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Moseley Chimes
February 2008
This year the theme of the Epiphany Community Worship service at St. Mary’s was Journeys. During the service Peter asked me to talk briefly about my travels last summer. Later several people came up to me and asked more about what I had been doing and why I had been travelling. I am a final year student at the University of Durham where I am reading Anthropology. Last year, in association with the conservation charity Operation Wallacea, I spent some time in a remote region of Indonesia. My journey out took five days and included three flights, several trips by motor boat and finally a ride in a canoe. For the next eight weeks I was to live with the people of a small fishing community.
Sampela is a village off the main island of Kaledupa in the Sulawesi region of Indonesia. It was formed in the 1960’s following the State’s politically enforced decision that a traditionally nomadic and free community, the Sama di Laut, should settle. Sampela is home to roughly 250 families who live in houses elevated above the sea by stilts and/or coral platforms. The Sama di Laut people have a unique and rich culture and are one of the only communities to have traditionally existed entirely at sea. Many aspects of Sama di Laut life are directly linked with belief in Mbo Madilaut — Spirits of the Sea. I went out there to research the role and influence of these Sea Spirits within the Sama di Laut’s traditional cultural life. I soon realised that nearly all Sampelan people believe in the existence of the Sea Spirits and have a very close personal relationship with them. This recognition was to become the basis of my final dissertation.
Over the years the Islamic state has enforced many economic, political and religious changes in the Sulawesi region with resultant disrespect for the traditional Sama di Laut lifestyle and complete disregard for the role of the Sea Spirits in people’s lives. I rapidly became aware that the people of Sampela are regarded as being on the outskirts of society and, in the interests of progress, their spiritual engagement with their environment is often neglected by conservation authorities. I spent two months living in Sampela conducting an assessment of the role of the Sea Spirits in the lives of the Sama di Laut. Whilst there I experienced a very different way of life; one where people depend on each other for food supplies, eat sea urchins, dive for pearls and spend whole days at sea fishing. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the people and was regularly followed around by curious groups of small children who greeted me with a pinch when ever they saw me! Like them I moved between the huts on narrow bridges — often only one plank wide — and, as I picked my way with care, I marvelled at their sure footedness. Whilst I worried about the sea snakes that moved below they were seemingly unconcerned. Everywhere I went I was greeted with smiles.
I soon realised that there need not be a stark divide between traditional Sama di Laut and the nation state but that the two could coexist. Traditional Sama di Laut notions of `sharing and caring’ can still carry weight and are increasingly supported by Islamic values as supported by the State. The peoples’ ecological knowledge is a rich source of information regarding species and habitats and their lifestyle is an essential part of their heritage and should be preserved. The fishing practices chosen by Sama di Laut are, in fact, conserving the environment. Before I left the results of my research were presented to government representatives of Sulawesi together with a project emphasising the respect which it is our duty to have for one another. My return to Moseley was in many ways a cultural shock. My time in Sampela was an experience I will never forget and, one day, I should love to revisit the area.