and for that purpose she was in contact with the supreme being, whom she called her "friend."⁵⁴ She was forbidden to weave— the fighting parties would get entangled in her loom—and to have sexual

intercourse.⁵⁵

When the "head feast" took place after the war, the heads and the war booty, as joint property of the village, were handed to "father" and "mother."⁵ In their turn the latter two further sprinkled the entire community with coconut water in order to cool it down.⁵⁷ The heads were hung on the sacrifice pole in the village square, where "father" and "mother" also brought their sacrifices. If the head of a killed enemy had not been secured, unshelled coconuts or Nautilus shells were used as substitutes.⁵⁸ The heroes danced on the meeting site and boasted while calling their names and those of their sisters and daughters. They called themselves "dog-man," or brave man.⁵

In a similar manner a man could boast after he had gathered the valuables for the bride-price by means of a voyage, and also after having caught a turtle or a large fish. Fishing and hunting are forms of ritual waging of war. Both take place in the regions outside the village. The ritual, performed on Tanimbar-Kei in the village during an important hunt, reveals many resemblances with the war and travel rituals discussed before. By bringing in heads, fish or hunting spoils the man acquires great fame, for himself and his village.

However the fame only becomes effective when it joins fertility, in this case peace. As a sign of peace two statues, wrapped in sarongs, were used on Tanimbar. This cloth symbolises coolness and fertility, inherent to the woman (see Chapters VI and VIII). It expresses the notion that the heat of fighting and killing is cooled down and life can continue in peace.

On Kei peace-talks were held in terms of parts of the boat. If the mission of the peace negotiator was not successful, he returned with the words: "The prow and stern are too short, they do not fit the keel, the keel protrudes at the front and rear sides." Whenever the negotiations did succeed, the message was: "...both ends of the keel, the prow and stern fit." ¹ These ritual sayings can be interpreted in such a manner that not peace in itself, but the union of war and peace is the

ultimate aim for society. The imagery shows how male and female, war and peace, are united as prow, stern and keel in the union of a complete boat, a complete society.

The stricter the Dutch rule was enforced against headhunting and mutual wars around the turn of the century, the more soccer games came to replace the war situations. Many soccer clubs were founded; before World War II the small Tanimbarese island of Larat even numbered more than forty. Still soccer could not replace war for all men. They felt "emasculated" in the new era and sometimes set out to participate in war actions elsewhere, for instance in the service of the Royal Dutch-Indian Army. ²

Boat Decorations

As was mentioned in passing above, the traditional boats with which the voyages were made were often splendidly decorated. Earlier it was seen that the ornaments are comparable to the carving on the former houses. The following text will give more details of these ornaments and their significance.

Photograph 5.18. Two bone ancestor statuettes from Tanimbar. Height 9.5 cm (PC).

The gracefully shaped Keiese prow and stern boards usually have open worked carving. One prow board was found on which the representation of a dog is finely tooled in the floralistic decorations. Moreover wooden cocks could be fixed to the prows and sterns, whereas on the prow the "eye" of the boat was often represented as a sun symbol. ³ The pennants on the Keiese boats bore representations of birds, fish and dragons. ⁴

Sometimes a wooden cock was attached to the helm on Tanimbarese boats, while a wooden dog stood in front on the boat as a guardian and pilot. ⁵ On the very important prow of the feast proa a beautifully tooled prow board was attached. Besides spirals and double spirals, representations of animals are carved on it, which have been very stylishly incorporated in the ornaments.

The boat decorated with animal figures is reminiscent of the boats which are represented on the Dongson kettle drums; these show prows into which birds' heads have been tooled. On Tanimbar a dog, cock, snake or fish can be found in the carving of the prow, and also the sun wheel. These representations are symbols of a grand name, status, heat and war. The heat of the sun, with which the "hot" boat is compared on Tanimbar, and the sunbeams, which glitter like the gold of the boat according to the Tanimbarese, are represented on the prow by means of the sun wheel. The representation of a dog refers to valour. The man who had proved himself as a successful headhunter, boasted he was a "dogman," i.e. a valiant man. Aboard the boat he showed the way through the waters.

It is striking to see how the dog motif, which has an identical meaning in both island groups, is represented in an entirely individual style on the prows of Tanimbarese and Keiese boats. The spiral motifs from which the dog figure on

the Tanimbarese prows seems to appear, are typical of the form language that is known as the prehistoric Dongson style (see Chapter I). On Kei floralistic motifs, so typical of the Keiese style of decoration, surround a similar figure. The use of floralistic motifs is probably the result of the strong Islamic influence in this archipelago. Along with the dog motif the sun motif has also been tooled into the boat prows in a very specific manner on both groups of islands.

Among the symbols of war and status the snake has a prominent place. Not only do representations of snakes adorn the Tanimbarese prows, warriors also used to consume a piece of snake skin, which was thought to provide courage. The Tanimbarese compare the ceremonial boat sometimes with a dangerous sea snake, and also with a cock who shows his finery while walking proudly around. The brave cock, it is said on Tanimbar, shows off his golden feathers which glitter like the beams of the sun, and is ready for the fight. ⁷ The wooden cocks on the prows of the Keiese boats were needed to ensure a safe voyage and victory in war. ⁸

On some Tanimbarese prow boards some fish or a turtle have been carved near the legs or the beak of the cock. These representations of a cock catching fish or a turtle—examples of the motif of hunter and prey—may well be the most striking depictions of the concept of status. For the catch of large sea-animals is considered to be a form of ritual waging of war (see above) and moreover on both Kei and Tanimbar the valuables collected outside the island are compared to fish. Thus these sea-animals symbolise the precious catch, the hunted heads or the collected treasures. They are the proud spoils of the cock that is showing off, the hunter and the beautiful boat with its crew.

As we have already said, the decorations on and in the Tanimbarese house similarly symbolise the grand name of that house. On Aru the animal figures tooled into the house posts were symbols of an identical purport.

The Voyage of the Boat

Keel and prow and stern, woman and man, mother and father, vital force and "soul" together form the union of the complete boat, symbol of society, of marriage and of individual man. The male component literally or figuratively sets the boat on course. The aim of the voyage— actual or symbolic—is to make a name in the outside world, in order to promote and safeguard one's own position among others. Fame can be deduced from the treasures collected: gold, hunted heads, large fish or hunting spoils. They are equivalent. Like a sea eagle or a cock, the boat and crew catch the spoils. Status derived in such a manner is the male contribution to the continuation of life. Status is prominently expressed in the symbols on the richly decorated prows of the boat and in the house ornaments.

During the proa voyages the entire community, including the ancestors, endeavour to bring back treasures from the outside world. For this purpose the community is placed in an atmosphere of heat. Coolness, related to life and fertility, is therefore temporarily suppressed in this situation and made subservient to heat. Under the guidance of the ancestors, who, represented in animal figures, are the actual pilot or helmsman of the boat, the journey is undertaken. The boat, enveloped in heat, returns after the aim has been reached and is cooled down in the home port. The heat is not allowed to be directed against the community, which would have lethal effects.

The ship is stripped of its riggings and cargo and brought ashore. In former times the prow and stern boards were probably also taken down, as is the case on Aru when after a voyage the animal figures are taken from the stern and put inside the house. The boat has, as it were, become a hull again, one with the land and a symbol of fertility, just as before the start of the voyage. However with this difference, that the hull has carried, a precious cargo, collected by the men. Because of this the voyage has provided status. The union of status and fertility is very strikingly expressed in the comparison that is made on Tanimbar between the cargo in the hull and pregnancy in the womb of the woman. The eventual "birth" ensures the survival of society, until the next voyage. If status is to be highly regarded, that is the price that must be paid for it.

Photograph 5.19. Dogs on a tavu from Selaru (Tanimbar). Height 111 on (RJM).

Photograph 6.1. Stone statue of female ancestor Andriet, which stood near a small river between the villages of Amdasa and Sangliat Karwain (Tanimbar). Andriet watched over the drinking-water. Height 88 cm (PC).

The ancestors play an important role on the eastern islands, just as in western Maluku Tenggara, as preservers of the community. Wooden and stone statues of all conceivable shapes and sizes were formerly offered as places of residence for these ancestors. Some of these can still be found on the islands; many others form part of museum and private collections.

The ancestor statues of eastern Maluku Tenggara can be divided into the following categories: fairly large statues of village founders and village guardians, which used to be situated at the village centre and before the village entrance respectively; statues of a family's first ancestors, often portrayed as animal figures; smaller statues of later ancestors; "craft statuettes" of ancestors, used by specialists such as goldsmiths, which had a supportive function during their work (see Chapter VII); rather coarsely fashioned garden statues and wooden animal figures, which can still be found in the gardens. This classification forms the guideline of this chapter; below the statues will be dealt with in the order mentioned. Per category it will be described in which variations they occur on the three island groups of eastern Maluku Tenggara (the Tanimbar, Kei and Aru islands).

From the following text it will become evident that the social values of esteem and fertility, the driving forces of the community, were also given significance in the ancestor statues. Remarkable is the fact that mainly esteem and to a lesser extent fertility is depicted, in contrast to the western islands of Maluku Tenggara. An important reason for this is presumably that there, on the various islands, descent and settlement are counted along the female line and fertility is expressed in the statues of female founding ancestors. On the eastern islands descent and settlement are determined via the male line. The statues of male founding ancestors or village founders count as symbols of glory and reputation

as such, or are provided with fitting symbols. Moreover, inherent to status is the fact that it is brought to the attention with much display. That is why a broad range of status symbols can be found in eastern Maluku Tenggara, both in the shape of statues and of ornaments (see also Chapter V).

Cosmic Forces: Sun, Moon, Earth

In order to provide a good understanding of the following text, it is of importance to acquire some insight into the cosmic forces that are active in the world according to the traditional vision of the world as seen by the population.

On Tanimbar and Kei the sun and the earth or the moon traditionally represent two aspects of the highest divinity, who is the basis of all contrasts that manifest themselves in the world. In this deity contrasts such as male-female, heatcoolness and death-life are united. The names under which he is known reflect his duality. On Tanimbar he is denoted as Lere Bulan, "Sun Moon," and Langit Ombak, "Heaven Earth," besides Ubila'a, "Great Ancestor," and Duadila'a, "Our Great Lord." On Kei the greatest deity is called Duad Ler Wuan, "Our Lord Sun Moon." Although the highest deity represents totality, he is imagined as living in heaven among the splendour of gold. This provides the association with heat and maleness.

Photograph 6.2. Stone statue of the village guardian of Sangliat Dol (Tanimbar) at the foot of the village stairway. Photograph taken circa 1930.

Photograph 6.3. Long flight of stairs made of stacked stones to the village of Ohoinangan on Great Kei. Photograph taken circa 1910.

Sun and earth, or sun and moon, are also viewed on Tanimbar as two parties which are united in a cosmic marriage. Hereby the sun is considered as male and the earth or moon as female. Heaven and earth are also represented in a sexual union, in which the male heaven fertilizes the female earth with his semen—the rain, allowing the crops to sprout.¹ On Kei there is also the traditional view that the male sun is united in a cosmic marriage with the female moon or earth.²

Photograph 6.4. Statues of the village guardian of Olilit (Tanimbar) with his wife. Male statue at the right, named Sumaka; Height 54 cm. Female statue at the left, named Bora; Height 58 cm (PC).

Photograph 6.5. Dancing place of the village of Olilit (Tanimbar) during a sacrificing ceremony. At the right the post of Ubila'a. Photograph taken during the 1920s.

On Aru there are traditionally four gods (heaven, earth, sun and moon), which are represented as two pairs. Heaven is denoted as Tafer Namar, "Old Man Heaven," earth as Gwarsir Fafa, "Old Woman Earth." Heaven and earth are also considered as father and mother respectively. The sun, Tafer Lara or "Old Man Sun," is married to the moon, Gwarsir Fulan or "Old Woman Moon."³

It will be shown that on some islands a representative of heaven or earth was present in the shape of a statue which simultaneously represented an important ancestor.

Village Guardians and Village Founders

Prominently present in most of the villages of eastern Maluku Tenggara were large statues of the village guardians and the village founder, whose aid was essential for the survival of the community. The following text describes the statues and comparable forms of ancestor worship of successively the Tanimbar, the Kei and the Aru archipelagos.

The former villages on Tanimbar have been compared to eagles' nests. On elevated locations on the steepest rocks and surrounded by thick walls of stacked coral rock they were safe havens in turbulent times of war.⁴ Wooden or stone stairways, sometimes decorated with animal figures that were also carved in family shrines or boat prows, provided entrance to the gates, in which doors were hung during wars.⁵ The posts and wings of the gate were also decorated

with carvings.

At the foot of the village stairway there were often large ancestor statues—man and woman—on either side, made of wood or stone: the village guardians. Little is known about the origin of such statues and the relation between the persons depicted and a certain family or dignitary in the village. They might have been the helpers and guardians of the village founder, whose statue stood within the village (see below and Chapter IV).

Characteristic especially for the ancestor statues of Tanimbar is, as was already noted in the early literature about this subject, the striking diversity in style. Thus missionary Drabbe reported a monumental statue with simple, forceful facial features at the bottom of the stone steps which led to the village of Sangliat Dol. It is likely that it once formed a pair with a second statue. Of a totally different, more refined, expression are the wooden statues which used to guard the stairway of the former village of Olilit.

Photograph 6.6. Ritual centre of the village of Ohoinangan on Great Kei with sacrifice stone (left) and flat stone standing upright (right) with representation of the village protector (upside down). Photograph taken in 1910.

In the centre of the Tanimbarese villages a statue of a human figure or a post with a coarsely carved face stood beside a large, flat sacrificing stone. It was called Ubila'a or Duadila'a and was positioned on the side of the village square that faced the sea. This signifies that Ubila'a or Duadila'a was present on the socalled proa squares, which represent the village, near or on the prow of the "village boat" (see Chapter V, Figure 5.5).

Up to this very day there are diverging opinions about the question whether such statues and posts represent the deity or an important ancestor. Drabbe and others after him assume it concerns the image of a deity. From earlier sources it appears however that the statues represent an original ancestor, who, according to the tradition on most of the islands, came down from heaven and who is considered to be the founding ancestor of a certain generation in each village. It presumably concerns the village founder. That the statues would simultaneously represent the highest deity, can be explained from the fact that in former days each village considered this deity as a "private village guardian." Incorporated into local relationships he became a "village saint."⁷

We assume that the image of Ubila'a or Duadila'a represents a divine ancestor who probably came from heaven, who boarded the earthly village boat in order to pilot it through dangerous waters under his protection. The whole idea is reminiscent of an image of the cosmic marriage between heaven and earth by means of the boat symbolism⁸ (see Chapter III).

Ubila'a or Duadila'a is comparable to a member of the boat's crew, one of the

ritual functionaries who governed the village, although his role takes place between heaven and earth and not on a village level. His place in the front of the boat corresponds with the ritual functionary's seat that is called "prow." This functionary was the person who preceded in all activities and ritual actions: he was the first who planted, the first who built his house in a new village and the leader of hunting and fishing. He is associated with a beginning and can therefore also be "village owner," descendant of the village founder (see Chapter V). The same is apparent from a dance, which is performed in the shape of a boat: the prow of the boat, that is the first dancer, is the family heir of the first inhabitant of the village ground.¹

Jacobsen reproduces an image of a Duadila'a in human shape, which was carved out of a single piece of wood together with a high pillar. The pillar is beautifully ornamented and carries representations of a cock and a snake, first ancestors and symbols of status and war¹¹; a greater contrast with the sparsely tooled posts that were found later in village centres by Drabbe is hard to imagine. The entire post is reminiscent of the prows of actual boats, which were also decorated with these animal figures and on which offerings were made to Duadila'a before important proa voyages.¹² Thus the village founder and the other first ancestors in the front of the land or sea boat expressed the esteem of their village, which they governed and protected as pilots.

The Sedeu and the Werwat Statue

The Kei islands traditionally also have the walled-in, elevated fortified villages, but many of them had already fallen into decay at the end of the previous century.¹³ The main cause was that, especially on Lesser Kei, hardly any war was waged anymore. On Great Kei some old villages were largely intact, such as the village of Ohoinangan, to which an impressive broad and long flight of steps led that was made of stacked stones.¹⁴

During this period not much remained of an ancestor cult, in as far as it could be

seen in the form of statues. In former days, coarsely tooled wooden or stone ancestor statues must have been situated before the entrance to the villages, unarmed or armed with shield and lance, just as on Tanimbar.

More than one hundred years ago Jacobsen discovered a stone statue of circa 1.2 metres in height, under a pole house, in the village of Wodder on Lesser Kei. In his opinion the statue was very squat and he called it "the village saint." Such statues, called sedeu, were traditionally situated right in the village square near a large offering stone, which was surrounded by loose stones or cacti. This site is the "navel" of the village.¹⁵

The sedeu represented the village founder and village protector.¹ They were made of wood or stone, and mostly showed male persons depicted squatting or standing upright. The upright statues sometimes had an opening at the height of the navel, which could be closed by means of a slide and was meant for offerings. This was also the case with the Werwat statue, which was found at the end of the previous century by several researchers on the mountain Masbait, near the village of Gelanit on Lesser Kei. It is now housed in the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden.

Meanwhile much has been written about this 1.56 metres high wooden statue. More than a century ago Werwat stood alone on a hill under the shelter of a tree and was revered for miles around. A large sacred stone, surrounded by a wall of cacti and loose stones, lay near the statue. This site once was the centre of the, at the time already deserted, village of Gelanit.¹⁷ As the statue has clearly defined breasts, it represents a woman according to some sources; other sources nevertheless take it to represent a man. The simply carved face is of a touching modesty. The statue holds its hands crosswise in front of the abdomen, on which a bird is represented.

Photograph 6.7. Statue of Werwat with daughter in the ritual centre of Gelanit on Lesser Kei. Photograph taken in 1911 or 1912.

It is curious that on some old pictures Werwat is flanked by a smaller statue, which according to some authors represented a daughter. It might have been deemed necessary only to place a second statue on certain occasions.

During his ethnological study tour in 1911-12 Burger photographed both statues. He was of the opinion that the larger statue was at that moment at least one hundred years old. His attempt to buy it from the old village priest failed, because the latter was convinced that the village would become extinct and everything would be destroyed should Werwat be removed.¹⁸

The word wat in the name Werwat means "stone, boulder, rock" as well as "woman"; it can point to both the large stone which lay near the statue and to the statue itself. Wer means "water, blessing or purifying water," with which coolness is obtained.¹ On these islands, both words refer to the earth and fertility. It is therefore likely that Werwat is a female fertility statue, representing a first ancestor.

Photograph 6.8. Statue of the slave of Inkelu, suta of Atuf, from the village of Olilit (Tanimbar). Height 94 cm (TM).

Village inhabitants indeed described Werwat to Jacobsen as a first ancestor. According to Burger the statue was classified as a mitu or village protector. He mentions a story from Gelanit, in which the first man, who was lowered to earth on a chain by the deity, erected the statue.² Also in view of the meaning of the name, it seems to us most probable that Werwat represents the earthly wife of the heavenly village founder. In that case we encounter a familiar theme: the village community owes its survival to the union of two representatives of heaven and earth—at least in the traditional view of the world. This was already apparent from the resistance of the village priest to the purchasing of Werwat.

"Valuable" Carvings

On the island of Tanimbar-Kei, in contrast to the other Kei islands, much has been preserved of the images of the village guardians. The natural port of the sole village was protected in former days by a wall which was more than a metre in height, in which a narrow opening was left open to allow passage. On either side of this passage were statues in the shape of human figures. One of them had crossed legs and had its hands on the abdomen, the other had drawn-up legs and the elbows on the knees.

Walls and statues protected the village in situations of war, which occurred up to the end of the previous century.²¹ The present-day inhabitants hardly know more than that the statues guarded the entrance to the port. Nowadays only the first mentioned statue lies there, in three pieces. At high tide only the head is visible above the surface of the water.

Direct access to the elevated village itself was also well protected. On the front side, the sea side, a long wooden flight of stairs with banisters in the shape of a snake still leads to the main gate, which could be blocked in times of war. The gate is provided with carvings in the form of leaf motifs and animal figures such as a hen with eggs, a cock, a dog, a whale and a snake.

The latter is the guardian of the gate and the steps, and moreover of the valuables of the village. According to Barraud the snake is connected with the islanders' activities in the outside world which involve violence and killing, such as fishing, hunting and waging war. According to this source, the whale, on the other hand, represents peaceful influences, which "wash ashore" on the island from the outside world—from overseas. Barraud is therefore of the opinion that the animals symbolise two opposing aspects of the community.²²

Apart from the snake, the cock and the dog are also included in the category of heat, masculinity and killing on the Kei islands. In myths the cock is associated with the light of the sun and with the outside world; it is also the protector in war (see below and Chapter V). The dog, ally during hunting, also symbolises heat. A dog was sometimes fed gunpowder, besides hot herbs, in its food in order to make it as hot—that is to say courageous and fiery—as possible for the hunt.²³ The animals are symbols of esteem and grand name, which are acquired in an atmosphere of heat.

The hen with eggs, also depicted on the gate, creates a picture of the opposing value of fertility. The whale, as a bringer of peaceful influences, can also be assigned to this category. This association is also present at other places in Maluku Tenggara. Thus both values, which have to be realised to enable the community to survive, are made visible by the animal figures on the main entrance gate to the village. The mythical animals, being the ancestors, protect the village at the front.

Sacred Trees

The villages on Aru also used to be surrounded by heavy ring walls. For some of them a location on a rock protruding into the sea was chosen, which was only connected with the rest of the island by a narrow isthmus.

Just as on the Tanimbar and the Kei archipelagos, the place of offering lay in the centre of the village.²⁴ Müller-Wismar, who travelled around on Aru in 1913, saw a covered platform in the centre of a village, on which plates and gongs were placed.²⁵ He also came across places of offerings for the gods there. A split piece of bamboo, funnel-shaped at the top, with a small plate and a white pennant, was the offering site for Tafer Lara, the sun. Beside this there was an offering site for Gwarsir Fafa, the earth, and one for the four gods collectively.²

Nowhere is anything about great ancestor statues in the village centre found. There are, however, still one or more holy trees in each village, to which offerings are brought in the name of the entire village. In the past this took place before war expeditions were undertaken. On returning, the hunted heads were put under the tree. Plates and gongs were also placed under the tree in the hope that material wealth would be acquired. The frequent offerings of white porcelain plates on Aru dates back to an event in mythical times, when the first white plate that was thrown into the sea, changed into a pearl shell. Nowadays white plates are still offered in large quantities both ashore and in the sea, hoping for a rich harvest of pearl shells.²⁷

Photograph 6.9. Upper part of a tavu, with two cocks opposite one another. The spiral figures below then are reminiscent of Nautilus shells. Tanimbar. Height 111 cm (MLV).

Photograph 6.10. Tavu with images of so-called fish men and a "gold" pendant, from Selaru (Tanimbar). Height 126 cm (RJM).

According to Müller-Wismar the sacred tree itself is invoked during the sacrificing, not a being inside the tree.²⁸ But Spyer writes that the offerings at sacred trees are meant for the village protective spirits and other ancestors, who apparently were not present in large statues.²

An important factor in this connection is presumably the very strong ancestor cult around animals that exists on Aru. The first ancestors, who according to the Aruese were animals, certainly had a great religious and social significance in the community until the beginning of this century. The animal emblems which each family—and also the village as a whole—still often owns, characterise the intrinsic identity of one family compared to another by the hereditary rights and duties connected to them. It is likely that on Aru the accent often lay more on this cult than on the later worship of ancestors who were represented in human shapes. In this way the culture of Aru distinguishes itself from the more western islands (see also below).

However this does not mean mat the ancestor cult connected to animals would be limited to Aru. On all eastern islands representations of animals are found at the most diverse places: at the village entrance, on roofs and poles of houses and in houses, on the prows and sterns of boats and in the gardens. At those places the animals function as tutelary spirits for the humans. Their relationship can be traced back to a distant kinship or to agreements, once made between man and animal.³ Ancestors in animal shape are always the first ancestors. Ancestors whose names are in general still known, are represented in human figures. Certain animals are often connected with certain families³¹ (see below and Chapter V).

First Ancestors

Besides the statues of the village founder and guardians, belonging to the entire village, the families who lived in the village had statues and other images of their own ancestors, which had a place in the houses. Among these are the representations of the first ancestors, whose presence offered the family power and protection. These form the focal point in the following survey of the Tanimbar, the Kei and the Aru archipelagos successively.

The traditional Tanimbarese pole house was accessible via a flight of stairs located under the house and a hatch in the middle of the floor. Above the hatch opening a gate of tooled boards was fitted, often flanked on either side by a pair of precious elephants' tusks.³²

Photograph 6.11. Head of the house sitting in front of the tavu. Phorograph taken in the village of Alusi Kelan (Tanimbar), probably during the 1920s.

On entering the houses of noble families one was immediately faced with a splendidly carved plank statue, with outstretched arms, which varied in height between 1.30 to 1.80 metres. In some statues a human figure could clearly be discerned, in others that figure was, as it were, dissolved in ornamentation.³³ The statues have become known under the name of tavu, which is used on the island of Fordate. On Yamdena the name lamngatabu is employed, on Selaru lan matabu.

The meaning of the word tavu can be traced back to concepts as "beginning" and "origin." The name refers to the ancestors, as the origin of the family, and to ancestral times, in which ancestors were sometimes represented as animals and in which family heirlooms were acquired in distant regions or extraterrestial atmospheres.³⁴ On the Tanimbar islands these plank statues can no longer be found nowadays. In as far as they had not been destroyed by Ambonese protestant missionaries, they ended up in European museums.³⁵

The tavu in fact formed a family shrine, around which the deceased and living members of the house were united. On a shelf above the statue were the ancestors' skulls and neck vertebrae, next to the family heirlooms, wooden or stone ancestor statues and small wooden or ivory statuettes, in general called walut. The bench in front of it was the head of the house's seat, the representative of the inhabitants of the house; the room behind it was the bedroom of the marriageable daughters of the house, whose fertility was safe there under the protection of the ancestors and the head of the family. It is interesting that the plank statue not only formed an essential part of the house in a social-religious way, but also in a technical way: it served as a prop for one of the longitudinal beams that carried the roof of the house.³

The tavu was the communal seat of all ancestors of the house, counted via the male line. All the power they had to offer, was bundled in this grand symbol of status. This is clearly expressed in the representations in the carvings, which correspond for the major part with those on the prows of the boats and the facades of the houses³⁷ (see Chapter V).

Apart from human figures dogs, cocks and the sun occur on the tavu. Especially the cocks with their exuberant sickle feathers are often splendidly tooled in the spiral motifs of the ornamentation. The majority of them is depicted opposite each other, ready for the fight. As far as design is concerned, some of them display a strong resemblance to the birds on the Dongson kettle drums (see Chapter I). Immediately below the animal figures, two large intertwined spiral shapes can often be seen, which are reminiscent of Nautilus or Sprirula shells. Nautilus shells were a special symbol of status: they were used as a substitute for a hunted head and hung on the offering post during the feast of heads³⁸ (see Chapter V).

Furthermore famous male family heirlooms are sometimes represented, such as gold pendants and earrings. Intriguing are the images of horned "fish men" who wear gold earrings. In imagery a man is called a "fish"; according to a well known mythological theme he comes sailing from overseas and marries a woman from the island. Fish also symbolise the war booty and treasures gathered in foreign regions, which bear witness to a grand name (see Chapter V). The horns on the head of the "fish man" probably represent buffalo horns, trophies of a successful hunt that refer to the glory thus obtained (see Chapter VII). Illustrative are Müller-Wismar's notes about a tavu with these images. He characterises the figures as a "fish man" who had come floating from Babar and was found in a fish trap on Tanimbar, and afterwards became "totem" of a family.³

Müller-Wismar also interprets the other animal representations on tavu —and those on houses and boats as well—as "totems" that belong to a certain family. They are reminiscent of the figures of animals on the former houses on Aru and

can be considered as a family coat of arms. Fish, cocks and dogs also often occur in the names of noble Tanimbarese houses.⁴ They refer to the first ancestors, who figure in the history on the origin of the family houses and under whose protection the "house boat” sails a good course.

Photograph 6.12. The statue of Werwat presumably represents the wife of the village founder of Gelanit on Lesser Kei Height 156 cm (RMV).

In all these representations-animals, sun, family heirlooms and shells-the grand name of the house was apparent, as was clear earlier in the symbolism of house and boat. As a superfluence "piece of evidence" of this, teeth of head-hunted enemies were nailed into some tavu.⁴¹

The Wadar Statues

In the only village on Tanimbar-Kei, groups of two or three houses are connected to each other by the cult of one ancestor pair. The village numbers nine ancestor pairs and just as many cult groups, called ub or wadar. The members of a cult group consider themselves as descendants of the ancestor pair that protects their houses.

Ub can, just as on Tanimbar, also mean "grandfather" or "ancestor." A certain kind of turtle is also called by this name during the turtle hunt, and is as such classified as ancestor.⁴² Each of the nine ancestor pairs is called wadar. These ancestors once went out to sea to catch turtles, but never returned. Neither their names, nor details about their origin are known. Their cult sites can be found on the lofts of nine houses, on platforms. There they are regularly "fed" with offerings of turtles or large fish.

Only in two houses can wooden statues of the ancestors be found on the cult site; the other seven houses with cult sites merely have a wooden plateau under the roof for the offerings. Both statues are beautifully styled and tautly designed. The most curious element about them is their bird's head (according to the

village inhabitants a cock's head) with bird's beak. Furthermore one statue has a human appearance; it is a seated figure with drawn-up knees, on which the elbows rest. The other statue has wings and claws.

That the wadar are associated with the sea and sea animals appears, apart from the ancestors’ adventures, from the carving on the latter statue. On either side fish are depicted and in the centre front a turtle. The cock’s peak of the statue picks into the head of the turtle.⁴³

The picking cock represents more than the wadar during turtle hunts, or the turtle offering that is offered to the wadar. The turtle hunt is associated with name and status on Tanimbar-Kei as well (see Chapter V). The cock is the symbol of heat and masculinity. It is associated with the arrival of the sunlight, is the protector on long sea voyages and ensures victory in war. The cock picking the turtle represents the same as the cock on the Tanimbarese prow boards, which catches fish or turtles. It is the motif of the hunter and his prey: the man hunting for status and gathering his spoils, his treasures, at sea. Just like the caught fish, the turtle symbolises the precious catch. Thus me wadar statues express the grand name of a house, in a somewhat similar manner as the tavu on Tanimbar.

Animal Emblems

As has been stated before, the relationship between the first ancestors and certain animal species is even more clearly present in the culture of the Aru islands than on Tanimbar and Kei. Around the turn of the century researchers emphatically reported this. Thus Riedel writes that some families venerate crocodiles and sharks as their ancestors and keep statues of them in their houses.⁴⁴

From Müller-Wismar's notes it appears that each family has some specific ancestral animals. During his five months' travel tour in 1913 the researcher

scrupulously recorded the families present in many villages and the animals related to them. He calls the animals momosin ("sacred, prohibited”; pomali in Moluccan Malay) and talks about family “totems,” as he also does in the case of the animal representations on the Tanimbarese tavu. We will call them emblems here. They are passed on via the father to his descendants within the family house and provide certain privileges to the family, with which this family distinguishes itself from other families.⁴⁵

The most commonly occurring animals are the dog, the cock, the snake, the turtle, the dolphin, the saw fish, the ink fish, the sea cucumber, the pelican, the sandpiper, a kind of lobster, the starfish, a kind of mackerel, the sea eagle and other seabirds, such as a "bird diving for fish."⁴ Apart from animal figures Müller-Wismar also mentions a human figure, which occurred on boats and houses in the form of carving.⁴⁷ Other emblems, less frequently mentioned by the researcher, are the crescent moon and a kind of ficus.⁴⁸ According to MüllerWismar each family has various emblems, among which a pair that is always present in combination and which he denotes as "linked totems.” Examples of this are the turtle and the mackerel, osprey and fish, saw-fish and bird, and dolphin and a kind of fish.⁴ Here it possibly concerns related ancestors, who stood at the basis of a family bond.

In those days the emblems were apparent in many forms: they stood in the houses and were tooled into the house posts and drums, and were depicted on women's plaited clothes and bracelets as well as on the sails and flags of boats. A print of the emblem in charcoal on the body of a deceased person, had to clarify to the ancestors in the afterworld to which family the deceased belonged.⁵

Before going to sea to dive for pearl shells, one or sometimes more wooden emblem figures are still placed on the stern of the canoe or proa, together with a white flag.⁵¹ At the same time a large, flat, round wooden plate with a stylised human or animal figure is attached to the bottom of the stern. After returning home both items are taken from board until the next trip.⁵² For each important undertaking, such as diving for pearls, the turtle hunt and, in former days, war

offerings are made to the animal figures.⁵³ The animals help man with his activities and protect him, it is believed, against disease. In certain regions of Aru the emblems are also placed in the gardens, as a protection against theft.⁵⁴

Photograph 6.13. Small offering shed on Aru with white flag and white dishes and bowls; offerings are made before a man goes diving.

The animal figures represent ancestors from a mythical past, originating from islands which were largely destroyed, such as Luang in western Maluku Tenggara and Karang-Enu in the south of the Aru archipelago.⁵⁵ It is therefore not surprising that almost all animals are related to the sea and the outside world, as appears from the frequent presence of sea and beach birds and maritime animals. The emblem of the dog is also common. This animal is associated with hunting and war, activities which also take place outside the village. MullerWismar reports a myth in which there is mention of an arrow which pierced a hundred enemies and then returned on its own. The arrow, which was very hot, had the honorary name of "dog's penis."⁵

As male symbols, all these animals are connected not only to the sea, the outside world and heat, but also to status. They support the men in "hot" activities such as diving, fishing, hunting, waging war, and ensure good catches. Emblems such as the crescent moon and the ficus are presumably connected with the land and fertility. The emblem of the ficus is undoubtedly connected with the land, as it belonged to the tuan tanah, the owner of the ground.⁵⁷ It is therefore likely that "cool" emblems also exist beside the "hot" ones, which are related in a certain manner.

Later Ancestors

A statuette was also carved for the descendants of the first ancestors after they had died, in which the "soul" of the deceased could temporarily reside after offerings had been offered. As far as the Kei and Aru islands are concerned, there are few data available concerning this. It is known that there used to be an offering site for the ancestors in the top of the houses on the Kei islands. There

stood a male and a female statuette, in which respectively the male and female ancestors could reside.⁵⁸ Riedel reports that on Aru statuettes (dalaran) existed, in which the "souls" of the ancestors could find a temporary residence. They were offered by the head of the house.⁵

Especially extensive is the knowledge about Tanimbar, notably as regards the statues of male ancestors. Comparatively little is known about the statues of female ancestors, with the exception of a special category which will later be dealt with separately, that of the "dead mothers."

Wooden, ivory and stone statuettes were made of the ancestors, varying in height from a few centimetres to circa thirty centimetres. They were depicted in a squatting or standing position. The statuettes were placed in the top of the house or on the shelf above the tavu. Through a hole in the roof the ancestral "soul" could enter the house in order to offer help to his descendants. Riedel shows a picture of an ancestral statue with a small hat, squatting on a finely tooled chair; similar statues are known from the western islands. ¹

The very small statuettes were kept in bags, hanging on the tavu. Only the owner was allowed to touch them; owing to their heat, which could be fatal, they were too dangerous for others. ² The same held good for the neck vertebrae and skulls of the deceased, which also lay on the shelf above the tavu and in which the ancestors could temporarily reside. Such items, fewer than in former times, are still present in the house and are considered to be very hot.

When the men went out hunting or fishing, the leader of the expedition called up the ancestors. Thus he cried out at the start of the hunt: "Are you already there, or not?" and "Sit down on the point of my bow." In his "bag of the dead," as Drabbe calls it, he carried along statuettes of his namesake (the member of the family who he was named after) or other, strong ancestors. Besides this the bag contained the namesake's neck vertebrae wrapped in red cloth and all sorts of "hot" remedies, consisting of roots and leaves. ³ They were indispensable for the

man's protection and the success of the undertaking.

Before and after hunting and fishing, offerings were made to the ancestors on the bag of the dead. Ubila'a was also given offerings; at fishing this took place on the prow of a boat. ⁴ Bow and arrow were coated with hot items, inherited from father or ancestors. The fish traps and fish spears were also coated with hot energy expedients, which had to guarantee a good catch. ⁵

Characteristic for the statuettes that were taken along during hunting and, to lesser extent during fishing, are the wandrar. The name is connected to the word wandar, meaning "spoils, good catch." They are double statuettes of about five centimetres in height, which have been carved as a pair out of one piece of wood. They represent distant ancestors, who were successful hunters. The statuettes bear their own names. Before the dogs were let loose in the forest on the swine that had been hit, the hunter tapped them on their backs with the bag of the dead and requested the ancestors to ensure that the dogs would run faster than the swine.

Also, during headhunting trips and exceptionally long journeys, every man carried his own soul statuettes and energy expedients along in his bag of the dead. ⁷ Fathers and brothers divided them among themselves. The bag of the dead was carried along sewn up. The existence of the statuettes had to remain a secret, for if the enemy knew of them, he might "cool them down." Drabbe writes mat men who served with the Armed Police in colonial times, carried along a statuette of an ancestor who had hunted many heads, and which was for that reason extremely powerful. ⁸ Before and after a headhunting trip offerings were made to the ancestors and to Ubila'a in the centre of the village (see Chapter V). Nowadays the Tanimbarese still keep the custom of carrying along their protective statuettes on long journeys, and even during sportive contests such as soccer matches.⁷

The statuettes of ancestors not only play a role during hunting and fighting, but

also when concluding peace. After a war two statuetttes were wrapped in a piece of hand-woven sarong. The sarong symbolises coolness and peace (see Chapter VIII). The statuettes were then put in front of the villages of the two combatting parties. If there was a benevolent reaction to this peacemaking attempt, the statuette was taken into the village and fed, where after the inhabitants of both villages finally partook of a communal meal to celebrate peace.⁷¹

Photograph 6.14. A boy at the stem of an Aruese boat, with the family emblem, the image of a cock.

"Dead Mothers"

Ancestors in the male line traditionally ensure success during hunting, fishing and wars. These activities take place under the signs of great heat and death. How is the opposite effect, coolness and life, achieved? What is the part of the woman here? Drabbe reports that in those days a woman possessed a basket containing her own statuettes, but he does not mention which ones they were and for what purpose they could be used.⁷²

Interesting in this context however, are the so-called mangmwat'enar, about which he tells more. These are wooden or stone statues of circa thirty centimetres in height, representing an ancestor in squatting position. They stood on the family shrine in the house. Besides these roughly carved mangmwat'enar were sometimes placed in the garden house, a place of temporary residence during agricultural activities.⁷³ The statues represent a special category of ancestors, the so-called "dead mothers' After their death and a special burial ritual, these have come to belong to the house via the female line. They are the ancestors of the in-married women in the house, who themselves also had marriage relations with that house.

Photograph 6.15. Ancestor statue of a mother, who probably died in childbirth, with twins, from Tanimbar. Height 31 cm (MLV).

On all occasions connected with fertility and growth, both of crops and children, offerings were made to the "dead mothers." During the planting of rice in the gardens, their presence was called up by means of a sarong and a female necklace, worn by the woman. Thus they settled as it were on the woman and could be asked to allow the crops to flourish.⁷⁴

The "dead mothers" are characterised as "ancestor-rice givers," the grains of rice being the symbol of plenty and fertility. The ancestors in the male line, the "ancestor neck vertebrae," are the "ancestors pig-givers." Both constitute an essential part of the house. Both provide the house with food, garden crops and fish or meat respectively.⁷⁵ Besides actual food the two groups of ancestors give the house the symbolised values represented by this food, fertility, inherent in the woman, and grand name and reputation, gained by the man. By realising both elements the continuity of the house and its inhabitants is safeguarded.

Guardians of the Fields

A last category of ancestor statues, which can only receive passing attention here, is formed by the statues in the gardens. They have a defensive function; they guard the fields and wells that are located outside the village.

On Tanimbar and Kei they are often statues in a human shape, denoted by terms meaning "ancestor" on Tanimbar. Wooden animal figures, matakau, also protect the crops on these islands.⁷ In some parts of Aru animal figures, which are the family emblems, are placed in the gardens, as a protection against theft.⁷⁷

All these animal figures represent distant ancestors, who protect their descendants' possessions. It is remarkable that the matakau are still in use on the islands, whereas ancestor statues in human shape have almost completely vanished. The reason is presumably that the Christian preachers, who prohibited the ancestor cult, did not recognize statues of ancestors in the animal figures.

The Statues of the Hero Atuf

To conclude this chapter, a special category of statues will be discussed: those of the mythological hero Atuf, who is known all over Tanimbar. These statues differ from the ones dealt with above in that Atuf is not an ancestor; he did not leave behind any human progeny. Still he is a very important figure for the Tanimabarese. In the past this appeared from the rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, in which statues of him played a role.

Although it is clear that statues and other cult objects of Atuf existed in several villages, the statues which were placed in the villages that are mentioned in the myth around this hero are the best known. The original statue was erected in the village of Séfnane in East Yamdena, Atufs mythological place of residence, where it was located in a small house next to the house of the offerer. Atuf played a central role in the harvest ritual of this village. Later the statue was donated to the village of Lamdesar on the island of Larat, the second important place in the myth, where it was placed in front of the village. In the course of time this specimen was replaced by a new statue, which was described and photographed by Drabbbe. It represents a standing figure with outstretched arms.

Photograph 6.16. Ancestor statuette, called "Dodaat leer" ("he looks at the sun"), from the village of Alusi Karwain on East Yamdena (Tanimbar). Height 10 cm (PC).

Photograph 6.17. Ancestor statuette with cock's comb on the head, from eastern Maluku Tenggara. Height 7.5 cm (MLV).

In the myth of Atuf, retold in brief below, the conceptions regarding status and fertility shown before, arise once more. Atuf is represented as the ultimate hunter, who "kills" the sun. By this he obtains the highest possible status. This is the fundamental value which, as appeared at the beginning of this chapter, is expressed predominantly in the communities of eastern Maluku Tenggara.

However, Atufs role and the essence of his myth reach further than the social value of status. As will become clear below, Atuf's significance lies in his contribution to the creative process and the generation of new life. Killing and acquiring status are not aims in themselves, but conditions for the origin of new life. In this manner the values of status and fertility are linked.

These ideas are concretely expressed in rituals, which are performed during the agricultural cycle. Some examples that illustrate this point will be mentioned below. After that, the shortened version of the myth will be presented. From this background it will become apparent why the statues of Atuf played a central role in the harvest ritual.

The Hunt: Precondition for a Good Harvest

Especially of Tanimbar it is known that the agricultural cycle has to be interrupted for a hunt several times. The coolness, which is a precondition for the growth of the crops, is altered by the heat of the hunt. Drabbe notes that, before the trees on a site can be felled in order to lay out a garden, pig's blood has to be brought to the field. This is because it is thought that there has to be a

killing before new life can develop. Planting and harvesting also have to be combined with a hunt.⁷⁸

Shortly before the sorghum harvest there is a three days' hunt on Tanimbar-Kei, led by the sea captain. At the same time a ritual, comparable to the travel ritual during a voyage, is performed in the village. The land captain remains motionless on guard in the granary of the village in order to procure a successful hunt (see also Chapter V).⁷

The aim of such rituals is to have the heat, which is brought from outside by the man, merged into the coolness, which is connected with the fertility of the earth and the woman, ensuring that the harvest will be a fact in the course of time. A striking thing in this context is the terminological relationship with the process of conception, pregnancy and the birth of a child. Thus the period of the hunt, which coincides with the beginning of the agricultural cycle, is described on the Tanimbarese island of Selaru as a quest for "seed," which is essential for the growth of the crops.⁸ In a comparable manner the child, living in the coolness of the womb, is represented as a "catch." Drabbe writes that the first signs of a pregnancy ascertained by a woman, are denoted by the word fofoli, which is also used as a denotation for a man's first hunting spoils.⁸¹ Analogously the child in the womb is described on Tanimbar-Kei by the word wad, which also signifies a catch of fish or large sea-animals, ⁸²

Photograph 6.18. on page 102. Stone statue of female guardian of the fields from the village of Alusi Karwain (Tanimbar). Height 34 cm (PC).

Photograph 6.19. on page 103. Stone statue of male guardian of the fields from the village of Amtufu (Tanimbar). Height 38 cm (PC).

Photograph 6.20. Ancestor statues, which were attached to the shelf above the tavu, from the village of Méjano-Bab (Tanimbar). Woman at the right, man at the left Height of each: 41 cm (RMV).

The heat, the grand name, acquired through hunts, and—as was apparent earlier — through voyages as well, is subservient to new life and not an aim in itself. After a voyage the boat, which is drawn ashore, becomes a trunk again, part of the land; the catch, the treasures are also received by the land (see Chapter V). Thus the hunting spoils are also absorbed by the earth, similar to the man's semen in the woman's womb. The object of this union is the generation of new life. The Tanimbarese story about the hero, Atuf, has to be viewed against this background.⁸³

The Myth of Atuf

Atuf was a noble man, who lived with his sisters on Babar. As they did not work, lay out gardens, or fetch wood and water, they were not loved among the Babarese and were finally chased off the island. After some wanderings, Atuf ended up in the village of Séfnane on the island of Yamdena, where he was adopted by a family.

In those times the sky was so low, that the sun, which was much larger than nowadays, could not rise. The nights lasted long and were pitch dark, as there were no moon and stars. There was only a short moment of light when the sun rose in the east.

Atuf decided to improve this situation by cutting the sun up into pieces. Armed with a miraculous lance, bought by his family, he boarded a proa with some

slaves and sailed in the direction of the sun. As the voyage progressed the sky became lower, which made it necessary, in order to keep sailing, to chop off a piece of the mast at regular intervals. Moreover, as the target was approached, the heat increased. Atuf had prepared himself for this; he rolled himself in coconut-oil that he had brought along and hid himself behind a plank.

When he had reached his target, he thrust fiercely with his lance, causing the sun to burst apart into two large pieces. One piece remained the sun, the other fell into the sea and became the moon; innumerable small pieces flew through the sky and became the stars. However, Atuf's lance had remained stuck in the sun. The sun only let go of it, during its journey through the sky, above a beach on Kei.

On his way back, Atuf called at the cape of Lamdesar (on the island of Larat) to relieve himself. When he wanted to return to his proa, he could not get free; Atuf was stuck to the land. Thereupon he ordered his slaves to sail back to Séfnane without stopping. On their arrival there, they chopped down the large and the small sails. When the slaves jumped from board, they changed into forest animals on the land. The proa itself became an island.

The Generation of New Life

By cutting the sun into pieces, Atuf separated it from the earth and divided it into sun and moon. In this manner he brought about the regular alternation of day and night, as it has existed until this very day. Moreover he created the essential conditions for life, as is for instance expressed in the cosmic marriage between sun and earth or sun and moon.⁸⁴ The explanation of the current situation of the cosmos constitutes the primary message of the myth. Another meaning lies hidden behind it, relating to the generation of life.

With his "attack" on the sun Atuf turns out to be the ultimate hunter. He has— according to Tanimbarese standards—achieved the greatest heroic feat conceivable for a man. He dared to "kill" the sun, the symbol of the most intense heat and force possible. His "heat" and fame can only be compared to those of the sun itself.

However the question arises why a man of such fame, after having accomplished such a great feat with his slaves and proa, becomes one with the land. Although Atuf possesses all the characteristics of a man of immense status (he is of high nobility, he originated from outside Tanimbar and is associated with unbearable heat), he is, apparently in contrast to his masculinity, literally affixed to the land after his heroic deed: without captain and rigging, and with chopped down sails and partially chopped mast, the vessel becomes a trunk and even land. The moment they set foot ashore, the other passengers change into forest animals, symbolising the interior of the land.

The explanation for this seemingly absurd turn in the myth, lies in the manner in which the generation of life is represented. In the cultures of Maluku Tenggara, the man's contribution to the creation of life is, in general, ascribed to his role as a hunter. The man brings in his share with the esteem that he has acquired through killing. A variation on this theme is present in the myth. For Atuf himself embodies the contribution to the generation of new life; he himself forms part of the process of creation. This is also the reason why he had no progeny.

His feat, despite its immeasurable significance and the overwhelming status ensuing from it, benefits the land, with which he finally becomes one. His heat, his extreme masculinity, literally merges with the land that is considered to be female. The land envelopes him, like the womb the male semen.

Atuf's Role in Rituals

How much Atuf's heat and status benefits the land according to the Tanimbarese, is apparent from the worship that fell to him, notably in the villages that are mentioned in the myth.⁸⁵ In the village of Séfnane a statue was made for him, as was mentioned before, whereby prayers were offered to Atuf for an abundant harvest during the annual feast of offerings. Before the harvest a hunt was organised. During the first day of the hunt there was a prohibition in force for the offerer, who had to lie down motionless in front of the statue to ensure a successful hunt. The hunt is, as has appeared, a necessary condition for a good harvest. Just as the hunting spoils have to be brought to the garden, Atuf once melted with the land. That is why it is especially he who is invoked for an abundant harvest.

In the village of Lamdesar, which was later endowed with the original statue of Atuf, a hunt took place on behalf of a sacrificial meal for Atuf whenever the rains held off. As soon as the fire burned well when preparing the hunting spoils, that is to say was very "hot", and the black smoke encircled Atuf's face, dark clouds appeared in the sky from which the long-expected rain fell. However, if it rained too long at a stretch, Atuf was invoked to stop the rain and to return the heat of the sun. Rain, just like the sun, is an aspect of the sky, which is opposed to the earth and is associated with the spheres outside the island. The rain is viewed as the male semen, which fertilises the female earth and makes the crops grow.

Photograph 6.21. Statue of Atuf with raised arms, at Lamdesar, on Larat (Tanimbar). Photograph taken circa 1930.

Atuf's myth clarifies what purpose the attainment of status and fame, so abundantly present in the culture of the eastern islands, serves: it benefits the land, fertility and the continuity of life. Thus the values of status and fertility which are of fundamental significance in the whole of Maluku Tenggara, are connected. This was already apparent in Chapter II; in Part III it will be shown that both values are also expressed in other forms of material culture.

Open sirih basket from Kisar, made of lontar leaves. Height 18 cm; width 11 cm (TM).

Gold moon, decorated with cock figures, from the island of Babar. Diameter 13 cm (PC).

Large shawl from Kisar with 4 broad ikatted bands ending in a double tumpal motif. Length 285 cm; width pi cm (TM).

Bandana pot from Kei, used for the storage of sorghum. Height 25 cm; diameter 28 cm (RMV).

Photograph 7.1. Gold kmwene earrings from Tanimbar (PC).

When the physical anthropologist Rodenwaldt was researching the mestizos on Kisar in the 1920s, he was, to his considerable amazement, confronted with large numbers of beautifully worked gold objects, including headdresses, necklaces, plates, earrings and pendants. The objects fascinated him and he had been eager to subject them to closer study. Unfortunately, however, his research assignment did not allow him "to enter at length into this highly interesting and almost unresearched art-historical theme."¹

The limitations on Rodenwaldt's work are much to be regretted in the light of history. As was outlined in Chapter II, a fundamental process of change began in Maluku Tenggara during the first decades of this century, which meant, among other things, an end to the goldsmith's craft, on Kisar and surrounding islands. Nowadays there is little documentation on this subject, a situation Rosenwaldt might have been able to prevent.

Fortunately we are better informed about other southeastern Moluccan islands with a tradition of working with precious metals. At the time of Rodenwaldt's stay on Kisar the missionary Drabbe, who was very much interested in cultural manifestations, was based on Tanimbar (see Introduction). He recorded the working method of the local goldsmiths in close detail.²

The importance of this record became clear at the end of the 1970s when the American cultural anthropologist McKinnon visited Tanimbar. She discovered an almost completely vanished goldsmith's craft, and bases her descriptions of the subject entirely on Drabbe's data.³

The only islands of Maluku Tenggara where precious metal is still being forged, belong to the Babar group. During our fieldwork in the 1980s we visited nearly all the villages on this archipelago, and encountered both old and young goldsmiths. Although they had ample work, the future of the craft was threatened by a continuously scarcer supply of colonial coins, the raw material of the ornaments produced. Therefore, assumedly the working of precious metal on the Babar archipelago is now limited.

Babar and Tanimbar, and the region around Kisar are the three places within Maluku Tenggara where the production of gold and silver ornaments was a tradition. As far as is known no native goldsmiths were ever active on Wetar and although sources are not univocal, this may also hold true for Aru and Kei.

This chapter will focus on the three regions where precious metal is or was crafted. After listing the products of the craft, attention will be paid to their local use and intrinsic meaning. It will be shown that the objects form part of a complex system of cultural manifestations, which are related to man's traditional role in society, in which everything revolves around the acquisition of esteem.

Since imported ornaments have been integrated into this complex system and have mostly been bestowed with the same symbolic meaning as locally produced objects, they will be included here as well.

Ornaments from Kisar

The region of Kisar—in this context also including the islands of Luang, Sermata, Leti, Moa, Lakor, Roma, Damer as well as Teun, Nila and Serua besides Kisar—is known of old as the production area of several kinds of gold objects. Judging by their use and significance, the most important of them are the mas bulan, "gold moon," mas firing, "gold plate," and mas anting, "gold

earring." For convenience sake Moluccan Malay is employed here, Although each language group on the islands has its own names for objects.

The three kinds of ornaments were produced on nearly all the islands mentioned, mostly by native craftsmen (on Kisar also mestizos,) sometimes by travelling goldsmiths. Production was generally limited to local use; only in some cases, such as on Kisar and on Luang, the ornaments were also produced for overseas barter purposes. On Kisar the emphasis was on the manufacture of mas bulan and mas firing, on Luang on the production of mas anting. The underlying element of this specialisation may have been the difference in selling markets. Apart from the surrounding islands, the traders of Kisar directed their attention mainly to Timor, where gold plates and moons were (and still are) important objects of status, therefore ideal barter. The Luang people, on the other hand, traded with the islands in eastern Maluku Tenggara, among them Babar and Tanimbar. Here gold earrings were very much sought after as important cultural goods.

Producing and trading gold objects was a lucrative occupation due to the low barter value of the raw material needed (for a long time, western coins) and the high barter value of the objects produced; when we discuss the symbolic significance of the objects, this will receive more attention.

The descriptions of the three kinds of ornaments and their traditional manufacturing processes are based on data concerning Kisar and Luang, where most of the gold plates, moons and earrings found in Maluku Tenggara can be considered to originate.

Moons and Plates

A gold moon is a round, thin plate of precious metal with an average diameter of

about 15 centimetres, usually sparsely decorated with motifs in relief. In many cases a gold plate has a somewhat wider diameter (with extremes of up to 40 centimetres and more), is often more lavishly decorated and has a curved edge, resembling a plate for serving food. Unlike a gold moon, a gold plate has two basic forms: round (common) and hexagonal.

The term gold should not be taken too literally as, in most objects, it concerns a gold/silver alloy. Due to its softness pure gold is less suitable for practical applications and only rarely was a plate or a moon fashioned out of it. On a limited scale solid silver plates and moons were also produced. The customer usually determined the kind of metal for the smith to work with; he was expected to supply the precious metal.

It is not clear where the gold and silver originated in the distant past. What is known is that coins, obtained by barter trade, were the main source in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1730 Barchewitz, post keeper on Moa, reported that the gold (Dutch) ducat and the silver ducaton were used primarily, as well as the Japanese gold coin kupang.⁴ From a message by Earl it appears that the ducat was still popular a century later due to its high gold content and its low meltingpoint.⁵ At the end of the 19th century the English gold sovereign (a twenty shilling piece), together with the gold ten guilder coin and the silver two-and-ahalf guilder coin were much coveted.

The missionary Rinnooy is probably the best source concerning the forging process. Writing about Kisar he stated in 1892: "A ten guilder piece or an English gold coin is melted, then mixed with the silver of a two-and-a-half guilder coin, treated with nitric acid, beaten for two days until it acquires the shape of a shearer's basin (piling mas, i.e. gold plate), another until it resembles the moon (bulan mas i.e. gold moon), yet another until it has the shape of a bracelet. After that, the piece is rubbed with tamarind, [and] held over glowing coals, until it has the desired gleam."

Around the turn of the century the basic material on Kisar was, therefore, a gold ten guilder coin or an English gold piece (the sovereign⁷), mixed with a silver two-and-a-half guilder coin. Rinnooy gives the impression that the use of one gold and one silver coin was standard in 1892 and as a result all the gold plates, moons and bracelets produced in his times were to have had the same weight. Judging from Barchewitz, this was different in the preceding century. Then the ornaments, depending on the quantities of processed gold and silver, were subdivided into weight classes on the basis of so-called tahil units.⁸

The use of nitric acid makes it presumable that a low weight class was standard on Kisar, probably as a consequence of a decreased supply of coins. Nitric acid is used by Indonesian smiths to stain a metal alloy. It is a much-employed method to darken the light colour which is characteristic of a low gold content, and make it resemble the yellow-red of pure gold.

The point where Rinnooy starts discussing the acid is rather puzzling. Staining is generally considered a finishing process and does not take place—as the missionary has it—in an intermediary phase of the production process. The final rubbing of the ornaments with tamarind (Tamarindus indica) can be explained more simply: tamarind is a well-known means of polishing metal and is used by numerous Indonesian goldsmiths.

Rinnooy does not discuss the application of decoration, which is especially deplorable in view of the refinement of the maspiring. The decoration consists of mere embossing, with various characteristic motifs. In the centre of the plates a star motif is often depicted. And besides this stylised birds (doves according to the islanders) or other animals are found. The edges of the plates usually have spiral motifs. There are also mas piring which are completely or partially plain; it may be that the extent of decoration was linked to the remuneration of the smith.

The average gold moon is sparsely decorated compared to most of the plates.

The surface is mainly plain and the applied motifs are simple. Notably often eyelike motifs are represented; besides these, geometrical patterns (stars, meanders), animals (birds and sea-animals) and human figures and faces occur. The embossing, however, is crude and reveals less effort toward perfection than in the case of the mas piring. Incidentally there are additional decorations produced with the aid of solder work. Thus some mas bulan are provided with soldered "horns"¹ (see Photograph 7.4); others have motifs embossed into the metal, trimmed with soldered gold thread.

Earrings

The gold earrings (mas anting) were not forged, but cast. They consist of a split pear-shaped body provided with protrusions on the top, on the sides and on the bottom. These are especially prominent on the sides and the bottom; they are called kaki tangan, the "legs" and "arms" of the earring. The hollow space in the "body" is usually filled with a strip of red imported cloth. A pair of earrings is sometimes kept together in this manner (see Photograph 7.9, insert). As was mentioned before, Luang was the main production centre of these earrings. This is also evident from the names used in the region for these ornaments: mas Luang, "gold of Luang," and also lorlora, following the Luangese.

Photograph 7.2. Gold plate with star motif. Diameter 17.5 an (PC).

Photograph 7.3. Gold moon with animal figures. Diameter 15.5 cm (PC).

Photograph 7.4. Man from Sermata, wearing a gold. plate on his head and a gold moon with "horns" on his breast

Photograph 7.5. Gold headdress, from the island of Sermata (see also Photograph 7.7). The image, on the ornament suggests it was made outside Maluku Tenggara. Height 39 cm (PC).

Literature does not mention anything about the traditional casting procedure on the islands. Fortunately some information could be given to us on Luang in 1981. The so-called "lost wax" technique was employed, a method requiring a new cast form for each earring. First the smith formed a model of the ornament in bees' wax, originating from Sermata. This was enclosed in a mixture of loam and charcoal until a ball with the size of a fist had been shaped, leaving some entrance channels to the model open (see Figure 7.1). The ball was dried and then put into the fire, causing the wax to melt and be drained off through the channels. The hollow thus acquired was then filled with melted precious metal via the same entrances, after which the smith cooled down the ball and broke it. This released the earring. Finally the ornament was finished off with a file. Our informers could not relate anything about the usual ratio of gold to silver. They did remember that coins were used as a raw material. What kind of coins could not be recalled.

Pendants and Headdresses

Besides the objects discussed, which were produced in relatively large quantities, other kinds of gold ornaments were made on a more limited scale in the Kisar region. In Rinnooy's quote there is mention of bracelets; besides this gold hairpins, combs, sirih boxes, rings, headdresses, pendants and the statuettes of ancestors that were discussed in Chapter IV are known. It is impossible to deal with all these objects within the scope of this work. However, in view of their cultural importance (see below), attention will be paid to the boat-shaped pendants and headdresses.

As a variation of mas bulan boat-shaped pendants were forged. The traditional name of this ornament, which is sometimes also compared to the crescent moon, is mas tanduk, "gold horns." The forging process was identical to that for a gold moon or plate and there was also no difference as regards the coins used and the proportion of gold to silver.¹¹ Like mas bulan, mas tanduk are usually sober in decorations. They often merely have an embossed edge decoration, sometimes combined with a centrally situated breast-like motif. With some mas tanduk extra attention has been paid to the ends of the "horns": in these they are shaped in a three-dimensional manner.

Photograph 7.6. Wutulai originaring from Luang. Height 34.5 cm (PC).

Photograph 7.7. Woman from Sermata, adorned with a wutulai on her head and mas tanduk, "gold horns," on her breast.

Of an impressive beauty are the now rare headdresses, known merely under the Luangese name wutulai (see Photograph 7.6). Little is known about their production. The forging process described by Rinnooy might also have applied to the headdresses. In general more than one decoration technique was used. The embossing, for instance, is generally supplemented with soldered gold thread.

The decoration is very recognizable. Motifs have been used that also occur on the luli statues. A striking feature is that some headdresses are, as it were, a reflection of these statues. Both depict a human figure, in the case of the headdresses, a face, which can be connected with fertility, based on decorative motifs, but also with esteem. The high-rising tree motif, in the statues, returns in the "blades" of the headdresses. Sometimes, in some luli, the tree even rises from a boat, the pre-eminent symbol of fertility.¹² Furthermore, stylised cock figures are visible on the headdresses, a motif pre-eminently propagating status.

It is unlikely that all wutulai were produced in the region itself. A headdress found on Sermata bears an image which presumes manufacture on Bali (see Photograph 7.5).

Earrings from Tanimbar

Compared to the forging and casting of Kisar, the goldsmith's work on Tanimbar and Babar can be called rather one-sided. There was hardly any real forging of objects and casting was limited to rings and earrings.

Figure 7.1.

Cast form used by goldsmiths on the Babar islands.

A Cast channels

B Earring

C Ball of loam mixed with charcoal

Photograph 7.8. A Babarese goldsmith examining one of his cast forms.

From a cultural point of view the lelbutir (here the language of the main island of Yamdena is used) is the main native jewellery on Tanimbar. Drabbe and Geurtjens described the manufacturing process of this earring, which can be compared to the lorlora of Luang, in great detail.¹³ The lelbutirwas also made with the help of the "lost wax" method. Instead of bees' wax, however, a substance derived from the sea, presumably amber, was used for the production of the model. The protrusions described as "legs" on Luang, are called "eruptions" on Tanimbar and the "arms" are referred to as "wings." The hollow space is here also often filled with a strip of red, imported cloth.¹⁴

As regards the precious metal that is processed in the earring, a traditional difference is made on Yamdena between specimens of gold and of an alloy of gold and silver within the first category four types are distinguished according to the age of the gold.¹⁵ In three of the types "antique" gold was used, that is to say gold dating from the era in which the smiths did not yet have coins as a raw material at their disposal. The earrings, composed of gold and silver, are called lelbutir luan, or "Luangese lelbutir." Apparently an alloy of gold and silver was characteristic for the earrings that were exported from Luang to Yamdena.

The smaller Tanimbar islands use their own grading of the ornaments, which sometimes strongly deviates from the classifications on the main island. In the second half of this century the supply of gold coins came to a halt in this region. The last earrings manufactured on Tanimbar consisted entirely of silver.

Earrings from Babar

The situation on the Babar archipelago resembles greatly that on Tanimbar. In Babarese culture an earring comparable to the Luangese lorlora is also the main locally produced ornament. A difference is that the objects are still being made. For a meal, some money (in 1981: five hundred rupiah) and a goat, the smith produces a pair of earrings in five working days. He uses the "lost wax" technique. As in former days on Luang, the models are shaped out of Sermatese bees' wax. Old Dutch silver coins (two-and-a-half guilder coins, guilders, quarters and ten cent coins) form the raw material for the present-day jewellery.

Traditionally a Babarese earring should, however, like the former lelbutir from Tanimbar, contain gold. Up to the Second World War all earrings consisted of an alloy of gold and silver; very rarely pure gold jewellery was made. The gold coins used were preferably the ducat and the sovereign; "antique" gold was never mentioned in this region.

Nowadays the Babarese classify the earrings into three categories as to the kind of metal used: specimens of gold, of an alloy of gold and silver, and of silver. within these categories several types are distinguished. Roughly speaking, a difference is made between earrings with and without protrusions, which are called "arms" and "legs," just as on Luang. Earrings that do not have these protrusions are called mas batu in Moluccan Malay, which literally signifies "gold stone." Earrings with "arms" and "legs" can be found in two styles. Very common is a type provided with two "legs" (mas kaki dua). This kind is almost identical to the Luangese lorlora. More exceptional is a style with four "legs" (mas kaki empat). On the Babar archipelago the hollow inside space is also usually filled with red material, obtained elsewhere.

Photograph 7.9. Tanimbarese young man, photographed around 1930, adorned with gold earrings and gold. breast pendants. The insert show cast gold earrings of the lelbutir type Height 4 cm (PC).

Photograph 7.10. Imported gold penant (mase), found on Tanimbar. Height 10 cm; width 8.5 cm (PC).

Imported Ornaments

In each of the three regions imported ornaments can be admired, besides the home-made objects. Due to publications, by Drabbe especially, the objects imported on Tanimbar are the best known. Excluding imported earrings of the lelbutir type, three kinds of "foreign" ornaments have obtained a special place in Tanimbarese culture: necklaces of antique beads and small gold particles (ngoras), flat filigree earrings of precious metal, which sometimes are linked by a string of beads (kmwene; see Photograph 7.1) and large gold pendants, often in the shape of a human being or a human countenance in combination with a horn motif, and provided with a gold chain with heavy links (mase, see Photographs 7.9, 7.10 and 7.13). In comparison with other "overseas" jewellery these objects are quite common.

On the Babar archipelago and the region of Kisar "ornaments from outside" does not play a special role in local culture. This explains why there was hardly any interest in specific pieces from abroad; the import of ornaments as such was of less importance. This does not alter the fact that on almost all islands there are imported objects which are highly appreciated. Filigree earrings, comparable to the kmwene of Tanimbar, were often chanced upon, as well as bell-shaped flat ear jewellery, gold chains, dishes and "snakes" (see Photograph 7.11).

The exotic objects were brought to the Southeast Moluccas by "foreign" traders and were brought in by the islanders themselves as well (see also Chapter II). It is likely that ornaments were regularly transported to Maluku Tenggara in the age-old trade of the islanders on Banda and Timor, islands which were already part of an extensive Indonesian trade network long before the arrival of the

Europeans. At the beginning of the 16th century the Bandanese even sailed to Malacca, in those days the most important Asiatic trade centre. Tanimbarese, Aruese and Keiese were among the regular traders in the Bandarese market around 1600.¹ The traders of Kisar maintained a similar relationship with Timor.¹⁷

Makassarese and Buginese, searching for reef products, formed the other trade channel along which the jewellery reached the Southeast Moluccas. Drabbe reports the supply of ngoras by Makassarese on Tanimbar.¹⁸ Riedel mentions, among other things, the gold earrings and pendants as barter articles which were offered by the Makassarese on this group of islands.¹ The traders had the earrings made on the way—on Luang;² the pendants probably originated from outside the Southeast Moluccas.

Of the many imported ornaments in Maluku Tenggara the majority finally ended up on Tanimbar, which is understandable in view of the important role of imported valuables in Tanimbarese culture (see also below). The Tanimbarese did not only sail to Banda, but also looked for "worked gold" nearer to home. The islands in western Maluku Tenggara were their favourites.²¹ In the region of Kisar, ornaments, apart from earrings of the type of lelbutir, were obtained from Timor, among other places. Vice-versa, Luangese tradesmen, among others, brought valuables eastwards. The impression exists that kmwene earrings, especially, ended up on Tanimbar via the South-West islands.

The arrival of the European traders in Maluku Tenggara was more important for the gold and silver coins for raw material for locally produced objects than for any gold jewellery they brought.

Gold in Use

As if time had stood still, gold objects still function in a similar manner in the culture of Maluku Tenggara as that described in the travel accounts and civil reports of more than a hundred years ago. Moreover the ornaments are also often kept in the traditional way.

The gold mostly belongs to the "sacred," ancestral heirlooms of a descent group, the pusaka. These heirlooms can usually be found in the group's house of origin and are guarded by a direct descendant of the founder. As a rule there is a special pusaka basket, in which the ornaments, with or without the other inherited goods, are kept. Sometimes, as is the case on the Babar islands, the gold is stored away in small earthenware pots.

The primary function of the ornaments is finery. On every festive occasion the women of the descent groups from the regions of Kisar and Babar traditionally adorn themselves with the family's pusaka pieces. The objects belong to the ceremonial apparel, which is, for instance, worn at a wedding. On the islands where the caste system is functioning, some ornaments serve as distinguishing marks during the ceremony. On Luang and Sermata for example, wearing a gold headpiece (wutulai) is reserved for noble women. On Tanimbar people also dress in state whenever the situation demands it. The personal dignity and that of the group to which a person belongs, are considered of paramount importance.

Photograph 7.11. Imported "golden snake," found in the region of Kisar. Length 64 cm (PC).

Economic and Ritual Function

The function of the ornaments is not merely limited to finery. The gold is also employed for other purposes. Research reveals that this concerns a spectrum of functions, varying from an almost entirely economic application to a purely ritual use. Without being exhaustive, the main applications will be represented, starting with the use in the economy.

On many islands certain goods can only be obtained through "payment" by gold ornaments, using more or less fixed barter values. From experience we know that this holds good on the Babar archipelago for, among other things, tree-trunk canoes, pigs, goats, trees and plots of land. For these one or more pairs of locally produced earrings have to be "paid." At many places the same holds true when specialist labour is done. Thus skilled labourers, hired to build a boat or a house, have to be rewarded almost everywhere with among other articles, gold. In former days ornaments were necessary for "procuring" slaves.

The function of gold as a means of barter is driven entirely to the background when the use has a purely ritual significance. Not the economic, but the intrinsic value of the ornaments is then of prime importance. Two examples of such an application can be found in Chapter III with relation to the Babar islands. During the house and boat building ritual described there, gold earrings are used to characterise the male party as a successful hunter. A similar use of gold during rituals is known on other islands.

Yet entirely different meanings can adhere to the ceremonial function. Drabbe reports that the imported kmwene earrings on Tanimbar are used to "cool down" the ground on which people desired to build a house.²² Besides this, it is known that in islands in each of the three regions during the funeral ritual the face of the deceased is covered with ornaments. This is to prevent the deceased from "drawing" the bereaved to the domain of the dead.

Photograph 7.12. Mama women from Luang adorned with gold headdresses, moons and plates. Photograph taken in 1913. The insert showsfrom the left to the right-a gold plate from Babar (diameter 23 cm), a gold moon from Luang (diameter 12.5 cm), and a gold moon from Babar (diameter 14 cm) (PC).

Photograph 7.13. Tanimbarese girl, wearing kmwene earrings, a ngoras necklace, and a large gold pendant (mase). Photograph taken in 1973. The insert shows a gold pendant from the village of Alusi on Tanimbar. Width 15 cm (PC).

Fines and Bride-Price

Forms of usage which have both a ritual and an economic aspect, concern the bride-price, which is due at many places, and fines imposed after committing offences against the adat. The jewellery then functions as a means of barter with great symbolic significance, to be discussed in further detail. A short impression of both forms of usage—per region—follows below.

In Kisar and its surrounding area the offences against the adat are traditionally settled by handing over gold plates and moons, sometimes in combination with, for instance, cattle and privately distilled liquor. In general the heaviest fines are imposed for murder, arson, adultery and sexual intercourse between members of different castes. Often dozens of gold ornaments are involved in the compensation for these crimes.

On the Babar archipelago the offences against the adat are usually settled by the "payment" of gold earrings, pigs, goats, and basta, imported antique cloths (see Chapter VIII). The numbers to be handed over vary greatly per region. On Dawera and Dawelor for instance only one pair of gold earrings is demanded in a case of murder, whereas in the villages in eastern Babar for an offence like adultery three pairs of these earrings are claimed.

On Tanimbar both earrings and other gold ornaments can be claimed after an

offence against the adat. Elephant's tusks, imported pottery and antique swords are eligible as a payment. In case of murder and violation of a noble woman's honour by a man of a lower class, "embodiment,"²³ as Drabbe calls it, follows. Each part of the body has to be "compensated for" separately: a Chinese water pitcher for the head, gold earrings for the hair, the eyes, hands and feet, an imported gold pendant for the breast, an elephant's tusk for the back, an antique sword for the ribs, et cetera.

In the different regions the bride-price, when it is required, generally consists of the same sort of goods as the ones used for the settlement of fines. Usually the handing over at the wedding ceremony forms the start of a series of exchanges of valuables, meant to strengthen the bond that the families involved have formed.

In the region of Kisar a bride-price is only required on Moa, Kisar, Damer, Roma, Teun, Nila and Serua. On all these islands this involves similar goods. Earrings, gold moons and plates, swords and basta are required among other tilings.²⁴

It is not necessary to pay a bride-price either in all the villages on the Babar archipelago. Wherever this is a requirement, it mainly concerns locally produced earrings, basta, liquor, pigs and goats. Until recently the bridegroom's family had to gather large quantities of valuables. Nowadays a "symbolic amount" usually suffices: one pair of earrings and one basta.

On Tanimbar, where the bride-price can be called a general cultural feature, both the earrings that were formerly produced locally and a large imported gold pendant are included in the goods which the bridegroom's group has to present to the woman's family. Besides this elephant's tusks, antique swords, liquor, pigs and meat form part of the bride-price payments. Of note is the role of the openwork filigree earring (kmwene) at the Tanimbarese marriage ceremony. Together with fabrics, strings of beads with gold particles (ngoras), shell bracelets and agricultural products, the kmwene is included in the goods, besides of course the

bride herself, presented to the man's family by the bride-giving group.

Symbols of Status

The use of gold, as described above, is to a great extent connected with the symbolic significance that is attached to the objects. With the exception of the economic application, the intrinsic value is of considerable importance.

The meaning of this value is most clearly expressed in the primary function, the use as finery. By wearing the ornaments, the owners gain esteem in their community. The valuables function as symbols of status. Former visitors to Maluku Tenggara have already reported this significance. Around the turn of the century De Vries wrote about Kisar that during festive occasions gold plates on cords were worn around the neck and "the more one possesses, the more esteem one enjoys."²⁵

Riedel writes about the Tanimbar islands that "the wearing of gold and silver objects is considered a sign of wealth."² Drabbe's book about the same islands is interspersed with remarks about the efforts taken to acquire valuables and with them esteem.²⁷ Gold objects provide a "house," or a family group, "weight."

These examples might seem familiar to western man, however as far as contents go the connection between the possession of gold and status in Maluku Tenggara is somewhat different from that in the western world. Although it may be true that the value of gold in the West is almost entirely based on the fact that it is a rare precious metal, in Maluku Tenggara this aspect weighs traditionally less heavy and until recently no high status was derived from the possession of gold "as such." This becomes evident from the remarks in literature about the role of coins in the 19th century barter trade. Gold and silver coins brought along by tradesmen were not always popular among the islanders and were relatively of

little value as a means of barter.²⁸

What counted more was the shape of the gold. If a merchant had his coins remoulded to the model of a traditional ornament, he suddenly had a coveted barter means at his disposal. Details about this can, among others, be found with Pleyte, who refers to the situation on Kisar in 1891: "Money is worthless. A Dutch Rijksdaalder (about 4.20 German Marks) is merely worth the equivalent of four German pennies, but the same coin moulded into a piring mas putih, i.e. silver plate, has a worth of 30 to 40 German Marks. Minted gold has the same small value; if however a Sovereign is melted down with a Rijksdaalder and transformed into a piring mas kuning, i.e. gold plate, it enables the owner to purchase buffaloes, pigs etc. of up to a value of 150 German Marks for it."²

Valuables as Hunting Trophies

The question arises, how to interpret this enormous upgrading of gold processed into ornaments. What made the ornaments, in contrast to minted gold, into objects from which status was derived? The answer to this question is of course hidden in the locally applied, traditional criteria concerning increase in status. Of importance is how reputations were established in Maluku Tenggara and which role the ornaments had in this process.

In the search for traditional criteria for esteem, the division of tasks between the male and female members of a descent group is of significance. The latter fulfil an essential role in the increase of new group members and are for that reason strongly associated with fertility and growth. An example of this concerns agriculture: tending the crops is a typical female occupation on most of the islands.

The man's task is much less "inwardly" orientated. His domain concerns the

reputation of the descent group to the outside world, with as its spearhead, building up and maintaining the reputation (see also Chapters III and V). The manner in which men traditionally acquit themselves of this task, is sharply contrasted with the manner in which women operate. While women perform their tasks by creating and tending to new life, men on the other hand retain the group's reputation by killing. The status of a group rested for an important part with the wars waged by them and on hunting and fishing achievements. Esteem acquired in this manner was propagated by erecting clearly visible posts near the home village. Up to the beginning of this century, after a victorious war the hunted heads of the enemies killed in action were hung on these posts. Sometimes posts with impressive horns of killed animals functioned as lasting signs of esteem (see Photograph 3.13).

Photograph 7.14. Woman from the island of Marsela (Babar archipelago), adorned with gold plate.

The jewellery produced in Maluku Tenggara can very well be compared to such signs of victory. There is every indication that the Southeast Moluccan ornament has to be considered as a substitute hunting trophy. This view is based on two kinds of sources. Both from messages concerning the early waging of wars and from the symbolism with which the forging of an object is enveloped, it can be deduced that the acquisition of an ornament necessitates killing—the action that is at the basis of esteem on the islands.

As early as 1896 it was already reported by Jacobsen that obtaining the objects was related to the traditional fulfilling of the male role. In his fascinating travel account this German ethnographer devotes some words to the religious background of the "medallions" found by him on Kisar, the gold moons described in this book.³ Although he refuses to commit himself, Jacobsen is of the opinion that the objects on Kisar function in an identical manner as on the nearby Timor, where at the end of the previous century headhunters received a similar ornament for each seized head. A gold moon would thus signify a hunted head. It was supposed to represent a substitute victory sign and the reputation of a descent group, measured according to the possession of gold ornaments, would in fact be based on war victories.

Photograph 7.15. Kukuwe ancestor statues from Tanimbar. Height 63 cm (left) and 62 an (right) (MV-N).

The "Killing" of Gold

The picture of Kisar as represented by Jacobsen almost seamlessly matches the symbolism with which the production of gold ornaments is enveloped on Tanimbar and Babar. Drabbe documented the Tanimbarese forging process and it is remarkable that the context within which the work was done entirely corresponds to the atmosphere in which a war took place or a hunt was held: in all cases a symbolical condition of "heat" was created.

This heat was obtained by calling up the ancestors' help or by magical means and was deemed necessary to be able to kill—at hunting and waging war in a literal sense, in the forging of gold in a metaphorical manner. The smith had the disposal of so-called kukuwe (see Photograph 7.15), statues of ancestors with the help of which he could melt the metal or, as was said on Tanimbar, could "kill" the gold.³¹ A similar symbolism exists on the Babar archipelago. Here work is also executed in an atmosphere of deadly heat, a reason why, apart from the smith and his helpers, nobody is allowed to be present at the forging process and the smithy itself is situated outside the village, entirely shielded off.

Moreover, as in former wars, the ancestors ensured that the man who employed the heat that they generated, would come to no harm. In war the warrior was offered a twofold protection: not only was he invulnerable for the attacks made by his living enemies, the ancestors also ensured that he could not be killed by the heat of an opponent whom he had conquered.

On Babar, and in former days on Tanimbar, such protection can be found back in the smithy. A Babarese goldsmith who provided detailed information, indicated that he worked with an invisible cross (X) of lime stripes in the palm of his hand which he had obtained via his ancestors. It functioned as a defence sign, making it impossible for the heat of the melted gold to hurt him. On Tanimbar a comparable situation existed. Here the statues of ancestors (kukuwe) connected with the craft of forging, formed the protective factor. According to Drabbe their help did not merely "kill" the gold, they also ensured that the "heat of the killed object" was unable to harm the smith.³²

The Heat of Gold

The sources provide insight into why great esteem was derived from the ornaments, more than from minted gold. Only when the coins were shaped into an object mat symbolised a killed creature did it acquire great value on the islands. Due to its heat it became precious and could function as an important status symbol.

The impression exists that in the design of various objects the idea of a hunting trophy is reflected. The shape of the mas tanduk ("gold horns") produced in the region of Kisar for example, probably represents the horns of a slain animal. As was noticed before, traditionally the motif has a broad application. It was also applied to houses with the aim of propagating esteem (see Chapter III).

The gold moons and plates presumably represent the full moon and the sun as "great hunters." The dominant motif on the plates, the star, refers in our opinion to the deadly heat of the sun: more than once the beams end in spearheads. with the ornaments the wearer presents himself as a "great hunter" and as such radiates high status. This form of identification is comparable to the decoration of the former Babarese house as described in Chapter III.

The small red pieces of imported cloth that can be found in the hollow spaces of cast earrings undoubtedly refer to the heat of the valuables. This can be deduced from the use of the colour red (see Chapters IV and V) and the fact that no use is made of cloth produced on the islands. For the locally produced cloths are associated with fertility, or "coolness" (see Chapter VIII). The association with heat is moreover expressed on Tanimbar in the saying that the fabric makes the metal gleam like lightning.³³

The Coolness of Ngoras and Kmwene

From the above it has become apparent what place the ornaments forged in Maluku Tenggara have in local culture. They form part of a complex system of cultural manifestations, connected with the man's traditional role in the community, a system in which everything revolves around the making of a reputation. In the regions of Kisar and Babar imported ornaments have been incorporated into this system. All the existing gold is considered to be "hot" and functions in a context of status.

However this is entirely different on Tanimbar. Of the three kinds of "foreign" ornaments that have received a place in local culture, only the large pendant (mase) can be compared to the objects that were formerly forged on the islands. within this scope the design is striking: the horn motif—the victory sign—has been processed in many of these pendants.

The two other kinds of imported ornaments, the filigree earring (kmwene) and the string of beads (ngoras), hold a deviating position. They are not considered to be hot, but cool. The reason for this has to be sought in the numbers of pieces of which they have been composed. In Maluku Tenggara such configurations are usually associated with fertility. It is intriguing that esteem is also derived from the possession of these cool ornaments. It may be that the manner in which the gold was obtained—according to the myths often by violence— plays a role.³⁴

Symbolism and Use

Finally on returning to the usage of the ornaments in the community, the symbolical significance of the objects very often appears to carry great weight. When imposing fines rehabilitation is nearly always present in the background. The handing over of hot gold, especially, can ensure the rehabilitation of a tarnished reputation.

As a part of the bride-price the heat of gold is also very important. The male role in procreation, at which a marriage is directed, is characterised by it. As was indicated in Part II, a man has to kill before he can enter into marriage. His semen is compared to hunting spoils. During the wedding ceremony this element returns. The hot gold of the bride-price symbolises the male contribution to the process of creation. In a comparable manner the reciprocal gifts typify the woman's role. These are cool goods, mainly cloths, which represent fertility (see Chapter VIII). However on Tanimbar the kmwene and ngoras, jewels that are associated with coolness, also belong to this category.

The use of gold during rituals also flows from their intrinsic value. The examples given are obvious. An exception forms the funeral ritual. The symbolic significance of the ornaments in this connection is still enigmatic.

Photograph 8.1. Outer end of Tanimbarese loin cloth with stylised human figures in supplementary weft. The cross motifs formed by nassa shells symbolise hunted heads. Length 190 cm, width 28 cm (double) (PC).

Maluku Tenggara has a rich tradition of weaving, which corresponds to the weaving culture of the neighbouring province of Nusa Tenggara Timur, of which Flores, Sumba and (West) Timor are the largest islands. The art of weaving is not practised all over Maluku Tenggara; on the islands to the east of Tanimbar—the Kei and the Aru archipelago—weaving never took place. A remarkable fact is that on the large island of Wetar, in the western "weaving region," this craft is not practised either (see map). As will appear later, tradition offers an explanation for this.

Nevertheless the Southeast Moluccan cloths can be found on all islands. At places where there is no craft of weaving, they are obtained by means of barter trade with the surrounding islands. Everywhere a deep symbolic significance which refers to life itself is attached to the fabrics. As products of the land they give expression to the social value of fertility.

Closely connected to this is the fact that weaving is an exclusively female occupation on the Southeast Moluccan islands. There is a special relation between the woman on the one hand and the fabrics and the techniques involved with weaving on the other. Assigning these activities to the woman is of symbolic significance and is linked with notions regarding fertility of both the earth and the woman, as will appear at the end of this chapter.

Besides the fabrics from the region, large numbers of cloths from outside Maluku Tenggara are in use on the islands. A variegated gamut of diverse kinds of textiles from all over the world has been transported to this remote region through the centuries (see Chapter II). From the wide range on offer, the

Southeast Moluccans not only chose material for their everyday clothing, but also cloth to which they could give a special place in their culture. In this chapter this imported cloth, and notably the so-called basta, will receive regular attention, but naturally the emphasis lies on the native fabrics.

Cloths With a Special Character

On first acquaintance with the Southeast Moluccan cloth, one is struck by the adherence to the colour combination of red, blue, brown or black against a background of ecru, the colour of unbleached cotton. The design mostly consists of many narrow stripes, with or without motifs, alternated with broader, decorated bands.

Colours and design are characteristic for many East Indonesian cloths; the weaving craft of Maluku Tenggara is therefore closely related to that of Nusa Tenggara Timur. However the Southeast Moluccan fabrics are very characteristic and recognizable within this great tradition due to their own particular motifs, decorations and designs.

An amazing thing is that the fabrics of each of the islands of Maluku Tenggara, despite strong mutual similarities, at the same time have their own distinguishing characteristics. The island of origin can usually be deduced from the motif and the main colour. Certain motifs are class and family tied and are therefore only used at a limited number of places. One still comes across women who anxiously keep their own patterns a secret and are reluctant to lend them to other families.

Besides this a diversity in the use of the main colours can be detected within the region. On the western island of Kisar red predominates, whereas further to the east, on the Babar islands both red and blue are in great demand. The two lastnamed colours were already described a century ago as the favourite hues of me

Babar population.¹ Loincloths for men are mainly dark blue in this area, whereas brown is also used as a predominant colour on sarongs. Finally on the Tanimbar islands, the most eastern of the "weaving islands” of Maluku Tenggara, the dark hues of brown and black are predominant, although very old cloths are usually blue with red or brown in this region.²

Photograph 8.2. Band at bottom side of an "antique" Tanimbarese sarong with ikat figures, framed at both sides by decorations in supplementary weft Height 119 cm, width 58 cm (double) (PC).

Photograph 8.3. Detail of a sarong from Kisar, with ikat patterns of rimanu, diamond and spiral motifs. Height 163 cm, width 67 cm

However, there are exceptions to this general picture. For instance dark blue cloths are known from Kisar, and on Tanimbar not only dark, but also brightly coloured cloths occur, whereas the sarongs of Luang are long known of as multicoloured fabrics.

The motifs on the cloths have, for the most part, been applied to the warp with the help of the ikat technique. Additional decorations are achieved by taking a different colour for the warp or weft threads. The style in which the motifs have been formed, is known as the Dongson style (see Chapter I). Striking patterns of decoration are the hook and key motifs, the double spirals and meanders. They are used as geometrical designs in themselves, or embellish images of man and his surrounding world.

The Spinning

The raw material for the majority of the cloths is cotton, which partly comes from home cultivation in the gardens. The collected cotton is first cleaned and fluffed, after which the woman can spin a thread by using a spindle: a stick, the bottom part of which, weighted by a piece of wood, a small stone or a shell, functions as a flywheel. The spindle is kept turning, while the cotton fluff is pulled out of a wickerwork supply basket and is turned into a thread between thumb and index finger.

Very narrow strips of the lontar palm tree leaf (Corypha elata Roxb.) can also be spun. On the Babar islands these strips are turned into a "thread" by means of the

spindle; palm leaf fabrics are made out of it.

The stock of spun threads is wound into balls. If the thread has to be dyed, it is then processed into skeins with the aid of a reel, a kind of small mill. Apart from homespun thread, factory-made thread is used; it is obtained from traders on Ambon, Timor and Ujung Pandang, the former Maccasar.

Ikat

During the production of ikat fabrics the patterns are "reserved" by binding the threads before the dyeing process. The word ikat is derived from the Indonesian verb mengikat, which means "knotting, binding, wrapping."³ All over eastern Indonesia the so-called warp ikat is applied. With this method the threads, which will later be stretched onto the loom as a warp, are strongly wrapped in some places according to a certain pattern. Then the threads are dipped into a dye bath and are hung to dry. After removal of the wrappings the motifs that were excluded from the dye become visible.

Photograph 8.4. Detail of a sarong from Luang, with ikat figures such as men on horseback, snakes and tumpal. Height 134 cm, width 70 cm (double) (RJM).

During the ikat making process, as was recorded on the Babar archipelago, the woman uses a special ikat frame, a tenter that stands on the ground on four legs. She stretches the warp around the far ends of the frame in a rotating motion. Then she makes preparations for the binding of the bundles of threads. Sometimes a pattern design is used here, which is drawn on a small woven mat. However, many women know the designs by heart and consider the use of such aids beneath their dignity. The height of the pattern can be read from the pattern design and can then be translated to a certain amount of thread bundles, which the woman counts on the warp threads. With a plaited strip of palm leaf she marks the counted bundles (see Figure 8.1).

Now the actual ikat process can begin. In order to bind the marked bundles of threads according to the pattern design, thinly cut strips of the lontar palm leaf are used, disposed of their mesophyll, or pieces of plastic ribbon. This work requires endless patience and it is understandable that worksaving methods have been invented. Thus, again and again, bundles of warp threads can be taken double, so that with one binding a repetitive pattern is obtained. For this purpose the warp threads have to be rearranged according to an intricate method.

Figure 8.1.

The ikat making process.

1. The bundles of threads have been selected.

2. The threads have been wrapped and are dyed.

3. The wrappings are removed.

4. The result after weaving.

Figure 8.2.

The loom.

I Viewed from above with cloth in production.

II Viewed from a side.

A Breast beam

B Sword

C Heddle rod

D Shed stick

E Press stick

F Cross sticks

G Warp beam

Taking a sarong as an example, it can be illustrated how much work can be saved by taking double the amount of warp threads. The ikatted broad edges on the front and back and on the top and bottom sides of a sarong are obtained by binding them merely once: double bundles of warp threads have been ikatted together, which moreover always contain lower and upper threads of the rotating warp. In this manner an edge is bound in one action, which later appears to repeat itself four times. It is possible to take more bundles together, which of course results in even more saving of work.

The Dyeing

When all motifs have been ikatted, the warp is removed from the ikat frame and put into a dye bath. Besides vegetable dyes, acquired from leaves, tree bark and tree roots, synthetic dyes are used, which are purchased. Ever since the end of the previous century imported factory made threads, which have already been dyed, have also been used.⁴ These threads are a much brighter colour than those dyed with vegetable dyes.

Photograph 8.5. Derail of Tanimbarese "rainbow" sarong named after the red and blue colored bands that frame the bands of ikat. Height 118 cm, width 57 cm (double) (RJM).

Figure 8.3.

The use of the press stick.

I The opening is made through the shed stick; the press stick is lying on the warp.

II The opening is made through the heddle rod; the shed stick is pushed ovet the press stick.

A Heddle rod

B Shed stick

C Press stick

The main colours of the traditional cotton cloths are red and dark blue. For the blue, the natural pigment originating from the leaves of an Indigofera species is still often used. The blue dyeing method observed on the Babar islands is special, as fresh indigo leaves are processed which have not—as is common— been fermented.⁵ The red dyeing process is not often executed in the traditional manner anymore. The red dye has long been obtained mainly from the root peelings of the Morinda tree, which is also called the Moluccan mengkudu. The root peelings are powdered and boiled, mixed with lime.

The ikat motifs retain the basic colour of the thread after the dyeing. It is also possible to give them another colour. For this purpose an extra ikat process is needed, followed by a second dye bath in the desired colour. The result can be seen on fabrics from the island of Kisar.

The Weaving

After the dyeing and drying of the skeins and the removal of the wrappings of the parts that have been ikatted, the loom is prepared for use. It is a so-called backstrap loom (see Figure 8.2). In the past the looms from Leti and Tanimbar that were known in the Netherlands, were typified in not so laudatory a manner as "the most simple Indonesian loom" and "the most primitive of the primitive Indonesian looms." Yet this simple loom has produced splendid products.

Photograph 8.6. Women in adat clothing Babar archipelago. Photograph taken in 1913.

The characteristic element of a backstrap loom is the rotating warp, primarily the type ikatted in Maluku Tenggara, which runs on both far ends across the warp beam and the breast beam. The warp beam is usually tied to a beam of a house. The breast beam, often provided with fine carvings, lies in the weaver's lap, while the weaver sits on the ground with her legs stretched out underneath the loom. A rope has been tied to the breast beam, connecting this beam with a girdle that spans the weaver's back.

Between the odd and even warp threads are two sticks, the shed stick and the heddle rod. These are the accessories that are needed to make the openings for the weaving. The heddle rod is a stick with loops, through which all the odd threads go. When the weaver bends forwards, she can relax the warp somewhat and by pulling the heddle rod raise all odd threads upwards. By bending backwards as much as possible she stretches the warp, moves the shed stick to and fro between the threads and allows all the even threads to come upwards. The slat behind the shed stick is an accessory slat, which facilitates the making of the opening through the heddle rod (see Figure 8.3).⁷

The yarn supply for the weft is wound on a wooden weft stick. The weaver alternately moves this through the openings of even and odd warp threads. The weft thread remains behind and is firmly beaten down with the sword, a hardwood slat, enabling a tight fabric to be formed. On Tanimbar therefore people do not speak of weaving, but of "hacking" or "thrusting," a sarong, for example.⁸ Due to the weaving method used, the warp threads come to lie close together on this loom, whereas the weft, mostly a dark thread, becomes more or less invisible. The desired effect is that the warp, with the ikatted motifs, is clearly visible.

During the weaving, extra motifs in a different colour can be woven in, for the beautiful edges of the loincloths or for the narrower bands on sarongs and shawls, for instance. For this purpose the weaver uses—besides the common dark weft—a supplementary weft of another colour. Applying the motifs in this manner is an admirably meticulous work of patience, which is often only mastered and employed by the older women. All the effort is amply shown in the result.

Photograph 8.7. Detail of ikatted sarong from Babar with octangular stars in supplementary weft and twined borders. Height 110 cm., width 53 cm (double) (RMV).

Photograph 8.8. Ikat motifs from the Southeast Moluccun islands, especially from Kisar. Depicted are among others the snake, rimanu and double tumpal motifs.

A quicker, but less elegant method of decoration is colouring the motifs, as is done in some cloths from Kisar and Tanimbar. To obtain the effect, the applied ikat motifs are partially coloured with a dark dye after the weaving.

When the cloth is finished, it is taken from the loom. Usually the warp is cut. With some sarongs this is not the case; they were probably never worn, but were destined for ritual use. Most sarongs however are sewn up lengthwise, after which the warp is cut. A sarong consists of two parts, which are woven separately. The halves are sewn together along a selvage with a cross seam, so that when worn the warp runs in the breadth. The outer ends of the warp threads of loincloths, shawls and scarves are fringed. Then the cloths are ready for use.

Sarongs

The most beautiful handwoven cloths are always worn on special ritual occasions. This primarily holds true for the islands where these cloths are produced, much less for the places where they are imported. Sarongs and loincloths (cawat) form the adat clothing for women and men respectively, although the loincloths are rare nowadays. Handwoven abdominal belts, head shawls, breast shawls and long, wide shawls (selimuf) completed the adat costume up to the first decades of this century.

In the past the native cloths not only constituted dress for the living, but also for the deceased and even for the statues in which the ancestors could reside. In

1913-14 the researcher Müller-Wismar described the extensive ritual that had to be performed at the founding of a new village on the island of Luang. New wooden statues were carved, which, before they received a place in the middle of the village, were hung with gold and clad in a new cawat and sarong.¹

Nowadays, the sarongs are worn full length by women, on special occasions. From descriptions dating from the turn of the century it appears that the length of a sarong used to be class-bound. On the western islands only the sarongs of noble (mama) women were allowed to reach to the ground, whereas women belonging to the two lowest castes fare and wusuru) had to wear this garment at knee length.¹¹ These short sarongs might be called working sarongs, for the "privilege" to wear them was reserved for the two lowest castes. Comparable regulations applied on the Tanimbar islands. Narrow woven belts, or belts made out of the stem of a palm leaf and with decorated wooden or horn buckles attached, served as sashes.¹²

Sarong Motifs

A sarong always consists of two identical halves, which are sewn together after weaving. Identical patterns are depicted on the upper and lower halves, albeit in opposite order. Thus is formed the characteristic image of a middle part with many narrow transverse lines, which are sometimes ikatted, and top and bottom sides with a broad ikatted band. The narrow stripes together with the broad band are called "children with their mother" on the Babar islands. The middle part can also consist of numerous short ikatted lines, which form a network together, referred to as "net" on Tanimbar.¹³ On most of the western islands only noble women were allowed to wear the broad bands, called "ears" over there, on their sarongs. On Tanimbar the large ikat patterns were also associated with high esteem. Women from noble families generally wore motifs on their sarongs that were reserved for the house to which they belonged.

Often real-life scenes are depicted on the broad bands, which partly belong to the

woman's domain and partly to the man's. Motifs which refer to the woman and to fertility—including the crescent moon, flowers and plants, and parts of looms— occur as well as "male" symbols of war and status, such as arrowheads and spearheads, stars, victory flags, war proas and images of the village as a fortified stronghold. Figures of dogs, cocks, fish and snakes also belong to the male domain, as has become apparent from the previous chapters.

The images are stylised by means of hook and curl motifs. Abstract geometrical ornaments, such as decorated diamonds, zigzag lines, key figures and double spirals, occur in the bands and also very often in the middle part. The triangular figure, an ancient motif widely known in Indonesia under the name of tumpal, is often used in combination with key motifs. Such an open weave tumpal symbolises an ear of maize on Tanimbar.¹⁴

Photograph 8.9. Babarese men in state. Their loin cloths are abundantly decorated with ikat figures and as a headdress they wear basta. Photograph taken in 1913.

On the cloths of the western islands the rimanu motif on the broad bands has a prominent place. It is a beautiful motif with a square design, in which the octangular star is incorporated in key figures. It is often flanked by human and animal figures. This motif and its derivatives, such as diamond patterns combined with a divided square and key figures, are less common on the eastern "weaving islands."¹⁵ Father Drabbe, missionary on Tanimbar, noted that the cloths with more intricate patterns in use on the island, originate from Babar and the more western islands, as far away as Timor.¹

According to the population of Kisar the rimanu motif and other intricate motifs originally stem from East Timor.

According to Jasper and Pirngathe the rimanu motif was traditionally reserved for the nobility, and people of a lower class risked their lives if they were caught wearing it. Tradition, as recorded by the researchers, has it that the abrupt ending of the weaving tradition on the island of Wetar was connected with this: "Rimanu is a pattern that may only be worn by monarchs and distinguished persons. According to the old adat they who wear this pattern against the rule, can be put to death by those persons who are entitled to the rimanu by birth or class. This often led to bloody wars and so it is said why the population of Wetar has decreased so much and has sworn an oath in future only to make use of cloths that have been imported from elsewhere."¹⁷

Working Clothes for Women

During daily activities the beautiful cloths are not worn. For this purpose the women nowadays dress in imported, machine made sarongs or dresses. Before modern clothing made its entry on a large scale, clothes or jackets made of thin tree bark were used and—on the islands where there is a weaving tradition— special "working sarongs": somewhat shorter, handwoven cotton sarongs with a simple decoration, or short sarongs made of leaf fibres.¹⁸

The latter category is especially seen in the museum collections from the Babar and Tanimbar islands. They have been woven out of narrowly cut leaf strips of the lontar palm tree. These fibre cloths have now become rare within Indonesia. In 1940 Drabbe wrote that they were hardly woven anymore on Tanimbar.¹ On the Babar islands they were still made in the 1980s. The women wore them while they were fishing on the reef.

Photograph 8.10. Bottom end of Tanimbarese loincloth with boar motif and cross patterns formed by nassa shells. Red strips of imported cloth have been sewn onto the loincloth. Length 408 cm, width 29 cm (RMV).

Photograph 8.11. Woman weaving in a coma of the kitchen. Island of Marsela, Babar archipelago.

Photograph 8.12. Men are dressed in basta during a performance of the war dance on Marsela, one of the Babar islands.

The lontar cloths, which do not give the impression of being very comfortable, have the natural colour (yellow to light brown) of the dried leaf or have been dyed black. They are now and then decorated with black or colourful ikat motifs, which have sometimes been finely developed.

Working Clothes for Men

These days the everyday working men's clothes are shorts or—on the eastern islands—the sarong; both are imported. The former work doming has been described as "an adornment of nature."² For the man it consisted of a loincloth of tapped bark. The outer ends were left to hang down quite short both front and rear, allowing the garment to offer enough freedom of movement.

Especially on Tanimbar, the bark cawat was worn by older men. The younger men "did not wear it, as they did not work, and found their prime occupation in dressing themselves up. It is even said... that they got krike, itching pimples, by doing so."²¹ Young men wore loincloths of imported cotton material. It was available in white, yellow and red, and in the colours of the Dutch flag. On Aru the latter were used to adorn the bands of the so-called "loincloth in the likeness of the flag."²²

Woven Loincloths

On special occasions the older Tanimbarese men dressed in a handwoven loincloth or a loincloth in sober colours imported from Babar or Luang.²³ Such a cloth could have a length of up to four metres. The wearer first drew the cloth between his legs, from the back downwards, and let the front side hang down from his stomach. The long back length was men wound twice around the body and pulled through the first winding at the back, so that the back strip was also left to hang long.²⁴

The handwoven loincloth is, both on the eastern and on the western islands, still a very precious cloth, decorated with brilliant patterns. In former days families on Babar distinguished themselves from others by means of this decoration.²⁵ The patterns are therefore, like some patterns on the sarongs, strongly family bound.

The manner in which the outer ends of the loincloth are worn, was also bound by rules in the past. In this way the classes distinguished themselves from others on the western islands, as was the case in the wearing of sarongs. On Leti for instance, the men belonging to the two lowest classes (ate and wusuru) were only allowed to wear the front end very short.² On Tanimbar the manner of wearing of the cawat ends indicated to which age category a boy or a young man belonged.²⁷ Thus it was permitted for the slightly older youngsters, tabweri, to let the far end of their (imported) cawat hang down in a curved way near to their feet.²⁸

Motifs on the Loincloths

The dark blue, handwoven Tanimbarese loincloths are not usually decorated with ikat figures. They sometimes show narrow, simple ikatted bands lengthwise. The loincloths of the Babar islands—in dark blue and sometimes red or dark blue with red—are, on the other hand, abundantly decorated with large ikat patterns, which cover the entire width of the cloth. The motifs are mostly symbols of war. Characteristic are stylised tumpal, known as "arrowheads" and "strengthened

village" (kota), with dancing human figures, diamonds, hexagonal decorations and—on the red war cawat—cocks.

On the more western islands the loincloths are mainly red in colour. They depict ikat figures, such as dancing people, cocks, tumpal, the prevailing triangular shape, octangular stars and other geometrical motifs, often alternated by narrow stripes running lengthwise.

On the cawat common to all islands, the edges of the outer ends attract attention. They display beautiful, tautly shaped geometrical patterns, such as diamonds, hook and key motifs, which have been applied by means of extra weft threads in white, yellow, orange or red. Drabbe is of the opinion that this supplementary weft technique was adopted on Tanimbar from the more western islands of Babar and Luang, from where fine fabrics had previously been imported.²

On Tanimbar the edges of the loincloths are further decorated with white nassa shells and strips of red cotton, sewn onto it widthwise. This material was once imported from Europe and is considered to be very precious.³ On the somewhat older cawat the white shells often form cross motifs, which are called "the star of the east"; this probably refers to Venus. They symbolise hunted heads; the more cross motifs a man wore on his cawat, the more esteem he had acquired.

Photograph 8.13. Babarese loin cloth, on which ikat figures of dancing people and tumpal motifs, that are called kota-strengthened village. The geometrical motifs at the bottom have been made by supplementary weft thread in different colors. Length 380 cm, width 25 cm (RJM).

Photograph 8.14. War loincloth with ikatted figures of cocks from the island of Marsela, Babar archipelago. Length 230 an, width 83 cm (RJM).

Another depiction of the cross motif, with a similar significance, is the octangular star which is inserted into the fabric by means of an extra weft thread.³¹ The octangular star on the cloths of the western islands may have a similar meaning. In any case on these islands it was—incorporated into the rimanu motif—reserved as a status symbol for prominent persons.

At the extreme edges the borders of the Tanimbarese cawat are woven with open slits. They are finished with frills, which in its turn is decorated with small white or grey Job's tears (the spherical flower husks of the tear grass, Coix-lacryma), or with coloured glass beads. Nowadays the splendidly fashioned loincloths of Maluku Tenggara are rare. Families who still own loincloths, cherish them as a precious sacred heirloom. On the Babar islands basta, a special type of imported cloth (see below), has replaced the handwoven loincloth as a garment.

Headdress

In former times a distinguishing part of the men's clothes was also the head scarf. For this purpose a loincloth could be used, or a breast cloth or— for example on Babar and Luang—a basta. On Tanimbar it could be deduced from the headdress to which age category the wearer belonged. Boys wore a simple white cloth around their hair,³² whereas the slightly older youngsters adorned themselves with exceptional forms of headdress. All kinds of cloth made of imported cotton were—folded or unfolded— wound around the head and decorated with cock's feathers, bird of paradise feathers, flowers or small mirrors. Very striking was the pupet-sere. For this purpose folded pieces of European cotton were wound around the head, so that they formed as it were an outstanding wreath, which was decorated all over with white cock's feathers.³³

Both young men and young women frequently wore a crest on their heads. On special occasions the men adorned it with ingeniously arranged feathers, plumes and flowers. The crest was sometimes even adorned with a finely carved boat stem and crowned with animal figures such as a cock or a dog.³⁴ With this showpiece on his head the youngster was the personification of status.

The men's hair used to be soaked in lye from the ashes of coconuts and lime, allowing their hair to adopt all the hues of the sun, from white to red and gold. The English researcher Forbes, who stayed on Tanimbar at the end of the previous century, phrases his admiration in the following manner: "Their appreciation of beauty is characteristic of them... I was surprised to find it among a less advanced race."³⁵ It is therefore not surprising that the Tanimbarese young man was labelled as "the dandy of the East."

Distinct from the young man, the married man with some children did not wear multicoloured headdresses on Tanimbar, but gradually changed to wearing the native cloths, such as the loincloth and the breast cloth.³

Old men could wear the "large or dignified crest" instead of a head cloth, which was decorated with bird of paradise and cock's feathers.³⁷ The costume of the youthful men on Tanimbar could be called exuberant, as age progressed, the more sober hues tended to dominate and the imported cloths were replaced by native fabric.

Basta

In the preceding text basta are repeatedly mentioned, imported cloths that are used as loincloths and as head scarfs. In old reports the terms chits, patola

sarongs and, specifically on the Babar islands, basta occur in this context.³⁸ The three names refer to cloths which can be classified in the same category on the basis of their origin and outward appearance; in this book the name basta is used as a general term.

As early as 1603 trade reports mention the supply of bafta, or basta. Up to the beginning of this century they were shipped to Banda, first mainly from India, later from Europe. They are cotton cloth up to fifteen metres long, which are mostly printed with red and blue motifs. In the early 1980s we still found them in large quantities on the Babar archipelago, where they are considered to be very precious.³ As will appear later, the basta are not only used as clothing, but —like the native fabrics—they also have an important ceremonial function.

Photograph 8.15. Detail of a lontar sarong with ikat figures of dogs and dancing people, from the island of Marsela, Babar archipelago. It concerns half of a sarong; Height 45 cm, width 63 cm (double) (RJM).

Symbols of Life and Status

Native fabrics as well as imported cloths convey important information, much like a language. In the form of clothing, for instance, they can indicate to which family, class or age category the wearer belongs. The cloths have long represented two essential values of southeastern Moluccan society above all, i.e. those of fertility and status.

An incident on the island of Leti during the previous century illustrates the farreaching significance that even today is still attached to the native fabrics. It concerns an act of revenge, reported in 1846 by the missionary Heymering: "The blood avengers... stood armed before his door. But his wife held her sarong up to them and, as the house has only one door, they could not enter to kill Christiaan [the suspect]. They were furious; but all their abuse and their threatening gestures, with lances and swords, were to no avail; the woman had outsmarted them all; thus they could merely wait, until their blood had cooled down somewhat."⁴

Heymering was given an explanation from the Letinese that the sarong is considered to be "an impenetrable shield," as the opening or tearing away of a woman's sarong equals dishonouring, which had to be revenged on the perpetrators. That is why the men dared not enter the house. Moreover, as appears from the quote, the sarong caused the men's blood to "be somewhat cooled down." The sarong was able to cool down the altercation, which is considered hot.

This effect indicates precisely what the native fabrics symbolise in Maluku Tenggara: they represent "coolness" and as such, life, peace and fertility. In the above mentioned incident the fabric prevents killing due to its coolness, thus preserving life. Also whenever there is a war and a woman throws her sarong between the fighters, this means: "weapons away."⁴¹ It is remarkable that on Aru, where there is no weaving tradition, a woven female garment can cool down a battle in a similar manner⁴² (see Chapter X). Women themselves are cool too and are accordingly considered to be peacemakers.

Photograph 8.16. Woman's comb of bone, Tanimbar. Height 10 cm

Handmade cloths are counted among the female valuables, even if they consist of both female and male garments. The depiction of "male" symbols of status on both sarongs and loincloths in no way diminishes this. Native cloths are also connected with the earth. The special connection between woman, earth, cloths and weaving techniques is firmly rooted in myths. In a characteristic myth from the island of Leti two sisters, who are the first inhabitants of the island together with their mother and brothers, are the first persons to learn the craft of spinning and weaving. One of the sisters is called Upunusa, "grandmother earth," According to traditional ideas she lives in the earth.⁴³ She connects the woman, the cloths she makes and the earth that supplies the raw material for these products. Tradition has it that this Upunusa has been passing on the art of weaving to her female descendants ever since.⁴⁴

On the Tanimbarese island of Selaru the "soul of the earth" is called Ombak Tais. She is female and her name means "Earth Sarong." Offerings are brought to her, to ask for fertility of the earth.⁴⁵ On the island of Luang offerings for the female earth used to be laid upon a sarong on the ground.⁴ Native cloths, as products of the woman and the earth, are the perfect symbols to promote the fundamental value of fertility.

In contrast to the native cloths, certain imported cloths belong to the male valuables, at least on the islands where there is a weaving tradition. There they symbolise heat and status, and are not linked to the earth, but are associated with the sun. They are often used in combination with gold jewellery. On Luang, in former days, a offering of food for the male sun, Uplera, was hung in a wickerwork basket from a pole, with, besides a gold breast jewel, an imported cloth, a red basta.⁴⁷

Nowadays, during ritual ceremonies on the Babar islands, all the basta of the house are still displayed in all their splendour together with the family gold, in order to emphasise the status of a house. In the past, for the same purpose, the young men of Tanimbar did not wear handwoven cloths or the bark cawat of their own island, but showed off with fabulous headdresses and colourful loincloths from foreign countries, which granted them an enormous status. Dressed in the colours white, yellow or red they came close to the heat of the sun itself.

Symbolic Birth

From previous chapters it has appeared that the continuity of life is symbolised by the joining of male and female objects and representations. This also becomes evident from the social use of the two categories of cloth (imported and handwoven), when they form part of male and female exchange presents respectively. During high-lights in the family or village life families, who are connected by marriage, hand each other valuables. Thus the mutual tie is constantly reaffirmed.⁴⁸

A very important occasion for the exchange of presents is the wedding ceremony itself. In general a bride-price is paid during this ceremony at those places of Maluku Tenggara where the woman leaves her parental home on marriage and goes to live at her husband's house. This bride-price consists of male valuables, such as gold objects, elephant's tusks, weapons, gongs and money, which the bridegroom's family brings to the bride's family.

Besides gold jewellery and money, the bride-price on the Babar islands consists of basta. The number of cloths could amount to as many as seventy in former days, but has now been reduced to one. A peculiarity here is that the basta are ranged among the male valuables. On Babar, and on the other Southeast Moluccan islands where the art of weaving is practised, a totally different significance is ascribed to the imported fabrics than to the handwoven textiles,

which, after all, are produced according to need, as has been stated before. Here the imported cloths are considered to be "foreign treasures" and are not—like the native cloths— numbered among the female valuables, but to the male. On Babar the name "ship's cloths," or "ship's cargo" for certain types of basta refers to the manner in which the cloths were transported to the islands.

Illustrative of the significance of bride-price goods is that, on Tanimbar, a man who had gathered his bride-price—often after long journeying—could boast in public while crying out his own name, in a similar fashion as after a successful turtle catch or a headhunting trip. In this way he showed the status that he had acquired owing to his catch. Bride-price goods are also a kind of spoils; gold and ivory are therefore denoted as "fish" on Tanimbar.⁴ Just like other "catches" the goods are qualified as hot⁵ (see Chapter VII). They can sometimes be even so hot, that the party bestowing the bride is afraid of them after having received them. According to Drabbe the saying on Tanimbar then ran: "....those things may be hot, but the woman's sarong has already cooled them down: for they have been paid for a woman."⁵¹ This expression refers to the reciprocal gift, the female valuables, which are presented to the bridegroom's family by the bride's family.

The reciprocal gifts consist of handwoven sarongs and loincloths, imported cloths, modern clothing, female jewellery, plaited mats, plates and other kitchen utensils.⁵² On the islands where there is no weaving tradition, imported cloths and garments from distant locations prevail above the cloths from the western islands of Maluku Tenggara; in contrast with the islands with a weaving tradition, they are here reckoned among the female valuables. Riedel mentions numbers of three hundred to five hundred pieces of linen, which were presented to the man's family at a noble wedding on Kei.⁵³ Missionary Geurtjens writes about the Kei islands: "In the room the reciprocal gifts are on display. At one of those displays I counted more than three hundred plates and more than one hundred sarongs. A precious loin girdle, usually of a fine cloth from the Tanimbar or southwestern islands is nowadays also included as a gift for the bridegroom."⁵⁴

On the islands that carry a weaving tradition, the reciprocal gift consists, for an important part, of handwoven garments. They symbolise the fertility of the bride, which is presented by those who bestow her. With their coolness the cloths wrap, as it were, the formerly exchanged, hot dowry goods, the man's catch. The joining of these cool and hot goods symbolises the origin of new life, as is intended with a marriage.

A Babarese circle dance, which is for instance performed during a marriage ceremony, demonstrates this. The members of the bridegroom's group dance into a circle, which is formed by those who give the bride away, for whom they carry all sorts of imported articles. The objects symbolise the treasures from distant regions, or the bride-price of gold and basta, gathered by the man, the bridegroom.⁵⁵ The man's heat and that of his treasures are encircled by the coolness provided by the circle of dancing people who give away the bride. The ultimate result is a symbolic birth (see also Chapters V and VI).

Photograph 8.17. Young man from Tanimbar wearing the pupet-sere on his head. Photograph taken circa 1930.

On the islands where the art of weaving is practised the two categories of textile refer to two worlds: certain imported cloths are classified under the foreign riches and refer to the man's heat, whereas the handwoven cloths belong to the world of the native island and are associated with the woman's coolness. Parallels were found in the form of metaphors for pregnancy, garden rituals, the symbolism of the voyages and the myth of Atuf. In it the heat, the hunting spoils, which had been brought by the man, are incorporated into the woman's coolness or that of the land, in order to ensure a successful birth or a good harvest (see Chapter V). In a similar way life-giving cloths wrap the goods associated with heat and death. They symbolise the manner in which the continuity of life is safeguarded in Maluku Tenggara.

Photograph 9.1. Painted Bandanese pitcher from Kei Height 21 cm, diameter 20 cm (RMV).

Pottery is produced in Maluku Tenggara wherever suitable clay is available. In each group of islands this is the case. The best time to bake pots is the dry season, from August to October. The work is done exclusively by women. The pottery is destined for both daily and ritual use. As daily kitchenware however, it is nowadays increasingly replaced by objects of metal and synthetic material.

In general bowls, pitchers, large and small spherically shaped pots occur, with or without a protruding edge, a base or handles. Pots with a very narrow neck, in the shape of a gourd, are known, from among other places, the island of Leti. They are used, just like gourds, for storing water. Some pots are beautifully painted, others decorated with carved lines. In addition to pots, baking forms for the preparation of sago or cassava are made.

A special place is taken by the pottery from the villages of Wadan (or Banda), Elat and Wadan II on Greater Kei, and from the remote Keiese islands of Tarn and Tayando, west of Lesser Kei. On these islands live the descendants of Bandanese, who fled from the island of Banda (Central Moluccas) in 1621. In that year the population of the island was decimated in a massacre under the Dutch rule of Jan Pietersz. Coen. Bandanese on Kei still produce their characteristic pottery and have the exclusive right to the production of this type of pots.

"Tapping Pots"

In order to mould pots, clay of the right mineral composition is needed;

moreover it has to be easily kneadable. When the clay proves too greasy, it is degreased by adding sea or river sand. Clay and sand are then kneaded into a whole. This mixture prevents the pot from shrinking too much during drying, which creates cracks.

The Bandanese pottery of Kei and the "native" pottery of Maluku Tenggara are shaped in a similar fashion. The clay that has been prepared and mixed with water is first divided into lumps. Then the potter takes one of these lumps on her lap, or puts it on the outside of an old half of a pot. She makes a hollow in it with her fist and forms the rough shape of the pot. Then she uses a mushroom-shaped anvil of clay or iron, or a round stone, which she holds against the inside of the pot while she taps against the corresponding outside part with a wooden spatula. In his description of the technique the missionary Geurtjens reports that that is the reason why on Tanimbar the term is not baking pots, but "tapping" or "beating" pots.¹ The tapping provides the pot with the required firmness. During this activity the tools have to be kept wet all the time, to prevent sticking. For that purpose the potter has an old potsherd or a large shell filled with water standing beside her.

Photograph 9.2. The potter forms the rough shape of the pot from a lump of clay, after first having made a hollow in it with he first. Photograph from Aru.

When the pot has the desired spherical shape, a stick is used to finish off any possible upper edges. Then the pot is left inside, or on a shadowy spot in the wind outside for a few days, allowing the water to evaporate gradually; this is done in order to prevent the forming of cracks due to rapid drying. Only later it is put out into the sun to dry.

Then the pot can be baked in the fire. It is put onto a stack of wood and covered with some extra wood. From various sides the fire is lit and "soon the grey loamy lumps start to blush under the fiery glow."² When the pot is well-baked, the woman rolls it out of the fire with a long stick and lets is cool down.

Decoration

Before or after baking, the pots can be provided with decorations. The "native" pottery of Maluku Tenggara is often hardly ornamented at all. Sometimes it reveals as the single decoration a couple of straight lines which are carved into the soft clay before baking. The pots from Aru are an exception. Characteristic of them is the painting of a rigid geometric line pattern, sometimes varied with circular or semi-circular forms, which are applied after the baking. For this purpose the potter keeps some bright red clay apart, which she mixes with water in a shell.

Photograph 9.3. The pot is tapped with a wooden spatula, until it has the desired shape. By this tapping the pot simultaneously gets the required firmness. Photograph taken in Aru.

The Bandanese pottery of Kei is also usually amply provided with geometric figures. They are painted with red, yellow and black paint on a white underground that has been coated with lime. Each potter has her own motifs: gracefully curved lines, zigzag lines, bands with spiral shapes, diamonds or triangles. Moreover both the painted and the unpainted Bandanese pots are given the potter's mark on the bottom, which she carves into the pot before baking.³

The geometric decorations on the Bandanese pot betray a relationship with the ornamentation in the art form known as the prehistoric Dongson style. The same decorative style had already been found on the fabrics and the wood carving (see also Chapter I).

Pottery in Use

Large handmade round pots are traditionally used as cooking pots for daily food. On some islands their use is prescribed for specific occasions, such as on southeastern Aru during the annual casuaris ritual. At that time the hunting spoils, shot in the forest by the men, has to be boiled in the handmade pottery by the women.⁴ On the Babar islands the indigo leaves, which are used to dye cotton blue, may be prepared exclusively in a locally-made pot.

The pottery is also suitable for the conservation of food. On the small island of Tanimbar-Kei there are dozens of Bandanese pots, called ub, on the communal corn loft; they are used to store the precious sorghum, among other things. This

ritual food supply of the village is thus well preserved for years.⁵ On this island valuables are also stored in earthenware pots, imported from Java. The case is the same on the Babar islands, where gold jewellery—the male family heirlooms —are kept on the lofts and sometimes outside the village, in small pots, originating from the neighbouring island of Sermata.

Pitchers in which water is stored are of course in use everywhere. Due to the porosity of the earthen ware the water remains cool for a long time. Large handmade, ball-shaped pots are also employed for this purpose. They can even serve to distill liquor, as happens on Leti. For the storage and transport of this liquor large earthenware pitchers are used on the Babar islands, which are supplied by Macassar traders.

Imported porcelain fulfils an important ritual role on a number of islands up to this very day. Initially Chinese, later European, factory-made porcelain was imported, the latter kind sometimes was stamped with a Dutch manufacturer's trade mark such as Regout. It was commonly in use during rituals for the deceased. Formerly on the Babar islands porcelain dishes and bowls were buried with the deceased as additional gifts, along with native pottery. During the second burial in a cave, skulls were placed on such dishes. On Tanimbar the skulls sometimes received a place of honour inside the house on a dish on the tavu, the shrine for the deceased. On Kei pottery was also given to the deceased, who were sometimes laid down in caves.⁷

During the marriage ceremony porcelain objects still play an important role. On Kei large numbers of imported porcelain dishes form part of the gifts that are presented to the bride receiving group by the family of the bride. Together with the simultaneously presented cloths they served, as the Keiese say "to feed and clothe the bridegroom's group."⁸

Finally, according to myths from Aru, in ancestral times white dishes, thrown into the sea, transformed into pearl shells. That is why, just before the start of the

pearl diving season, the inhabitants of Aru throw large quantities of imported white dishes into the sea, hoping for a rich yield of pearl shells.

Photograph 9.4. Girl from Aru with painted earthenware pot.

The "Life Breath" of the Woman

Data from the eastern islands, notably from Aru, offer much insight into the symbolical meaning of pottery. In Maluku Tenggara the pottery produced by the inhabitants themselves, and to a lesser extent also imported pottery, is considered a product of the earth that was made by a woman. It represents the social value of fertility. The association of pottery with woman is so strong on Aru, that the pot of a woman is seen as the place of her "life breath." If she accidentally causes the pot to break, her death will inevitably follow.¹ That pottery has such a significant place on the Kei and Aru islands may be connected to the fact that no fabrics are made on these islands. For these have a similar symbolic significance (see Chapter VIII).

In Chapter V it was stated that according to the Southeast Moluccans vital strength is handed on to following generations via the woman's blood in the womb.¹¹ In myths from Aru and Kei there are references to an earthenware pot containing blood, from which a child later came into being. The pots can be considered as female enclosures, symbolising the womb.¹² One myth from Aru tells about a woman owning a pot that first only contained blood derived from the juices of tubers. With the help of a deity a child was created, who after a period of time broke open the pot and thus was born.¹³ From the sequel of the story it appears however that the child was incomplete; it lacked the male, hot component, which it would receive later in heaven. For a completely new life can only be created when the male contribution—the heat, the symbolical catch from the outside world, or the "soul"—is added to the coolness or vital strength.

According to the Keiese, earthenware pots can retain a person's soul. When a man has committed an offense against the divine or ancestral laws, he is

punished by the mitu, the helpers of god. They are the spirits of the village protectors. As a punishment they can temporarily hide somebody's soul in a pot, causing him to become ill.¹⁴

The guardians of the human soul are other spirits, the melikat. They also place the soul of the unborn child in the womb.¹⁵ Dead fetuses are also counted among the category of the melikat; they are not considered to be human beings. Both on Kei and Aru fetuses are laid down in an earthenware pot after a miscarriage, the pot is then left on a rock or in a tree. In that way the soul, the dead fetus, returns, as it were, to the womb, which is represented by the pot. Only when the soul joins the vital strength, that is the blood in the womb, can a complete child be born. A comparable custom is known from Tanimbar, although there a braided basket is used instead of pottery.¹

Photograph 9.5. Pot from Aru, painted with geometrical figures. Height 21.5 cm, diameter 30 an (RJM).

Photograph 9.6. After being left in a shady spot for some days, the pots are put out in the sun to dry. Photograph from Aru.

The fact that on Aru the yield of the extremely important hunt must be boiled in native pottery during the annual casuaris ritual, has to be viewed in the same way. For the pot with the woman's "life breath" surrounds the man's hot hunting spoils, the male component, with her coolness, like a womb. From their combination a symbolical birth ensues. This regulation illustrates the meaning of this important ritual: the rebirth of society and the continuity of life.

In this context the gift of porcelain plates, which forms part of the reciprocal gift that is presented to the bridegroom's party during a marriage on Kei, also has more meaning. Just as with the fabrics, which are handed over at the same time, the gift of porcelain plates offers the members of the bridegroom's party protective coolness and together with the hot bride-price goods they form a unity, symbol of a new life. The goods mentioned before sometimes radiate so much heat, that they have to be kept in a cool place. For that reason gold jewellery, for example, is put in earthenware pots on the Babar islands, or is even buried in the ground.

The symbolism of the pottery appears to be connected with a central theme which, as has appeared from the previous chapters, plays an important role in the entire material culture of Maluku Tenggara: the male component, that is the man's hunting spoils or the valuables he has gathered on a voyage, is incorporated into the coolness of the woman's womb" or the coolness of the land, after which the birth or the harvest will soon be a fact.

As was shown before, apart from these cool and hot components the earthenware pots also contain the result of their combination, the complete new lire itself: the harvest of sorghum or—in some myths-a child. On the level of society this also

appears from the names for certain types of pots, gulor on Aru and ub on Tanimbar-Kei, as they are also the designations for special groups within the community.¹⁷ Their significance is clear: like a womb the social groups enclose and protect their precious contents, their members. In a comparable manner the ring-wall, on Kei symbolised in a woman's sarong, used to protect the inhabitants of a village.¹⁸

Photograph 10.1. Hexagonal basket for domestic use, with images of dancing people, from Kisar. Height 32 cm, diameter 18 cm (TM).

Many utensils on the Southeast Moluccan islands are made of plaiting. Among the commonly occurring articles are baskets, boxes and bags of diverse kinds and measurements, used for transport and storage, and various types of fish traps. Many utensils also have a religious function besides an economic one. On Babar and Tanimbar for instance, the sacred heirlooms of a family are kept in large rattan baskets, on Tanimbar-Kei in plaited bags. Besides this, on some islands objects of bamboo and leaf are known to have a purely religious function.¹ The making of these sacred products and many utensils is encompassed with religious regulations.

The most common materials used for plaiting are bamboo, rattan and the leaves of various palm trees: the coconut palm, the koli palm (Borassus sundaicus), the lontar palm (Corypha elata Roxb.) and the pandanus palm (Pandanus). The plaiting techniques applied vary from simple one-up-one-down work to the complicated three directional method, which is sometimes called anyam gila, "plaiting to make one crazy." The plaiting of the region around Kisar is particularly refined and decorated in a beautiful manner.

In the following section attention is first of all paid to the techniques mat are applied when plaiting with the materials mentioned. Thereafter a number of special products and applications are covered and finally the symbolism of the objects dealt with will be discussed.

Techniques and Materials

The plaiting techniques vary, as was stated before, from simple to extremely complicated. In general a distinction can first be made between open or thin plaiting, leaving space between the plaiting bands, and closed plaiting, whereby the bands are plaited against each other. In both types of plaiting the two or three directional method can be used, causing the plaited bands to point in two or three directions respectively.

With the two directional method there is a distinction between diagonal plaiting and vertical weaving. The plaiting in its turn has various designs, such as oneup-one-down, two-up-two-down and the "twill" pattern, with a staggered weft. The other techniques that are applied in the region, are the coiling method and the basting method. Decorations are made by plaiting in bands of a contrasting colour or by making use of stencils.

In the following survey of commonly occurring plaited objects, it is indicated by which method they are being produced. The objects have been arranged as to the material used: bamboo, rattan and palm leaf. The plaiting of palm leaf is produced by women. Men plait with hard materials (bamboo and rattan).

Large fish traps are among the most important bamboo objects which are plaited by the open two directional and three directional method. On Babar and Tanimbar fish is transported in baskets made by using open or closed weaving.² Maize is stored in large baskets, produced with the closed two-directional weaving method. The baskets in which the chickens stay during the night can also be made of bamboo. They are made with the open two-directional weaving method. An entirely different application is the bamboo cradle, which is plaited in the open three-directional plaiting fashion on Babar and Tanimbar and is finished off with a rattan edge.³ The basket, in which the valuables of the house are kept on these islands are wholly made of rattan (and rattan bark). It is plaited by using the coiling method.⁴

Photograph 10.2. Maize basket on a rack in a garden on the island of Dawera in the Babar archipelago. On top of the maize lies a mousetrap.

Photograph 10.3. Maize baskets in the attic of a house under renovation on the island of Marsela in the Babar archipelago.

Photograph 10.4. Women with a maize basket on one of the Babar islands. To the right is a pole with an offering tray. Photograph made in 1913.

Commonly occurring objects of palm leaf, produced by women, are bags and baskets. Special are the small bags which are traditionally carried along by older men on Tanimbar. They contain tackle for chewing sirih pinang, ancestors' neck vertebrae, statues or valuables, and have the shape of a cylinder with a lid. The lid can be slipped almost completely over the cylinder. They are made of koli leaf by using the two-directional closed weaving method. Larger bags, in which the older people keep the small cylinders, are made in the same manner. Men also made such bamboo bags.⁵

Carrying baskets for women which are made of koli leaf or lontar leaf are produced by using the closed or open three-directional plaiting fashion. The strengthening edges of bamboo on the top and bottom sides are applied to it by men. A fine, small basket of koli leaf is the spinning basket, for which several techniques are applied in one specimen. On Tanimbar the bottom is made by using the closed three-directional plaiting method and the middle and top parts by means of the closed diagonal two-directional weaving method. On the Barbar islands the middle and top parts are produced by using the "twill" pattern with a staggered weft.⁷ The baskets are sometimes decorated with inter-plaited bands of a different colour.

Baskets are also used to draw water. They are made from one large koli or lontar leaf. The leaf is folded into the desired shape and fastened in this position. Sirih baskets occur in various forms. Many are plaited or made of pandan or koli leaf in the closed three-directional plaiting method. Besides these there are also baskets which are made by means of the "twill" pattern, with a twist in the weft bands. Such specimens are often embellished with interplaited motifs.

An interesting object, made of coconut or koli leaves, is the offering tray for the heavenly deity which was formerly used on the western islands. To make it, parts of leaves were cut along the vein and then folded. The veins sticking out were taken together and twisted, causing a kind of handle to arise. The parts of the leaves on the bottom were also taken together and fastened. For decoration cutout patterns were applied along the upper edge.

Photographs 10.5. Sirih bag from Kisar, decorated with stars and spirals. Height 13.5 cm, width 9.5 cm (TM).

Photographs 10.6 and 10.7. Sitting mats from Aru with images of family emblems, such as fish, moon and octangular star. 24x26 cm (left) and 20x25 cm (right) (RMV).

Sleeping mats, produced in diagonal, closed two-directional weaving, are among the objects made from pandan leaf. On Babar bags, used to store sowing seeds at home, are produced in a similar manner. Winnowing baskets, for winnowing rice, are generally produced from pandan —and also from koli —leaf by using the closed three-directional plaiting method.⁸ Hats of pandan leaf are produced in the same way as sleeping mats or a winnowing baskets. They can also consist of koli leaves sewn together.

Also made of the pandan leaf are the very narrow and short sarongs that women used to wear on Aru, which are completed by a small mat at the rear side of the body (kir), known in literature as a sitting or buttocks mat. both the sarongs and the small mats are made with the "twill" pattern with staggered weft and are decorated with splendid motifs using stencils. Here the patterns are covered, while the other parts are coloured black by exposing them to smoke.¹

Plaiting in Use

The purposes for which many of the above-mentioned objects—such as carrying and storage baskets—are used, speak for them selves. As far as the manner in which they are used is concerned, this is less obvious. For instance, women generally carry their carrying baskets—often as heavy as lead—hung from a band which is wrapped around the forehead. According to Drabbe, the inhabitants of Tanimbar say that they can distinguish between female and male skulls, on the basis of skull deformations, caused by this manner of carrying.¹¹

Also interesting is the use of the plaited fish traps. The large fish traps are taken to the reef by the men, where the traps, weighted by stones, are laid on the bottom. They are also used in deeper waters, where they are secured with a heavy stone on a rope. Small fish traps are placed on the reef by women.

As for the use of plaiting as clothes, the sarongs and sitting mats mentioned previously, which used to be worn by Aruese women, are the most special. The mats were worn as festive clothing during dancing. Besides geometric motifs, they have images of family emblems, such as stars, crescent moons, sun motifs and fish¹² (see also Chapter VI). Nowadays different sorts of hats are also in general use, serving as a protection against the sun and rain.

The plaiting used inside the house, often has a ritual function besides a practical one. An example from Tanimbar-Kei concerns the use of plaited bags (bis). Just like the earthenware pots (ub), they contain the village sorghum supply, they are located on the joint granary loft. One of these bis contains sacred valuables¹³ (see also Chapter IX). On the Babar islands the sacred heirlooms of a house are kept in a rattan basket especially made for this purpose. It is kept on the loft, above the living-quarter of the founder of the house. On Tanimbar the valuables of the house are also stored in plaited baskets, which used to be placed on the shelf above the tavu, the shrine of the house. Nowadays Tanimbarese people still carry neck vertebrae, statues and valuables with them on long journeys. In former times special cylinder-shaped bags were plaited to carry along these objects.¹⁴

The sirih basket on Babar is also of special interest. Besides serving as a storage place for all the tackle needed to chew sirih, it can serve as a temporary place of residence for the "soul" of a person. This is its function, for example, for someone who assumes that his "soul" has left his body for a considerable time for whatever reason, resulting in a serious illness. In order to find a cure, the patient turns to a specialist, who tries to call back the "soul" to the body by luring it to the patient's sirih basket.

A custom on Tanimbar, mentioned by Drabbe, adds a link to this. When a small child has died, it is placed into a carrying basket in a sitting position. The basket is hung on a tree branch on the site of the dead outside the village. Around evening time the mother takes up a position at the entrance to the village and calls her child to give it breast feeding. On returning home, she puts a tuber in a basket. If the vegetable is damaged the following morning, it is said that the little one had taken a bite from it. This ritual is repeated every day until a new baby announces its arrival. This child is seen as the deceased baby, albeit in another body. Drabbe speaks of a kind of "re-housing of the soul." This is also apparent from the manner in which the dead child can be addressed: "When you return, please change into a girl, because as yet you haven't got even one sister."¹⁵

Finally some objects with a mere religious function will be mentioned. On the western islands there used to be offering sites for the heavenly deity, made of coconut or koli leaf, which are best known under their Luangese name of liokra. Offerings were made to the goddess of the earth on parts of coconut leaves strung together or on a banana leaf, referred to in the language of Luang as laha.¹ During the porka feast the liokra and laha were respectively hung in a tree and laid on the ground on a sarong near the ritual centre of the village. On the eight sides of the liokra eight strips of pork were hung. A piece of pork was also laid on the laha. Furthermore both were provided with some sirih-pinang.¹⁷

An object comparable to the liokra is known on Aru. A piece of split bamboo in the shape of a funnel is destined for the sun god Tafer Lara. Attributes belonging to it are a plate on which offerings were laid on behalf of the whole village, and a small stick with a white flag.¹⁸

Life and Death

The symbolic significance of plaiting is in many aspects comparable to that of cloths and pottery. Plaiting can represent coolness, life and peace. In former days on Aru, for instance, a woman could throw her plaited sitting mat between the

belligerent parties, in order to "cool down" combat. By doing so the fight was ended. On other islands a woman could use a cloth for this purpose (see Chapter VIII).

Baskets and bags can be considered as cool containers. The actual or symbolic treasures, which are associated with heat, are kept in them. Thus the valuables of the family or the village must be kept in a cool place, as they can present a danger for the people in their vicinity due to their heat. A basket is also a place in which the "soul" of a sick person can return. Besides this, deceased children are placed in them, with the hope that their "soul" will return to the mother's womb. In this respect the significance of these plaited objects is comparable to that of earthenware pots. They symbolise the cool womb, into which the hot "treasures" are absorbed² (see also Chapters VI and IX). The union of heat and coolness results in complete new life, such as the living child.

However, plaiting can—in contrast to cloths and pottery—also symbolise the opposite value, that is to say heat and death. This is very obviously the case with fish traps, as appears from rituals that are performed before these traps are put into use. Thus, on some Babar islands, the fish trap is held above the fire, causing it to become "hot." In the past, during the inauguration ceremony of very large specimens, children were placed in the trap. They represented the future catches. The fish trap was "attacked" by men, making stabbing movements with their spears. At the same time the hope was expressed that the trap would ensure good catches in the future. In this way the fish traps were enshrined in an atmosphere of heat and death before being lowered into the sea. Due to its heat the fish trap will in no way be obstructed in securing a good catch.

Finally, the previously mentioned objects, purely meant for ritual use, can represent both heat and coolness. The liokra, the offering site for the heavenly deity, can be seen as a "male" symbol: it has the shape of a penis and represents heat. The laha, the offering site for the goddess of the earth, symbolises the woman's fertility and that of the earth. The offering site made of bamboo, dedicated to the Sun god, which is known from Aru, can probably be compared

to the liokra; unfortunately no picture of this is known to us.

Basket for domestic use, with images of men riding on horse back. From Kuar. Height 28 cm, width 19.5 cm (TM).

AFTERWORD

It has been our intention in this book to demonstrate the richness and uniqueness of the material culture of the Southeast Moluccas.

Many of the material cultural manifestations described are no longer found today in Maluku Tenggara. This is particularly true of ancestor statues and gold objects.

There were a number of clear reasons for the disappearance of these artefacts. At the beginning of this century Christian preachers attempted to put an end to ancestor worship. They thought they could achieve this by, among other things, the large-scale destruction of ancestor statues. At about the same time the first art collectors arrived on the scene. They were responsible for the removal of those statues which remained.

Later, the collectors also cast their eyes on gold family heirlooms. Although traditionally such precious objects seldom leave the family home, this has nonetheless become a regular event during recent decades due to the poverty of the islands and the pressures of a cash economy. It is extremely sad that so many objects of such great significance to their owners have disappeared from the islands in this manner.

Today, the richness of the original culture of the islands must largely be admired in museums and private collections.

New Initiatives

In the meantime the inhabitants of the islands have taken new initiatives. Recently-manufactured statues are offered for sale to tourists as examples of the islands' art. These are made by woodcarvers in Tanimbar and Ambon; the latest come from the southeastern Moluccas. The artists are associated with projects set up by the Roman Catholic mission in the seventies. In this way they are able to earn a little money.¹ The statues have no significance within the culture of the islands, however, since they have no connection with ancestor worship.

New ideas have also evolved in weaving and these have taken their place beside the more traditional forms of the craft. In addition to sarongs, which have been a trade item since time immemorial, scarves, shawls, tablecloths and even jackets made from woven material are nowadays offered for sale. "Modern," bright colours are popular among the weavers, though the more subdued tints of the old fabrics are still frequently used. New motifs have also appeared, though these, too, are based on traditional patterns.

Imitations

A completely different form of "cultural renewal" can be seen in the sphere of gold objects. Although gold "moons," plates and headdresses have not been made for decades—only small numbers of simple earrings are produced nowadays—they still appear with great regularity on the art market. These are not originals, however, but copies of original pieces from Maluku Tenggara. They are made outside the Southeast Moluccas and offered for sale as original pieces. These copies are often so crude and made with so little artistic appreciation that they bring discredit to the splendid traditional culture of Maluku Tenggara.

The same phenomenon has occurred in wood-carving. One example is the tavu, the large, "plank" carving which once stood in the houses of Tanimbar. Today, crudely-carved copies are offered for sale, both in the actual original size and in handy "take-away" format, manufactured after the example of well-known, documented museum pieces. They are often peculiar versions of the original tavu —important details are wrongly represented, for example² —and demonstrate the maker's massive ignorance of the cultural context.

One unusual development which we will mention in conclusion is the copying of modern ancestor statues from Tanimbar in the workshops of Java, where imitations of Dayak, Batak and Asmat statues are also made. These and similar examples of "cultural renewal" have brought the material culture of Maluku Tenggara to the attention of a wide public. Nevertheless, it is highly doubtful whether this gives the purchasers of these objects a true picture of the rich culture of the Southeast Moluccas.

GLOSSARY

It is mentioned on which islands the incorporated local names and ideas are used. Whenever applicable it is indicated when a term belongs to Moluccan Malay. All other "strange” words derive from Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia.

Adat—local morals and customs, hallowed by tradition.

Aitiehra—type-denotation for statue of heavenly deity, used on, among other places, Luang and Sermata.

Anyam gila—"plaiting making one crazy" (Moluccan Malay).

Arol—breath; term from Dawera/Dawelor.

Ate—slave rank on the western islands.

Aukerhe—Kisarese denotation for statue of heavenly deity.

Basta—imported cotton cloths, decorated with patterns in block-print (Moluccan Malay).

Bersila—posture in which the legs are in a crossed position under the body.

Besar—great

Bis—plaited bag, used on Tanimbar-Kei for the storage of sorghum and holy valuables.

Cawat—loincloth.

Dalaran—denotation of an ancestor statuette on Aru.

Dere—western islands name for an ancestor statuette

Dmeir—term relating to a person's identity (Dawera/ Dawelor).

Dongson style—prehistoric form of art.

Dople—western islands. denotation of an ancestor statuette.

Duad Ler Wuan—Our Lord Sun Moon, highest deity on Kei.

Duadila'a—Our Great Lord, highest deity on Tanimbar.

Fofoli—denotation of a man's first hunting spoils and a woman's first signs of pregnancy on Tanimbar.

Gaini—in front; Luangese form of orientation.

Gulor—type of earthenware pot from Aru, also name of a social group.

Gwarsir Fafa—Old Woman Earth, earth goddess on Aru.

Gwarsir Fulan—Old Woman Moon, goddess on Aru.

Ikat making—technique in weaving decoration, in which patterns are left blank by binding the threads before dyeing.

Ik Makromod—highest being on Kisar.

It Matromna—highest being on Babar, Sermata, Luang and Leti.

Kain beran—Moluccan Malay name for red scarf, formerly worn by

warriors.

Kaki tangan— "arms and legs"; used to denote protrusions of cast gold earring (Moluccan Malay).

Kabupaten—district.

Kecamatan—subdistrict.

Kecil—small.

Kepulauan—archipelago.

Kir—sitting mat, worn by women on Aru in former times.

Kmwene—Tanimbarese open-worked filigrain gold earring.

Kore—prow or stern boards, or roof horns on traditional houses on Tanimbar.

Kota—motif of "strengthened fortification" on cloths of Maluku Tenggara.

Krike—itching pimples (Tanimbar).

Kukuwe—ancestor statuette, used by specialists, such as the goldsmith on Tanimbar.

Kupang—Japanse gold coin.

Laha—Luangese name for sacrifice place, made of coconut or banana leaves, for the goddess of the earth.

Lamngatabu—plank statue of Tanimbar, amply provided with carving, in the shape of a stylised human figure (name from Yamdena).

Langit Ombak—Heaven Earth, highest deity on Tanimbar.

Lan matabu—plank statue of Tanimbar, amply provided with carving, in the shape of a stylised human figure (name from Selaru).

Lantaar—decorations on either side of the prow of the Keiese boat, called the "eyes" of the boat.

Lelbutir—Tanimbarese type-denotation of cast gold earring.

Lelbutir luan—Tanimbarese type-denotation of cast earring imported from Luang.

Lere Bulan—Sun Moon, highest deity on Tanimbar.

Lerlol—measuring cord and woman’s belt; term from Dawera and Dawelor.

Letgarni—middle; Luangese term of orientation.

Leyo Wulol—Sun Moon, heavenly deity from Dawera/Dawelor.

Liirnu—back; Luangese term of orientation.

Liokra —Luangse name for sacrifice place, made of coconut or koli leaves, for the heavenly deity.

Lontar cloths—cloths made of bands of the leaf of the lontar palm-tree.

Lorlora—Luangese type-denotation of cast gold earring.

Luli—statue of first female ancestor on Leti and Lakor.

Lwamat—"he stabs [the animals] to death"; saying used during the housebuilding ritual on Dawera/Dawelor.

Mangmwa'enar—"dead mothers"; category of ancestors belonging to the house in the matrilineal line.

Marna—rank of nobility on the western islands.

Mas anting—type-denotation of cast gold earring (Moluccan Malay).

Mas batu—type-denotation of cast gold earring without protrusions (Moluccan Malay).

Mas bulan—type-denotation of gold jewellery, forged in the shape of the full moon (Moluccan Malay).

Mase—Tanimbarese type-denotation of large gold pendant

Mas kaki dua—type-denotation of cast gold earring with two "legs" (Moluccan Malay).

Mas kaki empat—cast gold earring with four "legs" (Moluccan Malay).

Mas Luang—cast gold earring, used on the western islands.

Mas piring—type-denotation of gold jewel, forged in the shape of a plate (Moluccan Malay).

Mas tanduk—horn-shaped gold jewellery (Moluccan Malay).

Matakau—sign of prohibition to protect possessions, which can represent an ancestor (Moluccan Malay).

Mekamulol—"the one who holds the helm"; first post of the "great house" on Dawera/Dawelor.

Mekku—"guardian" of the village; denotation for statues of the war leader and his wife in the village of Serili on Marsela (Babar islands).

Melikat—spirits protecting the human soul on Kei.

Mitu—spirits of the village protectors on Kei, helpers of the deity.

Mochrom—highest being on Marsela.

Momosin—sacred, forbidden; term from Aru.

Mormorsol—vital force; term from Dawera/Dawelor.

Nassa-shells—white shells, with which the edges of the loin cloths of Tanimbar are decorated.

Ngoras—Tanimbarese type-denotation of necklace, consisting of antique beads and small gold particles.

Opolera—highest being on Kisar.

Orde Baru—the "New Order," rule in Indonesia since 1966.

Orletol—"lord of the village"; name used on Dawera/Dawelor.

Papanpomali—"holy planks" (Moluccan Malay); name for parts of a boat on Dawera/Dawelor.

Pomali—sacred, forbidden (Moluccan Malay).

Porka—Letinese name for a traditional fertility feast, performed on the islands between Timor and Tanimbar. During the ritual the "holy marriage" of heaven and earth was celebrated.

Pulau-pulau—islands.

Pupet-sere—headdress or imported cotton, in former days worn by the youngsters on Tanimbar.

Pusaka—ancestral heirlooms.

Raklol—denotation of an ancestor statuette; term from Dawera/Dawelor.

Ratleul—term indicating heaven on Dawera/Dawelor.

Ratlewaw—term indicating the earth on Dawera/ Dawelor.

Rimanu—motif on cloths, reserved for noble persons, especially known from Kisar.

Rivnoha—earth-goddess on the western islands.

Rupiah—official Indonesian currency.

Rusna—Letinese name for a kind of very small ancestor statuettes, produced in

order to be carried along.

Sedeu—statue of the village founder on Kei.

Selatan—south.

Selimut—shawl.

Siwi resresi—"the cock that is always victorious"; Sermatese name for a cock figure on the statue of the heavenly deity.

Sopi—strong liquor, distilled from palmwine (Moluccan Malay).

Sorsorlol—high slanting gable ends applied to the ridge beam of a house on Dawera/Dawelor.

Sovereign—English gold twenty-shilling coin.

Tabwéri—the somewhat older Tanimbarese youngster.

Tafer Lara—Old Man Sun, sungod on the Aru islands.

Tafer Namar—Old Man Heaven, heavenly deity on the Aru islands.

Tahil—measure of weight (Moluccan Malay).

Tali sifat—measuring cord (Moluccan Malay).

Tarlavna—Great Spear, heavenly deity on Luang.

Tavu—plank statue from Tanimbar, amply provided with carving, in the shape of a stylised human figure (name from Fordate).

Toewan Companie—"Lord Company"; reference to the representatives of the United East India Company.

Tuan tanah—"lord of the land."

Tuhan Allah—God of the Christians and Muslims.

Tumpal—old Indonesian triangular motif.

U—Bandanese earthenware pot from Kei; also the denotation of grandparent, ancestor or cult group there.

Ubila'a—Great Ancestor, highest deity on Tanimbar.

Umtuvtuvcha—"oldest house” of a Damer descent group.

Upler—highest being on Marsela.

Uplerlavna—highest being on Babar, Sermata, Luang, Leti.

Uplerlawl—highest being on Dawera/Dawelor. Utara—north.

Vorlaimiaha—Mountain of Gold, heavenly deity on Luang.

Wad—catch of fish or large sea-animals on Tanimbar-Kei.

Wadar—ancestral pair, or cult group around this ancestral pair on Tanimbar-Kei.

Walut—small ancestor statuettes on Tanimbar.

Wandar—Tanimbarese name for spoils, good catch.

Wandrar—double statuette, carried along during hunting and fishing on Tanimbar.

Wat—Keiese name for stone, boulder, rock, woman.

Wedyol—shoulder blade, paddle; term from Dawera/Dawelor.

Wer—Keiese name for blessing or purification water.

Wusuru—rank of the "free"; term used on the western islands.

Wutulai—Luangese type-denotation of gold headdress.

Yademu—wooden pedestal for luli statue on Leti.

Yalelol—"shadow image” of a person; term from Dawera/ Dawelor,

Yene—denotation of an ancestor statuette; term from Leti.

NOTES

Introduction

1. See De Josselin de Jong 1937.

2. Blust 1977 and 1981.

3. See Taber 1990.

4. See Grimes 1990.

5. Barraud 1979:4.

6. See Van Dijk and De Jonge 1987; Pannell 1991; Sneeuwjagt 1935; Barraud 1990a.

Chapter I

1. Allen 1989.

2. Watersonl991:l-26.

3. Schefold 1988.

4. Ballard 1988.

5. Geurtjens 1921:394.

6. Foster 1974:57

7. Barnes 1989:131-135.

Chapter II

1. Riedel 1886:402.

2. Riedel 1886: 288, 289, 401; Wertheim 1892; Bosscher 1854; McKinnon 1983: 87.

3. Schouten 1993:38; Meilink-Roelofsz 1962: 65,95.

4. Foster 1974: 57.

5. Muller 1991:31.

6. Meilink-Roelofsz 1962:93,97.

7. Meilink-Roelofsz 1962:94,95.

8. Meilink-Roelofsz 1962:84,154.

9. Meilink-Roelofsz 1962:95.

10. Riedel 1886:334.

11. Riedel 1886:214,247,248,272,310,332, 334,365, 368, 369, 399,432,460,461.

12. Rodenwaldt 1927; Manders 1990: 6, 7.

13. Riedel 1886:461.

14. Riedel 1886:218,461,462,466,467.

15. Riedel 1886:248; Meilink-Roelofsz 1962: 222.

16. Riedel 1886: 248,249.

17. Bleeker 1856: 260,261; Van Dijk en De Jonge 1991:23.

18. Kolff 1828: 45-63, 79-92, 101-118, 249-265; Heymering 1846: 85,86.

19. Riedel 1886:334.

20. Schreurs 1992:49.

21. Schreurs 1992:30,33,34,42; Van Hoëvell 1890:64,72,119,120; Spyer 1992:35.

22. Weber-Van Bosse 1904: 293; Jacobsen 1896: 143-145; Muller-Wismar 1913: Aru.

23. Jacobsen 1889:247.

24. Van Hoëvell 1895:135; Geurtjens 1941: 20;De Vries 1921-'22:116,117.

25. Weber-Van Bosse 1904.

26. Eigen Haard 1904 and 1907, respectively about Yamdena and Babar.

27. Drabbel940:ll.

28. Breeman 1928-'29.

29. Pastoorsbijeenkomst 1924; Schreurs 1992:182.

30. Schreurs 1992:165.

31. Schreurs 1992: 235, 236, 243-257, 263.

32. Schreurs 1992:292.

Chapter III

1. Van Hoëvell 1890:191.

2. See among others Riedel 1886: 365-398; Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b.

Chapter IV

1. Riedel 1886:395.

2. Heyne 1927:799.

3. DeHoogl959:45,85.

4. Jacobsen 1896:139.

5. Jacobsen 1896:139.

6. Jacobsen 1896: 139; Van Hoëvell 1895: 135.

7. Van Hoëvell 1895:135.

8. Riedel 1886:395.

9. Jacobsen 1896:125; Sneeuwjagt 1935:48; Muller-Wismar 1914a: 59.

10. Muller-Wismar 1914a: 85.

11. RiedeU886:315,375.

12. See also Jacobsen 1896:156.

13. See Van Dijk and De Jonge 1990:10.

14. Van Hogvell 1895:134.

15. See Van Dijk and De Jonge 1987.

16. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14a: 72.

17. Scholzl962: Abbd.10.

18. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14a: 165,169.

19. See among others Juynboll 1932: 129; Weber-Van Bosse 1904:290.

20. See Pannell 1991, among others Chapter 3.

21. Muller-Wismar 1914a: 33-35.

22. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14a: 14.

23. Goslings 1921-'24:56.

24. Goslings 1921-'24: 54.

25. See among others Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 6.

26. Muller-Wismar 1914a: 31.

27. See also De Vries 1900:616.

28. See Van Dijk and De Jonge 1990.

Chapter V

1. Geurtjens 1921:144.

2. Horridge 1978.

3. Geurtjens 1921:192.

4. Barraud 1985:127.

5. Barraud 1985:126,127.

6. Horridge 1978:45.

7. Drabbe 1940: 270; see also McKinnon 1989: 38.

8. Muller-Wismar 1913:63.

9. Muller-Wismar 1913:23; Spyer 1992:389.

10. See also Fox 1980:119.

11. Barraud 1985:125.

12. Barraud 1990b: 222.

13. Geurtjens 1921:369.

14. Pleyte 1893:338.

15. Drabbe 1940:410,416.

16. Drabbe 1940: 74-79, 270, 313; Barraud 1985: 119, 120, 125; Pauwels 1990: 21-34; Spyer1992.

17. Geurtjens 1941:18; McKinnon 1983:144.

18. Jacobsen 1896: 221; Drabbe 1940: 106; Engelhard 1994:171,194 aft).15.

19. Report Museum voor Geography and Ethnology Rotterdam, 1923.

20. Drabbe 1940:273.

21. Drabbe 1940: 202, 272, 283; McKinnon 1983:126.

22. Barraud 1985:119,126.

23. Muller-Wismar 1913.

24. Meded.G.Persoon.

25. Geurtjens 1917:66.

26. Drabbe 1940:184,185; Drabbe 1927.

27. Drabbe 1940:182.

28. Drabbe 1940:185.

29. Geurtjens 1941:22; Pauwels 1990:21-34.

30. McKinnon: 1983:22.

31. Jacobsen 1896:186.

32. Barraud 1979:52,58,59.

33. Spyer 1992:280,284.

34. Spyer 1992:283,284.

35. Spyer 1992:260,314-460.

36. Geurtjens 1910:334-358; 1921:144-173; Barraud 1979:20; Drabbe 1940:141.

37. See also Muller-Wismar 1913: 78.

38. Geurtjens 1921:164.

39. Geurtjens 1910:349.

40. Geurtjens 1921:172,173.

41. Drabbe 1940:216.

42. McKinnon 1988:162,163.

43. McKinnon 1983:28,29.

44. McKinnon 1988:165.

45. McKinnon 1988:165,166.

46. Geurtjens 1941:61.

47. Drabbe: 1940:218; McKinnon 1988:164.

48. McKinnon 1983:28; 1988:65.

49. McKinnon 1988:166.

50. Drabbe 1940:232,234.

51. Cappers 1912:153.

52. Drabbe 1940:230.

53. Geurtjens 1941:61.

54. Drabbe 1940:230.

55. Drabbe 1940:231.

56. Drabbe 1940:182.

57. Drabbe 1940:184.

58. Drabbe 1940:235,236.

59. Drabbe 1940:235.

60. Drabbe 1940:237.

61. Pleyte 1893:313.

62. Tichel manl 951:29,31.

63. Jacobsen 1896:185; Geurtjens 1910:349.

64. Geurtjens 1921:192.

65. Jacobsen 1896:238.

66. See for example Taylor and Aragon 1991:65.

67. McKinnon 1988:165,166.

68. Jacobsen 1896:185.

69. Drabbe 1940:270.

Chapter VI

1. Drabbe 1940: 426, 427; McKinnon 1983:43; Pauwels 1990:25.

2. Riedel 1886:220; Geurtjens 1921:217.

3. Muller-Wismar: 1913:1,45.

4. Geurtjens 1941:22.

5. Drabbe 1940: 111.

6. Drabbe 1940, Afb.110.

7. Drabbe 1940:51,429; Jacobsen 1896:240,241; Scholz 1962: 132, 133; Van Hoëvell 1895: 134; Muller-Wismar: Original Akten, Keulen 1921-'24, no.37420 and 37421.

8. Jacobsen 1896:240,241.

9. Drabbe 1927:183,187; 1940:184,185.

10. McKinnon 1983:121.

11. Jacobsen 1896: 225.

12. Drabbe 1940:95.

13. Jacobsen 1896:182.

14. Merton 1910:187,188.

15. Pleyte 1893:337.

16. Van Hogvell 1890:144; Scholz 1962:139,143, 144; Merton 1910:189,190.

17. Jacobsen 1896:189,200; Baessler 1891:66-83; Pleyte 1893:334.

18. Burger 1914:27-28; 1923:65,66; 1927:60,67.

19. Geurtjens 1921:186,189; Jacobsen 1896:200.

20. Burger 1927:58-60,67.

21. Barraud 1979:31,32.

22. Barraud 1979:36,37,46,65.

23. Geurtjens 1921:238.

24. Merton 1910:133.

25. Muller-Wismar 1913:49.

26. Muller-Wismar 1913:38.

27. Spyer 1992:438-440.

28. Muller-Wismar 1913:3,55.

29. Spyer 1992:325,370.

30. Geurtjens 1921: 170; Jacobsen 1896: 183; Riedel 1886:28; Korner 1936:127.

31. Jacobsenl896:183.

32. Geurtjens 1941:18.

33. Geurtjens 1941:19,20.

34. McKinnon 1991:90,91.

35. McKinnon: 1983:136.

36. Drabbe 1940:36.

37. See for a survey of tavu and the motivs on it: Engelhard 1994.

38. Drabbe 1940:235.

39. Engelhard 1994:168.

40. McKinnon 1991:91.

41. Drabbe 1940:391.

42. Barraud 1979:67,68.

43. Barraud 1979: 66-74; 1990a: 35-55.

44. Riedel 1886:253.

45. Spyer 1992:48,122,123.

46. Muller-Wismar 1913 passim; Spyer 1992: 46.

47. Muller-Wismar 1913:3.

48. Muller-Wismar 1913:13.

49. Muller-Wismar 1913:3.

50. Muller-Wismar 1913 passim; Spyer 1992: 46-48,123.

51. Muller-Wismar 1913:49.

52. Meded.pater Egging (msc).

53. Muller-Wismar 1913: 3,7.

54. Spyer 1992:123.

55. Information of Aru 1993; Spyer 1992:46, 180.

56. Muller-Wismar 1913:85.

57. Muller-Wismar 1913:13.

58. Pleyte 1893:339.

59. Riedel 1886: PI.XXVI, no.l 1.

60. Riedel 1886: 281.

61. Riedel 1886: PI.XXVII:7,8.

62. Drabbe 1940: 374.

63. Jacobsen l896:232.

64. Drabbe 1940:95.

65. Drabbe 1940:95,96,99.

66. Drabbe 1940: 85, 87, 89-91.Zie ook Drabbe: 1932, dl.71,2:117.

67. Drabbe 1940:233.

68. Drabbe 1940:418,419.

69. Drabbe 1940:236.

70. Lenssen 1993:20.

71. Drabbe 1940:236,237.

72. Drabbe 1940: 396.

73. Drabbe 1940: 80.

74. Pauwels 1985: 133, on the basis of the unpublished version of Drabbe's work 1940.

75. Pauwels 1985:133,134, idem.

76. Jacobsen 1896: 198, 226, 236, 237, 239; Riedel 1886: 297; zie ook Pleyte 1893: 295.

77. Zie Spyer 1992:123.

78. Drabbe 1940: 74,76,78,79.

79. Barraud 1979: 76; 1985: 125.

80. Pauwels 1990: 31.

81. Drabbe 1940:237,403.

82. Barraud 1990b: 221.

83. See voor the entire story Drabbe 1940: 315-327.

84. See also McKinnon 1988:158,159.

85. Drabbe 1940: 323-325.

Chapter VII

1. Rodenwaldt 1927: 21.

2. Drabbe 1940:112.

3. McKinnon 1983:90-91; 1989:40.

4. Barchewitz 1730:255-256 e.v.

5. Earl 1850:174.

6. Rinnooy 1892:83.

7. De Vriesl900:618.

8. Barchewitz 1730:262-263.

9. Kal and De Moor 1983:57.

10. Riedel 1886: plaatXL.8.

11. De Vries 1900:618-619.

12. Stohr e.a.1981: photo 93.

13. Drabbe 1940:112; Geurtjens 1941:145.

14. Drabbe 1940:30; McKinnon 1989:29-30.

15. Drabbe 1940:29-30.

16. Van Dijk and De Jonge 1991:22.

17. Riedel 1886: 401-402.

18. Drabbe 1940:29.

19. Riedel 1886: 289.

20. Van Hoëvell 1890:198.

21. McKinnon 1983:87.

22. Drabbe 1940: 39.

23. Drabbe 1940:197-198,208.

24. See also Sneeuwjagt 1935:113.

25. De Vries 1900:619.

26. Riedel 1886:292.

27. Drabbe 1940.

28. De Vries 1900:499,618; Riedel 1886:320.

29. Pleyte: 1896:347.

30. Jacobsen 1896:123-124.

31. Drabbe 1940:112.

32. Drabbe 1940:112.

33. McKinnon 1989: 30.

34. Among others McKinnon 1983:133.

Chapter VIII

1. Riedel 1886: 335.

2. Meded.M.van Vuuren.

3. Jasper and Pirngathe 1912:161.

4. See for example Wertheim 1892: 809.

5. Mook-Andreae 1985:18,19.

6. See for example Goslings 1928-'29:8.

7. Buhler 1943:62.

8. Drabbe 1940:121.

9. Drabbe 1940:22; McKinnon 1989:33.

10. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 110,112.

11. Muller-Wismar 1914a: 19,20.

12. Drabbe 1940:22.

13. McKinnon 1989: 37; meded.M.van Vuuren.

14. Meded.M.van Vuuren.

15. Jasper and Pirngathe 1912: fig.236, 237.

16. Drabbe 1940:118.

17. Jasper and Pirngathe 1912: 274 and in this work photos 26,27.

18. Baessler 1891: 72.

19. Drabbe 1940:124.

20. Van Dooren 1862:257.

21. Drabbe 1940:21.

22. Spyer 1992:372.

23. Drabbe 1940:22.

24. Drabbe 1940:21.

25. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14a: 44.

26. Muller-Wismar 1914a: 19,20.

27. Drabbe 1940:23.

28. Drabbe 1940:25.

29. Drabbe 1940:126.

30. Drabbe 1940: 22; Taylor and Aragon 1991: 244.

31. Meded.M.van Vuuren.

32. Drabbe 1940:23.

33. Drabbe 1940: 23,24.

34. Jacobsen 1896: 217.

35. Forbes: 1885: 315.

36. Drabbe 1940: 25, 27, 28.

37. Drabbe 1940:25.

38. Riedel 1886: 289, 344.

39. Van Dijk and De Jonge 1991.

40. Heymering 1846: 388.

41. Jacobsen 1896:147.

42. Riedel 1886: 261, 262.

43. Riedel 1886: 367,368.

44. Riedel 1886: 367, 368, 372.

45. Pauwels 1990: 25.

46. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 59,98, 99.

47. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 59,98, 99.

48. Jacobsen 1889:215; Drabbe 1940: 23,187.

49. Drabbe 1940: 273.

50. McKinnon 1989: 32, 33.

51. Drabbe 1940:376.

52. Van Dijk and De Jonge 1991; Drabbe 1940: 187; Spyer 1992: 252.

53. Riedel 1886: 235.

54. Geurtjens 1921: 33, 34, 313.

55. Van Dijk and De Jonge 1990:16,17.

Chapter IX

1. Geurtjens 1941:146.

2. Geurtjens 1941:146.

3. Merton 1910: 116, 182-184 and Tafel XII; Muller-Wismar 1913: 5, 6; Jacobsen 1896:222; Van Hoëvell TBG 33,1890:137.

4. Spyer 1992: 387.

5. Barraud 1979: 10, 68, 216.

6. Drabbe 1940: 259.

7. Pleyte 1893: 343.

8. Barraud 1979: 220.

9. Spyer 1992:438.

10. Spyer 1992: 389.

11. Barraud 1990: 219.

12. Spyer 1992: 387.

13. Muller-Wismar 1913:23,24.

14. Barraud 1990: 223.

15. Barraud 1990: 218, 229.

16. Drabbe 1940:261.

17. Meded.pater Egging (MSC), Mgr.Sol (MSC); Barraud 1979: 67-69.

18. Geurtjens 1921:272.

Chapter X

1. Tersteege 1935: 560; Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 98; Muller-Wismar 1913:38.

2. Information Babar; Drabbe 1940: 128.

3. Information Babar; Drabbe 1940:130,131.

4. Information Babar; see also Drabbe 1940: 128-9.

5. Drabbe 1940: 129, 130.

6. Drabbe 1940:132.

7. Information Babar.

8. Information Babar; see also Drabbe 1940: 131.

9. Muller-Wismar 1913:4; Merton 1910:140; Van Hoëvell 1890: 78; Riedel 1886: 258.

10. Muller-Wismar 1913:4,36; Van Hoëvell 1890: 78.

11. Drabbe 1940: 130.

12. Muller-Wismar 1913: 4; Van Hoëvell 1890: 78.

13. Barraud 1979: 231, 233.

14. Drabbe 1940:129.

15. Drabbe 1940: 261.

16. Tersteege 1935: 560; Muller-Wismar 1913: 38; Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 98.

17. Muller-Wismar 1913-'14b: 99.

18. Muller-Wismar 1913:38.

19. Riedel 1886: 258, 261, 262.

20. Spyer 1992: 251, 382.

Afterword

1. Lenssen 1993.

2. See also Engelhard 1994.

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INDEX

The italic numerals indicate photographs or figures.

Aitiehra 52, 64, 65

Ancestor cult around animals 95

Animal emblem 31, 70, 75, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100

Atuf 92, 100, 101, 104, 105, 205, 139

Australoid race 19

Austronesian languages 13, 19

Austronesians 19

Bag of the dead 98, 99

Banda 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 27, 27, 136, 141, 142

Basta 17, 24, 25, 25, 34, 44, 52, 67, 120, 125, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139

Bersila posture 51, 51

Bis 150

Cassowary ritual 74, 78, 142, 145

Comb 36, 62, 67, 67, 136, 138

Coolness 11, 44, 45, 52, 74, 79, 80, 81, 84, 87, 92, 98, 99, 101, 123, 139, 145, 151

Dalaran 98

Dead mothers 98, 99, 100

Dere 57

Dmeir 36, 37, 40

Dongson drum 16, 18, 20, 20, 21, 21, 84, 96

Dongson style 21, 84, 126, 142

Dople 57

Duadila'a 87, 90

Duad Ler Wuan 87

Erkai 60, 60

Forging gold 110, 113, 114, 114

Gulor 145

Gwarsir Fafa 89, 93

Gwarsir Fulan 89

Head feast 82, 96

Headhunting 37, 66, 67, 79, 81, 82, 83, 121, 122

Headscarf 136

Holy tree 93

Homo erectus 19

Hotness 11, 41, 42, 44, 52, 74, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 93, 97, 98, 99, 101, 104, 105, 122, 123, 139, 145, 151

Huxrainna-Huxtualinna 56, 57

Ikat 21, 126, 127, 127, 128, 129, 132

Ik Makromod 63

Indian Church 28

Islam 14, 25, 28, 84

It Matromna 63

Jan Pietersz. Coen 26, 141

Kain beran 52, 60

Kmwene 108, 116, 117, 119, 120, 123

Kota 135

Kukuwe 122, 122

Laha 151

Lalirai 60, 60

Langit Ombak 87

Lelbutir 113, 114, JI5, 116

Lere Bulan 87

Leyo Wulol 45, 46, 65

Liokra 151

Loincloth 124, 132, 133, 134, 134, 135, 235, 136, 136, 138, 139

Lorlora 50, 113, 114

Lost wax technique 21, 113, 114, 114

Luli statue 51, 53, 54, 54, 55, 55, 56, 57, 57, 63, 113

Mangmwat'enar 99

Mas anting 109, 110, 225

Mas batu 114

Mas bulan 52, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 118, 123

Mase 225, 116, 116, 119, 123

Mas kaki dua 114

Mas kaki empat 114

Mas Luang 113

Mas piring 109, 110, 111, 118, 121, 121, 123, 153

Mas tanduk57, 113, 113, 123

Matakau 100

Melikat 143

Mestizos 26, 109

Metal culture 20, 21

Mitu 92, 143

Mochrom 63

Momosin 97

Mongoloid race 19

Mormorsol 36, 37, 40

Motif of the hunter and his prey 35, 46, 56, 57, 64, 64, 70, 84, 97

Namesake 52, 73, 82, 98

Ngoras, 229, 120, 123

Ombak Tais 138

Opolera 63

Pillar statue 58, 59, 59, 60

Pirai 60, 60, 61

Plaiting 147

Plank statue 62, 63, 63, 72, 73, 74, 85, 93, 94, 95, 95, 153

Pole statue 2, 3, 64, 64

Porka 33, 36, 45, 49, 52, 64, 65, 66, 67, 151

Porka culture 33, 46

Pottery making 141, 141, 142 Proa yard 76, 78, 79, 81, 89, 90

Protestant mission 10, 14, 28, 67

Prow-board 30, 32, 39, 41, 42, 64, 70, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 83, 84, 89, 97

Pupet-sere 136, 239

Pusaka34, 116

Raklol 50

Rimanu 126, 132, 133, 136

Rivnoha 66

Roman Catholic Mission 10, 14, 28, 29, 153

Rurnamtoa 61

Rusna 30, 52

Sarong 24, 82, 83, 99, 118, 125, 126, 127, 128, 128, 129, 130, 230, 232, 132, 133, 134, 137, 237, 138, 139, 145, 153

Sedeu 91

Selimut 107, 132

Sitting mat 150, 250, 151

Siwi resresi 64

Soul 36, 49, 74, 84, 98, 143, 151

Spices 20, 24, 25, 26

Spinning 126, 138

Tafer Lara 89, 93, 151

Tafer Namar 89

Tarlavna 65

Tavu 54, 72, 73, 74, 75, 85, 93, 94, 95, 95, 96, 97, 98, 142, 151, 153

Tuan tanah 34, 36, 62, 98

Tumpal 207, 227, 132, 133, 135, 235

Ub 97, 142, 145, 150

Ubila'a 87, 90, 99

Uplera 63, 138

Uplerlavna 63

Uplerlawl 45

Vital force 36, 37, 49, 72, 74, 84, 143, 145

VOC 10, 25, 26, 27

Vorlamiaha 65

Wadar 97, 99

Walut 95

Wandrar 99

Weaving 21, 82, 128, 129, 229, 130, 132, 138

Werwat 91, 91, 92, 96

Wutulai 50, 51, 57, 112, 113, 113, 117, 228

Yademu 56, 57, 57

Yene 50, 57