One of the first comments I recorded in my investigations into Fataluku land tenure was that all the land had long been divided among the respective resident and named ratu, which comprise key social institutions in Fataluku society. Subsequent enquiries identified dozens of named ratu groups historically resident within Lautem, the names often recurring in different localities. It is at the level of the patrifilial ratu that forms of communal or common property ownership to clearly defined blocks of arable land are asserted and organised. Evidently the evolution of these patterns of customary land tenure are the result of complex historical engagements between congeries of ratu defined variously as allies and enemies, and their mutual interaction with external, colonising powers. At the present time borders between ratu lands remain clearly demarcated, although not recognised officially by government. Nevertheless, across Lautem, there is apparently no land to which authoritative customary claims of tenure do not apply.

The name ‘ratu’ for the key social institution of Fataluku society is an example of the thoroughgoing Austronesian influences on the cultural patterning of social practice and formation. The term means ‘ruler’ or ‘lordly’, and its cognates, datu, dato and datuk, are familiar status terms in Austronesian-speaking contexts. Membership of a ratu group in Lautem consists of a core of male kinsmen, their in-married spouses, and children from these marriages. Although in the past it is likely that individual ratu formed close-knit, largely co-residential and localised groupings, over time membership has dispersed across Lautem and regions beyond. Nevertheless, the unity of the ratu, its shared and emplaced ancestral origins, spiritual and ritual obligations, and the areas of land to which it lays claim, represent a key set of values reproduced over time. Social and personal identities of individuals are intimately connected and reproduced through the discursive frames of ratu ritual practices and relation. These markers of affiliation are expressed in a variety of ways; from the use of certain inherited indigenous names, ^[12] ritual knowledge and practice, ^[13] to ratu-specific textile designs, and inherited animal ownership brands and food proscriptions. Normative social relationships are formulated around continuing and complex systems of exchange and marriage alliance between the exogamous ratu affiliations.

Within this broad pattern of social organisation, Fataluku distinguish a series of clearly defined class or caste-like divisions which have been reproduced over many generations. ^[14] Ratu identity is accorded the senior, classificatory ‘elder sibling’ status (kaka) and appears to include a majority of the population. A junior and socially subordinate grouping, referred to as paca, is accorded a ‘younger sibling’ status (noko). Paca groups form an integral part of the wider ratu social collectivity, their status linked to social differentiation in the mythic past. A third group of people are known as akanu and are defined as descendants of former slaves and war captives. Akanu are aligned notionally with different ratu groups but their ascribed social status is weak and their rights limited and constrained. By definition, they are severed from their origins and therefore maintain no direct connection with their ancestral land. Intermarriage between the social levels was uncommon traditionally and, although the divisions carry less weight in contemporary politics and society than before, tensions between the social levels are still evident especially in relation to contracting marriage.^[15] For the purposes of this discussion, however, it is sufficient to know that all land is traditionally vested in the ratu, and there are no higher order structures of customary landownership. Within the ratu jurisdiction, rights to parcels of land follow the segmentary houses of classificatory siblings, with overall authority in land matters vested in the senior male agnates of the ratu.

The historical division of Fataluku lands and the development of common property regimes over specific areas are constituted in and through ancestral histories and itineraries. Careful and privileged preservation of narratives of origin (nololo, sau) are combined with continuing practices of sacrificial communication with ancestor spirits that link individual members of the ratu with sites of ancestral origin. Although there appears to be wide variation in the specificities of cultural and ritual practice between different Fataluku ratu groups, a number of common sites for sacrificial communication and commensality can be discerned. All are designated as sacred or taboo (tei) and for that reason must be approached with caution and respect.

Four principal categories of ‘sacred places’ (lata teino) are recognised. They comprise a network of interlinked sites for members of the agnatic kin group. Every ratu group recognises a calu ia mari (‘ancestor footfall/footprint’) site, located at different points along the coast, which represents the mythic landing place of the original ancestor/s of the group. Customarily, ia mari sites are marked by an altar post (sarapua) erected on a base of flat stones in the characteristic and iconic image of sacrificial sites in Timor and elsewhere in the eastern Indonesian Archipelago. ^[16]

A second focal site of sacrifice is referred to as ete uru ha’a (heartwood). These places are marked conventionally by two carved figurines of a man and a woman. They represent the first ancestral couple and often, simultaneously, the site of the first settlement of the group. ^[17] They are said to guard the path of ancestors and are placed facing the direction of their origins.

Complementing the sites of ancestral arrival and origin are a variety of massive stone graves (calu lutur tei) that contain ancestral remains. Typically these are situated within the former walled settlement sites (lata paru) that are found in large numbers throughout the region. ^[18] Often located in strategic defensive positions on hilltops and cliffs, lata paru and their ancestral graves represent important sites for worship and sacrifice by members of a ratu experiencing difficulties and seeking guidance or relief from severe chronic illness, barren marriages and other challenges.

The fourth main component of this complex of cultural belief and practice is house altars and sacrificial shrines (aca kaka) ^[19] that are maintained to provide protection and spiritual assistance for constituent households of the ratu. Each shrine contains a stone hearth (aca pata) and a small forked post (sikua—from the sikua tree [Bridelia ovata]), ^[20] which serves to mediate communication with the ancestors. Ideally, married male members of the ratu maintain a separate aca kaka in their newly created households. These days, however, it is more typical for ratu house segments to utilise one central shrine that serves as the focus for extended household rituals. Sacrificial household rituals are directed to lineage ancestors. ^[21] They are conducted for all manner of life-cycle transitions and as a source of spiritual protection for the health and wellbeing of its members. ^[22] Rituals typically involve the sacrifice of domestic animals, ‘feeding’ (fané) the ancestors with offerings of offal and rice, and the shared consumption of the ‘sacred meat’ (leura tei) among male kinsmen within a ratu segment. ^[23] The use of auguries (ari toto) and divination (lonia, mu’ufuka totole) to determine the efficacy and messages conveyed through rituals are also common features of Fataluku sacrifice and collective knowledge.

Despite the high levels of avowed Catholicism and the depredations of Indonesian rule of Lautem for many years, indigenous religious belief and ritual practice remains fundamentally important in Fataluku social life. Close attention to ancestral obligations and fear of the consequences of their neglect condition the rhythm of social life and link domestic rituals with the sacred landscape of ancestral origins across the region.