Friday – October 10
It has
been three days already since we started the kunjungan (visitation) in Stasi
Weelebara, a fifteen-minute drive away from the parish. The Pembina Umat or the
lay minister of this stasi had brought here in the parish the difficulties the
stasi is facing now. The people are very seldom to attend in liturgical
activities in the Church. If there would be people then only those who are
always seen inside the Church. The reason that was given by others was because
of their Ketua Stasi or the Chapel Leader, whom I have heard is very authoritarian in his way of leading
the people. I have heard that the Ketua has become cold also in being the
leader of the people since at first he thought that to become a Ketua Stasi is
the same as the Kepala Desa or the Head of the Village who receives monthly
salary. This affected greatly the relationship within this community. Now,
since they have a construction going on in the chapel it has been left
untouched for sometimes since no one would like to work in the construction.
Hence, prior to this visit, we initially visited the chapel to see
the situation of the construction. Only then that we ourselves, with Bro. Pete and
Pater Pole, helped to dismantle the bamboos used in the constructed pillars. Only then
that people began to work as well, perhaps they felt ashamed also since it was
the brothers and their Parish priest dismantling of the bamboos.
As we
began our visits a week after that initial visit, we started with the mass in
the first lingkungan or neighboorhood. This stasi has actually three lingkungan, thus, for the
next two days masses were held as well in those other lingkungan. There was one
thing that we have noticed also as we had the masses in the other two
lingkungan. We have noticed that majority of the people were the same people
who attended the first mass in the first lingkungan. Indeed, we knew now who
are the constant church goers in this stasi and who are not. Meanwhile, for the
past 2 nights Bro. Pete himself slept in the area and was accompanied by some
children and the Pembina Umat, Bapak Mikel. Pete himself helped to continue the
construction of the menara (tower) of the chapel.
Moreover, on the third night after the mass we had a bersyukur, a
thanksgiving for the newly born baby. It was very interesting for me because of
the ritual that surrounded this celebration. Before the Liturgy of the Word
which was presided by Pete, the ritual of giving name to the newly born baby
had been done first. The giving of name to the baby was attended by the
Keluarga Besar which includes both the maternal and paternal side of the family. Thus, there
were the grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins. The name that will be
given is the Nama Kampung or the village/local name of the baby hence, a name
in the local language of the people in this case, the Bahasa Wewewa, pronouced as "wejewa." This
local name is not a Christian name actually.
As the
ritual started all the relatives gathered inside the house and around the baby
girl. The baby was carried by the maternal grandmother (since the paternal
grandmother was already at bed and sick at this time). A dried coconut was
prepared and as I saw it was chewed by one of the girls perhaps a cousin of the
baby. Later the chewed dried coconut was spitted on the palms of the older
woman. This chewing of the dried coconut perhaps was done by a girl who is not
yet eating sirih-pinang (betel nut). Then, as the chewed coconut was on the palm of the
older woman (and they said it was the oil of the coconut) the older woman
dipped her finger into her palms and pronounced a name for the child. Then the
woman touched the lips of the baby with her finger. And with this first attempt
the baby did not sucked the finger. Then it means that there is no reaction
from the baby and the name that was first given was rejected by the baby. A
second attempt was done and the same procedure also was done, a name was
pronounced and the finger was dipped into the saliva and oil and touched the
lips of the baby. At last, the baby woke up by this time and of course sucked
the finger that was on her mouth. (hahaha) By sucking the finger, the people
said, the baby has now accepted the name that was given to her, Louru. After
this, a whole coconut was presented and was broken in two pieces and the water
was saved in a container. Then, a white chicken was brought also and its neck
was slit and the blood was contained in a plate. And a second chicken of an
ordinary color was brought but it was not anymore part of the ritual. The
second chicken was slaughtered just to accommodate the number of people who were going to eat.
Indeed,
this local ritual and celebration of a newly born baby is an expression of the
community how they value life and as well as the kinship that is very alive and
important in this culture. As this local ritual is actually rooted in the
indigenous belief of the people, the Marapu, then it would be good to look at
this ritual in the eyes of the Marapu belief.
This
ritual of giving name to the newly born is indeed a celebration also of life in itself. It is of great joy not just to the parent but for the whole clan. Hence, in
this ritual the whole family gathered together to welcome the baby and bestowed upon the baby the name she would have. The baby is a symbol of a new
beginning, of grace, of joy and abundance in the family. Certainly, life is
celebrated filled with hope that the spirits, the Marapu, will guide the baby.
The chewed dried coconut mixed with the saliva of one of the cousins of the
baby signifies the kinship and the blood ties of the baby with the whole
family. The dried and the whole coconut that was broken after the name was
given signified also life. It is very important to note that water for this
people is very valuable. In this island where water is scarce, water means
life. Thus, the water of the coconut signifies life as well as abundance for
the baby. The white chicken that was slaughtered means the purity of the baby,
and the blood of the chicken was a sacrifice given to the Marapu. It was as
well as an act of giving reverence to the Marapu and also asking for grace for
the baby. However, as to this family this giving reverence to the Marapu is not
true anymore since they were already converted to Catholic faith. Even though
they have mostly already forgotten the indigenous meaning (mostly by the
younger generation) but the ritual still remains in the very culture of the people.