Our bus from Lewoleba to Lamalera
Lamalera, Lama meaning feeling or blade and Lera meaning sun, is situated on the southern side of the mountainous island of Lembata, which is part of the Solor Archipelago. It can only be reached by taking a bus, which is a converted truck, from Lewoleba. The drive takes about three and a half hours, mainly due to the bad roads, but is nevertheless quite scenic and adventurous. The roads can be extremely steep and narrow and there are usually many people sitting on the roof of the bus because of the restricted space inside.
The beach and harbour of Lamalera
Sam, an american backpacker I traveled with at the time, and I arrived in the little whaling village around four in the afternoon on a Saturday in late August 07. We soon found out, that the fishermen do not go out to sea past 4 pm and neither do they work on a Sunday, when the whole community is going to church and rests. So instead of joining the whaling boats the next day as we had hoped, we walked for about half an hour to a nearby beach and a big bat cave and spent a relaxed day out there.
Sige – Prelude To A Traditional Wedding
Another dead pig on the way to be slaughtered
On the morning of the Monday following our arrival Sam and I went to the beach hoping to be able to observe the whaling. The beach was full of people, but all the boats were still under their protective little shelters. A bit later we found out, that on this day part of a traditional wedding was taking place, called Sige in the local language Lamaholot. There are 12 clans in total in Lamalera and there are certain rules and customs to be followed when it comes to marriage. People are not allowed to marry within their clan and neither are they allowed to marry into the immediate family of their parents siblings.
The skin of the pig gets burned and then scraped off
So on Sige, which proceeds the more formal wedding in the church, the clans of the bride and the groom come together and agree on the dowry the bride is to receive. This usually consists of two elephant tusks, which are then being kept in the new founded family until their son is being married. Meanwhile the rest of the village gets together on the beach, a few pigs are being slaughtered by the men and a huge feast is then being prepared by the women. As soon as the animals are carved up large cans filled with palm wine and cigarettes are passed around. The palm wine is self-made and many ants and other bugs are floating around in it, which does not seem to bother anybody. It is quite sweet and weak, but will still get you drunk before the afternoon. It was during this drinking session, that we met Jeffrey, a management student in Kupang and son of the owner of a guest house in town. Jeffrey speaks very good English and patiently answered all our questions about Lamalera.
Tenas – The Boats And Their Crew
A Lamafa spearing a whale
The earliest inhabitants of Lamalera arrived from Sulawesi by way of Halmahera in Malukku, after a big tsunami destroyed their homes. The local fishermen are very skilled in catching whales, dolphins, manta rays and sharks their traditional way. This involves sailing close to their prey, then closing the gap by rowing furiously the last 100 meters. Then the harpooner , or Lamafa, leaps from the very front of the boat onto the back of the whale and uses his body weight to embed the harpoon deep in the flesh of the whale. This kind of whaling can be dangerous business and sometimes people get hurt as arms or legs get entangled in ropes, boats capsize as the speared whale tries to dive or boats get dragged far out to sea by an injured whale.
A Tena in its shed
Almost every clan has it’s own boat, or Tena, which usually carries a crew of 8 to 12. Every Tena is believed to have a spirit and should one of them sink, the whole village enters a long period of mourning as it has lost a valuable member of the community. No whaling is being done in that time. Should a boat need to be rebuilt or repaired, then one of the boatmakers, or Molle or Labak Tilo, is called. Every boat has its own boatmaker, of which there are only six in the whole village, but one Molle can be responsible for more than one Tena. During repairs old parts of the boats are always used so as to preserve the spirit of the Tena. Another duty of the Labak Tilo is to divide the caught whale into its 17 traditional parts.
Spirit ropes or Leo
Every Tena has to have some traditional ropes, called spirit ropes or Leo, on board. Nowadays these ropes, that are made of cotton, are only used to catch manta rays. Sturdier and thicker plastic ropes are now being used to hunt for whales. Another concession to modern times is the use of engine boats. These are not directly involved in the hunt, but are used to spot the whales and then help getting the Tenas close to the whales. The Tenas are made completely out of wood and no metal nails are being used. Even the sails are made not of cloth, but of interwoven stripes of palm leaves. It is because of these traditional ways of whaling and the low numbers of whales caught per year, that the fishermen of Lamalera are still allowed to follow their tradition. Every part of the Tena relates to a human body part. The wooden outrigger are its arms, the rudder is equivalent to legs, the front is the head and the very bottom of the boat is its stomach. The Tena is usually named after its owner and some even carry inscriptions in Latin.
Drinking Palm Wine at Sige
In total there are only 17 harpooners, or Lamafa, in the village, some as old as 60 years. Their trade usually gets taught from father to son and it takes a long time to master all the necessary skills. Keeping up this tradition seems to become more difficult though, as the children get sent to Flores to go to highschool or as far away as Kupang to go to university. Many of them later find better paid jobs away from Lembata, so the future of Lamalera as a whaling village seems somewhat uncertain. In addition to that the WWF together with some villagers is trying to find alternatives to whaling altogether. On the other hand there are villagers, like Jeffrey to settle back here once their university course is finished with the goal to upkeep the traditions and to further open Lamalera up to tourism.
The Hunt For Whales
Villagers cleaning whale bones
The whaling season lasts from May to October, though whales and other marine life are being hunted year round.Since May this year 37 whales have been caught already. After five full days in Lamalera without a single Tena going out Sam and I were rready to leave. We had been told that no boats would go out the next few days due to too big waves around full moon. We had our bags packed and had just finished lunch when we heard the shout ‘Baleo’ echo around the village, which basically means that whales have been sighted and the men prepare everything to go to see. Here’s a little video of our experience:
The hunt was very emotional and confusing for me. I found that killing such a grand creature as a whale is far too easy. This experience was a lot of things, as Sam put it. It was very sad, but awesome at the same time; It was exciting and disturbing, and beyond all it was something neither of us is ever likely to forget!
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Dear Travellers…
My boss and I have seen your little video about whale hunting in Lamalera. But unfortunely our internet connection is not good, so we can’t see the video in good condition completely. I really hope (please…) if you could send me the copy of the CD to my address : Anita Keraf – Jln. Kayumanis Lama GG 5 No. 14, Jakarta 13140, Indonesia. For your information, Lamalera is my Hometown, but I was born in Jakarta, my parents come from there. I tried from long time ago to get the video of the Whale Hunt but so far I get nothing. Also my boss is eager to see the hunt of the whale after listening to my story about my village. So once again, I will be thankfull if you can grant my wish .
And hope your travel to Lamalera last time be a very good memory to you and hope that you can back again to Lamalera with some other friends of yours, and may be… who knows … we can met there.
Thank you for reading this my message and thank you for wrting nice thing about LAMALERA.
Regards,
Anita Keraf
Hello Anita,
no problem, I don’t know when exactly I’ll be able to send it, might be another few weeks. Right now I’m in East Timor and after that I’ll head up to Malukku, but you’ll get it. Promise.
I’ll send you the version before it was compressed, so you can play it in almost any player. The quality is better as well. Don’t expect too much of it, though. Personally I think the video could have been a lot better. Well, still glad you liked it so far…
Hi
I am a wildlife filmmaker based in South Africa. I would love to make a film about the Whale Hunters of Lamalera & would like to know if you have any contatcs there that I could chat to in order to get the right permissions from villagers etc?
Younus, I don’t think there is a telephone in Lamalera. There isn’t any internet, I know that. I couldn’t get any mobile reception neither while I was there. You’ll just have to turn up, I suppose…
Anita, I haven’t forgotten you! I’m back in Hervey Bay, Australia and I will send you the film in a few days…
Dear Sir,
I,m bernard krova a native Lamalera. I acknowledge U that, Indonesian Government and some of NGO’s such as WWF, WDWP, etc has a plan to declare as Savu Sea as a Whale Conservation Area which will declare during World Ocean Conference in Manado, South Sulawesi 11 – 15 May 2009. This is made an implication that Lamalerans will not allow anymore to hunt a whale. Do U mind to stand behind of us “Forum Peduli Lefo Lamalera and Tradisi Ola Nue” to protest against Indonesian Government?
We just established the above mentioned forum to become a bridge for Lamalerans Voices to protest against the ebove mentioned plan.
Thanks,
Bernard Krova
Coordinator Forum
Hello Bernard,
Thanks for your comment and sorry for not getting back to you sooner. While my experiences in Lamalera have been absolutely brilliant, as a whole I am opposed to whale hunting. While I was in Lamalera I was told that whale hunting will only be stopped if there are other options the village has on making a living. What would be the options Lamalera has now if whale hunting should be banned.
I do realize that making a living is only part of the problem. One should also consider the integral part whale hunting has on every day life and on very old traditions. You have to realize, though, that Lamalera cannot go on hunting these whales forever. While it might still be a bit too early for a ban on whaling for Lamalera (here I am not sure exactly what alternatives there are), Lamalera as a whole should make every effort it can to find alternative means of income.
At the moment I really do not have enough information on the whole situation to support your request, but please send me more material! I do hope you are successful in your petition, but I also hope that Lamalera has plans to give up whaling on its own sooner rather than later. Eventually you will have to agree to a complete stop, so you should make this step of your own accord.
Best Regards,
Boris
Dear Mr. Bo,
Have read the email from Mr. Bernard Krova, and really request you the same thing, since you already know a little bit about Lamalera.
Please support us in this matter.
Really appreciate if you forwards this matter to your colleagues
Thanks
-Anita Keraf-
Anita and Bernardus, I am David Nolin, an anthropologist who has conducted research in Lamalera in 1997, 1999, and 2006. I would like to help you if I can. Please email me at david_nolin @ hotmail.com and let me know what I can do. I won’t be able to attend the meeting in Sulawesi, but I may be able to write a report in support of Lamalera.
Those who wish to ban whaling in Lamalera should know:
1) The global population of sperm whales (the kind caught in Lamalera) is estimated at 360,000.
2) The average number of whales taken each year in Lamalera over the past thirty or so years is about 21. Lamalerans could hunt whales indefinitely at this rate and not have any impact on global populations.
3) While there are now motor boats in the village, these are not used to hunt sperm whale.
4) Going to Lamalera requires a minimum 6 days, round trip, from Bali. Tourists are simply not going to spend this much time to go “whale watching”. Converting to a tourist economy is not an alternative to whaling.
5) Over 1200 people live in Lamalera. The village is built on the slope of a rocky volcano. Some houses have gardens, but there is not enough land to support the entire village through farming.
6) Instead, Lamalerans trade with the agricultural groups of the interior to get maize, bananas, manioc, and other fruits and vegetables. These farmers depend on Lamalera to get protein from fish and whale meat.
7) There are therefore likely thousands of people whose lives depend on whaling in Lamalera.
8) Banning whaling would have an immediate and profound effect on the nutrition and diets of Lamalerans and other people from the south of Lembata. The consequence of this would be felt most by those most nutritionally most vulnerable: children and the elderly.
9) Whaling in Lamalera is not for recreation; it is not for profit; it is for survival. Banning whaling would likely have a cost measured in real people’s lives.
Dear Younus,
I’m Bernard Krova a Lamalerans. You can contact me directly thru my email : koteklema@yahoo.com or nar_krova@telkomsel.blackberry.com
I will help you if there is any plan for you to go to Lamalera.
rgds,
bernard krova
Can i ask whether is there any conservation measures have been taken to conserve the whaling culture in lamalera? If there are, what are some ways taken? I really need this information as soon as possible.
please reply me as soon as possible….
Dear Rainie,
Thanks for your message.
I can told U that there are no conservaion measures has been taken in respect of Lamalera’s whaling culture.
I am quite sure that Indonesian Government don,t have idea and plan to do that because they don’t have enough knowledge Lamaleran’s whaling culture.
We are Forum Masyarakat Peduli Tradisi Penangkapan Ikan Paus Lamalera now trying to find the way how to conserve the culture. So, we need input and idea from everybody who concern about that.
rgds,
Bernard Krova
Coordinator of Forum
I found out that PhotoVoices did some conservation measures can you tell me more about it?
http://www.photovoicesinternational.org/indonesia/lamalera.html
this is the website.
Reply me as soon as possible.
PhotoVoices is part of WWF and
what they did is same. Their main goal is banning whale hunting in Lamalera.
But i thought through this conservation, the villagers can learn more in depth on the culture and use them to compile into a book and educate the young to prevent this culture from being eroded?
If PhotoVoices’ plans is really for whaling cultute conservation of Lamalera than should be for a long period. But after they think that the project is enough to colletcted pictures directly used Lamaleran’s that they pulled out from Lamalera by years ago.
Now, the Lamalerans has protect themself which not allowed any NGO to come to Lamalera. Once again no NGO can be allow.
We are not need anybody out there come to break our tradition and culture.
rgds,
Bernard Krova
Coordinator of Forum
Conservation is good idea and the Lamalerans are not rejected the idea of a conservation. The main point is we are not agree a conservation with the implication will remove our local culture. Conservation should be based on local wishdom, hear what the local people need and combined with the rule of conservation common rule.
We have a plan to sit down together with the government to talk more about the conservation and how the conservation will apply with absed on local people need.
Is tourism being promoted there to conserve the culture? or can tourism help to conserve the culture?
So the conservation taken by Photovoices does not have any effect? Not useful, AT ALL? I read that the villagers understand mroe about their culture and were donated with 4 cameras to continue to take photos and send them whenever they got new stories and photos. isnt that helping?
please read the following message :
http://www.pos-kupang.com/index.php?speak=i&content=file_detail&jenis=14&idnya=24077&detailnya=1
Sorry, I am not from indonesia, so i dunno how to read that language. If possible, can find an english website for me? I am just interested in this conservation of lamalera. Really interested in this conservation, so would want to know more about the facts and details.
Also from this website – http://www.gaiadiscovery.com/latest-people/dr-lida-pet-soede-on-wwf-marine-conservation-breakthroughs.html – there is a part on PhotoVocies that says: …..The international whaling treaty exempts the people of Lamalera from the ban on whale hunting, on the grounds that this is a unique and traditional way of life…….so is it really true? Lamalera people are exempted from the ban on whale hunting? Does that really help in conserving and keeping this culture?
Reply me as soon as possible.
Thanks.
The international whaling treaty exempts the people of Lamalera from the ban on whale hunting, on the grounds that this is a unique and traditional way of life. Use of harpoons, for instance, is common. The project caught the villagers’ imaginations as they also used the images to teach their young ancient cultures while embracing new environmental concepts … YES, I read these statements more than 10 times. Also has been open and read the website of PhotoVoices for several times.
As I mentioned for you before that PhotoVoices is same with the WWF. Their main goal is same ….. From several documents such as Solor Alor Visual and Acoustic Cetacean Survey, August 2003, Indonesia Ocean Cetacean Program Activity Report, January 2005, The Solor and Alor Island Expeditions Result, Sep 2001 (most of the documents are provided by WWF Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy, APEX Environmental and Hendry Foundationa) I can tell you that main goal of the conservation plan is ‘whale watching tourism’. End of the program is to change the Lamalerans way of life from ‘whale hunting’ to becoma ‘whale watching’.
So what U think … !!!
So is true that there is this exemption?
The lamalera people are exempted from the ban of whaling? It is good right?
we are still under negotiate with government. no exemption for the time being.