Bajo people say they live in harmony with surroundings

Bajo people say they live in harmony with surroundings

Hasrul, The Jakarta Post, Kendari

It was very hot and the wind from the sea blew softly on the
coastal areas of the Wakatobi islands late one morning when Nira,
40, fanned the flames on a stove in the space underneath her
stilted house.

Then she stirred the raci, gastropod-like shells, which were
almost done in the frying pan. Her lips and tongue were red as
she continually chewed betel leaves and lime.

The well-cooked shells were then taken to one corner of the
house. Nira drained the water away from the raci and threw the
water away.

While do this she greeted, in Bajo language, the people
passing by in their boats. Meanwhile, Tao, her small daughter,
was busy extracting the flesh from the shells with wooden
pincers.

Raci is a favorite dish for the Bajo Sampela people. The
shells must first be cooked for two hours and then the meat is
taken out and cooked again in a mixture of spices. The Bajo
Sampela people usually have raci for lunch. Often, it is mixed
with steamed cassava and formed into a conical shape.

Nira and her family live in Sama Bahari village in the coastal
area of Kaledupa. Her house, just like those of hundreds of other
Bajo people, stands on a slab of rock, locally called apo, which
is also the foundation of the house.

In Sampela and in other coastal areas of the Wakatobi islands,
where other Bajo groups live, raci is a common dish. "Eating it,
for us, is like smoking. It's better not to eat rice than not to
eat raci," Nira said about the relationship between raci and the
local residents, who usually go about barefoot, put on a thick
layer of powder on their face or swim in the sea dozens of times
a day.

'Apo' an integral element

In a single day, the Bajo Sampela people, comprising 216
families, consume some 300 kilograms of raci. They also sell the
shells to other islands for about Rp 18,000 per kilogram.

Locals stopped looking for raci and apo a long time ago
because the government prohibits these activities. "Marine life
might be damaged," said Laeto, a Bajo fisherman.

Dark-skinned Laeto, in his 50s, said that his people were very
concerned about the environment. No matter what island they live
on, they never damage the environment. "We never kill the birds.
We never collect wild orchids from the forest. We do not engage
in illegal logging," he said.

The Bajo people carry out their activities at sea, something
quite unusual for most people. "Many people, who live on the
land, say that our lives are difficult. However, we can survive
just fine. Life is easy for me and my kids. We can just wear our
sarongs. The most important thing is that all my children are
good at fishing," Laeto said.

The Bajo people have lived in the coastal area of Sampela
since the 1950s and they fully rely on their fishing haul to
survive. At first, they lived in the coastal area of Mantigola,
to the west of Kaledupa, then the home of most Bajo people.

Unfortunately, the arrival of pirates caused them to scatter.
In Sampela, the 216 Bajo families occupy an area much larger than
the Bajo dwelling place in Mola, Wangiwangi district, where
about 8,000 live.

Water is the source of life for the Bajo people. Apart from
being fishermen, they also collect raci and apo. To make sure
that there is apo in a certain place, they use a bamboo stick,
known locally as tokong, which they will hold close to their ear.

Their instincts will then tell them whether they can find apo
or not in that particular place. To obtain a boatload of apo, a
collector sometimes has to dive to a depth of some 10 meters. Apo
is sold for between Rp 20,000 - Rp 40,000 per boat. "Again, the
government has forbidden the collection of apo now," said Laeto,
dejected.

Modernity accepted, too

Nira and the other Bajo fishermen may seem to many an isolated
tribe. While using her kuhu, an instrument used to find lice,
Nira said that the Bajo people also accepted modernization. Her
children, for example, use toothpaste, soap and shampoo.

They also buy blue jeans for Idul Fitri. However, they are
still not used to wearing sandals or shoes. Some of them tried to
wear shoes but found it difficult to walk. Besides, the shoes
also hurt their feet.

In their small houses, the Bajo women make fires, bathe their
children and also deliver their babies. Bajo babies are usually
healthy, although some are born deaf.

However, the Bajo people have their own perception about
deafness. For them, this is a sign of a good diver who can
descend to a depth of 20 meters. Generally, only one in every 100
Bajo people dies while diving.

Bajo people in different parts of the country have something
in common: their boats. They also speak the Bajo language. "Our
Bajo language is the same everywhere, with the exception of the
accent," Laeto said.

Chris Majors, a U.S. anthropologist who has spent a decade
studying the Bajo people in the Kaledupa coastal area, said that
the they believed that their ancestor, Umbo Mandilao, lives in
the sea and will always ensure the sea is an inexhaustible source
for their livelihoods.

That is why the Bajo people freely use explosives and other
means of destruction when collecting fish. The Bajo people
believe that their Umbo Mandilao will always supply them with new
fish.

Preserving their culture

Cultural diversity in the Bajo community is maintained through
a humanitarian approach. Efforts are made to make them understand
the significance of preserving their indigenous culture without
harming their beliefs.

Majors says that the Bajo people, who speak the Boang Sama
language, will need a long time to preserve their culture in view
of their way of thinking.

Indeed, the problems that the Bajo people face in their lives
will affect the way they behave. For them, education and health
are very difficult problems.

Research conducted by the Bajo Mattila Foundation documents
how the people have been neglected by the government. The school
curriculum for the Bajo children, for example, is not directly
related to their real needs.

"Bajo kids aged five are very good at fishing in the sea. They
do not go to school. That's why only about 30 percent of school-
aged Bajo children actually attend. They go to school because of
their friends. When they get fed up with the school, they will
return to the sea to fish," said Majors.

He hopes that the government will devise a special curriculum
for the Bajo children. They would be able to study on the beach,
for example, and Bajo language could be used as the medium of
instruction.