Istória komunidade no uma lulik ukun na'in sira husi knua Irabi (Makasae: bee lulik) Uatocarabau, Viqueque iha relasaun ho sasán lulik ne’ebé mosu mai husi bee-matan. Tuir istória bee-na'in sira nian, iha tempu bei'ala sira (tempu uluk liubá), feto ida husi uma ukun na'in sira tama fali ba bee-matan no kaben ho liurai lafaek ida iha rai okos. Hamutuk sira kous oan-mane na'in-rua ne’ebé moris iha bee-matan nafatin. Ida nakfila an ba ikan no ida seluk ba lafaek. Tanba forsa ka lulik husi bee-matan no sasán lulik uma ukun nian, ema kaer bee husi Irabi no haleu rai hodi kria relasaun fetosae/umane no fó dalan ba ukun iha komunidade seluk (istória sira ne’e to’o iha Laga iha tasi feto). Uluk, oan-mane ida husi Luca, husi rai We Soru (Vessoru) to’o iha Irabi no kaben ho oan feto bee-na'in nian hodi harii relasaun (rituál no polítiku) entre Irabi no We Soru. 

Istória seluk husi bee-matan ne’e konta kona ba tempu ida ne’ebé karau sa'e mai husi bee-matan. Povo sira tauk katak akontesimentu ne’e halo bee sa'e (mota boot) maibé karau boot ida mak taka fali bee matan (odamatan ba karau). Karau sira ne’e mak eransa jerasaun Irabi sira no loke dalan ba halo natar iha area ne’e (1). Hanesan iha fatin ka area seluk, ema konta katak ema halo natar iha area ne’e molok tempu Portugés (ka prezensa Portugés nian iha area ne’e). Iha area ne’e sei kuda nafatin foos lokál balun, hanesan ‘foos mean’ ne’ebé naran ‘fuu gaa’. Bee husi bee-matan Irabi no nia mota fahe ba natar na'in sira tuir prosesu tradisiona2l naran ‘ fiar malu’. Iha tempu ikus, tanba mudansa demográfiku no migrasaun husi Makasae no Naueti sira, mosu nesesidade atu hili bee-kabu ida (M: ira kabu) ne’ebé tau matan ba prosesu fahe bee ba natar.

Molok tempu halo natar, natar na'in sira hato’o liman etun ba bee-na'in sira husi bee-matan Irabi. Rezultadu husi natar nian determina tipe liman etun no balada/anima2l hira sira tusan ba bee-nain. Bainhira hetan rezultadu di'ak entaun tenke lori animál haat (manu, asu, fahi no karau) ba ritua2l ida naran ‘diki’ ho lian Makasae. Hafoin hetan rezultadu natar, tempu udan mai hatudu (ka fó sinál) katak tempu atu kuda sasán seluk hanesan batar, ai-farina no kumbili.  

1.	Karau ikus husi eransa ida ne’e mate iha tempu Indonéziu
2.	Ritual ki’ik ida seluk ida ne’ebé envolve de'it asu, manu no fahi ida naran ‘saba lesa’ 

In the remote south coast village of Irabi (M: sacred water) in Watu Carabao, Viqueque the creation of the origin community and ruling house is linked to ancestral sacra emerging from the spring. According to the spring custodian, Armindo da Silva, in the distant past a woman of this house entered the underground world hidden beneath the spring and married with its crocodile king. The pair had two sons who continue to live in the spring, one who transformed into a fish and the other into a crocodile. As a result of the power of this spring and its associated sacra, waters from Irabi were carried across the region enabling marriage and creating the right to rule in other communities (these stories stretch as far away as Laga on the north coast). At some point a son of Luca, from the south coast sub-kingdom of We Soru (Vessoru), arrived in Irabi and married a daughter of the spring's custodian creating a long term ritual and political alliance between Irabi and We Soru. 
Another story relating to this spring tells of the time when it began gushing forth buffalo. While the population feared this would create catastrophic flooding eventually a large male buffalo emerged and its body blocked the exit path. These buffalo became a central part of the ancestral inheritance of the people of Irabi and a critical enabler of the wet-rice production associated with the spring. As with other areas in the zone, irrigated rice production is said to precede the Portuguese presence and some indigenous wet-rice varieties, such as a red rice known as 'fuu ga', are still planted there. The waters from the Irabi spring and the river into which it runs are shared by local rice farmers through a traditional process known as fiar malu (trusting in each other/respect). In more recent times, demographic changes and the in-migration of Makasae and Naueti speakers from the surrounding areas has also led to the need for a 'water controller' (M: ira kabu) to oversee the process of water distribution between fields. 


Farmers carry out sacrificial offerings each rice growing season to the custodians of the spring water. The yield from each harvest determines the type and quantity of animals sacrificed. A highly successful harvest requires the sacrifice of a four animals (a chicken, a dog, a pig and a buffalo) in a ritual known in Makasae as 'diki'. After the annual rice harvest, the arrival of the monsoon signals the time to plant other crops such as maize, potatoes, cassava and yam (kumbili).


[i] The last remaining descendents of this herd were lost during the Indonesian occupation.

[ii] A lesser ritual involving the sacrifice of a dog, a chicken and a pig is known as "saba lesa".