Landscape, Power, And Agency in Eastern Indonesia by Catherine Allerton

8/11/2019 Landscape, Power, And Agency in Eastern Indonesia by Catherine Allerton

1/8

66 1.ltkko':

chaprer,

and I espccially

beDentcd lron

hcr

dchilsd oonnnenN

on a rlrlrl,

.s

rvcl

s

those

ol Urc

ediroB od olhcr

colleagucs

liom lh.

al:unbridgc

conlercnce, espEcially

AndE\

Bear

and

Nlark Hoban,

and

aho

l.onr Ari.t treqoro.

Nla6hatl

Ctak

(*ho

sent me

a chaptr lrom his lofihcoming

book), Amrih

Widodo

.nd

lrom

rhe Micle-

writin8rvolkslopofthc

School olLsguagestrd

Cuhurcs

ar

thc

Unjvtsirl otSydne),

plnicululy

Rebecca

Sut*.

2 The

fiEl

l@llly-made horcr

fi

lm

appeard ir

1934

(vxd

He en2OO9: 140).

3

My

rh

ks

ro Amrih

Widodo tbr

poinring

rbis

out

rnd

ciling

panicularty

rhe

cas.

of

lhc Sulrm

or

Yosyakarta scekins our

rhc

adrice

oiOadjan

lv{ada

Uni *su

slllropol-

ogisls and scciologists.

5

Landscape,

power

Eastern Indonesia

and

agency

in

Cathevine Allerton

In

the

late 1960s

and early

1970s,

at

lhe

start

ol Indonesia's New Orde. .e-sime.

ma(y Eastem Indonesian

viuages

experienced the etfccts oi

stale'sponsored

rebuilding

and rcsettlemeni progmmmcs. Tradilional, muhi fmily

houses

$ere

dodolished

and,

in

the

Ddne

oi'sanihlion',

people

rvere

encou.agcd

to\uild

sm4ller.

$

id.r,oleo hou.c,

on l

rc

ErounJ

r I

o\

lqq

i

168

c'.

Dr,pcred

F

-1.

Iflio,r.

wcr.

sclIlcd in so-crllcd modcl

\rlld-e.

(Lesi.

.qb8:

JJ0-lr,

(nil.

hi3liland

communitics werc movcd

ro

thc loFlaDds,

arva]'from cosmologicall)-

imporlart hilltop sites, and closer

10 lhe economic

and bureaucratic advantascs

of

roads and markets

(Graham

1994:

125). Such resenlements,

which continued

in

maL) lndon.\ianregi.'n.

qcll

inro.hc Iqqo.rd l990.rT\ing

ioo,'

4),.

be seen

a

cltu,ic

(\erci\es

in

.kle

\un:illcnc(

anJ

.onEol.

.o anempr

bl

'r

..

sratE

to

'make a socie\r legible'(Scon 1998:2).

The

parish

ofDense, whcre lhavc cdricd

out

Gcldwork

since

1997,

is

l({:red

in

the

south ofManggarai, a mountainous,

largely

agricultunl

region in

fie err

oaFlores.'ln the mid-1960s. man) villasc communirics

in

rhis pafish ,erc

encoumged

to

nbandon their

older highland

siles,

and move down to spccitil)-

btrilt

silcs

in thc

lowlands,

ncal

lo

church,

schooland

thc

(at

thc

timc

rather

nrdi-

m.ntary).oad to

lhe

coast.

Today, pcoplc

dcscribe

lhese moves

as

/,oz9rrsrar,

(la$migration)

and slress that

fie new lowland villages

enabled them

ro

berter

h )?r

'the

lalk

of

dre

govemmenf.

ln

part, this is

because rhe

building

of

rhese

loslrud

villags was

connected lvirh

the

establishmenr ofnew daa

fvilhge

l

aras,

the

smaucst

Jnit ofbureaucracy and

governancc

in

the Indonesian

stale.

Moreover,

h

lhe

carly

I970s,

the

rcgional

Bovcmnexl

of

Manggarai

opencd

up

rel-rice felds in a .oastal

ared

lo the

soulh

of

lhese

new villages,

giving

a

slandard-size

plo'to

all

adult

males,

and further orientir,g local

people

a$,al

ri-rrn

the

hisblands and

rowards the

lowlands.

How(\


2/8

68

C. Allerron

communiries.omplctcly

abandoned

their hiShldnd

siles,

W.c

Rcho

loday sits

in

splendid

isolation in

rhe motrnlains.

$here

its

residcnh

productivel) lann

coftce

as

both

a cash c.op ud

esscntial

emollienl

of Man 8arai soc ialiry.

Wae Rbo

villagc6

hav

told me

many diffcrenl

stories

regardin8

ihc

govern_

,nenfs

thilcd aftempl

lo

persladc

pcoplc

lo

abandon the

highland

site. Some

sa)

that the isolarion

o"

Wac Rebo

hrhich

becamc

morc

pronounced

as

othcr

vil'

Iages

relocated)

madc it

hard

for state

olliciah lo

enlorce

complele

resettlement

and

eaiicr for

the

people

there

10

cndure'.

One mnn emphasizd

his own

role in

rcsisting

lotal

reseltlement, sayin8

drat

at a meeting hc

had

argucd

it Bould be

blter to

kill all oIlhe

population

of

Wae Iaebo, rrLher than expcct

them 1l) move

from

their land. The

mosl common

stoN I

heard

dwek on

the

fate ofa

Balinese

'engineer',

\vho

had

visiled

ihc

village

in

the

1970s, and told

its i ubiunls

thal

because

of

i6

proximity

10

a

number of

vater

sources,

as

well

as

1o

a..as

ol

virgin forcst,

thc

viUage sile should

be

abandoncd.

I

\va5

told

that on

returning t(

thc main rown ofP.uteng,

this man

had

bccomc

ill, dd

llad

shonly atteNardl

d;ed. Each rime

lhey told

this

story,

people nressed that his dath

was no

simpl(

accident.

Rather,

lhh

man

who

had

prociaimcd

so

loudly lhe

necessity

ofaban

doning

wae Rebo

had

been killed

by the

arar

de ra,a, the

'energy

ofdre

land'

Slanding on the

land, and

calling

ltrongly for ns abando,ment by

those lvhosr

a,cestors \rere buricd in

i1, his dcath

was,

in localeyes, almost ine'/ilable.

This

chapter explores Manggarai

understandings of lhe

power

of

'the

land

(rd"d),

a

Grm

thar references

not only

the

ground,

but

places,

paihways,

steam

a'd

forests.

while

Man8gami

houses, lields

and

villages

have

undoubtedly

beel

shapcd by

thc reseltlement

anl

environmenlal

policics

of

the lndonesian stait

local

people continue

to enSagc

with a

landsodpe

thal they expfficnco

an

describe

as tull ofncrgy.

Not

only

must

lhey

pay

close

attention

to

the signs o

lhe

landscapc\

power,

they also acknowledgc

th complex ways in

wh'c

human speech ard olher

actions

c

influeoc

fte

land's

po$er

and

energy.

argue

that

ideas and

p@ctices

connected

with this l

dscap can be

sen as

on

specinc understanding

ofthc

nature and maleridily ofpower in

Southeasr

Asir

As

such,

rhe

power

otlhe

landscape constitutcs a

historically

signilicant aDd sti

meaningfulaltematile

to

ihe poucr

ofthe state.

^

The

maieriality

ofpo*er

in

Southeast

Asia

Benedict

Anderson's

(1990

Il972l)

classic

papcr

on

'The

idea

olpo$cr

in

Javi

nese culture' has

bccoDe

a key. shrting-poinl for

many analyscs

of

Power

Southcast

Asia.

Put

bdefly,

Andercon

argues ihat Javanese

porver

h

not,

as

rhe modem Iluropean conceplion,

an abstract aspecl

of

a relationship. bu1

somelhing

con$ctc.

an'cxistenrialrealiLy'

(1990:22).

In

the

Ja\cnese

conle)

powcr is amoral, unitary,

ofa

conslanl

quantily

aod

always embodied,

wheth

accumulated

by a

person

or

conccniraled

in

a. object

or

place.

Since

Andcrs(

is

interesled

in contmsting the inplications of

lh.j Javanese

understanding

power \virh the

modcrn

European

tradition

of

po

litical lhcory,

nis pnper predor

inanrlv

fo.u\er on

Lhe

chdaclcr and

bchaviour ofJavancsc rulers.

as \ cllas iln

Lar.ls.ape

pa\a.and

aeenc)

6t)

relatiorshif

sith

the mlcd.

In particular.

he

describcs ho1

people

are

connann\

reading

the i,?ns

of

poBer's

accumulation

or

diffusion

in

rhc

p.rson

and

en iF

Andenon's original papcr

on the lavanese

'idea

of

power'

has

inauenced

a

r:demnSEol erllogr"pl'cdndtonpr,ri\(

(.(dc-

on

\4url-(JnA

ia.OipJ

-

ricuhrinrerestrJ rhcconcFrnsolrhi\rl,-t'crr,

hc

sJ.

.n

(r..1.

h,cnaE.I.

zalion

ol

Javdnc* poldncl

rlringlun

loqo:

4:,

drd$\

J

enlion

to

Lhc

dis'inC,i\er/rr.,,dtr,:yolpo$erirJJ\oanJ5ouLhea.lA\iamore\rid(h.And-r

5.n

deic.iLr, r,e

heirloomr

'rnye".,pear..sdcrcJ

mu.ic,t

rnillLmenr,,

LJc

riages,

and

thc

like'

11990:

27)

that a

Javanese ruler

amassed

abour

himsetu

and

rotes that,

in the

post-lrrdcpendence

era,

many Irdonesian politicians

like

to

suggest

that thcv

too

have such powert-ul

objecrs at

rhcir

disposal.

In hcr

elhno-

gnphy

of the

former

Soulh Sulawesi

Indic

slare of Luwu,

Eningron

describes

how

t\re

cenoal regalia (a?-ata,g)

Iocaied

the

'densesr

conccnlration

of cosmic

pLency

in

rhe

polir)'

rhcir

precelcr

h


3/8

70

C.A

ok

t

confiSurarions

are nor

significanl

cverytlhere

in 0re

region.

Awav

ltonr such

exemplary,

urban

ccnllcs,

Soulhtarr

Asian

peoplcs have long

hcld

vernaculd

undcrstandinls

ol

lhe

Poweroilldcer

in nnd

ol lherirsclves,

whellrcr

this

polcncv

is

thought

ro bc

malcrialiTcd

in mounrdini,

calcs, lbresls

lrces

tsrulcs

or rivcrs

Itowever,

rhc

porver

oi

thc

l^ndsctpc

ik an.lol iseu

its tbrms

nnd

manitis-

Btions,

and

lhc impl'cations

$at

thcsc

may entail

lir a rang

ofhuman

^ctors

_

has

been

lirlc

erplored

iD

rccent

Southersl

Asian

cthnography.

ln lrrge

parl, this

is

because

such

power

is

lrequcnrly

discussed

in terms ot

belie,a

in

'nalure',

ancestrdl or

plac

s"irrJ

that,

as

an

aspcct

of

indiEenous

religion'

(waterson

1997: 64)

or'lbunder$'

cults'

(lannenbaum

and

Kanmcrcr

2003: 8)

may

bc

considcr.d

to be incrcasingly

marginalized,

conlcsred

or

under

thredt

(see

Alejo

2000;

Ibuhon,

this

volume; Vickers.

rhis

volumc).

In this chaDrer,

I

examine

the

power

of

lhe

malerial environmcnt

in

a

ruml

Parl

of Eastcn

lndoncsia-

I

argue

that

although

lhe

langnage of

spirits'

may

at

times

bc

used

to

discuss

certain

of

its

aspecls

or fonns,

thh

power can

not be

reduced

to

lhe

power

olsPirits,

since

it

is considered

to

be

intinsic

10 thc

lrnd iBelt

Indeed,

in man)

respects,

lhc

landscape

ofsoLrfiem Mdgganli

is recognized

by

ill

inhabil4nts to

nol

onlv

bc

powerhrl, bu1 ro exorcise

a

panicular fonn

of agency. Underslandiogs

of

thc

landscape's

agentivc

porvers

a11)

nol static, but

enSa8e

1|ith

a

number

of histor'

ical

and

contempomry

developmenls.

Howevc.,

il is

of

course

worth emphasiz_

ins

that the

powe.

oi

lhe

landscape

is not the D

I

kind of

Powr

rc.ognized

and

ngaged

with in Manggarai.

For examplc,

,b"to

is a

kind

of'magical

powr'

passed on in dreams

by ancestral or

other

spirit.' and

which

mav

be used

to

benencial or

hmful ends.

this

form

ofma8ical

power

is conDecteC

lvilh whal l

havc clsewhere

lermcd

personal landscapes'

ofkcy

places

and

rev,ilatoryjour-

nys

(Alledon

forthcoming) but

is nevcrtbcless

quite

separale

and

distitrct

from

the

powe.oflhe

land

onwhich

this

chapier focuses.

The

energy

and

appetitc ofthe

ltrnd

My

infonnanls

in

wae

Rebo

Konrbo mosl

explicilly

speak

of thc

inlrinsic

power

oftlre

lmdscape

wlren menljooing

the

ar{t

of

the land

(a,as

de

/a'14)'

Crar

is an

unusual

Manggarai

word which

I nver

heard

used in

eother

contexl, bu1

I

hale chosen

io

lranslale

it

as'enerErr for

a nunbcr of

reasons

Gr6

de

rad

olten

denolcs

a kind ofhot

or fenile force

wnich

is

intrinsic

lo

the

Iand and

which manilesls;lscu

in unusual

8.o vths

or lopographical

features.

Thus,

cefiain

tungi which

grow on

the

8round

or on trces

are said

to

be thc

direct

maniiislalion

ofthe

ard

de /anr.

as is a

hot spriog

in

a flcld

near Wae

Rcbo.

I

was

lold

thal ifyou wish

1o

balhe

in

(his

sprinS,

you

should

address

the

lnnd respecltully,

calling oul 'ls

i1 cookcd,

grandparent?' as

you

approach.

The

sprinS

will respond by

bubbling

6orc energetically

d

becoming

hotler

The

nergy

oflhc

lnnd may

aho

nranilest ils.ll

in

tnore

nlysterious

forms

such

as

rhe apii4.

a

lvalking ball

of

Ilre said

to soncrimes appear

on

padrs

througl

Ldhrlscu|e

Par

dntl

dE

nct

'-1

Ihoush Ander.on

de'cnDc'

J0\.n('(

-

'm:_

cn( C'

$ Jr

J'rorar

lor_('

rrr

morlli$

or

Ln

Documents

Landscape, Power, And Agency in Eastern Indonesia by Catherine Allerton