Uma Lulik: Ledatame Ikun

Istória bee-matan Wai Lia Bere iha ligasaun ho Wai Lia iha Baucau Kota. Wai Lia nia huun mak iha rai tetuk Baucau iha Wai Lia Bere besik fatin ida naran Darasula. Uluk iha maun-alin na’in rua ne’ebé hein karau. Loron ida sira hamlaha tan ne’e sira kee, te’in no han kumbili balun. Hafoin sira hamrook. Bainhira sira tuur hanoin iha ne’ebé sira bele bá foti bee sira hanoin hetan katak loron ida sira nia asu lakon. Bainhira asu sira fila mai sira nia fulun bokon. Sira hakarak hatene iha ne’ebé asu sira hetan bee ne’e. Nune’e sira halo planu ida. Sira tein kumbili hodi fó han ba asu, maibé molok sira fó han ba asu sira tara gola ida ho talin ba asu ida nia kakorok. Iha au nia laran sira tau ahi kdesan no halo kuak kiik ida. Hafoin sira fó han kumbili ba asu. Asu sira hamrook no la'o sai. Liu tiha oras ida, sira fila bokon. Agora maun sira bele hatene dalan. Sira tuir ahi kdesan ne’ebé monu husi gola to’o sira to’o iha fatuk kuak ida ho bee iha laran. Na'in rua tun ba fatuk kuak no kuru bee ne’ebé sira lori sa'e husi fatuk kuak hodi hemu. 

Hafoin sira hamrook nafatin tanba ne’e alin mak tun fila fali hodi kuru bee. Iha fatuk kuak laran iha fatin rua ne’ebé kuru bee. Iha parte sorin ida mosu fatuk kuak boot ida iha sorin seluk fatuk kuak kiik ida. Husi fatuk kuak boot alin rona bee suli ho lian boot. Nia bá haree to'ok saida mak halo lian boot. Derrepente nia monu ba bee laran. Nia iha bee laran kleur to'o ikus nia sa'e mai iha bee fatin hakmatek iha fatuk kuak seluk – Wai Lia iha Baucau. Durante tempu ne’e nia iha bee laran alin han tiha nia roupa. Bainhira nia to’o ona iha bee Wai Lia nia isin molik, tan ne’e nia deside hein iha bee laran.

Hafoin feto na'in rua to’o iha bee-matan, oan feto husi feto Bahu. Biin tama iha fatuk kuak no kuru be’e husi matan mos. Mane husi Darasula nia haree oan feto husi bee laran maibé nia la halo buat ida. Tuir mai alin feto tama hodi kuru bee maibé bainhira nia sa'e husi fatuk kuak nia haree katak nia bee la moos. Nia tama hodi kuru bee dala rua tan maibé bee la moos nafatin. ‘Saida mak halo katak ha'u nia bee la moos?’ nia hanoin. Nia hateke ba bee laran no nia haree hetan mane ida isin molik iha bee okos. Mane isin molik hateten ba nia ‘Ha'u ema rai-hae (rai tetuk Baucau nian); hau hein karau bainhira hau hamrook tanba ne’e hau tama ba fatuk kuak hodi kuru bee. Hafoin ha'u hakfodak mosu iha ne’e.’ ‘Saida mak ó hakarak?’, husi feto na'in rua. ‘Imi bele ba husu imi-nia irmaun sira atu lori roupa atu ha'u bele hatais?’, husu mane. Nune’e feto na'in-rua ba husu sira nia maun sira atu lori tais ba mane. Sira halo duni no nia hatais roupa iha bee laran.

Bainhira nia sa'e husi bee, feto na'in rua ho sira nia maun sira mós iha ne’ebá. Sira deside katak alin feto kaben ho mane. Sira kaben no hela iha feto nia uma no hetan oan ida. Hafoin ne’e feto hateten ba nia laen ‘Agora tempu to’o ona atu buka o nia rai. Família sei iha ne’ebá ka lae?’. Sira la'o tuir buka nia rai. Iha dalan sira konta mane nia istória no husu ema karik sira koñese nia maun no karik nia sei moris. To’o ikus sira hetan nia sasán balu ne’ebé tara iha ai ida, nia lohe, nia ai ledu hadulas kabas, diman no kro'at. ‘Iha ne’e mak fatin ne’ebé ha'u hein karau loron ne'ebé ha'u lakon’ nia hateten. Nia foti nia sasán no kontinua la'o dalan.

Sira husu nafatin kona-ba nia maun, to’o ikus mane ida hatán ‘Loos, ne’e mak ha'u. Ha'u mak ó-nia maun rasik. Ha'u hanoin ó lakon rohan laek’. Mane na'in-rua hakoak malu no tanis hamutuk. Maun mak esplika katak agora nia alin fila ona ba nia hun (Makasse ‘fuu’), sira tenke harii sira nia uma lulik iha fatin besik fatuk kuak ho bee. Uma mak tenke halo atu ema la bele haluha istória no ema bele fó han nafatin ba bee. ‘Bainhira tempu to’o ona atu lori liman etun ba bee ne’ebé ami hetan hamutuk ema husi Bahu. Caibada, Buruma, Tirilolo (suku haat ne’ebé simu bee husi Wai Lia) tenke mai hamutuk ho bibi, karau, fahi no manu no lori balun mai to’o iha ne’e atu ami bele lori liman etun ba Darasulu. ’Ita tenke halo uma lulik (Wai Mata Bu) iha Wai Lia’ dehan nia maun. Hanesan ne’e suku haat mós bele lori liman etun ba bee-matak Wai Lia iha Baucau.

Hafoin ne’e sira harii sira nia uma lulik iha fatin rua atu sira bele hanoin hetan istória no agradese bee-na'in. Tinan ba tinan komunidade sira halo tuir serimónia atu nune’e bee labele maran. Ida ne’e halo katak sira bele halo natar no han barak. 

Maibé too ikus, ema husi suku haat ne’ebé fahe bee husi Wai Lia haluha halo sira nia sakrifísiu. Bee taka tiha no balada, ai-han no ai-horis barak komesa mate ona. Ema husi Baucau mai husu bee-na'in sira tanba saida: ‘Tanba imi la halo tuir sakrifísiu (la fó han ba bee) imi tenke halo fla fali.’ Entaun, ema Baucau hahú fali fó han ba bee, hafoin ne’e sira nia natar buras. 

Hanesan sentru ba serimónia bee iha tempu uluk no agora, Wai Lia Bere no Wai Lia Mata mak importante tebes ba ekolojia rituál iha rejiaun Baucau. Maibé aldeia Darasula (ne’ebé nia naran ho lia Makassae signifika ‘iha rai-hae ninin) no Darasula nia uma lulik Ledatame Ikun iha ektare natar uituan de’it hodi kultiva. Natar ne’ebé naran ‘bikan’ (M: ra’u) mak fó han ba bei’ala no matebian uma Ledatame nian, simu bee husi bee-matan sazonal ida naran Wai Lobi. Tanba sira nia bee mak subterrâneo, ema Waima’a no Makassae sira husi Darasula barak liu mak halo toos (forai no modo sira seluk oin-oin) no natar rai maran nian. Sira mos kultiva ai-kamii no hein sira nia karau iha rai-hae. Tuir bee-na’in sira husi Ledatame, tuir juramentu ne’ebé sira nia bei’ala halo ho komunidade sira ne’ebé hela iha bee-dalan kraik, komunidade sira ne’e bele de’it kultiva rai iha ‘escarpment zone’ and ‘marine terraces’. Bainhira bee husi rai tetuk tun hodi fó bokur ba rai iha marine terrace zone, juramentu ne’e halo katak komunidade sira la lori sira nia karau ba rai hae. Rai hae ne’e mak rai toos na’in rai maran sira husi Darasula no fatin seluk. 
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Uma Lulik: Ledatame Ikun

The story of the Wai Lia Bere cave water source is connected to Wai Lia in Baucau town. Wai Lia spring has origin or source on the Baucau plateau at Wai Lia Bere (near a place called Darasula). In the beginning there were two brothers there tending buffaloes. One day they were hungry so they decided to dig, cook and eat some yams. But then they were very thirsty. While they were sitting down wondering where they could get water they remembered the day when their dogs went missing and came back all wet. They wanted to know where the dogs got this water. So they made a plan. They cooked some more yams to give to the dogs, but before they gave them to the dogs they made a bamboo collar—tied with string—for one of the dog's neck. Inside the hollow piece of bamboo they placed ash from the fire and made a small hole in the bamboo. Then they gave the yams to the dogs to eat. The dogs were thirsty and headed off. In about one hour they returned all wet. Now the brothers had a way to find the water. They followed the ash that had trickled from the bamboo collar until they came to a big cave with water inside. They both went down into the cave and drew water, which they carried back out of the cave to drink. 

After this they were still thirsty so the younger brother then went down again to fetch water. Inside the cave there were two places to draw water. On one side was a big cave; on the other side was a small cave. From the large opening the younger brother could hear the water flowing very loudly. He went in to have a look at what was making such a loud noise and suddenly he fell down into the water. He was under water for a period of seven days and seven nights during which time he encountered two eels, one white and one black/yellow. Both offered to help him find his way out. He chose to go with the white eel and eventually he emerged in the still water of another cave—Wai Lia in Baucau [if he had chosen the black eel he would have followed the waters underground path to the sea (the 'other world') and never re-emerged in this world again]. During his long journey he had eaten his clothes as the white eel had warned him that if he had eaten the fruits of the gardens he encountered under the water he would never have emerged from that world. Arriving in the spring waters of Wai Lia he was now naked, and so he decided to stay there beneath the surface and wait.

Then to the spring came two women, the daughters of a woman from Bahu. The older sister entered the cave and drew water from a very clean source. The man from Darasula was crouching beneath the surface and saw this woman drawing water but decided not to do anything. Then the younger sister came in to draw water, but when she exited the spring she saw that in contrast to her older sister the water she had drawn was dirty. She drew water two more times and each time it was dirty. 'What is making my water dirty'?, she thought with frustration. She looked down into the water and beneath it she made out a naked man. The naked man explained: 'I am from the savanna; I was tending buffalo there when I was thirsty and went down into a cave to draw water. Then I somehow ended up here.' 'But what do you want?' asked the women. 'Could you go and ask your brothers to bring me some clothes to wear?' asked the man. So the women went to ask their older brothers to take the man a tais [woven cloth] to wear. They did this and he got dressed in the water. 

When he came out of the water the two sisters and their older brother who had brought the tais were still there. It was decided that the younger sister would now marry this man. So they got married and lived together at the woman's home and they had a child together. And then the woman said, 'Now it is time for us to go to try to find your place so I can see where you come from. Do you still have family there, I wonder?' So they set off to look for this place, telling his story along the way and asking people if they knew of his brother and if he was still alive. Eventually they found some of his possessions hanging in a tree: his carry basket, cotton spinning stick, spear and digging stick. 'This is the place where I was tending buffaloes the day I became lost', he said. He got down his possessions and they kept walking. 

They kept asking people they met about his brother and finally one man responded: 'Yes, it is me, I am your older brother. I thought you were lost forever.' The two hugged each other and cried together. The older brother explained that now as the younger brother had returned to his fuu [M: trunk/origin], they would now make a sacred house here at this place by the cave with water. The house was needed so that offerings could be made to the water and the story would not be forgotten. 'When the time comes for us to make offerings to give thanks to the water which we both found together, the people from Bahu, Caibada, Buruma, Tirilolo [the four villages in Baucau that receive water from Wai Lia] must also come together to kill goats, buffalo, pigs and chickens and then also bring some of them here for us to make our offerings at Darasula.' 'You must also make a sacred house at Wai Lia,' said the older brother. This was so the four villages could also make the same collective offerings at Wai Lia spring in Baucau.

After this they made their sacred houses in both places so they could remember this story and give thanks to the water. Each year the local population would carry out ceremonies so that the two springs would never be dry. This meant that they could make fields and plant rice and have plenty to eat. 

However, eventually the people from the four villages sharing the water from Wai Lia forgot to make their sacrifices. The water stopped flowing and many animals, crops and trees began to die. The people from Baucau went to the custodians of the water on the plateau and asked, 'Why is our water dry?' The custodians of the water explained the reason: 'You have not been making the sacrifices and you need to start doing this again.' So the people in Baucau started to make the required sacrifices again and after this their rice could grow again.

Background:

As a past and present focal point for the coastal region water increase ceremonies, the Wai Lia Bere and Wai Lia Mata cave springs are critical to the organization of Baucau's regional water ritual ecology. Yet thesub-villageof Darasula (M: 'the edge of the savanna') in general and Darasula's Ledatame Ikun sacred house have only a few hectares of wet-rice cultivation themselves. Irrigated by a small seasonal spring called Wai Lobi these rice fields are known as the 'plate' (M: ra'u) which feeds the ancestors of the Ledatame sacred house. With their water predominantly subterranean, the Waima'a and Makasae speaking peoples of Darasula are largely dryland agriculturalists of rice, peanuts and other vegetables. In addition to tending candlenut plantations they also graze many livestock across their unfenced lands. According to the Ledatame ritual custodians of the water, one of the conditions of the sacred oath between the Ledatame ancestors and those from other communities connected through 'downstream' subterranean water flows, is that these latter communities can only farm the very edges of escarpment zone and the marine terraces below it. As the underground water from the plateau descends to feed and make fertile the lush spring groves of the marine terrace zone, this sacred agreement ensures that the coastal populations refrain from grazing their livestock on the savanna proper. The savanna is the domain of dryland agriculturalists of Darasula and surrounds.