Fishing festival from Lake Malai
The Lago Malai Fisherman's Festival is a ceremony that is held every four years at Lago Malai , a lake in East Timor . The salt lake is located on the border between the administrative offices of Balibo and Atabae in the municipality of Bobonaro .
The article describes the rites and ceremonies according to an eyewitness report from 1960. Although the population has almost completely converted from the old animistic religion to the Roman Catholic faith since then , the festival is still taking place, and there are no reports of what is happening today. The festival last took place on 7./8. October 2017.
background
Two ethnic groups live in the region: the Atabae- Kemak in the north and the Balibo- Tetum in the south. Every four years, on August 29th and 30th, a festival takes place at Lake Malai based on the myth of the lake's origin. The entire ceremony is intended to repeat the creation myth of the lake and ensure the continued existence of the water and its fish. The saltwater crocodiles that live in the lake are also said to be appeased by the ceremony. Time and again people became victims of crocodiles, who are considered to be the ancestors of the Timorese ( see also: The good crocodile ). If a woman is killed by crocodiles, it is said that the crocodiles have taken a liking to her and wanted to take her as a wife. Killed men are said to have been punished for pride and arrogance.
The date can shift if dead fish or shrimp wash ashore. This is seen as a warning sign that the sacred natural energy ( Lulik ) needs rejuvenation. Therefore, for example, in 1960 the festival took place on August 19th and 20th. An additional festival is celebrated within this four-year cycle even when it rains particularly heavily. This is determined in consultation with the traditional rulers ( Liurai ) of Balibo and Atabae by the Rai lulik ( German holy ruler , the highest priest of the empire) of Balibo. The Liurais then call the population together to relive the myth and after the ceremonies go fishing for two days.
Legend of the creation of the lake
According to legend, there were once two great liurais in Atabae and Balibo who were fighting over the demarcation of the border in the region. Since they could not agree, a stick fight broke out between the two. During the fight, a very old woman appeared with a large jug of water on her head. The ruler of Balibo accidentally hit the woman's head. His stick broke in half and the jug was smashed too. The woman disappeared, but the water from the jug formed Lake Malai.
Sacrificial ceremony
The human sacrifice
A strong man from the Liurais family of Balibo used to be executed on the occasion of the festival, but the Portuguese banned this sacrifice when they took control of the region in 1769. However, the victim only rarely comes from the highest caste of the Rato , but rather from the second highest of the Patcha , who was then adopted by Balibo as the son of Liurai. If it only killed the victim, his mother and older siblings would benefit. According to custom, the mother was now considered the Liurai's former wife and her sons as potential heirs. The daughters now had the opportunity to marry into neighboring Rato families. In reality, however, the siblings only had limited advantages. The sons were given tasks to defend the honor of their "father", which usually ended fatally, and the daughters married their "brothers", the biological sons of the Liurai, in order not to the "holy blood" of the ruling family with another family or Caste to "defile".
Since the prohibition of human sacrifice, a black boar and a young female buffalo have been killed instead; the son of the Liurai of Balibo takes part as a symbolic sacrifice. If the Liurai has no son, a replacement is symbolically adopted even today. The siblings now keep their Patcha status. The buffalo cow comes from the Liurai herd of Balibo. He and his family members receive the meat of the sacrificial animal first. Only the symbolically sacrificed son goes away empty-handed. The origin of the boar is not clear, it may also belong to the Liurai.
On the first day of the festival, the two kingdoms meet at the lake: the Atabae-Kemak on the north bank and the Balibo-Tetum on the south bank. On the side of the Atabae a large round building is being erected and a bridge is being built. The structures are made of bamboo, which is tied together with lianas. At the top of the bridge there is a coconut shell filled with oil and a string of bamboo. This lamp is renewed over and over again throughout the night. There are also bamboo poles with coconut lamps on top on the bank. Until late, both empires and castes meet in the rotunda to dance and sing.
The human “victim” has to retreat to his own hut ( called a palapa ) away from the party at sunset . As soon as he enters the hut, he is no longer allowed to speak, eat or drink anything. Only after his “sacrifice” are the bans lifted again. The next morning the “sacrifice” is brought to the bank of the lake. A long wooden stick is hit on his head from behind, whereupon the victim plays dead. It is then immediately tied up and wrapped in a tarafa , a local fishing net. A new tais , a woven fabric, is folded up and placed next to his head. This custom corresponds to the rite of the burial of deceased persons.
The boar
A black boar next to the man is killed with a long, narrow knife with a stab in the heart. The pig's body is then squeezed so that the blood flows into the lake. This process is called "giving to the water". The people present are silent during this process. When the boar's blood has run dry, a procession of decorated boats begins near the sacrificial site, in the southeast of the lake, in a narrow tree-covered canal. The Rato men from Balibo sit in the first boat, which is decorated with twisted bamboo arches and a woven banner . Instead of the usual jewelry and their costume, they wear white clothes.
The second boat is pulled behind by a rope. A fisherman with a Tarafa net stands at the bow , ready to cast it. Behind him is part of a tree stump that is considered very sacred (lulik) , wrapped in cloths. A rato from Balibo sits in front of the stump . A helmsman leads the boat with a paddle in the stern. He has to be careful not to disturb the water. The paddle should therefore not splash into the water.
In the other boats there are balibo patcha with lulik sticks, fork-shaped branches with small pieces of cotton fabric. The boats of the nobles from Atabae are anchored along the processional route. The members of the lowest caste of both realms, the Acano , stand along the shore.
As soon as the fisherman in the leading boat dips his net into the lake, the fishermen in the other boats from Balibo and Atabae also start fishing. It is the end of absolute silence. There is a competition for honor who will be the first to reach the middle channel of the lake. The Acano descend into the shallows, calling, dancing and singing. The aim is to stir up the mud, which makes the fish "drunk".
As soon as the fisherman in the first boat has hauled in his net and his first catch, the human victim is freed from his net and from his shackles. The man then kneels with his back to the water, holding his nose in his hands. Then the Rai lulik leads the victim along the sacred path to a solitary banyan tree , with the priest carrying a bare sword on his palms and arms outstretched and the victim crossing his arms.
The Buffalo
The female buffalo was tied to this banyan up to this point. Only selected men from Balibo and Atabae are allowed to approach him during the ceremony and only the Rai lulik is allowed to touch the animal. The human victim now kneels on the other side of the tree without looking at the buffalo. Then the rai lulik offers the buffalo, then the man, a betel nut on the tip of the sword. The man takes the nut straight from the sword with his mouth. He chews the nut and then spits the juice five times in a semicircle in front of him. Then he drops his head on his chest while he continues to chew.
Now the Rai lulik takes the sword and introduces it to the buffalo vaginally and intensifies the movements with the weapon until it pierces the animal's duodenum and possibly injures other organs. With each roar of the wounded buffalo, the human “victim” spits betelnut juice into the semicircle five times. When the buffalo is finally dead and gutted by the Rai lulik , the “victim” rises from his kneeling position, carries the buffalo entrails to the bank and offers them to the water.
The Rai lulik then dismantles the buffalo carcass. He keeps certain parts to himself, while the rest is divided evenly among the representatives of Balibo. Nothing gets the “sacrifice”, and the representatives of Atabaes who attended the ceremony also get nothing. The “victim” is now allowed to roam free again and get a part of the fish caught, but is not allowed to touch live fish.
After the ceremony
Fishing continues for two to three days without a break. However, only large specimens of the catch are kept. Smaller fish and crabs are simply thrown on the bank where they rot. The danger of the sea being hopelessly overfished as a result of this ritual is reduced by the long period between the festivals. During this time there is no fishing at all in the lake.
Web links
David Hicks: Making the King Divine: A Case Study in Ritual Regicide from Timor , The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Dec. 1996), pp. 611-624, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
supporting documents
- Margaret JE King: Fishing Rites at Be-Malai, Portuguese Timor . In: Records of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Sth Aust. : Govt. Printer: From Records of the South Australian Museum , Volume 15, No. 1, October 6, 1965.
Individual evidence
- ^ Birdlife International - Be Malae-Atabae
- ↑ GMN-TV: La kumpri kultura, ikan Be lakon hotu , October 9, 2017 , accessed October 10, 2017.
- ↑ a b King p. 110.
- ↑ a b King p. 117.
- ↑ a b c King p. 111.
- ↑ a b c King p. 112.
- ↑ a b c King p. 113.
- ↑ a b c d King p. 114.
- ↑ a b c King p. 115.
- ↑ a b c King p. 116.