The hena is a territorial unit. The elders insist on the inalienability of its land as a whole. Segments of it can be allocated for farming and other purposes but no section may be taken away, sold or even fenced. The community claims traditional rights over some 3,500 thousand hectares of land, a claim supported by narratives and the uninterrupted customary use of this territory for numerous generations.

The whole territory is called tape lale, the ‘land within’ (‘inside’, ‘in the middle’). At its centre is the new settlement (desa). ^[44] The land is distributed between the powerful Hena Upui and the junior Ana Mulini. The Hena Upui’s claims to a substantial share of this ‘land within’, are embedded in the village history and in their own narratives. Also included in the ‘land within’ is the tape malenete, ‘empty land’ which no one occupies. The tape malenete is part of the historical territory claimed by the domain but not by individual Houses. ^[45] This ‘empty land’ also comprises the land of extinct Houses, which has not yet been redistributed. It is a common hunting, trapping and collecting ground but may also be used for communal projects. Outsiders, refugees or newcomers may receive access to the tape malenete to make gardens or plantations.

The Tau, the ancestral river, flows south-west to north-east across Hena Ma’saman Uwei before reaching the Sapalewa at Nuruitu, the ritual centre. At the centre of the hena, alongside the Tau and encompassing the new settlement and the ancient kakehan house, is the land of Souwei, the nuru of the Latu Upu Tapele, the Lord of the Land. In the north-east, besides Nuruitu, is the land of Matoke, the nuru of the Latu Maeta’e, the former Ritual Performer. Further north, on the path to the rival Wemale domain of Abio, is the land and post house of Neyte, the nuru of the former Ama Nili, renowned for negotiating a peace treaty with Abio. In the north-west, on the path to the powerful allied domain of Riring, is the land of Maslebu, the nuru of the Ama Lesi, the former Warlord, once marked by a large post house and the graves of prominent warriors. On the path to the north coast is the land of Matital, the nuru of the Ama Tita, ‘The Right Hand’. Guarding the entry of the village to the south is the land of Nia’we, the nuru of the Alamane, ‘The Left Hand’. The seventh nuru on the land is Tibali. ^[46] The land of the newcomers, the Ana Mulini, is along the northern and southern paths to the hena’s ‘children’ villages which developed from early garden houses closer to the coast. The position of ‘Great Lord’, village leader, alternates between different Upu Hena, hence there is no land for a ruler in the hena. ^[47]

One initiated elder described the land as a body. Other elders were unsure or denied this. In this model, the nuru carrying out the duty of Latu Upu Tapele, Lord of the Land, watches over the body of the land and the sacred river. The nuru of the Latu Maeta’e, Ritual Performer, is near the head of the ritual centre. The four members of the body are represented by the land occupied by the nuru of the Ama Lesi, the Warlord, the nuru of the Ama Nili, the nuru of the Alamane, or ‘Left Hand’, the Herald and the nuru of the Ama Tita, or ‘Right Hand’, the Liaison Officer. Of these four, the first two are more prominent, the latter more ancient in the area.

All the territory of the domain is under the corporate care of the hena. The tape malenete, ‘empty land’, is administrated collectively. Portions of the nuru land are under the custody of individual households. In Manusa Manuwe, most Houses have corporate rights over the land they use for gardens (mlinu), long-term plantations, orchards and groves (lusune, lusun, or lusu), hunting grounds and fishing pools. One says that a House ‘sits’ due on a portion of land and watches over its plantations (da’a lusune: ‘to care for a plantation’). A portion of domain land that is claimed for its exclusive use by the House(s) of a nuru is called a lusun mena (‘primary plantation’). The term mena marks precedence in space and/or time. The lusun mena is the common estate of all the associate members of a House. Unrelated branches of the same nuru have separate claims. Each lusun mena is administrated by a ntuane lusu, ‘elder of the plantation’, who must be consulted before new gardens are opened or plantations established on this common land. Households inherit rights to specific shares of the collective lusun mena of their House through the male line.

The portions of lusun mena land claimed by each household (often shared with a brother or a nephew) are referred to as ‘personal plantations’ (lusu are ’ue: ‘plantation my work’), but individuals own only the usufruct of their own and inherited plantations. ^[48] The land on which someone’s trees are planted remains in the custody of his/her House. Ultimately, however, all land belongs indivisibly to the community of the hena and no one possesses exclusive title or has the right to sell any segment of land. ^[49]

A person’s plantations (not the land itself) are his/her lusun dati. Every lusune has a name and belongs to a dati, unit. Typically, a dati (the term is widespread in Central Moluccas) is an administrative unit of people (relatives or allies) in relation to service, tax and commitment on the one hand, and the use of the land on the other. In the highlands, it is usually the members of one or several Houses of the same nuru who form a dati under the arbitration of an elder, the ntuane dati. A dati might include one or several lusun mena. ^[50] Lusun dati are planted by successive generations for themselves and their descendants. Theoretically, outsiders cannot ‘eat’ (ane) from these plantations, but newcomers or followers may be integrated. Some Houses have little lusune land, and if their households increase, they might quarrel over the use of the usufruct of the trees of their common lusune. Elders say that if a man is wise, he will plant as many separate lusu plantations as he has sons so that each of them may add to his own lusu and pay for schooling or buy what he needs. Thus an individual has access to the lusun mena of his House and may nominally own some trees privately in lusun dati. Relatives can collect some products from this land but there are restrictions.^[51]

Long established Houses (hena upui) that have access to a large portion of land might allot a section of it to a landless family of newcomers (ana mulini) securing them as followers. Alternatively, a ntuane dati might allow someone of the village or a newcomer to make a garden (mlinu: short term plantation and forest farming) on the land of his group. It might be advantageous for all to do so as no outsider can settle on a parcel of land that is already worked by someone. In such cases, the dati group always maintains precedence on that land and the ntuane dati dictates the terms of its use. Once given, this right of use is hereditary and need not be requested again. The dati group, however, retains the right to recover the land at any time. ^[52] Reclaiming a parcel of land can produce tension or hostility so groups are cautious in taking the decision to allow an outsider to work on their dati land.

Land is transmitted through males, but an unmarried daughter who resides in her father’s house with her children might be given custody of his land until her son is of an age to care for it by himself. ^[53] A woman who marries still has limited access to the lusune of her House of origin but she cannot plant long-term plantations on it. Most widows regard themselves as dispossessed and landless; however, they are usually cared for by one of their children or by relatives who allow them to make a garden and take a share in the usufruct of their plantations.^[54]

There is no market in Manusa Manuwe and forest gardens are sometimes at several hours’ walk. For generations, people have planted edible leaves and fruit trees along the paths to sago groves, gardens, fishing and hunting grounds so that no one will go hungry on the way to and from the forest. As they go hunting or sago-beating together, brothers-in-law also plant trees on each other’s land for their children as a sign of conviviality. Nowadays, the dati group usually discusses which parcel each member will farm that year, but mlinu, annual gardens (mountain rice interspersed with corn, cassava and vegetable), are planted and tended individually. ^[55] A garden is planted twice or a maximum of three times after which it is left fallow for about 25 years before the caretaker or his/her descendant returns to clear the land again. Meanwhile, fruit and other useful trees mark boundaries and signal occupancy.