Crocodile myths kept alive in SE Sulawesi<\/p>\n
RAWA AOPA, Southeast Sulawesi (JP): For the people who live in
\nthe Aopa and Mokaleleo villages around the swamp area, mentioning
\nRawa Aopa automatically brings to mind bokeo (the Bugis word for
\ncrocodile). Before Rawa Aopa became a national park area it was a
\ncommon place for swamp crocodiles. These wild animals lived and
\nbred in this area. And when they were flushed out by the
\nfishermen who burnt the swamp grass they went to other places.<\/p>\n
Some people think that the crocodiles that live around the big
\nSoutheast Sulawesi rivers come from here. Moreover, Rawa Aopa is
\na place where many rivers from the surrounding mountains end
\ntheir courses. That's why so many myths about bokeo come from
\nthis place and, are to this day, kept alive.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Karate, an old woman whose husband worked as a canoe-
\nkeeper warned: \"You can't take a canoe on Friday or bokeo will
\nbite you.\"<\/p>\n
She told me the story of the crocodile's victim, which took
\nplace many years ago. One day there was a fisherman who kept
\nlooking for fish on Fridays. He neglected his Friday prayers and
\ndidn't go to the mosque until he reached his third Friday. \"And
\ndo you know what happened to him? His canoe was broken and his
\nbody has never been found. He was attacked by bokeo.\"<\/p>\n
\"You also can't be arrogant and talk proudly about yourself
\nbecause bokeo will find you and eat you,\" she added.<\/p>\n
This belief has flourished with the Bugis, an ethnic group who
\nhail from South Sulawesi. On the other hand, most of the
\nindigenous people, the Tolaki ethnic group, have never cared for
\nthis belief. \"I think this belief is created with the purpose of
\nmaking people always obey their religion,\" said Membale, one of
\nthree forest-keepers whose duty is to guard the area.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered Rasyid, an ex-chairman from Mokaleleo
\nVillage, telling me, \"It's hard to find crocodiles nowadays. And
\nif he sees you first, he would run away before you could look at
\nhim. It is different from the past when the flood was coming, and
\nRawa Aopa was engulfed by swamp water. You could see many
\ncrocodile eyes looking like a thousand fireflies when you crossed
\nover the bridge with a lamp.\"<\/p>\n
Where are they now? I asked myself, trying to find an answer,
\nuntil I met an old man, a \"crocodile dundee\" from the past called
\nHusanan. He said that when he was a young boy, he spent his life
\nhunting crocodiles. He has caught many crocodiles, maybe
\nhundreds.<\/p>\n
\"I went with two of my friends before the sun went down. We
\ncould go for two or three days, crossing the dangerous zone where
\nthere were probably many crocodiles. If we were lucky, we could
\nbring three crocodiles home,\" said the grandfather of 40
\ngrandchildren.<\/p>\n
When hunting crocodiles he was able to obtain much more money
\nthan by fishing. So, he could support his big family -- a wife
\nand 14 children. He was never afraid of wild animals because he
\nknew how to treat them. For example, to drive away a crocodile
\nwhen you are crossing the swamp, you must slap repeatedly on the
\ncanoe. The noise frightens the crocodile and it will go away.<\/p>\n
I remembered my experience when we were crossing the crocodile
\narea downstream. That day was a rainy one. We were rowing against
\nthe stream. Suddenly, the bottom of our canoe scraped over
\nsomething. We thought that it was a tree trunk, but it moved.
\n\"Bokeo...bokeo!\" shouted my canoe-keeper as he repeatedly slapped
\nthe floor of the canoe. As we rowed away, I could see something
\nswimming underwater, moving away from us.<\/p>\n
Nowadays crocodiles at Rawa Aopa are probably afraid of
\nhumans, but we must still be careful. A plank with the picture of
\na crocodile is fixed to the front of the Rawa Aopa bridge. It is
\na warning to people around that behind its beauty and
\ntranquility, this swamp is still dangerous and wild. (Ariyanti
\nHandayani)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/crocodile-myths-kept-alive-in-se-sulawesi-1447893297",
"image": ""
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