Watu Ho'o[Uma]View

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Watu Ho'o iha Boile, suco Bahu, Baucau. Fatin bolu Watu Ridi maibé uma bolu Watu Ho'o. Boile iha fatin tolu: Weu Ho'o iha tasi; Watu Ho'o iha abut laran; ida fali iha leten besik aeroportu. Iha leten uluk avo mane sai ba kaben ho Au Baka/Kai Leki. Nia sai Xefe Liurai iha leten. Boile mos uluk kaben ho feto ida husi Wabubu. Relasasaun ida-ne’e mós liga ho istória Kai Bada, Tiri Lolo no Wabubu. 

Kona-ba Uma Watu Ho’o iha Boile nia “layout”:

Kuartu laran uma nian fahe ba seksaun ne’ebé suporta husi riin prinsipál haat no riin ki’ik liu rua. Seksaun sira-ne’e fahe ba fatin rituál mane no feto nian ho oadamatan ketak. Seksaun sira liga ba malu liuhusi odamatan iha uma laran. Dalan tama ba seksaun ida-idak mak liuhsi eskada ai. Eskada ai ne’ebé ema sa’e hodi tama ba seksaun mane nian iha dezeñu kompleksu. Seksaun mane iha ahi-fatin rua ne’ebé uza hodi prepara hahán rituál (na’an, etu no batar). Riin mane no feto nian nian iha uma laran mak fatin ba karan/sakrifísiu no hamulak. Durante serimónia sira, objetu rituál sira (hanesan surik, diman, tais no ornamentu sira) rai iha riin sorin. Funsaun prinsipál husi uma ida-ne’e mak atu halibur komunidade uma nian hodi partisipa iha rituál sau hare no sau batar. 

Ema sei oho no oferese manu-aman balu ba bei’ala sira durante serimónia sau batar hodi garante katak uma-na’in no nia família sira sei hetan matak malirin iha tempu futuru. Hafoin rituál ida-ne’e ema hotu-hotu sei halibur malu iha uma laran no iha li’iur hodi han ai-han ne’ebé prepara tiha ona iha dapur iha li’iur. 

Uma Watu Ho’o heta estragu tanba ahi han iha tinan 1964. Feto ne’ebé hein uma ne’e mate iha momentu nia koko atu salva uma nia sasán lulik sira iha laran. Iha tinan 1991 de’it mak harii fali. Molok ida-ne’e uma ne’e nia kakuluk halo uluk, hafoin mak harii nia fundasaun. Uluk mós harii uza pregu. Iha loron inaugurasaun uma na’in nia alin feto mate derrepente de’it. Tinan hirak tuirmai, uma-na’in jerasaun foun mehi katak anin huu uma ne’e to’o lakon. Sira deside atu sobu uma ne’e no harii fila fali, hasai pregu no kesi fali ho tali metan. 

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Watu Ho’o is located in Boile in the suku of Bahu. The place is known as Watu Ridi but the house is called Watu Ho’o. Boile spreads across three sites: Weu Ho’o by the sea; Watu Ho’o in the spring groves and up near the airport. Up there it is said that a male ancestor  wed with a woman from Au Baka/Kai Leki. He became the leader of that area. The house of Boile is also intermarried with the ruling house of Bahu, Wabubu. This relationship is also connected with the story of Kai Bada, Tiri Lolo and Wabubu. 

The layout of the house of Watu Ho’o in Boile, Baucau:

The inner chambers of the house feature raised compartments supported by four main pillars and two subsidiary pillars set over compacted soil. These compartments are ritually separated male and female spaces with separate entrance doors. The compartments are connected by a shared inner door. The main entrances to each compartment are accessed via wooden ladders, which in the case of the male compartment is ornately carved. The entrances to the house and the raised inner chambers are north facing. The male space contains a fireplace with hearths set for two fires. These are used for the preparation of ritual food (meat and rice or corn). The male and female pillars which rise from the ground through the compartments are the main sites for offerings and prayer. During ceremonies, ritual objects (swords/spears/ jewellery/woven cloth) and offerings of betel nut, food and water are placed by both poles. Most of these ritual objects are kept in cases/baskets by the male pole side of the house. A large earthen water pot is kept by the female pole by the inner connecting door. A major function of the house is to bring house members together for the annual harvest rituals of rice and corn.

A number of roosters are offered to the ancestors during the saur batar (corn harvest) ceremony. These rituals ensure all house members and their families received the blessing of matak malirin (greening coolness) for their own wellbeing and the agricultural year ahead. Following this ritual, everyone gathered below the compartments inside and outside of the house to share in the consumption of the ritually blessed food and other foods which had been prepared in outside kitchens.

The Watu Ho’o house was burnt down in a fire in 1964. The female keeper of the house died in the fire whilst trying to save the house’s sacra. It was not rebuilt until 1991. At that time the thatched roof had been completed prior to the completion of the base of the house. The house had also been constructed with the use of nails. The day the house was inaugurated the senior house custodian’s sister had suddenly died. Years later the next generation custodian of the houses dreamt that the house had been blown away. They decided it was time to pull down and rebuild the entire house, removing the nails and retying it with black sugar palm rope (tali metan). The roof was then rethatched.