Five kids in Lamalera village, Wulandoni district, Lembata regency, East Nusa Tenggara, were having fun on the beach on Saturday (25/2/2017). With wooden sticks in their hands, they pierced a used plastic water bottle while shouting baleo, meaning “whale”.
The kids were learning to preserve ancestral traditions. Mikhael Bataona, 8, a second-grader at a local Catholic elementary school, said he was happy he could swim and learn how to spear that day. That is what he does when he gets home from school. “If our parents successfully spear a whale, it is awesome, as if we’ve just won a war. People gather and everyone is happy and we eat until our bellies are full,” Mikhael said. He added that his father had promised him that he could continue going to school and buy a new pair of shorts if his father caught a whale. Not far from where the kids are playing, some 30 Lamalera whalers were sitting in front of a
He added that his father had promised him that he could continue going to school and buy a new pair of shorts if his father caught a whale. Not far from where the kids are playing, some 30 Lamalera whalers were sitting in front of a peledang (boat) storage unit. Some of them were weaving the boat’s roof from papyrus leaves, while others were repairing damaged nets, cooking and reading books. They looked out to the sea once in a while to spot the presence of whales or other fish. On the beach, there is a line of at least 35
They looked out to the sea once in a while to spot the presence of whales or other fish. On the beach, there is a line of at least 35 huts. Each of the huts houses a peledang and two smaller boats to accompany the peledang. Peledang, a traditional Lembata boat, measures 15-20 meters in length and 1-1.3 meters in width. The journey to Lamalera begins by docking at Lewoleba, followed by a 50-kilometer overland journey for two hours People (2)
The kids were learning to preserve ancestral traditions. Mikhael Bataona, 8, a second-grader at a local Catholic elementary school, said he was happy he could swim and learn how to spear that day. That is what he does when he gets home from school. “If our parents successfully spear a whale, it is awesome, as if we’ve just won a war. People gather and everyone is happy and we eat until our bellies are full,” Mikhael said. He added that his father had promised him that he could continue going to school and buy a new pair of shorts if his father caught a whale. Not far from where the kids are playing, some 30 Lamalera whalers were sitting in front of a
He added that his father had promised him that he could continue going to school and buy a new pair of shorts if his father caught a whale. Not far from where the kids are playing, some 30 Lamalera whalers were sitting in front of a peledang (boat) storage unit. Some of them were weaving the boat’s roof from papyrus leaves, while others were repairing damaged nets, cooking and reading books. They looked out to the sea once in a while to spot the presence of whales or other fish. On the beach, there is a line of at least 35 huts. Each of the huts houses a
They looked out to the sea once in a while to spot the presence of whales or other fish. On the beach, there is a line of at least 35 huts. Each of the huts houses a peledang and two smaller boats to accompany the peledang. Peledang, a traditional Lembata boat, measures 15-20 meters in length and 1-1.3 meters in width. The journey to Lamalera begins by docking at Lewoleba, followed by a 50-kilometer overland journey for two hours toward the south side of Lembata Island. Lamalera village is split into Lamalera A and Lamalera B with a total population of around 2,300 people.
The homes of locals are built on rocks on the lower part of Lamalera hill. The soil is rocky and sandy and the slope can have a 70-degree tilt. Source of life Lamalera fisherman Lodovikus Lelaona, 59, who was interviewed while weaving boat roofs, said the sea was a source of life. The sea is the mother that has given locals their lives since the time of their ancestors. The locals cannot move to another place to find food.
“The tradition is inherited from our ancestors, from generation to generation. Look at the kids, they are learning about it naturally. At three years old, they are already good swimmers and starting to learn how to spear,” Lelaona said. Their whale-hunting tradition has a history of mutualistic relations with people living in the mountains. Whale meat, oil and blood collected from their hunts are traded with corn, tubers, banana, vegetables and fruits produced by the people from the mountains.
The bartering activity is conducted at Wulandoni Market, some three kilometers from Lamalera. “If the government wants to ban us from hunting whales, it’s better to exterminate all of us. We have always depended on the sea to live. Our sons can finish school and be civil servants, teachers and priests thanks to the sea. The sea is our source of life,” Lelaona said, while pointing at the sea in front of him. Whale-hunting season usually takes place from May to October every year.
The hunting begins with a ritual at a whale-shaped rock on a hill five kilometers away from April 28-29. On the rock, customary elders will put out their offerings and read traditional prayers to ask for blessings from the ancestors. They ask that their harvests be bountiful and that they be protected from danger. The ritual will be followed by a Holy Mass at Lamalera Beach on May 2.
A pastor will lead the mass, attended by thousands of whalers and their families. The mass is held to ask for God’s help that the harvest be enough to fulfill the needs of locals. During the mass, the locals also pray for eternal peace for the whalers who died at sea. The locals believe that the presence of the whales in Lamalera waters is not a coincidence. Rather, they believe the whales were brought there by their ancestors.
Most of the whales in the waters off Lamalera are old males and females. Local wisdom If the whalers find young whales, they will not spear them and let them swim back out to the sea. Careful observation by the traditional whalers is necessary to ensure the age of the hunted whales. Apart from observation from the beach, observation is also conducted from the lopo, a stilt-house measuring three-by-two square meters on a hilltop.
From that height, the movement of the whales can be more easily monitored. At the lopo on the hill, Ignas Lelaona, 32, Mateus Ebang, 45, and Viktor Lelaona, 65, observe the open sea while engaging in other activities almost every day. If whales are seen, they will shout baleo, meaning “whale”. Upon hearing the shout, all whalers in the village will prepare themselves to go out to sea. With a clearer sight of a whale, whalers will ride on a peledang out to sea. The peledang will approach the whale and observe its type and body shape. If it can be captured, the whalers on the first boat will call for more boats to be deployed. The meat and oil from the captured whale is then distributed to all villagers. Widows and orphans are prioritized before the
whalers, boat owners and general populace. Goris Dengekae, 58, said whale hunting was full of local wisdom that was transferred from generation to generation. Goris said the view that the whale-hunting conducted in Lamalera was done indiscriminately against young male and female whales was mistaken. The local whalers limit the number of whales captured in one year to 15.
“Any suspicion against us or attempts to bring our whalers to court is also mistaken. Our ancestors inherited this tradition alongside many customary laws. These cannot be broken,” Goris said. The Lembata people hope that everyone, especially the government, can respect these local ancestral traditions. “Please do not disturb our peace. It is already difficult enough for us to find food. Let us uphold our ancestral traditions peacefully,” said Goris, expressing a sentiment echoed by the other whalers.
