'Sasi', Haruku's style of conservation management
'Sasi', Haruku's style of conservation management
By Binny Buchori
HARUKU, Ambon (JP): Three arumbai, the traditional boats of Maluku, decorated in coconut leaves, suddenly appear from afar and, as if on command, swivel and start circling three approaching yellow speedboats.
Aboard the arumbai are men and boys, all in white T-shirts, rowing the boats vigorously, some singing a traditional song ".... mae opo ina ...", "welcome to our village."
Thus started the ceremony of buka sasi in Haruku -- a small island in the eastern part of Ambon -- an event that most local communities look forward to, since on that day, people are allowed to harvest as many lompa fish, a type of anchovy, as they like.
Buka sasi can be translated as open season, or harvest time. The latest harvest time in Haruku, on Nov. 13 last year, was special.
"We haven't been able to carry out buka sasi for three years," explained Eliza Kissya, the head of the traditional council, Kewang.
That the event was special was obvious to the passengers of the speedboats on entering the village. Women in their traditional dresses, red check sarongs and long kebayas and red scarfs stood along the village roads and joined the local big band who played a number of traditional Maluku songs. They walked the guests -- researchers from various environmental study centers from universities across Indonesia -- to the village hall.
Sasi is a traditional system to manage the use of natural resources and to ensure its equal distribution amongst the communities. Under this system, people are prohibited from taking certain types of natural riches during a certain period of time from a certain area (closed season -- tutup sasi) and are allowed to harvest only when the time is right (open season -- buka sasi).
Sasi used to be widely practiced in Maluku province. It is believed that in Haruku sasi started in 1600. According to Eliza Kissya, in his book entitled Sasi Aman Haru-Ukui (Jakarta: Yayasan Sejati, 1993), sasi is an effort to conserve and preserve the population and quality of the natural resources.
"Because the regulations in sasi also concern the relations between human beings and nature, and between members of the community, sasi is basically an effort to order relations between community members, including an effort to distribute natural resources or income from natural resources to all community members," Eliza wrote.
Based on the principle, Haruku recognizes a number of sasi, i.e. marine sasi, river sasi, forest sasi, and village sasi. Each sasi regulates human relations with nature, and includes sanctions against transgressors. In marine sasi, for example, it is forbidden to fish in the sasi area with any type of fishing gears, except with nets. The river sasi includes rules against collecting the anchovy species during closed season, washing fish on the river banks, washing cutlery and dishes in the river, bathing jointly with the opposite sex in the river. Regulations in village sasi include rules against being noisy on Saturday nights, against fishing on Sundays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time, against drying clothes on fences, and throwing grass in the river.
"We prohibit people from making noisy parties on Saturday night because Sunday is a praying day for us, we go to church every Sunday, so on Saturday nights we contemplate and concentrate," Oom Elli explained.
Violators of the sasi regulations are punished. Anyone washing dishes or disturbing lompa in the river, for example, will be fined Rp 2,500. The fine may not be substantial, but the shame the violators suffer is the essence of these sanctions.
'Kewang'
The implementation of sasi is controlled by the Kewang, a traditional institution authorized by the Dewan Adat (Customary Council). The Kewang has existed ever since sasi was practiced. The tasks of the Kewang are to control the implementation of sasi and impose punishments on violators. Every Friday evening the Kewang meets and discusses cases that have arisen in the village.
In Haruku, the Kewang consists of Land Kewang, Marine Kewang, assistants of Land and Marine Kewang, a secretary, a treasurer and members. Kewang members are elected from each family (soa), while head of the Kewang (land and marine) is a hereditary title.
Eliza Kissya, better-known as Oom (Uncle) Elli, is Kewang head who has held the position since 1979. It was Oom Elli and the former Raja (village head) of Haruku, Berthy Ririmase, who revived the Kewang system. For their effort, in 1985 they were awarded the prestigious Kalpataru award -- the award for communities/individuals who initiate environment conservation and preservation.
When Oom Elli became the Kewang head, the institution was not functioning. Moreover, only a few members of the community were aware of the sasi system. Many studies and researchers suggest that this is due to the implementation of the Environmental Law No. 5/1979, which reorganized and restructured the village-level government system. The law imposed a national system, where traditional institutions such as the Customary Council and Kewang do not have the authority to regulate and govern the villages any more.
Haruku is known for its sasi lompa. According to researches, it is only in Haruku that people implement sasi for lompa, the anchovy species.
"Economically, it is not very useful," said a researcher of the Environmental Study Center, Pattimura University of Ambon. "Thus people do not preserve it because of its economic value, but more for its social and traditional value."
The sasi lompa tradition is closely related to the legend widely believed in Haruku. As recalled by Oom Elli in his book, the legend says that lompa came to the village as a present from the Seram crocodiles to the Haruku crocodiles who helped them fight their enemy, a big snake.
In reality, the lompa fish helps the Haruku community survive the difficult time. "During the western monsoon, when we cannot fish, we depend on the lompa. Lompa, mixed with spices, garlic, nutmeg and clove can last for a year," Oom Elli explained to his guests, the researchers from numerous environmental study centers, who visited Haruku last November, as part of their training in coastal zone management organized by the Environmental Study Centre.
In addition to making lompa a survival food, the community also makes lompa into various dishes and sends them to their relatives who live outside Haruku.
On the eve of Nov. 12, around 8 p.m., the Kewang of Haruku gathered in Oom Elli's house. Dressed in Kewang clothes -- long- sleeved black shirts with red scarfs around their neck -- they looked very dignified. They were ready to start panas sasi, the first program of open sasi, which is preceded by dinner in the house of the Kepala Kewang, and continued with a prayer asking for God's blessing for the success of the open sasi.
The bright house of Oom Elli suddenly became brighter when the Kewang lit their torches, made of dry coconut leaves. In the drizzle, Oom Elli led the Kewang, all clutching the burning torches, to the village to declare the opening of the sasi.
The procession stopped when they reached Batu Kewang, the center of sasi in the village where they made the bonfire. One Kewang started hitting the tifa (traditional drum) and another blew into a big shell, making the atmosphere more solemn. Oom Elli, full of rigor, waved his hand and declared in local language that the buka sasi had started.
Amidst the wavy flames from the bonfire and torches, another Kewang member read the types of sasi, the regulations and the sanctions in ancestral local language, which was then repeated in Bahasa Indonesia.
This ceremony was repeated in every crossroad of the village and ended at past midnight in front of the village hall. The Kewang then went home to prepare for the next program, bakar lobe (burning the torches). Around 3 a.m. the following morning, the Kewang gathered again in the Kewang's house located at the river estuary to have breakfast. With the burning torches, they went to the river estuary to make the bonfire. The blazing light from their torches and the bonfire would attract the lompa to enter the river and into the area where they had put the net barrier so that the lompa would not return to the sea.
Oom Elli solemnly led the ceremony, the burning torch in his right hand, while his eyes kept watching the water, waiting for the first group of lompa to approach the light. Just at the break of dawn the color of the river suddenly became black, indicating that thousands of lompa had entered the area,
"It is such an amazing view," commented an onlooker and Oom Elli looked relieved.
Harvest time
When the lompa entered the area, the Kewang shifted their attention to the preparations for the big event. They ensured that the net which functioned as a barrier was securely locked in its place and checked everything was in order.
At around 8 a.m. people started flocking the river, waiting anxiously for the Kewang's sign to start collecting the lompa. No one was allowed to take anything until the Kewang gave the sign.
Under the bright weather, people could clearly see the lompa swimming to and fro, eager to get away, and as the tide was getting low, the lompa started jumping around, creating an amazing view, like a fountain made of anchovy fish. And suddenly the first net was thrown, followed by other hundreds of pairs of hands, using nets, bowls, anything that they could use to gather the fish. Men, women, children, teen-agers, young and old, all jumped into the river and had a feast, taking the fish to their hearts' content.
Those who caught the fish threw them on the river banks and anyone could collect them.
"Actually, they are not allowed to take the fish prior to the sign from Kewang, the ceremony and prayer, but after three years of absence, the excitement is understandable," Oom Elli explained.
The situation was, indeed, beyond control, as those who joined the harvest were not only people from Haruku but from Ambon and other islands, and even Haruku people who live in other islands outside Maluku.
Thus, as the young researcher from the Environmental Study Centre put it, "It is tradition that draw people to catch the lompa. The ritual value is stronger than the economic value."
The buka sasi lompa usually lasts for one to two days, during which people move from one spot to another, chasing for the spot that has the lowest tide to harvest the lompa.
Even though the lompa may not have a very high economic value, it does make an appreciable contribution to the community's income. In 1991, the total amount of lompa harvested reached 20 tons and in 1985 it reached 35 tons.
The success of the sasi lompa of course depends on whether the Kewang and sasi will sustain amongst the rapid changes that are taking place in the Haruku communities.