As the leaves of an orchid in the win - that's how the fierce peninsula's of
Sulawesi stretch from the Celebes Sea, Moluccan Sea, Banda Sea and Flores Sea.
Inside it's bizarre borders - formed by collisions of ancient continents -,
extraordinary landscapes can be found.
The inlands are dominated by the rough, fog covered mountains, tropical
rainforests, green rice fields and deep, mysterious lakes. Along the coast,
beautiful coral reefs surround the sleeping vulcanoes, which rise from the
sea. Remote white sand beaches surrounded by coconut trees and scattered
fishery villages are flanked by rough limestone rock layers, which could have
been taken directly from a Chinese painting.
On Sulawesi - formerly known as Celebes - lives an astonishing diversity of
populations. Along the coasts live fishermen which hunt for sharks, tuna,
flying fish, mackerel, squids and another dozen of species. Sailoring and
trading populations, mainly the Buginese, Makassarese and Mandarese in the
south, are known for their wooden ships with which they even sail as far as
Singapore and Australia. The inhabitants of the lowlands cultivate wet and dry
rice fields, grow corn, manionk, sago, vegetables, coffee, cacao and clove.
Dozens of small groups of inhabitants of the highlands are specialists in
ladang-cultivation. Scattered along the coast live the Bajau, which originally
lived on boats of which many of them nowadays live on land.
On Sulawesi live Moslems, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and confucianists, as
well as supporters of the local religions of which the names are unknown.
There are dancers and drummers; weavers of silk sarongs and wealthy ikat;
people which process tree bark; ironworkers and construction masters which
design houses and ships.
Due to the very long coastal area, Sulawesi never has been an isolated place.
For centuries, sailors have maintained connections to the island, through
which not only goods, but also ideas, habits and people were transported from
India, China, the Middle-East and Europe.
In the 1970's the foreign tourists 'discovered' the colorful ritual life of
the Toraja on Sulawesi. But this remarkable culture only contains one part -
an important part however - of the complex, always changing mosaic on
Sulawesi. This island has a lot to offer for those whith enough time and
enthusiasm: from the mysterious megaliths in the Bada Valley to the beautiful
coral gardens near Manado.
Saddle roofs and houses on piles
Traditional architecture from Sulawesi share several classical
brands, which can also be found in other places in the archipelago. Pile
dwellings with saddle-shaped roofs and outward tips, and mural decorations in
the form of crossed horns, are widespread over the islands of Southeast-Asia.
The imposant form of the Toraja-houses, with their bamboo roofs with wave
upward, are clearly related to the constructions of the Toba Batak and
Minangkabau on Sumatera.
Inscriptions on Dongson drums from the Bronze Age (around 500 B.C. until 100
A.D.) made on mainland Southeast-Asia and Indonesia, show similar houses and
roofs. This are the earliest known images of this kind of buildings, but the
style is probably a lot older. But the influence of the Dongson culture, which
got much attention from architects earlier, was probably to fragmentary and to
scattered to declare the spread of an architectonic construction.
The same style of building can be found further away in Micronesia, an area
that didn't get contact with the Dongson culture during the Bronze Age. New
Guinea also has it's own design of the saddle roof. This all leads to the
conclusion that this unique style of building houses came from the early
austronesian colonists. Their migration over the islands of Indonesia and the
Pacific from the mainland of Southeast Asia started about 6,000 years ago.
Pile dwellings
Almost everywhere in Indonesia pile dwellings can be found: the walls of the
Borobudur, dating from the 8th century, shows houses on piles, however a
shortage of wood on Jawa and Bali caused houses to be built directly on the
ground in the following centuries. On Sulawesi however, this way of
construction is preferred, however masonry houses in Javanese style start to
appear. Pile dwellings are remarkably cool because of the very good
ventilation under the floor and offer protection against heavy rains, animals
and robberies.
The second kind of fundamental structure, in which heavy logs support each
other in a corner, was characteristic to Central-Sulawesi and was also used in
an older and almost gone style of the Sa'dan Toraja houses. This style seems
to be classic: it's imaged on a South-Chinese drum from the Bronze Age. The
instrument shows people which store wheat in two sheds with crossed logs.
The Buginese house as microcosmos
Little is kept from the older Buginese architectonical style, mainly because
many houses were destroyed in the rumourous 1950's. Older houses were
associated with pagan habits by the then islamic fundamentalists. Formerly
there used to be at least three styles, each with it's own roof-shape:
straight, round or saddle. Nowadays a typical Buginese house has a straight
roof, which often ends in two raised tips. This can be extensions of the
normal roof, sometimes with decorations.
Like elsewhere in Indonesia the house is symbolically divided into three
levels: the space under the house - for animals and kitchen-trash - , the
floor where the people live and the room of the roof, where the heirlooms are
kept. These three levels correspondent with the three levels in Austronesian
cosmologies.
Communal houses in the north
Many populations of Sulawesi used to live in huge houses, in which several
families lives. They were built on heavy piles and had steep roofs to arrange
the irrigation of the downpours. The typical communal house consisted of a
wide central room, which gave access to two to up to as much as five separate
rooms. Up to ten families could live there, each with their own fire and rice
storage. This typical house has long since disappeared however; the style
which is 'traditional' in Minahasa nowadays, was only developed in the 19th
century.
Spectacular Toraja houses
In the highlands of Sulawesi, north of Tana Toraja, some populations built
also houses for several families. The To Maki still do it. In Central-Sulawesi
there were several styles in the first decades of the 20th century, mostly
with steep roof; the tips of the roof were often decorated with woodcarvings.
East of Poso you could find several types of temples (lobo) from a traditional
religion. The arrival of the Salvation Army did bring much change; none of
these constructions has been left.
The most vital and spectacular architectural tradition which is still much
used is without doubt that of the Sa'dan Toraja. The nobility still builds
magnificent saddle roofs, covered with panels which are painted red, white,
black and yellow and are decorated with woodcarvings. New houses have an even
bigger extension of the tip of the roof, in which the edge ends in a sharp
point. This style, which is now common, used to be characteristic only fot the
area around Rantepao. The still kept houses have much more short tip and are
also much smaller. Lumberjacks which build these houses nowadays mainly live
in Rantepao. This has also lead to a certain standardization in the patterns
of the woodcarving on the wall-panels.
At the end of the 1960's the economical growth in Tana Toraja seems to have
turned around the downfall of these buildings. They are seen as an important
indication of the social level of a family and as the essential place for
performing ceremonies. The new wealth starts to break down the traditional
social hierarchies; people that were not allowed to build big houses, can now,
due to all regulations, build impressive houses themselves. Much of the money
that is used for rebuilding houses, comes from wealthy migrants, which want to
raise the prestige of their family.
Silk, iron, bamboo and gold
Sulawesi's pieces of art are almost all made by hand: from the huge wooden
ships, which look like Noah's Arc, to the very refined earrings which can be
found in the Makassar street of gold; from the classically designed ikat
fabrics from Galumpang to the simple rattan ricebaskets in Toraja. Just like
elsewhere in Indonesia are fabric, metal, wood and bamboo the most important
materials.
Refined silk
Sulawesi is known for it's two very different fabrics: the fine silk from the
south - sometimes so fine that you can get it through a golden ring - and the
magnificent, heavy ikats from Rongkong and Galumpang.
Silk is made into sarongs by the woman from South-Sulawesi for centuries.
Nowadays Sopeng is the center of the silk-culture, due to a project which was
started by Japanese help in the 1970's. Much of the most fine silk threat is
still being imported.
The bright colors of the modern Buginese fabrics are very remarkable:
organizations of dark colors, blue, green, purple, yellow, in fact every
imaginable color. Sometimes you will find a remarkable silk fabric, with
ivory-colored squares with thin lines.
In Mandar, which produces the most refined silk in the archipelago, have
characteristic designs in small squares, and colors are often more sober than
the work of the Buginese: dark red, brown and indigo. As well as among the
Buginese the natural dyes have been replaced by aniline, which are much more
easy to produce. The Buginese as well as the Mandarese society doesn't only
see sarongs as desired clothing for man and woman, but also as sign for wealth
and status. In the last, special designs were reserved to nobility.
Silk is not the fabric for the daily life; silk sarongs are normally only worn
at weddings, Islamic days and sometimes during the Friday prayer in the
mosque. It's not uncommon in South-Sulawesi to see a well-dressed couple
passing by on a motorbike, dressed in astonishing silk which is in one way or
another insensitive for the dust on the road.
All fabrics are made by women. The process is complicated, and the work is
heavy. At the other hand, it can be done at home, and people can stop at any
moment; weaving is put away in a few seconds. In parts of Mandar, almost every
woman wove silk and cotton a century ago. Nowadays it's more rare: other work
brings in more money. Above all it's, like elsewhere in Indonesia, possible to
buy clothes, ready to wear.
Wealthy ikats
In contrary to silk, mainly used for clothing, the cotton ikat-fabrics were
made for ceremonial carpets and death cloths. Ikat, 'teeing together', means
that the pattern in put in the threads before they are being painted. The
knitted parts are covered with a fiber which resists pains and the design of
the fabric becomes visible.
The magnificent ikats from the river valleys of Rongkong and Galumpang, also
traded in in other parts of Sulawesi, were originally used as death cloths.
They were used as funeral banners in southern Tana Toraja. Ronkong as well as
Galumpang were destroyed in the guerrilla-war from 1951 until 1964, but many
of the fabrics were kept in other areas. Nowadays you can see those kind of
fabrics in shops in Rantepao and Makassar because the local residents,
encouraged by the high prices, sell their once precious family heirlooms. A
number of spectacular examples of 19th century fabrics is still kept: this
textile 'radiates power' by it's monumental is ion, refined work and it's
'warm, orange glow, which looks like that of slacks on a ironworks fire'.
Metal
In the Indonesian rituals, fabrics and metal are often related; fabrics are
associated with women, metal with men. In the part decoration, amulets and
little statues of copper were made in Central-Sulawesi. Nowadays the people
don't know this art anymore. Metal processing still happens in Tana Toraja,
where a number of ironsmiths still performs the job with the help of the
traditional 'Malay bellows'. A pair of connected bamboo pipes is ignited from
the bottom; the smith is on top and blows the pair of bellows with several
valves, which have chicken feathers at the end. Iron has a special historical
meaning in this area: nickel-rich iron ore from Malili probably was the base
for the scale of the kingdom of Luwu'.
Elegant silver sirih-boxes from the 18th and 19th century and the fine silver
caming which are worn by young girls, are still available to buy in the
gold-and silver shops along Jl. Somba Opu in Makassar, aThe craftsmanship is
excellent.
Gold, most valued of all metals, is used in poems as the highest product.
Village women wear it whenever it's possible; in the past this was only for
the nobility. Earlier, gold was often mixed with equal parts of silver. Modern
copies in silver from Kendari can be bought in Jl. Somba Opu; refined
earrings, hair pins and bracelets in gold or silver.
Bamboo and making baskets
Bamboo is used for storage and transport everywhere. They vary from a just
chopped green piece of bamboo full with foaming tuak to a blackened tobacco
pot, decorated with fine bamboo works and a hand-cut wooden top.
Baskets are made everywhere, but the best come from Tana Toraja. Women wear
the traditional Toraja-basket, the bamboo-baka, with a woven belt around the
head; the basket is supported by the back. Another 'classical thing' is the
cone-shaped bamboo hat of the Toraja woman. Very fine woven and a wanted
souvenir as well.
Islam, Christianity and adat
However the majority of the population is currently Moslem, the Portuguese and
Spanish spice traders - and their catholic priests - had important relations
with the states at the western coast and in the north in the 16th century. In
the second half of that century, several local rulers in Siang (at the western
coast), Siau, Manado and Kaidipan were baptized together with thousands of
followers. In most areas such conversions were short-lived, especially after
the Portuguese captain from Ternate (on neighboring Maluku) had killed the
sultan there in 1570. The anti-Portuguese crusade, started by the son of the
sultan, caused Gorontalo, Buton, Banggai and other parts of Sulawesi were
converted to Islam.
According to legends, Islam was introduced on South-Sulawesi in 1603 by three
holy mand from Minangkabau on Sumatera. After they had converted the ruling
elite of the Luwu' and Makassar, they went ahead in the southern Buginese
kingdoms, among them Bone. In 1611 they had moved all the rulers of
South-Sulawesi to support Islam, accept those of Toraja. Islam was (as well as
Christianity) known much earlier in the south. Malaysian Islamic traders lived
in the south ever since the 15th century, however South-Sulawesi was one of
the few meeting points in the trade network between the islands where Islam
wasn't officially supported.
Islamic conversions in the early 17th century were radical, but didn't always
happen peacefully. A report describes the obligation of the first royal mosque
in South-Sulawesi: on the evening before the first Friday prayer (the most
holy time of the week) the prince of Gowa slaughtered a pig and spread blood
all over the mosque. This deed is seen as sacrilege of the worst kind and was
ironically done to get back to pre-Islamic dedicational rites, in which blood
of bigs is put on people and objects. In Bone and Sopeng there was a strong
opposition from the royals against the new religion; Islam finally entered
Gowa with the tip of the sword.
Nowadays, 80 percent of the population is Islamic. It's the islam of the
Sunnite tradition with some sji'itic remains, like the festivities around
Maulud, the birthday of the prophet. In all Buginese, Makassarese and
Mandarese areas in the south, Kaili, Donggala, Palu and Tolitoli along the
western coast, Gorontalo in the north and Buton in the southeast, the domes of
mosques can be seen everywhere. The monotone call for prayer wakes every
villager and city worker before dawn every single day.
Islam on Sulawesi was and is still remarkably flexible. This doesn't mean that
it's not very serious, or that the followers aren't strict; even the revolt
which started in the 1950's, was put in fierce islamic words. But the muslems
on Sulawesi have found ways to combinate their Islamic devotion with local
habits, related to ancestors and the spirits of the earth, the rice and sea, a
long time ago. These combinations can be seen in numerous actions: from the
boat blessings to the esotherian recitals of transvestite bissu-priests; from
the magical power of the Thursday evening (malam Jum'at) and formula's for
witchcraft, to the use of ask for favors at the graves of Islamic holy persons
or ancestors.
Church towers
The substantial Christian population on Sulawesi (17 percent is protestant,
two percent is catholic) is concentrated in the North (Minahasa and the
archipelago's of Talaud and Sangihe), in the district of Poso, and in the
southern highlands of Tana Toraja, where a fast conversion process took place
soon after the independence of Indonesia. Most cities know Christian
minorities.
The north, where the European presence has a long history, only came under
complete Dutch rule after 1800, at that time, the big conversions to
protestantism took place. This conversion was strengthened by the spread of
schools: at the end of the century there was a school for every 1,000 people
in Minahasa, while on Jawa, there was a school for every 50,000 schools.
However the protestant church has the majority, there are nowadays dozens of
other sects and churches. Not all of the north is Christian: the population of
Gorontalo and Mongondow is almost entirely Islamic; the last has only adopted
Islam in the 19th century.
Many missionaries, varying from the reformed church to the Salvation Army have
been active in Central-Sulawesi since the 19th century. Christianity later
came to Tana Toraja, where the first reformed missionary was killed in 1917;
his followers showed more passion with the traditional rituals. While the
ritual live nowadays still blooms and has public attention, the protestant and
catholic church are still working on discussions about their relation with
local religion and habits.
Sea Gypsies
One of Sulawesi's interesting groups are the Bajau, formerly known as 'sea
gypsies'. For centuries they have had a nomadic life on board of little, wide
boats. The Bajau are in fact one of the groups which have settled on the
coasts of the Riau- and Lingga archipelago, along the coasts of Borneo and the
eastern coast of Sulawesi. The origin of this sailing population is still
unknown. Since the time that the history about Sulawesi is written down, the
Bajau were always somewhere related to the Makassarese and Buginese centers of
power. The name Bajau ('Bojo' in Buginese) probably originated from ajo, one
of the semi-independent stated in the neighborhood of Bone and Luwu'.
As profound sailors and gatherers of sea products - especially sea cucumber (tripang)
and turtle shields -, the Bajau managed to supply many of Sulawesi's export
products for trade with China. Traditionally they spent their entire lives on
boats, looking down on the people who lived on the mainland. They traded with
them for fabrics, food and other elementary goods.
Like many formerly nomadic populations, the Bajau are currently curfewed by
the government, competition of big industries and international agreements on
fishery. Many of them have merged with the populations on the mainland, but
several groups still live on and around the Banggai Islands like the about
1,000 people which are moored off the coast of the islands outside Teluk
Kendari in South-Sulawesi. Fishing and collecting are still their source of
existence for these last semi-nomadic Bajau. Their beautiful ships are just
off the coast.
East of the Line of Wallace
The well-known 19th century ecologist Alfred Russell Wallace discovered that
the Indonesian archipelago is inhabited by two different groups of animals.
'Wallace Line' (1876), as this border is still called, runs from between Bali
and Lombok and Borneo and Sulawesi. Birds and mammals on these island are
remarkably different, however they are not separated by an important natural
border. For botanist the line is less clear: the plants on Sulawesi seem to be
closely related with those on other dry parts in the archipelago.
The little that is known from the prehistoric animal life comes from fossils,
excavated in river sediments in South-Sulawesi. The findings conclude a huge
turtle, a small elephant and a giant wild pig. They look like elephants, but
have bent teeth which grow close to each other. TIt is suggested that they
swam from the Lesser Sunda Islands to Sulawesi.
These animals have extinct several thousands of years ago, but nowadays
Sulawesi is still known for it's special fauna. Of the 127 local species of
mammals, 79 can only be found on this island. The score gets even more
remarkable (98 percent) when you don't count the 45 species of bats. In
comparison: only 18 percent of Borneo's mammals is endemic. The birds on
Sulawesi are less characteristic, but still very exceptional: 34 percent of
the species cannot be found elsewhere; after New-Guinee this is the highest
percentage in Asia.
Special mamals
The biggest mammal on Sulawesi is the dwarl buffalo or anoa. There are two
species: one in the mountains with smooth horns (Bubalus quarleri), and a
lowlander with rough horns (Bubalus depressicornis). Some villages have dwarf
buffalo's in captivity, but you can better stay away from them. However they
look like a small version of the friendly water buffalo, they are aggressive
and unpredictable; they are feared by the local population. Anoa's usually
live a solitary life, but do share their source of water.
The most odd mammal of Sulawesi is probably the mysterious babiroesa (Babyrousa
babyrussa): the deer pig. The upper corner teeth of the male start growing
normal, but later turn upwards, until they pierce the skin and curl towards
the skull. These teeth are used in fights with other males. Babiroesa's were
used to be kept by former rulers and were maybe given as a gift. Probably the
Buginese traders brought it to Bali, where they have probably enspired the
demonic raksasa-masks. Interesting is that the Babiroesa, which doesn't have
split feet, is seen as halal by the local muslems, and can be eaten.
Nice birds and giant reptiles
The most remarkable of the 88 species of birds which only exsist on Sulawesi
are the dark green bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni), the brightly colored
Rhyticeros cassidix, the Celebes sparrow (basilornis celebensis), the
whitenecket sparrow (Streptocitta albicollis) with it's long tail, the black
and white Celebes crow (Scissirostrum dubium) which nests in the holes which
are picked in dead trees. Several spiecies are rare. The blue ayutrichomyas
rowleyi from the Sangihe Islands could have been extinct recently because
forest, it's habitat, has almost completely vanished in favour of coconut
plantations. The most remarkable bird is the maleo-bird (Macrocephalon maleo).
He breeds his eggs in small mountains heated by the sun, warm sources or
volcanic cracks. The biggest snake in the world can also be found on Sulawesi:
the ten meter long python. Seacrocodiles used to be common along the entire
coast, as well as in rivers and lakes. Only several decades ago the river
villages had to be protected from these scavengers by firm pillaging. In local
stories the crocodiles are often connected with the ancestors and are treated
with respect because of this.
Threatened fish and cave-residents
Several of the most remarkable animals live around the high lakes, like Danau
Matana, Danau Towuti, Danau Mahalona and Danau Wawontoa. From the sixty kinds
of snails, lobster-like and fish, which are unique in these waters, there is
only one, a shrimp, which lives in all four of them. Each lake seems to have
developed it's own fauna. Danau Poso and Danau Lindu both have representatives
in a group of fish which is unknown outside Sulawesi. Unfortunately fish from
other parts of Indonesia are introduced because of fishery, without
calculating the risks to the local varieties of fish. Some of them have become
rare or have even extinct by now.
Sulawesi has big limestone areas in the environment of Bantimurung (near Maros),
between Danau Matana and Danau Towuti and southeast of Danau Towuti. Most of
these areas have many caves, of with some of them are the longest in
Indonesia. Most can be visited without special equipment until a certain
depth. The cave residents which you encounter are swallows and salanganes (Collocalia
esculenta), and a diversity of bats; there are also cockroaches,
nightmare-like spiders, great scorpions and crickets with giant antennae. Not
too long ago, an unknown spiecies of blind shrimp has been found in the caves
of Bantimurung, which should have been there long enough to adapt to the dark.
Coconut thieves and sea turtles
The sandbeaches of Sulawesi are used as breeding place by four different
seaturtles. The biggest is the leather turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). It has a
dark brown, rugged shield of sometimes 2,5 meters long and can weight up to
1000 kilograms. It's a powerful swimmer, which can maintain a body temperature
which is 18 degrees higher than the water temperature. Individual animals move
over great distances; however their action radius is limited to tropical
regions, some of them have been found at the north pole.
A report of Sulawesi's exotics would not be complete without a description of
the famous coconut thieve (Birgus latro). This animal used to be widespread,
but only lives on Sulawesi on small - preferably untouched - islands. What is
remarkable about this lobster is the legendary inventively of collecting food.
The stories go that the animal runs into a coconut tree with speed, cuts of
the juicy fruit and throws it on the ground so it breaks.
Spiced rat and buffalo cheese
Travelers probably arrive in the capital of South-Sulawesi, Makassar, a city
which is known throughout entire Indonesia for it's fish and seafood.
Lobsters, shrimps, octopus and crabs are roasted on charcoal here and served
with rice and a sauce of fresh hot Spanish peppers. Bandeng (milkfish) or
baronang (rabbit fish) - loved by foreigners because it doesn't have much
fishbone - is freshly grilled and dipped into a sweet-hot sauce, an
unforgettable meal. Poaching, called pallumara in Makassarese, is another
delicious method of preparing fish.
Makassar is also known for it's dish that's named coto Mankasara: a spicy
boiled dish of shopped buffalo intestines with a tip of fresh lemon and pepper
sauce. It's normally only eaten in the morning with steamed rice.
The unique specialty of the district Enrekang is dangke, a cheese from buffalo
milk, which is sometimes eaten fried. East- and Southeast-Asian cultures don't
use much diary products; buffalo milk cheese is an exception.
Hot rat
The mostly Christian Minahasa people from North-Sulawesi don't seem to like
any dish without much additional cabe or Spanish peppers. Each dish with the
words rica-rica in it's name is probably overloaded with a mixture of hot
peppers, tomato, onions, garlicky and ginger. What brands the local kitchen is
dishes that aren't completely 'clean', among them wild rat, bats and of course
pork. "RW" is a nickname for dog.
There are dishes for all kinds of tasted. Try the very nice pork sate, roasted
on charcoal, or baked ikan mas, which is eaten with a sauce of pepper, onion
and lemon; this dish is locally known as dabu-dabu. Even more nice (though
uncommon in restaurants) is the boiled tuna (cakalang fufu), baked or boiled
in coconut milk.
Another popular dish in Manado is tinutuan or bubur Manado, a thick spicy rice
porridge with vegetables and pieces of fried fish. Milu, a very clear,
somewhat sour soup made from corn, small shrimps, Spanish peppers, lemon and
other tasteful additives, comes from Gorontalo west of Manado.
Tropical fruit paradise
On Sulawesi you can find banana's in all kinds of shapes and sized, varying
from the small pisang lilin (candle banana) to the big pisang tunduk (baking
banana), which are consumed in different ways: raw, baked in pastry, boiled in
a sweet coconut mix or like chips.
There are many fruit: the sweet jeruk siompu from Buton and limung cina from
Manado are very nice. Jeruk panas (air jeruk, jeruk peres or jeruk nipis),
mixed with boiled water and a lot of sugar is a nice drink even on a warm day.
Markisa or passionfruit juice, available in bottles tastes wonderfull with
gin.
Other local specialties are manggis, the huge nangka with it's rough skin, and
the hairy red rambutan (related to the lychee). Exotic creations like the
palmyra fruit (lontar), the salak, papaya, mango, starfruit and guave fill
this impressive series. And then there is the durian. In April, the climax of
the durian-season, you will find stands along the road, all selling them. The
odor and looks are hard to miss. You should approach it without prejustice and
don't stop too soon, you should learn to eat it.
Sulawesi's imposing armada
The Buginese prahu probably formed the most impressive fleet of wooden trading
ships in the world. Nowadays an estimated 800 of these ships are involved in
the trade of wood from Kalimantan to Jawa, varying in weight from 120 to 200
tons. In the seaport of Sunda Kelapa in Jakarta, you can find as many as 200
pinisi, while Peotere, the seaport of Makassar, is full with smaller boats:
ambo-boats from Buton which transport copra; pinisi with one mast which can
unload timber wood from Kalimantan; motorboats from neighboring islands,
loaded with passengers and vegetables and boats from remote islands which
transport dried fish.
The days that the big sail-schooners transported their merchandize all over
the archipelago and even stopped at small harbors have gone. Most pinisi
nowadays travel between Kalimantan and Kawa with lumber as their freight. It's
still possible to see several of these ships loaded with petroleum, cement and
some household products, although these boats are usually going to the outer
islands. With several exceptions all boats have been motorized: the last of
the real prahu pinisi of Surabaya, which only sailed, sank in 1987.
The century of the trade
When western pioneers and merchants contacted the archipelago in the 16th
century, the prahu from South-Sulawesi sailed all the way to Malacca at the
coast of West-Malaysia. The Portuguese apothecary Tome Pires wrote in 1515 in
Malacca that the Buginese-Makassarese merchants 'come in their well-built
pajalas. They bring a lot of food: very white rice, they bring some gold. They
take back fabrics from Cambay and big amounts of black raisin and incense'.
Sea maps from the 18th and 19th century show routes as far as Indo-China and
Birma. Allowance to sail and other rights from kingdoms of South-Sulawesi,
dating from the early 18th century, give fixed cost for freight and passengers
to Malacca in the west, Cambodia in the north, and even far to the east: Papua
New-Guinea.
In 1792 the English merchant captain Forrest told:'I saw fifteen pinisi at the
same time in Bengkulu (along the western coast of Sumatera) 25 years ago,
loaded with a mixed freight of spices, wax, cassia, sandel-wood and fabrics
from Celebes'. Early European colonists at the northern coast of Australis
were astonished when they saw Buginese and Makassarese prahu, which gathered
seacucumber around the coasts of Australia, often with the help of the robust
Bajau, the 'sea nomads'. These goods were sold to Chinese merchants in
Makassar. Even now several boats are cought which fish in Australian waters
illegally. The men maintain a centuries-old tradition of hunting down seas on
the coastal plateau of Australia. In the 19th century a fleet of 800 prahu
padewakeng sailed from Bodu on the Moluccan Aru Islands to Singapore and
returned with a wealth of goods, among them cotton fabrics, gold dust, birds
nests, turtle shields, feathers, tripang, sandel-wood, coffee and rice. The
future raja of Sarawak, James Brooke, wrote in his diary: 'The profits for the
Buginese are usually made on the return trip; it mainly consists of weapons,
gunpowder, opium and cotton'.
The trade routes from the past centuries were decided by monsoons. In March,
ad the end of the wet season, the ships used the decreasing western winds to
sail to the eastern part of the archipelago, where they picked up local
products. In April, when the eastern monsoon started to build up, these goods
were brought to places along the coast of Jawa, Kalimantan and Sumatera and
traded for other goods. Upon return of the western monsoon in September, the
sailors went home, to moor their ships during the stormy months of December
and January. |
