SEJARAH NELAYAN TRADISIONAL INDONESIA DAN PENEMUAN PULAU PASIR (ASHMORE REEF) BERSUMBER DARI MOU BOX

Sejarah Nelayan Tradisional dan Penemuan Pulau Pasir 

(Ashmore Reef) 

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----11 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX

It is evident that this qualification of the Advisory Note had its intended effect in limiting perahu of a certain kind. But the Note also had the possible effect of leaving access open to a different class of perahu: perahu owned by those who could not afford to upgrade their vessels -- a flotilla of poormen's perahu that are generally small and not always the most sea-worthy of vessels.

Since, however, such perahu can still be found in large numbers throughout eastern Indonesia, access remained open to a potentially large number of so-called `traditional fishermen'.

By inadvertently confining access to a type of vessel found widely in eastern Indonesia, some of those fishermen who had historically sailed to Ashmore on a regular basis were in effect disadvantaged, thus distorting the original intention of the Memorandum of Understanding.

Thus, by shifting emphasis to a criterion of boat type, the first (and, by implication, the primary) of the two clauses of the Memorandum intended to define traditional fishermen, that is, fishermen who had "traditionally [i.e., historically] taken fish and sedentary organisms in Australian waters", was, to some extent, undermined.

To understand what this implies from an Indonesian perspective, it is necessary to briefly describe the history of Indonesian fishing in what is now the MOU Box, identify the main fishing and sailing populations of eastern Indonesia and to try to chart the main changes that have occurred among these populations since voyaging to Ashmore began. Although it is impossible to consider the complexity of these changes, it should be sufficient to sketch their outlines.

2. Indonesian Fishing in the MOU Box

2.1. Brief history

Ashmore Reef has its own recognised Indonesian name, Pulau Pasir, `Sand Island'. It is also referred to in the language of the island of Rote by the name Nusa Solokaek, which also means `Sand Island'.

The traditional method used by Rotenese perahu in navigating to the reef is to sail due south in initial alignment by sight with the most prominent hillpoint on the south coast of Rote. If a perahu fails to reach Sand Island after leaving sight of Rote for a full day, it would return north, realign itself and sail south again.

The fact that Ashmore is so near to Indonesia's southernmost island and that Ashmore Reef offers the prospect of fresh water has made it an area of special significance in Indonesian voyages south from the Timor area. Ashmore Reef has served and continues to serve as staging point for voyaging to other reefs in the vicinity and to points further south. The historical evidence points to the regular use of Ashmore Reef by Indonesian fishermen beginning sometime between 1725 and 1750.

Most of the southern voyaging of Indonesian perahu during this period had clear objectives. These voyages were connected with the search for new sources of trepang to supply a large Chinese market. Trepang, an edible holothurian that has the appearance of a fleshy cucumber had long been regarded among the Chinese as a kind of `sea ginseng'. As sources of this potent

12 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX

delicacy became depleted along the south China coast, the search for new sources shifted to what the Chinese called Nan-hai, the `Southern Seas'. In the late seventeenth century, the fishing and sailing populations of Sulawesi became actively involved in trepang gathering and this prompted the search for high quality trepang throughout eastern Indonesia and beyond3.

Involved in this search for new sources of trepang were populations of migratory sea peoples known as Bajau or Bajau Laut. These populations, originally located in the islands of the southern Philippines migrated first to Borneo and Sulawesi and then onward to the islands south of Sulawesi. Dutch records from the early eighteenth century document the initial movement of the Bajau into the islands of the Lesser Sundas. They also record the Bajau sailing in fleets in search of trepang. By 1728, they had reached the island of Rote and were exploring its southern coastline.

Reference to Bajau trepang expeditions from this time can be found in a letter written by the Dutch East India Company's officer in Kupang to the Governor General in Batavia, dated the 14th of May 1728. He reports that no foreign ships or boats visited Kupang since his last letter except for

“40 small Bajau Laut boats which appeared here mostly in the domain of Thie [on the southwestern coast of Rote] some of whose people came ashore under the pretext that they had come to look for trepang; since the Rotenese rulers did not, however, trust the people, they refused them their shores and made them depart from there, whereupon the boats also appeared on the 8th of March in the open sea outside of this fortress, a fact that we could not let pass without respectively informing you4."

According to a local Rotenese narrative, it was during this time that the Rotenese accidentally discovered Ashmore Reef. Led by Foe Mpura, a figure identifiable in Dutch archival records, who became the Ruler of Thie in 1725, a group of rulers from Rote set sail in an outrigger perahu from the south coast of Rote. Attempting to sail to Batavia, they were first carried southward to what they called ‘Sand Island’. A short excerpt from this narrative of the `discovery' is as follows:

“The Lords …climbed on board and headed the perahu westward to sail round the ‘tail’ of Rote so that they might point the perahu north. But the current took them to the south, no one knows how many days, and they reached Sand Island and their perahu became stuck there. The crew of the perahu disembarked and they wandered the length and breadth of the island but they saw nothing. It is said that Foe Mpura took a stick and carved his name on it and then erected it in the middle of Sand Island. After many days, when the tide rose higher, the perahu came afloat and they boarded again and departed.”6

3 Most of the trade in trepang was centred on Macassar in South Sulawesi and, as a result, the trepang industry has been given a `Macassan' label. The fact is, however, that various different Sulawesi populations participated in trepang gathering. Besides the Macassar populations, the most prominent populations involved in trepang gathering were the Bugis and the Bajau. The classic study of this trepang gathering in northern Australia is The Voyage to Marege’: Macassan trepangers in northern Australia by C. C. Macknight.

4 Timor Boek, K.A. 1992.2: see Fox 1977a: 460

5 see Fox 1977b: 101-112

6 This is a translation from the Rotenese of an oral narrative gathered by the Dutch linguist, J.C.G. Jonker, at the end of the nineteenth century and published (in Rotenese with a Dutch translation) in 1905. Because the narrative mainly concerns the origin of Christianity, Dutch missionaries seized upon this tale and disseminated it through the schools and churches, giving it near canonical status. Virtually every Rotenese has heard this tale in one form or another.

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Dutch records confirm that Ashmore was known to Indonesian fishermen in the first half of the eighteenth century. MacKnight in his study of trepang gathering in northern Australia notes the existence of another letter from the Company Officer in Kupang to the Governor General in Batavia written in 1751 which gives a report on a Chinese trader who had set out to reach "the large sandplate beyond Rote, to search for turtle-horn"7.

By the late 1750s, the gathering of trepang had become regularized. `Macassarese' vessels began to arrive in the Timor area with formal letters of permission from the Dutch East India Company allowing them to gather trepang without hindrance8.

Writing of his experiences in northern Australia at the beginning of the nineteenth century between 1801 and 1803, Flinders points to the link between the gathering of trepang on the Ashmore Reef and the discovery of much larger resources of trepang on the Australian coast.

“The natives of Macassar have been long accustomed to fish for trepang...upon a dry shoal lying to the south of Rottee; but about twenty years ago, one of their prows was driven by the northwest monsoon to the coast of New Holland, and finding the trepang to be abundant, they afterwards returned; and have continued to fish there since that time" 9.

The Bajau who pioneered the search for trepang on Ashmore and eventually found their way to the mainland of Australia also played an important role in the `Macassan' trepang industry in northern Australia during the nineteenth century. Earl noted the presence of Bajau at Port Essington in 1840 describing them as "that singular people the Badju, a tribe without fixed home, living constantly on board their prahus, numbers of which congregate among the small islands near the southern coast of Celebes"10.

Traditions of the island of Rote, including local navigation techniques, together with the evidence from European records indicate not just the discovery of Ashmore by eastern Indonesian fishermen in the eighteenth century but the use of this Reef and its resources on a regular basis. Although all voyaging ceased during the Japanese occupation, regular Indonesian fishing resumed after World War II. A CSIRO fisheries survey carried out by the FRV Warren reported twenty-three perahu at anchor at Ashmore in 1949 as well as clear signs on the island of regular visits, including drying racks for fish and clams. (Sumber : MOU BOX No. 11-13 . Brief history)

PAPELA (PEPELA) PUSAT PELABUHAN TRADISIONAL DI PULAU ROTE PELAYARAN  KE PULAU PASIR

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---4.1. The Settlement of Pepela18

Pepela is located at the south eastern ‘neck’ of the island of Rote on a wide, protected bay that opens to the Timor Sea (see Map 2). The setting is beautiful but the settlement itself, built on limestone and coral sediment, is crowded, somewhat squalid and lacks a good source of water, particularly in the dry season.

Map 2 The Island of Rote

17 This section was written with the assistance of G. Tom

Therik,Universitas Artha Wacana, Kupang.

18 Pepela is the Rotinese name of this settlement. This name is often ‘Indonesianized’ and written as Papela. Both spellings are now equally common. In 1996 and again in 1998, Pepela was the subject of a number of studies undertaken by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia) in cooperation with the Population Study Centre of the University of Nusa Cendana and the Regional Research Centre of the Artha Wacana Christian University in Kupang. These local research reports provided by Dr Tom Therik who supervised the investigation on behalf of Artha Wacana provide the baseline data for this section. This section also relies on the unpublished PhD thesis by Natasha Stacey, Boats to Burn: Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone (1999).

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Pepela forms a sub-village (dusun) within the larger village complex (desa) of Londalusi. Londalusi is comprised of five such sub-villages: 1) Papela, 2) Eahun, 3) I’iyah, 4) Oebalo Lain, and 5) Daehuti. The subvillage of Eahun serves as the capital of the district of East Rote (Kecamatan Rote Timur). Pepela is thus only 2 kilometres from the administrative seat of government in East Rote. Eahun was previously the capital of the historical domain of Oepao, first recognized by the treaty with the Dutch East India Company in 1690. 

Another dusun, I’iyah, in the village of Londalusi is closely linked to Pepela, whereas the two other ‘outer’ dusun, Oebalo Lain and Daehuti, are distinguished from the rest. Most of the inhabitants of these dusun are made up of local farmers rather than fishers.

The neighbouring coastal village of Seru Beba, in the domain of Ringgou, has four sub-villages: 1) Hailean, 2)Lo’okoen, 3) Noli and 4) Rarano. The four sub-villages that make up this village have approximately 260 households. Between 20-30% of the men from Seru Beba work, at least part-time, as crew members on perahu that sail from Pepela.

Another coastal village, Fai Fua at the far eastern end of the domain of Oepao, consists of four sub-villages: 1) Batuida, 2) Manuoen, 3) Nusak Lain and 4) Oek Sosolok. The village as a whole has about 240 households. In Nusak Lain and Oek Sosolok, as many as 70% of the population is dependent on fishing and other marine activities. Fishers from this village work as crew members on Pepela perahu. Increasingly, however, in this village, fishers are able to earn a better income from local seaweed cultivation and many have therefore ceased to sail from Pepela.

4.1.1. Population

The current population of Pepela (Roti Island) is over 135019. 82% of household heads identify their occupation as full-time fishing. As such, Pepela is the largest fishing village on the island of Rote and possibly the largest exclusive fishing village in the Timor area. It is the organisation centre for crew recruitment for voyages into Australian waters; it is also the initial marketing centre for the marine products obtained on these voyages. In addition to drawing on its own local manpower, Pepela is linked to other fishing villages on Rote, Flores, Alor and Timor from which both captains and crew are recruited. Pepela is also the site of a settlement of Bajau Laut who regularly sail into Australian waters. Most of these Bajau Laut have come from the Tukang Besi Islands of Southeastern Sulawesi and continue to maintain close contacts with the home villages.

The initial founding of Pepela is by no means clear. Local traditions recount the arrival and settlement of Muslim immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. These initial settlers are said to have come from Southeast Sulawesi, particularly Binongko in the Tukang Besi Islands. These early settlers included a mix of Butonese and Bajau but also Madurese and a number of families of Arab origin. Many settlers came by progressive migration via other predominantly Butonese and Bajo settlements on the islands of Alor, Pantar and Flores.

Whereas Rote has an overwhelmingly Christian population, whose rulers converted to Christianity in the early 18th century, Pepela has always been predominantly Muslim. Rotenese from the near neighbouring settlements often join Pepela sailors on their voyages.

19 This is an estimate based on census figures for 2000. According to local figures, in 1996, Pepela had a population of 1,185: 362 adult men; 336 adult women; 202 boys and 285 girls. Whereas there were proportionally more girls than boys, there were 8% more adult men than adult women. Extrapolating from Londalusi’s total population of 2968 in 1994 to its reported population of 3398 in 2000 shows an increase of just over 14%. A minimal 14% increase in Pepela’s population would put it at 1355 inhabitants.

23 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX

Some of these Rotenese have converted to Islam; others, however, have remained Christian. Although these local Rotenese – possibly up to 20% of the population – provide social links to the rest of the island’s population, Pepela’s inhabitants form an almost exclusive enclave. Indonesian, rather than Rotenese, is the principal language of Pepela.

While keeping itself distinct from most of the local Rotenese population, Pepela is at the centre of a nexus of connections to other Muslim fishing communities in the region: 1) Oelaba on the northcoast of west Rote, 

2) Sulamu at the western end of the Bay of Kupang, 

3) Binongko village (named after the island of origin) and other settlements on the Bay of Alor, and 

4) Wuring on the northcoast of central Flores. Linkages also extend to the Tukang Besi Islands, particularly to the original island of Binongko, as well as Kaledupa and Wanci. Pepela also draws crew members for its perahu from a number of neighbouring coastal settlements such as Haelean and Rarano in the village of Serubeba, Ringgou.

The original settlement of Pepela was built near the sea and is still marked today by an old mosque near the harbour. The main concentration of houses is now in a “New Settlement” (Kampung Baru) built up from the sea.

In the late 1980s there was an influx of Bajau immigrants from the island of Wanci in the Tukang Besi Islands. Initially these Bajau came as temporary migrants and would often return to their villages on Wanci at the end of a season’s fishing. Their arrival led to a major change in Pepela from the gathering of marine products such as trochus and trepang to intensive shark fishing. (See below)

Over a period of years, many Bajau built houses and took up more permanent residence in an area of Pepela near the beach. Eventually, this area of Pepela, known as Tanjung Pasir, was officially designated as a separate internal division of the settlement. In September 1994, the anthropologist, Natasha Stacey, conducted a survey of Bajau living in Pepela. At that time, there were 43 Bajau houses in Tanjung Pasir. Altogether there were “50 Bajo houses in Pepela, with a total of 292 people living in these houses, 134 adults and 158 children”. A majority of these Bajau had come “from Mola Selatan (28 households), with lesser numbers originating from Mola Utara (8 households), Mantigola (10 households) and La Manggau (2 houses).”20

Tanjung Pasir is clearly distinguished by the fact its houses are all raised on poles and are constructed of woven palm leaf on simple wooden scaffolding; whereas most other dwellings in Pepela were at ground level and built of more durable materials. A lack of water is particularly acute in Tanjung Pasir.

Despite the historical diversity of the settlement and the fluidity of its population, a survey by local researchers found that 95% of Pepela’s present inhabitants had lived there for five years or more. Although their origins were various, a core of Pepela’s population had lived in the village for three generations and regarded it as their only permanent home.

20 Stacy, Boats to Burn, pp 66-67.

24 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX

4.1.2. Education and Employment21

Education levels in Pepela are much lower than in the rest of the island of Rote22. This is the case despite the existence of a local elementary school (SD Negeri) with eight full-time teachers. Based on a local research survey, only about 52% of the population had completed elementary school. (None of the Bajau in Tanjung Pasir had, however, completed elementary school and most were reported to be illiterate.) An additional 27% had completed junior high school and a further 16% had completed senior high school. No one was reported to have had any education beyond high school. Children as young as 12 are taken on fishing voyages to learn the ways of the sea.

Local statistics confirm this pattern. Londalusi, of which Pepela forms a significant part, has the lowest school attendance in East Rote. Only 82% of school age children (7-12) attend elementary school compared to rates of over 90 to 100% for other districts. Although there is a junior high school within 15 minutes walking distance of Pepela, only 62% of children aged 13-16 attend this school23.

97% of those surveyed were involved in fishing, either full-time or part-time. 

Of these, 60% were employed full-time, either by local perahu owners or by local traders; 30% were employed part-time by an owner or trader but also did other work for themselves. Only about 10% of respondents identified themselves as independently employed in fishing. (Many Bajau would be included in this category.)

Seasonal factors affect employment patterns. During the west monsoon from January to April, winds and waves limit fishing. Only the Bajau are reported to fish regularly during this season. 93% of the population, however, is involved in fishing during the east monsoon from May to June and again from September to December. July and August are a time of strong winds and most fishermen curtail fishing during this period.

Interruptions to fishing force most families in Pepela to seek other sources of income. Occupations that contribute additional income vary but include local trading, particularly of dried fish, and local construction, boat building and repair. No one in Pepela is reported to own agricultural land nor is anyone involved in farming or gardening. (Thus rice and other basic food stuffs must be purchased locally or obtained by trading fish.) When in need, most families borrow from wealthy local perahu owners (for whom they work and to whom they may well be related) or from traders. Most Pepela families are bound by bonds of dependence based on kinship and debt.

The differences in wealth among families are evident in the settlement. As a whole, Pepela is by no means a poor village. Pepela has electricity and 92% of the population relies on it for household lighting. Local researchers noted that there were more electric goods in Pepela than in the town of Ba’a, the island’s administrative centre. 52% of families own a radio and 37% own a television set. In 1996, there were already 43 parabola antenna in Pepela.

21 This subsection is based on a local research survey of 75 respondents from Pepela: Data Buku Dasar 1996.

22 Rote is noted for its high education levels. In the early 18th century, the local rulers of the island with assistance from the Dutch East India Company, began their own Malay schooling system. This tradition has persisted to this day.

23 Rote Timor Dalam Angka 2000: Table IV.1.5. BPS, Kupang.

25 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX

4.1.3. Perahu Ownership

Perahu ownership is probably the most difficult subject on which to obtain complete and reliable information. Figures for the number of perahu vary based on different ways of classifying sailing vessels. Official government statistics for 2000 list 300 “jukung” (canoes), and 133 “perahu” for Pepela plus 15 other motorized vessels24. In 1996, local researchers estimated that there were more than 150 “perahu” in Pepela.

Local researchers have identified five principal perahu owners. These perahu owners are also the principal outfitters for perahu voyages and the main local traders who purchase the marine products obtained from these voyages. 

Some of these owner/outfitter/traders work in close cooperation with other marine produce traders located on Rote or in Kupang. In some cases, these owners are ‘heads’ of families who generally cooperate as a single unit. Locally these five are sometimes referred to, in Pepela, as the five “conglomerates” who control all fishing that goes on in Pepela.

For the purposes of this report, these five owners will be identified simply as 1) Haji A, 2) Haji B, 3) Haji C, 4) Haji D and 5) Si E.

This reported configuration of ownership is independently confirmed in an analysis of the Ashmore database of vessels recorded as arriving at Ashmore Reef from 1986-1999. This database provides records on 1112 vessels from Pepela. For only 19 of these vessels is the owner’s name omitted (but the owners of most of these named vessels can be reasonably identified by reference to other records in the dataset). Many vessels are recorded more than once and this provides a means of checking the consistency of the information on owners. It is also possible in several instances to identify the transfer of a vessel to a new owner, possibly by purchase or by inheritance. 

(The major difficulty in analysing ownership is in interpreting the great variety of spelling and abbreviation of names of particular owners.)

Pepela, as homeport, accounts for 66% of all vessels recorded as arriving at Ashmore over the thirteen years covered by the database. Consequently ownership data from Pepela would appear to provide critical relevant information on a majority of the vessels sailing to Ashmore.

In analysing this data to obtain a broad understanding of ownership, it is useful to identify prominent families as well as particular individuals. Vessels may be transferred among family members or ownership may be shared among related individuals. (Hence ownership may appear under one family member’s name and a few years later under another.)

Perahu Owners in Pepela

Penulis : Drs.Simon Arnold Julian Jacob