Mau Bisi Mauloko Sidau Lakoda (Tartehi) iha uma lulik hitu (Mambae: fad luli hitu) iha suku Maubisse. Knua naran Tartehi maibé naran boot Mau Bisi Mau Loko Sidau Lakoda.  Uma lisan hitu naran Tauit, Hatiliu Liurai, Gorfu, Felafu, Asmeta no Hatudosa.

Mau Bisi Mauloko Sidau Lakoda ukun uma lisan haat-nulu, balu hanesan oan, sira balu ketak. Sira hotu iha relasaun fetosaa umane (hanesan sanak). Rai ida ne'e inklui aldeia tolu: Telituku, Lekitehi, Rileku no liga mós ho aldeia Kolala ho Fatulili.

Maubisi-Mauloko mak naran tradisionál ba reinu ida ne’ebé inklui vila Maubisi hanesan kapitál sub-distritu. Husi Maubisi vila ba oeste ita bele hetan kompleksu rituál importante liu iha area ida-ne’e ne’ebé foka ba uma fukun hitu (Mambae: Fad Lulin) ho naran Tartehi (ka formál liu “Tartehi-Telituku.”) Uma hun seniór iha kompleksu ida-ne’e mak Felafu ne’ebé ema koñese ho naran “fad hun” hanesan uma hun feto ne’ebé maluk ho uma hun mane Tau’it. Hamutuk ho grupu uma sanak lima (Asumeta, Hatudosa, Gorfu, Hatiliu ho Liurai), grupu ne’e reprezenta aliansa polítiku no kulturál tempu naruk ne’ebé ukun iha reinu ida-ne’e (rai ida). Tartehi mak rai husar ba reinu ida-ne’e no uma lulik (fad lisan) sira. Iha reinu tomak iha uma grupu haatnulu ne’ebé liga ba malu hanesan oan husi uma hun Tartehi ka hanesan uma-feton / uma-naan. 

Iha istória kona-ba reinu ne’e nia orijen, ema konta katak moris fo-foun mosu iha foho fatuk metan nia rai-lolon iha fatin ida naran Slata Fu’u. Iha ne’e mak kriatura moris dahuluk mosu ho forma samea. Tuirmai mosu ahi no to’o ikus maun-alin na’in rua. Sira na’in-rua hahú halo viajen hodi buka fatin di’ak atu hela ne’ebé indika ho naroman iha nakukun laran. Uluk sira hakat ba diresaun sul liuhosi Hatubuilico no foho Ramelau nia tutun. Durante viajen ne’e alin husik hela nia maun iha nakukun no fila ba Slata Fu’u no iha foho ki’ik hateke ba Tartehi, alin ne’e nia isin kona naroman nabilan husi fulan. Akontesimentu ida-ne’e hatudu alin ne’e nia kbiit atu buka no hetan matenek/naroman no liuhosi meius ida-ne’e Tartehi mosu hanesan sentru rituál ne’ebé importante liu iha reinu ne’e.  

Horiuluk ema sira arraska kuda to’os iha sira-nia kintál no momentu ne’ebá ema konta katak iha juramentu ida entre ema no laho boot atu ke’e bee dalan naruk ida liuhosi foho-leet Lefa-Dai hodi nune’e bee udan bele suli to’o tasi mane. Ema sira hatán atu selu osan-mean no osan-mutin ba laho sira ba sira-nia serbisu. Laho sira ke’e duni bee-dalan ne’e maibé sira hili atu la simu osan-mean ka osan-mean no hili atu han modo husi ema sira-nia to’os. Ema sira konkorda no hahú momentu ne’ebá laho boot sira bele han de’it batar nia ibun no parte boot liu ema sira mak han. Husi kolaborasaun ho benefísiu ba parte rua ne’e mosu mai foho sira mosu hodi fó protesaun ba bee-matan, fatuk no uma lulik sira iha Tartehi (tuir Joaquim Mendonsa, 24/8/19).

Uma “Laek Odamata” (Tetun: “Loke Odamatan”) liga ba Maubisi-Mauloko no uma lisan hitu Tartehi nian. Uma ne’e mak uma-feton ne’ebé maluk ho uma-naan “Fad Koi Leki.” Uma ai no piku orijinál hetan sunu bainhira Indonézia tama fo-foun to’o ikus harii fila fali durante fulan haat iiha tinan 2017. Serimónia ikus hodi inaugura uma foun Laek Odamata (Mambae: “fad mera”) hala’o iha fulan Setembru tinan 2019. Serimónia inaugurasaun hotu tiha, uma ne’e muda husi uma-mean (Mambae: “fad mera”) ba uma-been (Mambae: “fad erang”). Fetosaa umane hotu partisipa iha serimónia ida-ne’e. Felafu ho Mau’osk nu’udar fetosaa mak tama uluk iha serimónia. Uma Koi Leki harii fila fali iha tinan 2004.

Iha reinu Maubisi-Mauloko iha etapa 11 iha uma ida nia prosesu tranzisaun husi uma “la kompletu” ba uma moris ne’ebé hetan ona autorizasaun (Mambae: Fad Erang / Tetun: Uma Been). Sumáriu husi etapa sira-ne’e mak hanesan tuirmai ne’e:

1.	Tesi ai: Komunidade oho animál iha fatin tesi ai no raan rega ba ai-tuuk sira. Loloos ai ne’e tenke lori ho liman ba fatin konstrusaun. 
2.	Ke kuak no harii ai-riin feto ho mane
3.	Fokit du’ut, lalin du’ut
4.	Suku uma
5.	Fetosaa umane sira tama hotu
6.	Kuku Saen ba kakuluk hatún fahi larus ho manu. Kuku Saen baku manu nia ulun ba kakuluk nia tutun no soe tun manu ho fahi larus. Iha momentu ne’e 
         uma muda husi “Fad Mera” ba “Fad Erang.” Fetosaa sira koko atu kaer fahi larus ne’ebé soe ona husi leten.
7.	Haree manu nia ain ho ulun ba ne’ebé: ema hotu-hotu hateke ba manu hodi haree nia ulun ba diresaun saida. Ho ida-ne’e sira bele hatene uma ne’e sei 
        presiza harii fila fali bainhira. Manu ne’e fó ba uma umane ida. 
8.	Hotu simu bua malus: partisipante hotu iha serimónia ne’e simu bua malus ne’ebé hetan bensa ona. Agora daudaun bua malus ne’e hetan iha Besilau, 
        Aileu (uluk bua hetan iha Viqueque no malus iha Likisá). 
9.	Fahi larus fahe ba fetosaa.
10.  Karau kuda ba Tiun sira (umane).
11.  Selu badain sira (ho osan ka sasán).
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Mau Bisi Mauloko Sidau Lakoda (Tartehi) is comprised of seven ancestral houses (Mambae: “fad luli hitu”) within the suku of Maubisse. The hamlet is called Tartehi but its full name is Mau Bisi Mauloko Sidau Lakoda. The seven ancestral houses are: Tauit, Hatiliu Liurai, Gorfu, Felafu, Asmeta and Hatudosa. 

Mau Bisi Mauloko Sidau Lakoda controls forty ancestral houses, some offshoots of the main house and other separate. They are all either fertility-givers or -takers. This land includes the villages of Telituku, Lekitehi and Rileku and is also connected to the villages of Kolala and Fatulili. 

Maubisi-Mauloko is the traditional name for the domain that includes the named regional capital, Maubisi, within its boundaries. To the west of Maubisi town centre is the central ritual complex of the domain, organised around seven founding ritual houses (M: fad lulin – sacred houses) and known by the name, Tartehi (or more formally, Tartehi-Telituku). The senior founding house of this complex, Felafu is referred to as the fad hun – the symbolic ‘female’ source or root house, which is paired with the symbolically ‘male’ source house of Tau’it. Together with the other five subsidiary house groups, Asumeta, Hatudosa, Gorfu, Hatiliu and Liurai, the cluster constitutes an enduring ritual and political alliance providing the collective authority over the domain (one land - rai ida). Tartehi is the umbilical centre (rai husar) of the domain and its constituent fad lisan (M) [T: Uma lulik] sacred houses. Across the domain up to 40 distinctive subsidiary groups relate to one another as ‘child houses’ or progeny of the Tartehi centre and/or feton no naan (sister-older brother) houses.

In recounting the origins of the domain – it is recalled that that life came into being in the black stone scree slope on the adjacent hillside known as Slata Fu’u.2 It is at Slata Fu’u that the first living beings emerged in snake form, followed by fire and eventually two human brothers. The brothers set off on a journey to find a suitable settlement which would be signaled by a shining light in the perpetual darkness. They first headed south visiting Hatubuilico and the high mountain peak of Ramélau. At one point, the younger brother left his older sibling in darkness and the muted light of stars, returning to Slata Fuu where, on the adjacent hill of Tartehi the younger brother became bathed in the shining light of moon. This revelatory event signaled the primacy of the younger brother in his quest for ‘enlightenment’ and in this way Tartehi became the potent ritual centre of the domain overlooking a broad mountain valley where floodwaters covered most of the arable land.3

In these early mythic times, the people struggled to make food gardens and at this point a sacred agreement (juramentu) was struck between the human settlers and two large ancestral rats (laho boot) to dig a channel through the deep valley of Lefa Dai and permit the great banked up floodwaters to flow out and drain to the south coast. The people agreed to pay them the gold and silver stored in their houses for this service. The rats dug a deep channel to the south where the floodwaters drained away, but then they refused payment of gold and silver, opting instead to eat from the ripening crops of the people as they worked. The people agreed and from that time on, the rats eat the ‘mouth’ (batar ibun) of the maize, while the people gain the larger portion of the cob. From this mutually beneficial act of cooperation, the great mountains emerged ‘to guard the sacred waters, the sacred rocks and origin houses’ of Tartehi (pers comm. Joaquim Mendonsa 24/8/19).

Reconstructing Laek Odamata

The “Laek Odamata” house (Tetun: “Loke Odamatan” / English: “Open Door”) is connected to Maubisi-Mauloko, the seven ancestral houses of Tartehi. This house is the sister house paired with its brother house Fad Koi Leki. The timber and thatch house had been burnt down in 1975 during the early period of occupation and then after a long hiatus, it was rebuilt over four months in 2017. The final ceremony to inaugurate the reconstructed house of Laek Odamata house (Mambae: “fad mera”) took place in September 2019. When the ceremony was finished the house had transitioned from a newly rebuilt house (uma mean/fad mera) to a fully consecrated and inaugurated house (uma been/fad erang). The fertility givers and takers all come together at this ceremony. Felafu and Mau’osk are the principal wife takers and they are the first to enter the ceremony. Koi Leki was rebuilt in 2004.

In the Maubisi-Mauloko domain there are 11 stages for completing the house transitions from its incomplete status to a fully finished and ‘authorized’ living house (Fad Erang, T: Uma Been): A summary of these steps is listed below.

1. Tesi ai: Animals are sacrificed at the site of the timber felling and their blood is sprinkled on the stumps. These trees should be manually carried to the house.

2. Ke kuak mós harii ai riin feto ho mane: Digging the holes and erecting the main pillars

3. Fokit du’ut, lalin du’ut: Cutting and manually transporting the grasses for the thatch

4. Suku uma: Thatching the roof

5. Fetosaa umane sira tama hotu: Gathering together the fertility givers and fertility takers.

6. Kuku Saen ba kakuluk hatún fahi larus ho manu: The Kuku Saen ascends to the top of the roof with cuts of pork (fahi larus) and a live chicken. The chicken is killed by banging its head on the apex of the roof and both the pork and the chicken are thrown to the ground. At this point the house transitions from Fad Mera to Fad Erang. The fertility takers below scramble to catch the pork.

7. Haree manu nia ain ho ulun ba ne’ebé: Everyone stops to examine the direction in which the chicken’s head is now facing on the ground. This indicates how long the house will last and when they will need to gather again to rebuild it. The chicken is given to one of the fertility giving houses.

8. Hotu simu bua malus: All Fad Mera ceremony participants receive ritually blessed betel nut. The betel nut is now sourced from f Besilau, Aileu (in the past the bua (areca nut) was sourced from Viqueque and the malus(betel vine) from Liquica).

9. Fahi larus fahe ba fetosaa: Other cuts of pork (fahi larus) are shared among all the fertility takers.

10. Karau kuda ba Tiun sira (umane): Buffalo, horses and goats are given to the fertility givers.

11. Selu badain sira: The master builders of the house are paid (through goods or cash).