Lamalera

The ancient fishing tradition village

I first visited the village in about 1989. The only way to access the village was to ride motorized wooden boat from Lewoleba in the midnight of Monday, to arrive early in the morning of Tuesday in Lamalera.

It is a once a week schedule to fit with Lewoleba weekly market on Monday.

I board the boat at about 11 PM only to get a space to lay down right in the lower part of boat's bilge. It seems all the surface of the boat was packed with passengers. No life jacket, no safety raft but let the Almighty God determine our fate.

I soon fall asleep after the hot, humid and tiring day exploring Lewoleba including its busy market. I then woken up as I felt suffocated. Could not breath. It was someone's foot stuck on my face. No complaint but find my way out of the bilge. Ahaaa it is very early in the morning. The sun almost rise. A tiny village attached to a sloppy hill. Lamalera, here I come.

Heard the name since I was a kid. At home, my parents have a bottle of ointment. Smelly dark oil but it seems can cure any skin disease. Itchy? Rub with that oil. Lamalera whale oil.

The village looked strange. Very few houses seen from the sea but a short beach with a line of huts. I then noticed that huts along the beach are whaling boat garage.

No pier but have to land ashore with a dinghy. It is not a calm sea but the crews are skillful to get the dinghy ashore.

The people in the village seems are not talkative. They speak so little. No loud voices. Talk whenever needed.

About 10 years later, I got the chance to visit Lamalera again. That time, I rode a truck but it only arrive about 7 km from Lamalera. Then have to walk downhill to Lamalera. The village and the beach has no change since my last visit.

I attend the new "Pledang" ceremony. Peledang is a boat to hunt whales and any sea creatures in the high seas. The ceremony took place at a hut in the beach. Few people gathered. It is so quite. It was a party. There are speeches or whatever in local language which I did not understand. The participants and me are all seated on the ground in a grey sandy beach. As usual most of the time people did not talk much. Then followed by Catholic prayer.

The real party begun. Early lunch. Must be special. When the meals served, I really surprised. There are not much to eat. Not only the variety of menu but the amount was so little.

The meals are served in woven palm leaf baskets. There are "Jagung Titi" or corn chips. Some other baskets filled with boiled cassava.

The highlight of the feast is meat. But I think the meat are so little for a feast. All served dry in the basket. There are pork and dog's meat. I was still waiting for the basket of rice. But it never showed up.

After my two visits to Lamalera, the people here are don't eat much and don't speak much either. I joined Peledang once during the whaling season. Still the same. They don't speak much and too little to eat. The ransom on Peledang are only "Jagung Titi" and drinking water.

Going to high seas to catch whale is like a ritual. Everything are done so quietly. The only sounds are wave, the flapping sail when the boat changes course, the rowing sound and chants like choir once in a while when they rowing.

My last visit to Lamalera was just recently. It was on April 24, 2019. This time I took public bus to Lamalera. Lamalera is still the same. Don't talk much and may be still don't eat much. And yes, they are all healthy.

It is my turn to bring home Lamalera oil. By the way, I don't know how my parents got that stinky whale oil from? I did not ask them but as far as I know my parents never go far away from our village.

This time I bring this oil

Pure whale brain oil but I have not advise my kids to consume it yet. It is bright and clear. No stinky at all but smells like fish oil supplement food as sold in supermarkets and drug stores.

Makassar, June 6, 2019

Ng Sebastian

bas@incito.vacations

Please watch our video on Lamalera in youtube https://youtu.be/HajQDnzqtHM

Here are what Wikipedia writes about Lamalera:

Lamalera, on the south coast of the island of Lembata, and Lamakera on neighbouring Solor are the last two remaining Indonesian whaling communities. The hunters have religious taboos that ensure that they use every part of the animal. About half of the catch is kept in the village; the rest is traded in local markets, using barter. The whale hunts are carried out in a traditional manner, with bamboo spears and small wooden outriggers, 10–12m long and 2m wide, constructed without nails and with sails woven from palm fronds. The animals are killed by the harpooner leaping onto the back of the animal, from the boat, to drive in the harpoon.

The people of Lamalera hunt several species of whales, primarily sperm whales (the baleen whale is taboo), and in the peak year of 1969 caught 56 sperm whales. In addition to whales, dolphins, manta rays, turtles and several species of sharks are also hunted. In 1973, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization sent a whaling ship and a Norwegian master whaler, to modernize the hunt. This effort lasted three years, and was not successful. According to the FAO report, the Lamalerans "have evolved a method of whaling which suits their natural resources, cultural tenets and style."[16][17]

The World Wildlife Fund has carried out surveys in the village to determine that the limited hunting does not endanger world whale stocks or other endangered species.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_whaling