'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.