By Yacob J. Herin

By Yacob J. Herin

LAMAOLE, Solor, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): A "new day" sets in
every year between July 16 and July 18 for the people in Lewotana
Ole village, some 15 kilometers south of Rita Ebang, capital of
West Solor district, East Flores regency, East Nusa Tenggara
province.

At that time they celebrate Wuu Hori (a new day). One day
before the celebration, people take out their Wua (sacred objects
with magic power), like krises, gold rings, gold chains, jewelry
and precious stones.

Only certain people, like landlords, have Wua, which can only
be viewed once in a year. The rare opportunity is never passed up
by people who want to see and feel the magic power. They pay
door-to-door visits to the houses of the owners of the sacred
objects. During the visits some people carry cotton and rub it on
the sacred objects. The cotton is then attached to the end of a
bow or a javelin.

"People believe that with the cotton, they will succeed if
they hunt with the weapon," said Kitong Keraf, 74, a landlord.

Landlords play an important role in the Lewotana Ole village.
They are respected by people and are treated as public figures.
The village has a population of about 1,500 who live in two
hamlets, Lamaku and Lamaole.

People earn their living by nomad cultivation, fishing from
the sea, sapping from palms to make sugar, and hunting. For
women, after the harvest time they pick cotton, spin yarn, weave
and plait cloth.

The village has a church and a grade school with 55 pupils and
two part-time and two full-time teachers. The school was built on
a self-supporting basis by local people in 1955.

The ceremony of the Wuu Hori celebration in Lewotana Ole
village is held at a meeting place called nuba nama.

There are still two nuba nama in the village. In these places
people hold meetings, traditional ceremonies and also settle any
conflicts.

"All problems in the village must compulsorily be settled at
the nuba nama," said Hitong Keraf.

In the "new day" ceremony, the landlords are obliged to read a
mantra, asking the sun and the moon to bless them throughout the
year with sufficient rain for an abundant harvest, said Hitong
Keraf. The ceremony continues with a banquet.

On the second night a special meal is on the program. It is
called Rengki (rice put in a basin), and consists of a bottle of
Mokeh (distilled white wine) and a bowl of cooked coconut milk, a
roasted cock put on the rice and a clove cigarette which is put
in the cock's mouth.

Before dinner starts the landlord who leads the ceremony says
a prayer: "Oh, moon and sun, please protect us." After the prayer
the landlord takes a handful of rice and a piece of meat as food
to give to the souls of the ancestors who have preceded them.

A few weeks after the Rengki dinner, people are ordered to get
ready for opening new fields because normally the rainy season is
about to arrive. The landlords must initiate the opening of new
fields. The same takes place at the planting season in regions
with rare animals like the komodo, the small yellow bird of
paradise, the white cockatoo and the eagle.

On the first day of planting rice and corn in the landlord's
fields, an animal slaughter ceremony is held, said Yohanes
Kewuan, 65, a village elder.

A male goat is tied up together with a number of baskets of
rice and corn plants which will be made "superior" seeds and
sowed exactly in the middle of the field. The goat is killed to
see its "heart veins", which is believed to indicate if there
will be adequate rain or not in the planting season to come.

If the prediction indicates there will not be sufficient rain,
the people must hold a ceremony to ask for more. The ceremony is
held in a traditional house. An old woman is seated with crossed
legs holding in her lap a water container called Kumbang. A
number of young women fill it to the brim with water. While they
are filling the container, the villagers are shouting that the
rain has fallen. They believe that the sky above Lamaole village
will be overcast and it will rain.

In the ceremony of opening new fields, the blood of the
slaughtered goat is splashed on the seeds of corn and rice, and
these are distributed to those present for planting. The goat is
grilled and then eaten together.

In order to harvest rice and corn, a ceremony must also be
held in the landlord's house by roasting young corn to be
distributed to all the small children in the village. Only after
the ceremony are the villagers free to cut the corn.

If a plant disease attacks the field, the landlord orders
people to pick leaves and roots as a way to chase the disease,
according to customs elder Hermina Hinggi Keban, 68.

The ingredients are then assembled and splashed with animal
blood. Then they are distributed to all the inhabitants and
attached to the end of a piece of bamboo or wood, and planted at
the entrance of the village, on the rooftop of houses and in the
four corners of the fields. Another part is pounded, mixed with
water and splashed on all the rice and corn plants. It is
believed that the disease will die or fly off leaving the plants
and the fields.