The sea is the home of mbo madilao (the ancestors of the sea), who are believed to be descended from the prophets (nabbi). There are seven original mbo madilao: Mbo Janggo, Mbo Tambirah, Mbo Buburra, Mbo Marraki, Mbo Malummu, Mbo Dugah, and Mbo Goyah. The leader and most powerful is Mbo Janggo. These ancestors are considered to be like humans and each possesses a different power. According to the Bajo, at some time in the past, the ancestors were all on one boat that somehow became lost at sea and were never found again.

The word mbo also means grandparent, and is a term applied to senior village members both living and dead. In this latter sense, the notion of an ancestor is not a genealogical one (Sather 1997: 316). The ancestors are considered to be sacred and the Bajo are generally reluctant to speak of them outside the appropriate time or place; it is generally forbidden to mention their names in casual conversation.

The Bajo have sought to incorporate their own cosmology into their Islamic faith. The position of the ancestors is ranked lower than the prophets, and the ancestors are said to work with and for the prophets. One village elder stated that the prophets gave the ancestors the control over the sea and described the ancestors as ‘assistants to the prophets’ (personal communication, Si Mbaga, 1995). In the political hierarchy of Malay societies, ‘Allah whose domain is the universe is superior to the prophets … [who are] lords of the ... natural realms, [and] who in turn rule the more localized spirits within those realms’ (Endicott 1970: 177). Si Kiramang, a ritual expert, provided a more detailed version of how the ancestors came to be lost at sea. It is a Koranic version of the Flood Myth, where indigenous cosmology is combined with Islamic teachings.

Ritual experts in Mola say that each prophet is associated with a particular domain: Nabbi Hilir rules over the sea and fish for all Muslim people, but mbo madilao rule over the sea for the Bajo people alone. In the scale of things, the ancestors have a direct line to God through the prophets and therefore act as intermediaries between God and living Bajo (Sather 1997: 314). Further insight into the role of the ancestors was explained by Si Kiramang:

This description provides a powerful insight into how the Bajo perceive their marine world. It also highlights some differences between indigenous and Western perceptions of the marine environment, for the latter ‘tend not to recognise these spaces as culturally defined’ but as ‘watery voids’ (Pannell 1996: 28). For the Bajo, the marine environment is not just the source of economic bounty. The belief is that guardian ancestors are not confined to any particular location but live ‘wherever there is sea’. Given the wide geographical area in which they fish, the spiritual maritime domain of the Bajo has no boundaries; it is infinite. It therefore encompasses the whole of the Timor and Arafura seas and the Australian Fishing Zone.

The Bajo cosmic world is also one populated by diverse groups of spirits (jeng/jin). Spirits manifest themselves in many forms — as human beings or as land or sea animals. They may be visible or invisible, resident in one place or wandering around. They may dwell in the sea or on the land, or they may inhabit specific localities such as an island, a reef, a rock, or a tree. They may talk or appear in dreams, and some can enter people’s bodies. Most of the spirits are generally evil or malevolent (setang) and can cause illness or misfortune. Usually, relationship with spirits is through propitiation by prayer (baca doa) and offerings (rempo-rempo/kasih turun pinang). Protection from evil and sorcery by spirits and humans can be sought through the wearing of amulets and charms. Each house and perahu lambo (long-distance sailing boat) has a bottle filled with water (sampa) hanging just inside the entrance that offers protection from evil spirits and acts of sorcery. There are also invisible spirits (duatta/roh halus) that may come to the aid of Bajo in times of need, especially to help find lost kin. Communication with these beings requires the service of a spirit medium (sandro).

Interactions with the spirit world and ritual activity require the use of magical or esoteric knowledge(pangatonang/ilmu) (Southon 1995). A number of different categories of knowledge are found among the Bajo, including knowledge of sickness and healing, life cycle rituals and spirit mediumship (pangatonang sandro), sorcery (pangatonang bebelau/ilmu jahat), construction of houses (pangatonang ruma’/ilmu rumah) and boats (pangatonang lambo/bidu/ilmu perahu), sailing, controlling the marine world and fishing (pangatonang a’nakoda/pangatongang punggawa/ilmu juragon). Not everyone can acquire knowledge. It can be passed down through generations or acquired through study from a teacher. Esoteric knowledge is considered to be secret, thereby maintaining its power. Those with ilmu are afforded status and prestige within the community.

The basic elements of Bajo ritual are the recitation of prayers to spiritual entities by a ritual officiant or a person with ilmu. Prayers are not fixed in form and vary depending on the ritual. They can be in the form of propitiation (malaku poppor/minta doa) to apologise or ask for forgiveness, or a request to enlist the assistance of the spirits to avoid misfortune or escape danger (Sather 1997: 267). Depending on the particular ritual, accompanying items and the composition of offerings may vary. The basic offering (referred to generally as pinah or sirih after the components) consists of four folded leaves (leko/sirih) from the betel pepper vine (Piper betle), each containing a piece of betel nut (pinah/pinang), with lime or tobacco inside, placed on a plate. This can be accompanied by four hand-rolled cigarettes and sometimes coins. For more complex rituals, particularly boat and healing rituals, there are more substantial offerings of food, such as coloured rice, bananas, chicken and cakes. It is believed that the spirits ‘partake in the spiritual essence of the offered foods’ (Acciaioli 1990: 215).

In many Southeast Asian societies ‘the navel is associated with ideas about the soul’ (Southon 1995: 103). Three main terms — semangat, nyawa, roh and their cognates — are widely used in Indonesian and Malay societies to refer to different aspects of the soul (Endicott 1970: 48). There is a commonly shared concept of ‘a vital force which suffuses and animates the universe’ (Waterson 1990: 115), which is variously referred to in the literature as a ‘vital principle’ (Endicott 1970: 47), or ‘cosmic energy’ (Errington 1983: 545), or ‘invisible force’ (Southon 1995: 136), and is associated with notions of ‘potency’, ‘soul-stuff’ and ‘spirit’ (Errington 1983: 545). In Malay and Indonesian languages, the concept is commonly represented by the word semangat and its cognates. There are local variations in the meaning and usage of this word, but there is general agreement ‘about a pervasive life-force which may attach itself in differing concentrations not only to living things but also to inanimate objects’ (Waterson 1990: 115).

Endicott (1970: 48) draws on previous work by Wilkinson (1901: 400) to distinguish between semangat as ‘the spirit of physical life‘ or ‘vitality’ and nyawa as ‘the immortal essence or soul’ or ‘the breath of life’. Verheijen’s (1986) dictionary of the Sama language defines sumangaq (equivalent to semangat) as ‘spirit’ or ‘zest’ and nyawa as ‘life’ or ‘soul’.

Sumangaq and nyawa are both thought to be attached to the navel of the human body. In Mola, at the moment of birth, a child’s nyawa is said to travel from the placenta, along the umbilical cord, to enter the stomach and live permanently at the navel. After the birth of a child in Mola, one local midwife said that while the placenta and umbilical cord are still moving, the nyawa is still in the process of entering the child. Once it has ceased moving, the nyawa has entered, and it is then safe to cut the umbilical cord of the newborn. While it was not clearly stated at what moment sumangaq attaches itself to the navel, Endicott (1970: 51) noted that ‘the semangat of a person makes its appearance at the moment the umbilical cord is severed’.

An important aspect of Bajo spiritual life is the idea of a sibling represented by the placenta of a newborn child. After a child is born, the placenta (tamuni) is washed and wrapped inside a woven mat with salt, tied to a rock, and with the recitation of prayer, thrown in the water next to the house by the midwife.^[2] The tamuni is said to be received by three prophets. The Bajo believe the tamuni becomes Kaka, the child’s supernatural twin brother or sister, depending on the sex of the child, who inhabits the sea along with other spirits and accompanies the Bajo on their travels.

If at any period during the precarious early months or years of a child’s life, or at any time during adulthood when a person suffers from ill health or sickness, it is believed that the person has lost their sumangaq because it has detached itself from the navel. ^[3] As a result, the person becomes sick with hot or cold fevers, or a headache, or a condition of weakness, faintness, exhaustion, or lack of enthusiasm (maluntu). A person who is maluntu is said to be lacking in sumangaq (kurang ada semangat). In this case, it is necessary to call on a healer to perform a healing ritual to restore the person’s sumangaq and hence their health and well-being. This ritual is directed at Kaka and is called kasih makan Kaka or pengobatan Kaka. In Mola the ritual was performed by the sandro, and consists of a series of prayers and offerings beginning in the house, followed by an offering with prayers to Kaka in the sea. Here, a half coconut shell, filled with rice, betel nut (pinah), nine lit candles and a cup are lowered into the sea. As the coconut receptacle sinks, and the cup fills with water, the sandro removes the cup. Inside, the cup of salt water is believed to hold sumangaq which is caught using a thread (di pancing semangat dengan benang). Back in the house, further prayers are made and this thread is later tied around the wrist of the sick person and the sumangaq is restored in exchange for ‘food’ (see Plate 3-1).

As we shall see, rituals conducted during phases of a boat’s construction liken it to the conception and birth of a child, and boats are given ‘ritual navels’ (bebol) which act as the point of attachment for their semangat. Houses, kinship groups and kingdoms also have navels which are a source of power that must be guarded and protected from harm (Errington 1983: 547).

Bajo voyages and fishing activity are governed by adat practices. The meaning of the word adat varies considerably between ethnic groups in Indonesia, and there is an extensive anthropological literature on this subject (Acciaioli 1985; Warren 1993). However, adat has become the generic term for describing local customary practice and institutions throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Its conventional translation as ‘customary law’ fails to convey the vision of a necessary correspondence of cosmic and human relationships towards which it is directed (Warren 1993: 3), or its capacity to encompass ‘the entire governance of society’ (Acciaioli 1985: 151). For the Bajo, adat encompasses more than just customary law; it embraces institutions and rituals that are connected with customary practices, as well as social norms, rules, and sanctions that apply to almost every aspect of life and provide a complete code of behaviour. When Bajo talk about ‘following the custom of our ancestors’, they include all forms of behaviour associated with sailing and fishing. Adat is passed down from one generation to another and younger crew members are instructed by their elders on fishing voyages.