Buná Traditional Wedding and Believe Through Ritual Signs to Respect the Ancestors and Nature (An Ethnography Research to the 3 Villages of: Wala, Nikir and Fatuk Metan, Tilomar of Covalima District Regions)

Buná Traditional Wedding and Believe Through Ritual Signs to Respect the Ancestors and Nature (An Ethnography Research to the 3 Villages of: Wala, Nikir and Fatuk Metan, Tilomar of Covalima District Regions)

João da Silva^1,2

¹State University of Malang

²Universidade Oriental Timor-Lorosa’e Dili, January 31^st 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51584/IJRIAS.2025.10030039

Received: 26 March 2025; Accepted: 02 April 2025; Published: 08 April 2025

ABSTRACT

This research is referred to Buná traditional wedding and believe through ritual signs to respect the ancestors and nature, ethnography scientific research to the 3 villages of: Wala, Nikir and Fatuk Metan, Tilomar of Covalima district regions. The objective of this research is aimed to identify and discover the hiding story on Buná or Bunák to share and inform the new generation in the villages and somewhere else that Buná people live prior in the Buná societies in Timor-Leste and the West Timor of East Nusa Tenggara Indonesia. Buná is referred to an ethnic group and native people who live and dominate the central parts of the island state as called today as Timor-Leste. Buná is one of the ethnic which spreads out into west Timor since the period of before the Portuguese hold the land of Timor. This research is done on the traditional habits is done to respect the ancestors and the nature. The ancestors also believe to the stars are defined as based on its roles and function throughout their trust and believe in daily live. They respect the invisible spirits are highest then them, the ghost of the God, ancestors and nature. In some parts described about the wedding in and wedding out habit system. That is the parts of the people of the island is being dominated by the wedding in and out system habits based on the natural traditional systems. The methods of this research is qualitative descriptive research analysis based on the collecting the data through an observation, interview, collecting the narrators’ information issues, compiling together in compatible with the books references such as journal, which obtain from various links of website or internet. The finding and result of this research the indigenous communities of Bunak adopt the matrilineal wedding in systems and also respect the structures of the ancestors’ inheritance to the generation of Bunak itself. The people of Bunak societies are from separated living in central part of the island and including in west Timor, Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara of Indonesia. Their believe strongly to the invisible spirits’ forces of the ancestors and the nature as their God and they respect each other based on the structure of the clans’ families in each of Uma Lulik of different tribal houses.

Key words: Tribe, followers, ritual signs, wedding, respect or believe

INTRODUCTION

Culture is the customs or habits of a group of people who reside in an area or place. (Smith, 2024) “the arts and other manifestation of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” Or a refined understanding or appreciation of this. Culture in Buná or Bunak dialect is “Bei Gua”, the term Bei is ancestor in singular and plural “Beimil Gua”, gua is footsteps. The generations use to know the footsteps of the ancestry to dig to know profoundly various kinds of the ancestors had left until recent times. (Louis Berthe, 1957-1959) (Bele, 2004: 53). The habit or traditional customs is occurred when the people themselves live and occupy the land that they want to live or stay together with others in a group collectively. Beside that the people also think and will to create what they need, what they like to do, in their daily life in a social group. That’s what they called as collective conscience, done by or belonging to all the members of a group, according to Durkheim (Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917).

It is the work of human itself in the ways that they try and effort hard from the simple to the hard one. For example, how to cook the foods, how they cultivate the seeds of foods in a farm, how they grow them, who gave them the seeds, how they harvest it, where they put or save the food as human alimentation to live longer life in a place. From the beginning that the foods was not cooked until they know how to cook, where they get the flame or fire, how they get it, how they use it. Human also think on the arts of life, sing, think softly, effort to create something that is still part of themselves as part of their life, for example to console, how to think softly in a way that they try to show to other in a beautiful way, something they create in a smooth dimension, vision. What they called as literature. Literature is a written works, especially those regarded having artistic merit, Tommy Smith (Smith, ibid, 2024).

Buná or Bunak and its traditional cultures, it is belong to ancestors of a tribal group of people who occupy and reside in the central part of the land of Timor Island, it located and centralized (Hull,1999) in the middle part of Timor (muk gibis). Buná or Bunak is a clan which comes from Bobonaro, a sub district situated at the middle part of the Timor land. Including the people who occupied the west part of the land of Timor, they were separated by a group of colonialist invasion, Portuguese troops and the Dominican friar missionary, then many people of the ethnicities in the central part of Timor most of them moved separately and safe their live and escaped into the land of west part, which they called today as west Timor (Timor Barat). According to the pre-history Buná is a tribal ethnic group that has dominates and occupied the central part of land of Timor, and the generation were spread out to some other islands, like Flores, Atambua such Lamakneen, Lakmaras, Wedomo, of west Timor etc. To oral history from some native speakers explained and give some additional statements that, the native speakers reject about the notice was released from Casa Produção de Audeo Visual channel that, the Buná, Fataluku, and Waimua speakers etc. are from west Papua based on the western anthropologists research on the issues of the land of Timor. The Buná inhabitants in their oral history that was descended by their ancestors and argue that most of the people of some islands exist in the pacific islands were descended from Timor. As an example, an Australian researcher, John Nicholson in his book with its topic “Songlines and Stone Axes” first edition which published in 2007 (Nicholson, 2007: p. 8) (Silva, 2018) explain and argues that,

“Coastlines of Australia during periods of low sea level, the lower sea level between 70.000 BC and 60.000 BC years ago makes it a likely time for the first arrival of people in Australia, some came ashore along the Kimberley coast (having crossed) a narrow channel of ocean from Timor. Others arrived at the top of Cape York Peninsula after walking from New Guinea.”

Figure 01: The map shows the traces

This map is re-scanned by the writer on March, 2019, the map showed 2 arrows marked the movement of the people into Australia, John Nicholson (Nicholson, 2007:8).

Archeology from archeologist defines that the people started stay at the land of Timor (Durand, 2009) since more than 60.000 BC to 50.000 BC years ago lived in the island of Timor which the Homo sapiens moved steps into archipelago of Insul India moved from Asia into the land of Australia. The past periods the races cross the lands and raise that in entire periods of time the genetic errands with various languages used and changed and differed already. But it still has existed the linguistics familiarity between Melanesian languages used in Timor in the regions of west part Berau of New guinea which are almost similar shown in the map no. 3 and 4 of Frederic Durand (Durand, 2009: 24,25).

How the ancestors of Buná did reach the island for the first time?

According to some informants from military officers of Fiji International stabilization forces confirm related to the history as a part of oral history from the native the first generations walked together with the ancestors of Fiji people. Because the ancestors of Buná are small and thin and could not have ability to walk more step forward straightly then the Fiji ancestors were tall and strong enough to go straightly to Fiji island state at that time. The Buná group just stay and live in the middle part of the land call Timor today. They reached the place to them is Bobonaro the central part of Timor which is called navel of Timor island as island state today. According to the oral history all the Timorese were separated and disseminated from this central area of Timor, are from Bobonaro. The people are west Timor, some island such Samoa, Fiji, Australia, etc. are from Timor.

The villages that the writer chooses in this research such as Wala, Nikir and Fatuk Metan are the result of the ancestors’ struggled hard during the period of civil war was appeared against an ethnic group named Melus. Melus are the indigenous people of these three villages, the ancestors were led by Bei Lelo and his group from Bobonaro, because according to the native land the people of Bobonaro were called by Tetun Terik people to help them at Tilomar to chase Melus group away from those places, then the Tetun Terik people pledged together with Bei Lelo and his groups as same as mark as brotherhood until recent time.

Wala derived from Tetun Terik term, from walan means ‘naked’. Nikir is an original word ‘niki’, it referred to an animal, ‘bat’, that place belong to the ‘bats’, then occupied by the clan group of Buná. Fatuk Metan derived from two terms, Fatuk is ‘rock’ and ‘Metan ‘is ‘black’ or black rock. These three villages were confiscated by the ancestors of Buná people during the civil war confrontation against Melus ethnic group. As same as a place called Fila rai, this is an empty village today, most of the Buná rivalry as called ‘Melus’ were killed sadistically, therefore they called it Fila rai, means turn the soil, the groups of Melus tribal are killed and kidnapped by the ethnic group of Buná during that periods.

Other Buná ethnic groups spread out to Lamakneen, the places at the north parts. The ancestor of Lamakneen from Buná, led by A.A. Beretalo and his groups fought and sacrificed hard against the same group, Melus, the victory was in his part, (Bele, 2004:68) then chased the Melus ethnic away from the places. Then Buná group confiscated that regions such as Lakmaras, Henes, Abis and Si’arai. This Buná ethnic group resides at the head part of Tavara river (north) and Buná of Tilomar at the leg part of Tavara (south sides). They were descended from equal residence of Bobonaro and Odel Gomon (Muk gibis), those villages are at the central parts of the island of Timor.

Then a word ‘tilomar’ referred to a post administrative ‘Tilomar’ as famous today. Etymologically of Tilomar derived from two words, ‘tilun’ and ‘mahar’, ‘tilun’ means ear, and ‘mahar’ means thick, it referred to the effect of civil war that the Buná people kill and cut the heads and ears of their antagonists (Melus ethnic) and put their ears on the ‘sadan’ or fort at an enemies’ sucos at Pakan, then their suco was destroyed and no more Melus group in that place at that periods and then that village was empty so far, because the group of Melus were totally killed by the winner group Buná people did the festival and party activities to their victory from Melus ethnic from months to months (Silva, 2018:16,17). Then the group of Buná took possession on the land become theirs until recent time. After that, the Pakan suco become a post administrative of Portuguese occupation period at that era, until a Portuguese commander named Mr. mean haat (Mr. four reds, four corporal, referred to his ranks), but letter on this place is unused.  Before the war of Manufahi or Maun Fahe, ‘Same’ war confrontation led by Boaventura in 1912 against some groups of Portuguese colonial rivalries with their automatic guns and artillery fought against the Boaventura’s groups in Same, Manufahi in that time. It caused by Boaventuras’ wife was kidnap and raped by the Portuguese rivalry. The conflict were happened in that place and many native Timorese were killed and ambushed by the pro-Portuguese sides, led by a successor Governador Celestino da Silva,  Filomeno da Cámara  included Don Alexo Cortereal was a Timorese man who supported the Portuguese colonial, won the war of Manufahi in 1930 (Silva, 2018:16,17).

Ethnography

This study is about cultural research and an understanding on the traditional habits that normally applies in the specific or general living systems in a group of people who live and dominate their own customs that practically used in a group of a community stay or live in a place or area collectively.  “An ethnographic approach to researching the produce rich understandings and allow for the more effective use of knowledge and information. Rich research consists of a range of grounded and relevant facts, observations, understandings, perceptions and interpretations.” Ethnography literally means to ‘write (or represent) a culture’. Ethnography is a research approach that has traditionally been used to understand different cultures.” Tacchi, Slater, Hern (Tacchi, Slater, Hern, 2003: p. ii). Stuart Hall (Hall, 2011:p.7). ‘Cultural studies is concerned with all those practices, institutions and systems of classification through which there are inculcated in a population particular values, beliefs, competencies, routines of life and habitual forms of conduct’ (Bennett, 1998:28).; Hall (Hall, 2011:7). Hallahan (Hallahan, 2001: 2,3) describes that, the anthropologists and sociologists define culture more broadly:  culture is everything that goes on around individuals as part of everyday living. Culture is a property of a society or group of people who live together; a culture is shared by everyone and does not belong to any single individual.

Buná is as categorized and still an unwritten language and literature to the native speakers of Buná itself who live and occupy in the central part of the land of Timor, since ancient periods in Timor-Leste until this recent time, in Bobonaro, a district of East Timor, it is a region located at the border side with west Timor of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.  This ethnic group had been spreading out and reached to the land of west Timor until recent periods. The written story in west Timor, about the living condition and customs of the Community of Henes and Lakmaras of Lamaknen closely with the border between Lamak nen and Fatu-Lulik post administrative of Covalima district region of Timor-Leste. (Bele, et al, 2002).

Dowry Systems

Dowry is a traditional habit system that use to pay the money or ‘gold’ and “belis”, silver tribute for a girl that usually done by a boy side family or parents of the boy. But according to the definition of Smith, Soanes and Stevenson (Smith, Soanes and Stevenson, 2004) point out that dowry is a traditional habit with money, gold or property to tribute the husband or the man who marries a girl.  These gold and “belis” payment systems must be collected before or after a boy and a girl become had a strong relationship among each other until both, a couple and wish officially to get married in a day. Belis and gold or money (borlaki in Tetun term) are paid to a girl by means to respect and valorize as human being was born has its own dignity and values, pay “belis”, gold, money or animals are used to respect a girl’s dignity and raises her values to be uprighted. “Belis” signifies as silver or related to gold, money and animals to handed over and conveyed to the families of the girl from the boy’s parents, after the both are very keen one to each other. No one can married if without any payment of the “dowry”, according to the rules of traditional law and norm of Timorese wherever.

Belis means white, referred to a silver; it is white color that’s why the people use this word in their daily habit in Buná tradition for dowry payment use silver. And gold, they call it ‘tumel bule’en’ or ‘bai bule’en’ red money means gold money, something red such gold. These two terms are used for the dowry bride pay to a girl in the occasion of dowry ceremony bride to uprightness for a girl as a highest dignity amongst other, it does not mean selling a girl to a boy in the wider society, it used to raises the dignity of a girl in the land of Timor in general.

(Smith, 2004) defines that, “Dowry (dowries) is property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their married (Smith, 2004); (Hornby, 1995: 350); and ( Waite (1998: 190). Dower is referred to a wife’s right to a share of deceased (Scott and Fetzer, 1980: 262)  husband real property (real estate). It is sometimes called as widow’s share, it is used in America and British, under the British and American Common Law, the widow is entitled to one-third of her husband’s property during her lifetime.

The definition of some dictionaries as above define a little contradict with Buná definition, for Buná and other ethnic groups which adopting wedding in systems, dowry is property or gift or money brought by a bride to the girl part shared into the girl families for paying the father ‘tires’ and hard effort during a girl was feed since from a baby until she gets adult such has to marry with a man.

The Civilization of Wedding in and Wedding out Systems

The lisan or tradition of Timor generally, there are three types of groups levels based on the economic classes since the periods before the white race

Portuguese west colony arrived into the land of Timor, such as:

1. The group of families are categorized as monarchies Aristocrat (the king’s families)
2. The group of families are categorized as rich or wealthy families
3. The group of families are categorized as poor or poverty (papa/miskin – Indonesia words).

The group of families are categorized as monarchies Aristocrat (King’s families)

The native of Bunak who uses to speak this dialect, these native dialect speakers usually follow the matrilineal wedding systems (following the mother lines), ‘kaben tama’ in Tetun terms and ‘tutu tama’ in Buná words (as kawin masuk uses Bahasa Indonesia). It is a rule and a traditional system adopted that the girls are not allowed to follow the boy’s family, if they are married as husband and wife, and the husband must follow or stays with the girl if both are offered each other become forming a new living family in a society. Because according to the pre-history of Buná ancestors and their philosophy, a girl never search or looking for a man to establish a new family, but in the doctrine of Buná itself, the boys are as looker or finders the girls. That’s why all the results of the hardworking of a man including all properties (house, land, money, animals, food or whatever he has etc.) must be conveyed totally to tribute and handover to the girl whenever a husband die or pass away left his own wife and children after he was becoming a chief of that family.

A boy was born as same as a broken egg, means die, just left all the wealthy to his children and his wife, not more than that, it is a philosophy of Bunák tribal. But a girl was born bring the lucky to a family, bring new generations, more children will be produced, new wealthy, new fortune and brings lots of gold into her own family, as called dowries. Therefore, the Buná tribal group never offers their daughters to a boy and a boy is called as a girl looker or girl searcher for his life, that’s why they called it as wedding in system or matrilineal adoption systems.

Wedding is synonym with marriage involved into an activity to make a pair, a boy and a girl become a single family bring into a ceremony to becomes one flesh. Jesus in Marcos (Marc. 10:6,7,8,9)., states that, “ ⁶but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. ⁷For this cause shall a man leaves his father and mother and cleave to his wife. ⁸And they twain sell be one flesh; so they are no more twain, but one flesh. ⁹What therefore God hath joined together, let not a man put asunder.”  Gideon  (Gideon, 1978:1043). The marriage in system is used as a habitual of kingdom family like a ‘matas deugomo’ is a king and decide everything in a family, including the wedding process activities to form a new family, a boy who offers a girl comes directly to a family without any strong relationship each such adopted by the young generation do today in their live, a girl and a boy must be special relation before they meet their both parents or families.  Wedding in or synonym word marriage in systems are adopted by the group of tribal ethnics who follow and adopt the  mother lines wedding in system as used by the communities of Matrilineal in some parts of east Timor (Timor-Leste) like Galolen of Manatuto,  Buná, Tetun Terik ethnic (Smith and friends, 2016: 16) groups of Covalima, Balibo, Bobonaro or Maliana some parts, and some parts of Maliana are adopting the wedding out patrilineal  (father lines) systems like Kemak ethnic groups in Bobonaro and Atsabe (Ermera district), Ainaro, Aileu, Baucau, Lospalos, Viqueque, etc.

The family groups are categorized as rich or wealthy (the rich or wealthy families)

The rich family they don’t think their daughters because they have lots of things exits in their own family life, as same as in aristocratic family. Also, they don’t want their daughters are taken by anyone to far away.  With these reasons their daughters have been offered by the boys whoever desires and make an offer to be his wife in the future, but with an order that boy must stay together with girl’s family. The wealthy people don’t give anything including their girls to other people from their family that is who does not have a relative with them. These issues are very similar or same with the king’s family in a society, since the Buná ancient eras. Therefore, they adopt and followed the matrilineal and wedding in systems as they use in their native term called tutu tama or ‘kaben tama in Tetun, means wedding in to follow the mother lines marriage systems. But their names are not important, the last name can follow the fathers’ last names.

Buná has it kinds of difference tribal in traditional Deu fó or De for, some kinds of Buná tribal in district’s various villages use some almost different dialects in Covalima regions and other district regions, like Maucatar, Fatu-Lulik, Lontale, Fohoren, Lela, Kuna’in – Matai, Holpilat, Holbelis, Fatuk Fuan, Leogore, Dato-Tolu, Laktos;  Sesurai or Betano in Same or Manufahi district;  Beikala, Casa, in Ainaro district; Lolotoe, Lebos of Bobonaro district; Lamaknen and Kiwal, Wedomo  of west Timor (NTT-Indonesia).

The group of people are categorized as poverty or poor Family   

As stated in oral history and the traditional habit of wedding out rules kaben sai (Tetun) and tutu sai/ tutu jal (in Bunak words), it is very often in many ethnic tribes. In these issues (wedding out rules) it is not very often occurred in Bunak tribes including other group of tribal of Buná which use forbidden to do this wedding out rules to adopt this traditional wedding out systems in different district regions. As an example, some villages part of Tilomar had done this mixture wedding in and out, like in Wala, Nikir, Fatuk Metan (which the writer did his research into these villages) or others villages so far, their daughters can follow their husband as they decide together, but it never happened in the past eras, ancient times.

This marriage or wedding out system happened, according to the ancestors, the catastrophe of food starvation (lack of food) and the suffering of hunger causes malnutrition, deeply suffering of starvation and created lots of pandemics, epidemic or endemic from some regions or everywhere. There were the offers created by some villagers from the poor people through offering their daughters to their neighbors whoever men to marry their daughters, such to exchange with food, clothes, animals, money or belis (traditional silver), morten (a traditional necklace got from soil) for the rich people or for the king, for these reasons they can continue their life as same as other people, for buying food or other types of things for their necessity. The traditional customs culturally inherited by the ancients to the young generations as they called it bei-gua or traced back to the ancient footsteps and should be defended by new generation wherever and whenever. The ancient had known everything, so that they could create various things, the simple one until a unique of things that we know and see today, most of them are sacral things that we have to respect and raise them forever.

Tutu sai (wedding out system) adopted in some local areas in Timor-Leste

Wedding out rules is a different traditional wedding system in Timor – Leste, it is run by the ethnic groups in generally in East Timor, such as Kemak, Mambae, Fataloku speakers like the people from Lospalos, Makasa’e speakers like Baucau and some parts of sub districts from Viqueque district ethnic tribes. Kaben sai is done because the boy family’s is ready to negotiate with the girl’s families through the dowry pay. The dowry payment for kaben sai (wedding out) system it is needed much money, lots of animals (hundreds of animals or more) during the past time, lots of jewelries or gold, and the generation of both girl’s and boy’s children must totally follow the father lines (patrilineal wedding system) and stay with the boy’s family forever and all the properties of this new family belong to the boy and his family that was happened in the periods oldest generation. There is limited animals are tribute to pay dowry today. For example, in Lospalos of east parts, Kemak, Mambae people the dowry animals are used for dowries pay not 20 cows or buffaloes. These animals, jewelries and money are not all at once. If the rich is depended on it availability in the family of the boy.

Gole and forbidden signs for first offer in wedding in and out

In these traditional wedding in or out systems, a boy is accompanied by his parents (father, mother, uncles, aunties, included brothers or sisters) come to the girl’s family to demand (first offer) and apply for the girl who is requested be partner of the boy, then the boy’s family give a kind of jewelry such a necklace, ear ring or finger ring, after they meet each other in the house of the girl, then the gift to be given for her as gole, means  forbidden, as a sign of forbidden property, this sign is given for a first demand meeting to the girl among two parts, boy’s and girl’s parents.

The second offer is done when the boy’s family are ready to convey the property tribute to the girl’s family, with the objective to valorize, raise the dignity, tribute the girl and her families accept the offers from the boy’s parts to become his real wife. The tribute and dowries are rendered to the girl’s family as similar as a queen or king today in her or his life for the first time, and this become a wedding out system and many other regions have been adopting this similar wedding system.

Early wedding (underage marriage) systems

This underage marriage system is mostly and very often happen everywhere, mostly in Bunak side, the cause of poverty and lack of economic in a home family, starvation or lack of food, animals, clothes, daily necessities during the periods of primitive and undeveloped culture before the era of Portuguese until the periods of Indonesia’s occupation. This habit cannot be avoided because some ethnic groups are living in the very rural areas and cannot access the global information issues.  According to the ancestors, a man can wait for a girl since she is still exist in the mother pregnancy until a baby girl come out from the mother pregnancy until reach   in a teenage age, between 10 until 15 years old may sleep together with a man but this early age marriage system very often can mostly negative impacts to the girls sometimes. There is occurring the girls are not able to perfectly giving birth a baby or die in an early.  The man can pay dowries for her (a baby girl) parents before and after wait for her until 10 years or more. The causes of this early wedding underage, giving mostly negative impact, and cause the underage girl is going to die soon after giving a baby birth, when she is married with a man before 12 years old, and there is not having some good solutions, because no one is able to open the minds for the elderly people, but they just need the dowry and money from the boy who had offered to the family of the girl.  They use to pray, harohan – harohan, and use traditional predictions of traditional practitioner (agan) and tribe leaders as a king to save the life through their spiting juice that they spits to the relative members, almost the similar with the works of The God or gods.

The objective of Uma Lisan (tribal houses)

The ancients know that wedding inside a family member to marry with each other is hard forbidden. Because it is haram (in Arabic word), very sacred or harmful. The forbidden of wedding in with own relatives in a same family from same tribes are:

1. A brother / sister of a same mother cannot marry with his/her own sister or brother in whatever generation.
2. A cousin cannot marry with his/her own mother’s sister’s children or a same family generation.
3. A relative of a family cannot marry with their own relative in a same tribes / uma lisan (deu guk kede-same tribal).
4. The brother of mother cannot marry each other.
5. The brothers of brother’s children cannot be married each other including any sexual intercourse.

Some possibilities of marriage within the relatives, but only few exceptions, they are as follows:        

1. The children of a sisters’s brothers can marry with the children of sister’s children or in whatever generation including the cousin’s children because the children of the brother’s sister are from his own nephew or nieces.
2. The father’s children are able to marry with his own sister’s son or daughters (still baban oan – the aunty children).
3. The brother’s sisters’ children are able to married with each other (still baban oan – the aunty/uncle’s children).

Some prohibitions or hampered by the Catholic Church against a few Traditional marriage systems

The Catholic Church, the Missionary of Christian hampers the traditional wedding systems such which inherited by the ancestors that the habits of wedding systems like a brother’s daughter or sons cannot be married with his own sister’s daughter or sons, this is called tunanga in Tetun and Bahasa Indonesia, tetun Terik called as baban oan (na’i gol and baba gol-uncle’s children and aunt’s children, in Buná), it is not allowed by the Church, because they are brother and sisters are from the same parents and same blood relation and indeed still from the same generation. And also, the father’s sister children are not allowed to have married with the father’s children, it is still has a same blood, they are categorized as their own relative. The bloods of both, father and his sister are not separated yet, they are from a same family generation. Even we are separated each other, because of the rules of law of wedding systems, we are from the same ancestors, Adam and Eve. We’re descended from a same ancestor, the children of human are the children of God, Father of Almighty. When the ancestors were descended by God, and God its name ’human’, their generation are overflow, the violence had occurred continue on earth, from time to time, therefore the God says that, “My Soul could not stay in the human forever, because the human is a meat, and their ages is until 120 years only, (Genesis, 6:3).

(John, 8:44) the Gideon International (2018: 153), “you are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, the father of it.”  All the violence and the crimes are supporting the roles of devils because whoever uses to create the problems are belong to the devils. Criminal violence refers to acts of aggression that are perpetrated with the intent to harm individuals, groups, or property, often violating laws and societal norms. This type of violence can take many forms and has significant social, legal, and psychological implications. Since violent crime is both violence and crime, theories of aggression and deviance are required to understand it (B. Felson, 2009).

Fig. 01: Belak, Kaebauk, sasaki are traditional moneys for dowry pay solutions. Photo was taken by the writer, in 2018, Colmera tais market at Dili.

In Manatuto the adoption of wedding in or marriage in systems, because a pumpkin has transformed and become a girl then married with a boy as their ancestor said, according to their ancient pre-history.  Then a boy named Manatuto was married with a big girl (bin boot-big sister) thus they stay together in that place was then named Manatuto until present time. As stated in oral history, Manatuto people always adopting the wedding in system and their big sisters has the power and should dominate and lead the family as called uma fukun (in Tetun), tribe sacred house called Dirihun means tribe group that is living in their regions there. So the district called Manatuto located from east of Dili, before reach Baucau district in the east side based geographically, it almost the same or almost similar one with the Buná ancestors’ wedding in system doctrines. Their generation adopting the ancients’ rule and obey for it until recent day. It is useful and benefit to the people of Manatuto, prior their young generation to progressive it into the future. We follow the steps and trace the ancestors, as we called it the civilization of ancestors as they are guided and controls of conduct and are external to the individual ways in the form of norms, mores, (Durkheim, 1858-1917) in Elwell (____) and folkways in the living society.

A same tribal groups are forbidden to have married in the same tribe followers

The followers are not allowed to marry each other in the same tribal ethnic group. If the followers violated the wedding rules such sexual intercourse illegally or legally in the same tribes, they are killed by the spiritual ways, dead one by one and raises intolerance by the spirits of dead ancients into a family suspects who fracture the rules of ancients regulation systems. This punishment would be continued to happened if a higher leader of sacred house, ‘matas’ does not know anything and don’t say apologize through a ritual ceremony which concern on it.  If the ‘matas deugomo’ identify and knows, he must call all the followers in the tribal group and settle down soon the matter that the suspect has created because it is ‘pó tepel’, very sacral and haram in Arabic word. All the followers in a tribal group are called for solution as same as ancestors did it in their periods and they are descended from a same family from beginning until the end, they are still their own a same grandpa, grandma, father, and mother, it is highest forbidden to get married in a same clan.  The negative consequence would be faced by someone who destroys and fractures this forbidden rules. No tolerate to him or her when he or she violates the ancestor’s way of living hood. We are born to differentiate, which one is a different tribal and which one is a same tribal as we call our own family as we were born from a same tree, as same family group from as same house, from old to a new generation and on. The philosophy of the wedding in system is used for different ethnic or different tribal ethnic cluster, that is a man responsible for his wife that he has chosen as his couple to form a family and a girl that a man chooses must not be from a same tribal group. According to the doctrine of Buná, a man was born not stay with his father and mother or his own parent, as it mentioned also in the Bible Marcos, (10:6,7,8,9), as described in previous page. A boy was born to another people, means he will be belong to a girl or his wife from a different clan.

Traditional wedding symbols and its definitions

Symbol(s) is an object used to be represent something and it can be called double entity (Sun Chen, 2024).  All symbols, whether a spoken word like an object such flop, as a flag, a gesture like waving one’s hand, (Spreadley, 1979) a place like a church, or an event like a wedding, are parts of a system of other symbols. Symbol is a mark or  (Michael Mayor, 2002); (Smith, et al, 2004) character used as a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

The symbols of traditional custom of Buná or Bunak are:

1. Belak – a disk made from gold or silver or flat gold, it hung on the neck by men and women and chest ornament, it is used to represent money or other valuable things that must be tribute to the girl and her parents. Also valuable for barter system if public currencies is not in used.
2. Sasaki – a silver that can be used for valorizing the dignity of a girl after a boy reaches her family to request her as his wife. This sasaki is utilized on the both arms, right and left.
3. Kelu – a bracelet used by girl when it necessary as a decorate object for the girls and used on the hand. It is an ornament used by all girls.
4. Seki (in Bunak), and ulu-suku (in Tetun), it is a metal sharp made from silver to sew the hair of the head. It is useful to all girls for decorate and bunch the hair and head of the girls.
5. Korenti (kail in Bunak) – Necklace useful for bound a girl as a sign provided by a boy means that girl is not alone anymore she has a partner. Necklace also used as barter system for commercial activities as same as belak or silver as valuable objects must be used for emergent situation in facing the economic problem.
6. Kadeli mean – Finger ring (gold rings) is used for binding the girl as same as necklace, if necklace is not bought the finger ring is a suitable object for the girls. This finger rings also used for both, girl and boy as the partner used during they are getting the wedding baptism in the church for swear or oath is being expressed by the priest to accept and respect each other after getting marriage in the future.
7. Kaebauk – men’s headgears in the same of buffalo horns that is a headgears of a king or queen in a suco or native village. It is the valuable object that descended by the ancestors to honorable a king or a queen.
8. Morten (pé in Bunak) – it is a kind of traditional necklace made from a kind of pebble found in the soils.

The consequences of marriage in a same tribal

The individual characters cannot be avoided very often, included the practical sexual intercourse sometimes occurred in a same family, this problem is hard to be solved and it is very dangerous for the followers of a clan group according to the doctrine. And the spirit comes over the tribe group, no one knows through deu guk can given the sanctions to the actor of both, a girl and a boy or wholly in a same relative, deu guk kede. The punishment comes into the same tribes suddenly; the participants are killed spiritually in different ways of deaths. The elders’ people cannot stay calm; they do much efforts to settle it, for finding the ways to get the solution. They have to do some sacrifices for apologizing the dead spirits or to sacred house, deu guk, make an offer is a sacrifice, kill an animal to demand sorry for their own sacred souls are furious into the family related to this problem.

When this accident happened to a couple, example, a woman and a man have hiding practical sexual intercourses, somewhere without pregnant or until a woman gets pregnancy from a same tribe, and they become wife and husband or negligence, both of them must follow the order of chieftain that should be obeyed by them, that is a dog must be killed then the uterus of the dog should be dragged by both, used their teeth, then the woman and the man as a suspect who violate and had created this shy matter and both of them are able to drag or pull the long uterus of the dog from side by side by until split or cutoff. It means that one of both is separated or thrown out into another clan; means that they can be possible to get married each other in that way into new tribal group, because they are not a same clan anymore. If the clan leaders or chieftain don’t do this, the condemnation come over the clan to punish their tribe until kill many people spiritually through kinds of disease or accidents maintain to happen.  Consanguinities or consanguineous (Smith, 2004) happened because of the less control of father and mother or their own parents. This line marriage system is not allowed for every human. The doctrine of Christian Church proposes that wedding system in a same relative (generated from a same mother or father is forbidden). Because that is still a same family bloods. This act is hardly forbidden by Canonic Laws (Canonic:1091). It’s allowed to marry from one until four inclusive collateral lines, a person descended from the same ancestor as another but through a different line (Archbishop, da Silva, 2017).

The Theory of Culture

Culture is a tradition that must be raised as our identity which we live together in a pluralism societies, that bring us into some additional knowledge, to know something new like experiencing of a language, habits, custom, that learning together which are applied in the different ways of acts or practice in communication, practice creativity in arts such dances, music, sports in different attitude of respect each other, receive each other in a different ways.  Edgar (2008: xi), “……the integration of our lives with the diverse virtual worlds that constitute cyber culture similarly promises enormous changes to our self-identity and to our interactions with other people.”  Culture in Buná wide societies it referred to the history of ancient inheritances to the new generation which is called as ‘beigua or beigua tuil’, trace the ancient inheritances or ancestors (Louis Berthe, 1957-1959) in  (Bele, 2004: 53). Beigua means everything we do, create, see, acts, attitude just follow the result and efforts of ancestors in the old periods before us. Example, we wear a type of cloth generated by the creation of ancestors such as ‘tais’ for all Timorese utilize, how the ‘tais’ is done or produced, eating the betel leafs together with areca nuts, lame, etc. All types of rituals should use malus, bua, and tobaccos (nicotiana tabacum). These are the habits were left by the ancestors during their periods of time when they were still alive in our places before. We learn and study the history that they left, we learn or study of past events considered as a whole. The series of past events  (Smith, Soanes and Stevenson, et al, 2003)  connected with someone or something. According to Hornby (1995: 284) defines that, a. “culture is an art, literature, in general, music and other intellectual expressions of a particular society of times. b. an understanding or appreciation on this (culture).

The creative thinking that they shared and disseminated by creating the norms, how to settle the problems, and decide for the good solutions, provide the sanctions if someone destroy or cross the rules of norms, how to produce the food from farms, how the rice manufactured after the crop, then eat and consuming together etc. This collective conscience proposes by Durkheim in Blonder (2006) expresses that the concept of norms is a basic building block in sociological theory. Remember these (Mores Bolender, 2006:p.p.12)  terms from Social Problems:

• Positive Sanctions
• Negative Sanctions
• Informal Sanctions
• Formal Sanctions
• Folkways
• Laws

Culture is all that a man learns to do as a member of his society. Includes all the knowledge. Common understanding (Barber, 1972) and expectation that the people of a group share and that their children learn. According to the history, the origin of Buná ancestors were naked, did not use the clothes, but it changes since the Portuguese occupation 4.5 centuries in Timor before they left the land of Timor. Including foods, the foods are mostly use cassava, corn, sago, wild foods, rice but the alimentation that they use today, mostly eat the rice, and from their own rice field also imported food ……social change for building the (Holmes, 2007:2) thinking of all involved in processes of development, as individuals, as communities, organizations, social movements and donors. It is the model of human efforts and influential in progressive events, from the old eras until global thoughts. The process of human mind as of the primitive ways into the progressive thinking bits into this recent modern eras of global changes. The influences of the advance of sciences and technology make people moving in advance.

The ancestors trust to the stars as guidance for predictions

The ancestors believe stars as guidance to the life for human in daily activities. As a part of this research, the people of East Timor in generally, the Buná and tetun terik people specifically, they believe and follow the appearances of stars in the sky in the  night time, when a sort of dry season arrive. They predict the stars for their farming system, as an example, wet season comes during the months of January to July, and the wet season period the rain falls started from November and December each year. They see the stars specifically amongst other in the sky, those selection stars guide them, they follow and see that it’s the time to cultivate the seeds in the farms, and grow for how many months they plant the seeds into the soil in the farm or in the rice field also harvest periods will be arrive soon, based on their predictions in following the stars movement in the sky. These following stars are commonly and specifically utilized by the indigenous of Buná and Tetun Terik people in general, and most of the people in the district of Suai, Covalima East Timor, they recognized the specific stars since the periods of their ancestors. Those stars are as following:

Figure 02:The family of collective stars called Usi. The stars are designed by the writer after gathered the story through an interview.

A bunch of these collective stars are called ‘Usi’ which appear in the sky in the midnight, it shows that the dry seasons almost arrive when the rainy season still continue to fall from May to July, and the rain is stopped until August, then arrive the dry season during the months August to November, and wet season will be arrive too after the dry season. It down or missing very soon then appears again in the midnight. These collective stars in partnership with other collective stars as called ‘phun’, means a bunch. A bunch of collective stars that appear in the midnight times, which means that the wet seasons are continue to appear. They are moving partnership both ‘Usi’ and ‘phun’, even their positions are distance from each other. Those are the prediction of the ancestors use stars as their guidance for their living hood or their basic necessity of life. The appearance of these stars to guide the farmers to pay special attention for plant and cultivate, growing their farm field. During the appearance of these stars the inhabitants are busy with their farm works such as cleaning and cutting the bushes for cultivating the seeds after the fields are burnt off during the month of October and November each year.

Figure 03: The family of collective stars called Phun. The stars are designed by the writer when this story has been collected, in Dili.

According to the ancestors the stars are called as ‘phun’ and ‘usi’ go down to the deep ocean therefore the falls of heavy rainy seasons from May to July each year. During this period the people cannot do any sort of activities, because the rains are continually fall on the ground and hamper their farm work activities make plentiful muddy and water inundation, the higher level of water raise. This type of rain is hampered all kinds of movement, including the farmer work also stopped during the weeks or months sometimes make their crops are destroyed by the rain and river causing floods.

Manuk or a far single star

 There are two kinds of stars called manuks, manuk mon-haré  (a single star appear in the east part during the evening between 18:00 – 22: 00 pm) each evening, then down or lose in the night time; and ‘Manuk’  pan guel, is a single star appears and located at the west part, that is a bigger single star that appears in the early morning between 04:00 am to 07:00 am then lose again every day, ‘manuk’.  Star is a fixed luminous point in the night sky which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun, it defined by Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (2003) in Oxford Concise English Dictionary 11^th edition. Star in Buná dialect is called ‘bibel’, and in Tetun word ‘fitun’ and in Portuguese ‘strella’.  In Bahasa word is ‘bintang’, or Star is a noun: 1. a sky substantive that consisted of light shining gas as same as the sun that mainly appear in the night; the planet or a combination of planets 2. and becoming a handgrip in astrology to determining the bad and good lucky of someone(Sugono and friends, 2008: 204).

Manuk monharé (a single star appear in the evening)

Bibel is a name for all stars in the sky, small or big sizes, bibel is in Bunak language. Manuk is a given name to a single star, which located a little far away and separated from other stars, manuk means far away.  It raises and seems during the evening, between six to ten pm. loose again, in the night time. The ancestors believe that, some kinds of stars show the way and such guide for their life. The stars are far away; show the way for the human, and the human can obey and respect the way to be followed by old and the new generation still trusts it into the present day. This kind of star raises up in the west part, mostly in the evening between seven until ten o’clock, manuk mon-haré seems in the west part of the blue sky, in the evening. It raises up among that period (in evening) seems permanently in the west part of the 7 to 9 pm.

Important things for the human, they believe in star as their guidence for their movement activities to do their job as an agriculture, hunter, all kinds of movement, included when they are faced with some difficulties in their running works, they see and watch the stars on the sky to find the way to escape from the hard situation during the night times, if they lose the way that they walk to proceed an area or place that they destine for.

Fig. 04: A single far star from other stars as called Manuk mon haré is a single star in the evening. 

The star is designed by the writer based on result of interview.

Manuk phan guel (a single star appears in the morning dew)

The ancient believe that, the rises of manuk phan guel, their farms are attacked by wild pigs, the animals come and enter to the farm in group, for having some field food are growing in the farms. And the cocks are crowing, shows it is the day time arrived. Ancestors do not recognize and know the time is running exactly. Their trust and believe to discover their life throughout the stars and other natural phenomenon. Through this time, they also believe that, when an owl shouts, this means their crops are taken and destroyed by the bush animals like jungle pigs or other animal like wild buffaloes.  During leigie chie pá, the cock are crowing in the very early morning that (between 4:00 to 5:00) the occasion of wild animals can have good time for hunting the foods are growth by human in the farms. It is very often and continually appear during the occasion of nearly the dry season. In the rainy season it is closed by the large group of clouds in the blue sky every time all the stars mostly unseen.

Fig. 05: A single far star as called manuk phan guel, it appears in the morning between 4-5 am.  Designed by: the writer after in an investigation was done.

Manuk Phan guel

The ancestors believe and trust to the stars showing the way  (Ivan, 2010) to proceed to some places as their guidance and indicator during their whole periods of life. This way is almost followed by the ancient Greek and other states’ ancient eras. The old generations had shared the ideas and skills to each other though they are living in the different situation which far away from side to side.

Fahi Hasan or pig chick

Fig. 06: a bunch of stars are appear when the rainy is continue or nonstop, between June and July. Stars are fahi hasan. The stars are designed after an interview   was done.

This group of stars are called ‘fahi hasan’ because mostly the pigs turn the muddy soils for getting the foods when the rain falls continually approach dry season between the months of June to July. ‘Fahi’ means pig and ‘hasan’ means chick in Tetun terms. The pigs use their nose and chicks digging and turnover the soils to gain the food from the soil itself during the heavy rain fall into the earth continually. The rainy season in this periods make the landslide and the people just stay calm at home, especially the farmers, their movement activities are hampered by the nonstop rains. The pigs are feeling itchy over their nose and chick for finding the foods by turning and digging the soils in this period, including the wild boar according to the story of ancestors. The collection of these stars is called ‘rasi bintang’ in Indonesia. Rasi means group or collection and ‘bintang’ means star.

Time Prediction

The time prediction is often done by the ancestors usually use such in the early morning they watch and see the far stars called ‘Manuk’ or they wait for birds singing in the very early morning, indicate that it is around five o’clock am. And in middle day at least 12 o’clock sharp, they just look at and see the shadow of a tree or shadow of a man stands up in the sunny sun then stirrup at a place. In the evening they just see and watch a far star called as ‘Manuk Monhare’. Around this hours, the ladies use to provide the foods and feeding the pigs and returning the tame animals such as sheep, cow, horses from the bush or the environment which closer with their homes or living places until today. The aim of this to protect and prevent the animals from the robbery or stealing in the field of feeding places. It is useful for them to do their work as parts of their activities in the evening around five o’clock. In the morning they go to farms, and other release their animals such as cattle, horses, sheep, etc.

What are the stars?

The explanation of star on its functions defined that (Ivan, et al, 2010) before explained it details, to know the structures of the stars, the people must define firstly, what actually star is based on their appearances from the external parts.  According to an English definition through an English dictionary, Oxford Concise English Dictionary, 11^th edition written and edited by Smith (2004) star is a fixed luminous or shining point in the night sky which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun.  Since the ancient time, had identified what actually the stars are. The small bunches of light signs appear in the sky, and these ideas were expressed by ancient Greek philosophers such Democritus and Epicurus, and expressed profoundly in 1584 by Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher, and he reached until the end of the consensus amongst the astronomers in the following centuries. Joseph von Fraundhofer in 1814, he saw and searched the light of the sun via a tool called prism. He noted and written and mapping the amounts of dark lines in the sun spectrum, then it were called Fraundhofer lines. According to Ivan (ibid, 2010)  Gustav Robert Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen they invented the mentioned lines which originated from the gas which low of pressures and connected with a chemical element that are exist on the structure of upper part of sun lights. Fraundhofer was also discovered that other stars are also has the same signals as same as the light of sun, but it has the differences of light styles. Then the astronomers giving some conclusions that, the star is a ball of gas.

The stars are involved into the Bible

The old testament perfectly in Genesis (1:1,2) in  (Bouw, 2008:7) “the God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the water”. And Genesis (1: 3,4,14,16) (Gideons, 1978:2) and God said, “ Let there be light and there was light. And God show the light, that it was good, and God divided the lights from the darkness. And God said, that there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; let them be for the signs and for seasons, and for days and years; And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and lesser light to rule the night: He made the star also.”

The story of Bible referred to the day of Jesus, the Son of God, the star showed the way to the king, Herod and then the king who came from a far and found the place of Jesus where He was born. The Bible Mathew 2:2 (Lembaga Alktab Indoneisa, 1993:1,2) and Gideons (1987: 991,992) “saying, where is He that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him”. After they left the period of Paleolithic, the early phase of the Stone Age, up to the end of the glacial period, the difficulties and hard period of human life situation, the revolution changes when the period of Mesolithic, the archaeology relating or denoting the middle part of the Stone Age, between the end of the glacial period and the beginning of agriculture,  that most of Asian people could produce their own culture, customs diversity based their ethnically, (Soekmono, et al, 1973: p. 38).  

Hul sagi  or Moon crescent

Fig.07: moon crescent or hul sagí. Designed and produced by: the writer after an interview done.

When the period of moon crescent, from full moon, it shows that the rain will fall soon for few days, means the rain is washing the face of the moon itself, that is referred to the farmer when they cultivate some seeds in their farm, the rain make them happy, because of seed in growing from cultivating in their own farms flourishing and fertility. According to the ancestors, they believe that, there are some trees show in the middle of the moon itself, means that a tribal believe on some trees in the full moon (some scratch graffiti show as similar as map in the full moon). Those trees are banyan trees, they believe it for protecting their tribe group call Pugeben. Pú means a banyan tree, geben means front. Literally Pugeben means the shade banyan tree to protect a sacred house.

Full moon or  Hul toboá

Figure 08: Hul tobo’á or full moon, designed by:

The Writer After An Interview

In this session, the people are very happy, especially in the night time, they can play few kind of games namely basa, dances, like tei, plaited mat called pil sien, naba sien – plaited handmade box  used for unripe foods, handmade plaits used as keeping foods, oput is a kind of handmade basket used to put unripe food. All these handmade creative activities from palm leafs, Palmyra leaf. All creative activities are done by the women only. The men’s activities are going for hunting in the jungles, during the bright moon to get the bush animals like, julet-cuscus, julo – chipmunk, sael jon – jungle pigs, chie jon – jungle fowl, etc. The other traditional believe says, they can get and face a good strength power from the full moon, specially the spirit of ghost comes during the full moon, in the night time, in transferring the holly power to the believe of human.  During this full moon occasion, the native indigenous use to play in the night time with some games called basa.

Betel leafs or Malus and its Functions

Malus is a kind of plant that can be used and eaten by mostly Timorese. Betel is not a sort of food for feeding the human, it used to eat for free time or relax, and it does not used for fully the stomach when a person gets hungry. Malus is a Tetun word,  means betel – pepper (leaf), according to a definition from Standard Tetun-English Dictionary third edition, by Hull (Hull, 2002: p.235). In bahasa Indonesia the word ‘malus’ is translated as ‘sirih’, Adenia acuminata, a botanical name that is used for a type of plant that grow up and lives attached and curve with pole trees running up to the edge of the tip of the trees  (Sugiono and friends, 2008: p.27).

Figure 09: The betel nut or Adenia acuminata. Photo was taken by the writer 2007, in Wetaba, Salele Tilomar. After the investigation done.

Mama is a Tetun term, and in Buná ‘molo á’ means to chew (betel) as Hull et al (2002) stated that mama malus are two words that are used partnerly to chew betel nut. This chew betel nut tradition always raise up in Timor island since the ancient times. Most of older people, included educated people are also sometimes eating this type of leaf togetherly with lame, the fruits of areca nut. Sugiono and friends, et al (2008:p.1360), and it resulted the colour of the spitting juice is becoming a red colour in the mouth, and after followed by a bunch of tobacco jamed it on the upper teeth internal part of the mouth. A bunch of tobacco is called songke tabako (in Tetun), and in Buná or Bunak word ‘bako gisikat’. This bunch of tobacco that is  hanged on the upper teeth make people always in smile during he or she puts it on the upper teeth and upper lip.

Malus used as repectful symbol in animism and dynamism through animal sacrificing  

Malus also used as repectful symbol to all the Timorese during they conduct a ritual ceremony, wedding traditional system, house building, dowry ceremony and etc. The chewed betel with areca nut is symbol as represent that love and respect the guest and the ceremonies are accepting with full of love and kindness. The same thing that should be done by the old tribal leaders, he or she must also prepares the betel leaf and areca nut ‘lok’, puts into the corners of a farm or rice field, before or during and or after plant the rice  until the harvest time arrive, the landlord of the farm should provide the foods in the ‘taka’ or ‘baes’, plates are made from sago leaf and palm leafs then brought to the corners of the rice field and corn field sites, to provide ‘lok’, bride to serve ‘muk gomo’ or the landlord as use to serve them, in a traditional way of rite.  Signs are created by people to represent particular ideas and can take various forms:  gestures, sounds, visuals, or written text.  Signs are organized in codes or languages, which are systems of signs that enable members of a society to communicate.  We commonly think of a language as a particular set of verbal signs (Hallahan 2001:4).

The ritual mark that is used malus and bua (betel leaf and areca nut) it is the signs that use to respect the spirit of ancestors and nature become an associate power for the living people and through this way the living should make worship towards them as a part of animism to have a good relationship with the spirit of ancestors and natures, to give the good health and have fortunes or lucky, the attribution of living soul to plants, (Soanes and Stevenson, 2003) and (Smith, 2004) inanimate objects, and natural phenomena or believe in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe. Dynamism or Indonesian word, ‘dinamisme’ is a believe that everything has the strengths, power which influence the success or fail of the efforts of the human in defending the life. “dinamisme adalah kepercayaan bahwa segala sesuatu mempunyai tenaga atau kekuatan yang dapat mempengaruhi keberhasilan atau kegagalan usaha manusia dalam mempertahankan hidup.” Moeliono and friends (1990: 206).

The prediction to the illness of someone who gets sick

Figure 10: Nana Blandina is a lady from Pugeben tribal house is doing the sick prediction uses the corn seeds to her relative was being sick. Photo was taken by the writer at her house yard, Salele, in 2003.

The normal prediction for a sickness person or someone who is being attacked by a sort of disease, a family member make a decision to do a prediction use some corn seeds, the first round uneven, for example before counting the seeds by mention the word, probably this disease caused by our own father that has passed away, if so, these uneven seeds must be appear again two times, for example  9 seeds first round and then the following uneven 9 seeds come again while counting seeds become 9 seeds again until three times. After that a seed corn must be taken toward the sick person put on his or her forehead and put on his or her chest to normalize the sickness. Then make some apologizing or say sorry under the sacred poles in the middle of the sacred house. After that go to the father’s funeral to say sorry directly by putting a piece of clothe as usually ‘traditional tais’ and give to a father’s family clan (his daughter or his son). This habit very often done by the native men or women whenever someone who faces the sickness. This acts are inherited by the ancestors when they’re still alive and generated to the young live generations. This prediction habits as they called in their language ‘huli gebel’, means throwing the seeds or sometimes they used three pieces of seashells or ‘huli’.

Heavy Release or Tuek kasu betel leafs

Heavy release or tuek kasu always done by the Bunák people, entirely the Timorese around the territory. This ritual habit appear when a person misconduct his acts against someone or something that he or she does in a family. When this ritual ceremony is done the native usually use betel leafs or ‘molo’, areca nuts or ‘pu’, and some coins to remove out all the sins that he or she that has done during the previous time, the warning and advice from the chieftains to the sinners the acts must not be repeated again in the future. When all these things, betel leaf (molo), areca nuts (puu), and lame put together 5 cents for each must re-connect things that has been destroyed or broken in the past time, so that ‘malisan’ or punishments is not touch someone in a family side. A ‘malisan’ which had appeared from a family it caused by practical speak low respectful against each other, abuse one another in a family, insulting or use bad words toward family members. The spirit of deceased people they are very furious against the sinners. Because the ‘act of malisan is never stop to pursue the life of people who does the problem in a family or in a place.  The spirit of old people generation who had lost their life long-long time ago, which they called ‘en bei mil or avó beiala’ in Tetun.   Malisan is inherited from the dead people or from the natural powers. The ‘malisan’ is appearing causes and consequences from the dead people in the previous time. They don’t like the conduct and behavior of live people in a family or at a place he/she created a problem. The objective of ‘tuek kasu’ or heavy release is to apologize the spirits for removing and avoid the bad behavior and attitude not to be repeated anymore in the future. The sins are not repeated by giving apologize to the spirits in the future through some ways as following:

5 betel leafs and 5 cents 7×2: 7 to the heaven and 7 are given for the earth = 7 rules for God (Maromak);

7 rules for human (who live on earth) or ‘en muuk wa no’ and 5 betel leafs or malus and 5 cents = 6×1 for rule 6; 5 malus or betel leafs and 5 cents =  5×1 for rule 5;

5 betel leafs or malus and 5 cents= 4×1 for rule 4;

5 betel leafs and 5 cents= 3×1 for rule 3;

5 betel or malus leafs and 5 cents= 2×1 for rule 2;

5 malus or betel leafs and 5 cents 1×1 for rule 1.

Based on the Christian doctrine, there are types of sins, they are: four types of sins, by saying, by thinking, by act, by negligence of the obligation or fracture the Law of God. All types of sins are created by the human acts contradict with the Lord’s Amendment, by pretend and unintentionally do, Mendes in his Catechism (___: 26,27), if the human has behaved against the Lord’s Amendments, he or she will get a ‘pecado and pecado original’ – the sins and original sins. 

Fig. 10: Adenia acuminata and areca nut are divided to starting the ritual. Photo  was taken by the writer in Dili, in 2007.

The actual sins are two, they are: mortal and venial sins.  The mortal sin is a sin that we have seen and do intentionally or pretend. The venial sin is a minor sin that we do with no intention or unwillingness. The sins are created by someone based intentionally in his or her live, for his or her pretention or willingness, follows his or her mind and enjoyable for him or herself without any positive mind, that is why referred to this Jesus in John (10: 16,17,18) says: “¹⁶I have other sheep also that are not in this fold; those I must lead as well, and they will listen to my call, so they will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason My Father loves me because I lay down My life in order that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one snatches it from Me but I voluntarily lay it down. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again, I received this command from My Father.”

Confessions – Sal kasu

Buná people usually do this ritual, the inhabitants are very often do the confessions their own sins in different ways of confess. The word confession derived from a verb to ‘confess’ means acknowledge, admit declare one’s sins, especially to priest  (of priest hear the confession of)  according to Waite (1995: 126) in his color Oxford English Dictionary, revised edition, confession is a noun, act of confessing, and Buná is called ‘sal kasu’- release the sins. Each of Buná person, he or she is able to confess to the tribal leader called ‘matas deupó’ during a ritual called ‘pa’al nee hasai’, corn poles release, the ritual ceremony activities before ended then compile all the tribal participants and come toward a tribal leaders to explain and confess his or her sins to him. Or the relatives of a tribal family report and inform to the tribal chieftain then beat or hit with the branches of bush grasses with thorns which they called ‘pakulai’ and use this branches thorns until more than five times hits or beat individually that who made wrong doing in the past time. Thus to eliminating the sins on individual body for fleshing the live during still alive in the earth. It resulted no one getting injure for these habits, because it makes people be fertile and fresh.

Sacrificing the animals to safe the life of human

The doctrine of Christianity, Mendes (_____: 23, 30) the God amendment (of fourth amendment states that, “afraid of your father, your mother and all of your elders or leaders and respectfully. The fourth of God Amendment demand us to see well their advice and requesting for everything should be obeyed. And it forbidden not saying some negative or mall words against our parents and our elder or leaders. Pay special attention to mother or father when they are getting sick or facing some difficulties.”   In the bible (James 5:16) Jesus says to the person who is a sinner, “therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for one another that you may be cured. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great effect.” And Isaiah, (22:22) the Lord says, “and I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open and no one shall shut; no one shall open.”  And (Revelation, 1: 18) and the living one. I experienced death and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I possess the keys of death and of its realm.” The doctrine teach us must say sorry and respect to the hidden things such the spirit of Lord or the spirit of ancestors, or the spirit of natures, those are unseen things that are higher power than live people.

Fig. 11: A pig is being stabbed and collecting the bloods for checking up to see the negative and positive marks. Photo by the writer in Dili, 2019.

Henceforth the people do the sacrifices and slaughtering an animal such as pig then burnt that pig and the meats are divided becomes five slides, these slices of meats are given as gift to the ancestors’ spirits. The dream come through a sick person as a fact and evidence to force the family to do the ritual. The live family sacrifice the pig to inquiry the spirit necessity. The   meat slices are consisted of three parts of bones, and twelve slices of jar meats for three persons has passed away in the past  time, they come as spirits, and talk with live people, they are: 1. Cristina Cardoso, 2. Marciana Maia and 3. Eujebio Cardoso, the spirits of three of them came into sister Clara Andrade and raise in her then the family parts of Cristina Colo herself gave some information to the live families. They brought the ‘malisan’ or curse or malediction to   live families through ‘mugen sa’e’, the spirits of dead has risen. The message says that,  ‘you have to provide some gifts and kill a pig for avoiding the ‘malisan’, malediction away from you and your family in our tribal group, ‘Pugeben’ and ‘Belebau’, for heavy release process from our own families and the generations.

Fig. 12: A pig is being cut to see the intestine in positive or negative marks.  Photo by the writer in Dili, 2019.

The slaughtering or killing animal for other worship against the other gods or other sacred things are forbidden by the Lord of our God, according to the doctrine of Christianity, because the Lord of our God is very jealous, according to Bible, Deuteronomy, 6: 4,5,6, 13,14, to the Lord of our God, because, “hear O Israel: The Lord of our God is one Lord; thou shalt love the Lord of  thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him and shalt swear by His name, ye shalt not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you.” It is the reality of the society and the rules of religious belief and ritual to supply and reinforce the appearance of reality.  Davis and Moore (1945) in functional analysis, Merton (Soekanto, 1989:22) states that, “through ritual and belief the commons end and values are connected with and imaginary world symbolized by concrete sacred objects which world in turn is related in a meaningful way to the facts and trial of the individual’s life. Through the worship of the sacred objects and the beings they symbolize, and the acceptance of supernatural prescriptions that are at the same time code of behavior, a powerful control over human conduct is exercised guiding it along lines sustaining the institutional structure and conforming to the ultimate ends and values”. 

Fig. 13: Some men are pulling out the pig’s intestine for seeing the ‘bula’ its showing positive marks.  Photo by the writer in Dili, 2019.

Positive effects

Fig. 12 and 13 as above pictures in this writing the ‘bula’ and small ‘intestines’ above are showing a positive effect, that means that the family will not be occur any kind of a serious problem or negative problem in the family in incoming future. Bula or liver is a part of belly relied on small intestine of part, in an animal’s organ such as pigs, chicken (cock or hen) are used for sacrificing.  Liver is a dark lobed glandular in the abdomen, (Soanes and Stevenson, 2004) and (Sherwood,1997:300) involved in processing digestive products, neutralizing toxins, and other metabolic processes.

Negative effects

In this negative effect, the intestine liver or ‘bula’ in a sacrifice animal, will show some negative effects  as scratch injures or some scratch wound is found on the sides of ‘bula’ (liver) and small intestines from that killing animal. The killing animal can be used in both, respecting the spirit of dead person individually or in group sometimes and checking positive and negative effects from the intestine or liver organs of an animal, but dog, cats are not be used in this rite, and chicken, pig, or lamb or sheep are able to be used for the ritual ceremonies as shown in the picture above.

The division of bones are based on the rules of relative duration structures

Fig.14: The pig meats are ready to be shared based on the rules of bones.

The custom of Buná habitually when a ritual ceremony is done, they sacrificing the animal for a ritual ceremony with other chieftains, the killing animal’s meats should be shared the bones to the relatives-based structure in the same tribal group. The objective of sharing the bones are counting the duration of the tribal group structures called as ‘deu ka’a’, family of elder brother. For example, a tribal set who were integrated into this tribal group since many years, as called an oldest family or ‘deu ka’a’. And then the next family that follow the oldest family as called ‘deu kau’, younger family. ‘Deu ka’a’ should get the ‘sesal lulin’, the bone part of pharynx of an animal. And the ‘deu kau’ must get the ‘sesal elan’, the bone from spine or backbone part of baton, because the tribal family become relative with ‘deu ka’a’ they come at last occasion. The term ‘deu’ means house and ‘ka’a’ means older brother.  That is why this family is called ‘deu kau’ and  deu ka’a. The given bones must be kept or hanged on the front of the house or put on the ‘lorigol wa’, a place part of house roof to keep foods and other things in a traditional house. And also sometimes those bones are hanged on the ‘sirin’.  The ‘Sirin’ is a traditional pole that planted in front of a house, when a new house building is inaugurated, then put the sacred pole, as called ‘sirin pó’, the symbol of a patriotic and brave man in a family life, ‘sirin’ is representing a family chief. Very often the native do the ceremony and put eggs, or cut the hen or cock on a flat rock and some foods are laid down on that flat stone, to give strength to the family leaders. And the empty bones are prohibited to give the animal such as dog or pigs. Unless it can give the negative consequences and always be strength whoever do this. There are types of ‘sirin pó’ or sacred poles, a single pole, a double poles, three poles, or four poles. The ‘sirin’ or sacred poles are representing the family leaders who are still alive and the leaders of family who had passed away are not involved because they are away.  The native count the family chief that are counted with the poles. The poles are strong, it cut off from the good quality of wood, so it can be longest time broken or destroyed.

Fig. 15: The Sacred poles called as ‘Sirin’. To respect the four tribal chieftains are still alive in the family. Photo was taken by the writer at Fatuk Metan, in 2019.

These symbolic poles are forbidden for everyone whoever can sit or can play on it. It can be given the negative impact for that person who intentionally or not intentionally play, sit, or destroy, can get the punishment naturally. The negative effect is suddenly facing mad condition, or crazy. Occurring an unknown disease on him or her somewhere, wherever he or she goes.

Direct and Indirect Communications with the Spirits

Direct Communications

In this situation the souls of the dead people come to meet their own live families and sometimes hide and take one or more family members for few days or until few weeks to a hiding place. For example, there was an incident happened in 1997, a girl, Delfina Andrade, about 19 years old, she was hidden by her mother, Cristina Andrade (Olo –Sina), her father Fernando (Mau-Tae), her grandmother Marciana Maya (Dahu Lakuk), her father’s uncle (Sina Lakuk) who had passed away in different previous years since the occupation of Indonesia’s government in Timor-Leste. As this girl (Delfina Andrade) explains that, they are all her relative, they came to her to give some suggestions and advice to take care her father’s mother, Marta Madeira (Kolo Lakuk) who was still alive. And they took her into their unknown living places; there were no living things in front, around, back or surrounding areas of herself, the condition of land are as same as biggest main roads and large.

Indirect Communications

Mostly the spirits come over the live people through their own family to give suffering information in a family. When a family member gets sick a spirit of dead person come reach the sick person individually or sometimes in a group to speak and tell some important information, as already mentioned above.  The spirit of the dead give the messages say that: “you have to provide some gifts and kill a pig for avoiding the ‘malisan’, malediction away from you and your family in our tribe group, ‘Pugeben’ and ‘Belebau’, heavy release process from your families must be carried them out from your side, Púgeben and Belebau tribal groups, then our family would be fine and good lucky”. In this occasion the writer took the information for this research in his own family.

Two mirrors has shown the spirit of the death is rising up to the heaven

The writer had published this article into a local weekly Magazine, Avoz da Cultura in 21/01/2009, in Dili. Barreto left and passed away from his family, because of kidney stone suffering from the disease after three years.  In the first night (16/01/09), according to his mother, Ms. Blandina da Silva, when the writer confirmed and interviewed, before he died, there was a lady compelled him to swallow the traditional root plant to put into his mouth forcedly, as he stated to his mother before he ended his life, but Barreto refused it to open his mouth to that lady (in the night dream). But here there was nothing happened to him, after one or two hours the mentioned lady came back to him brought together with the traditional roots medicine (black magic), then that lady felled it down to him (Barreto), after few minutes later, he ended his breath, at 03.00 am, on 17/01/09. He gives a message to his mother and father before he die, to move their house away to the previous village called Wala, to safe their live from the bad spirit (witchcraft), unless his brothers and sisters can be killed by the ‘puan’ people against they are still alive as same as himself.

In the night (17/01/2009), when he was dying at 00 hrs, his mother and the family  had arranged the things for preparation, such as two mirrors and one flash light, assign a man to hold the flash light on the dead body of Marcelo Barreto, two others are holding the two mirrors, one person is holding it on the legs side, and another is holding it on the head side, as Blandina explained to the writer as a journalist of the Voice of Culture (Avós da Cultura) in the house of Barreto, after the incidents a week before, at Fatuk – Metan, Tilomar. On these both mirrors as same as TV’s screen film, some people are playing like film’s scenario in the scene.

House tail connection ritual, ‘hut gulo tutan’ after a person dies 

Tutan Uma ikun, in Tetun Terik or in Bunak term is ’Deugulo Tutan’ means re-connected and tie the roof tails, this is a habitual happen, mainly in the group of Bunak people when a person die in a family, past over than three days later by meant this house’s family has lost a tie, a man lost or die. So for this matter the victim’s part must re-connecting the tie of the house with a single coarse grass called Hut Nal Uga in Bunak, by means a green coarse grass, the green fresh fertility and cool is coming back to this family as same as in the past time.

They pull out the 7 green coarse grasses, and 7 green coarse grasses are held and accumulated together with the 7 areca nut and 7 betel vine leaf together, and then these all items are submitted to the matas hima bul or tribe leaders to be eatable these betel nut and betel vine leaf together the spiting juices becomes red, and put the mark on the brow of each family members from the victim’s side. Three green coarse leaf put on the main door of the house, these three leaf are represented for the two roofs and another is represented for the main door- enter and exit door side.  And four green coarse leafs put on each of the corner of the house one by one. This is signified that the grass has fallen (referred a dead person), to make complete. And also preparing the coconut milk mix with water and put together with two or three dimes coins into the coconut milk and put a green leaf and betel leaf then spraying to all the participants, means as giving fresh the participants as well as fertility, cold life or prosperous life in the future continually. But the person, who is spraying this coconut milk, must be MALU tribes, they give them fresh live in the future. MALU means the origin of the victim’s families tribes are from MALU in the beginning since in the primordial time or the ancestors’ periods.

Then, they remove all the stove stone, remains wood fire or cooking place from the location, collecting all the remains burn cigarettes, betel nut, red betel vine spitting juices, and break the tents in front of the house, then collected and put together under a tree. These all collecting remains items by means as all the heavy matter has been passed away together with the death. The remains animals’ meats or head of the animals must be accumulated together and submitted to the family of the victim, this means that, all the animals has been sacrificed will be able to come back and more grow and fertile in the future. The bones of the cows must be taken into the fence of the cows and burnt it and eat together and must be finishing it. This is indicating that, even the cows or buffaloes are sacrificed for the victim, the cows or buffaloes will fully grow continually.

The illness caused by the bad spirits

There are some causes from the illness into the family whoever gets sick. No one knows the cause of the sick, when the bad spirit comes to a sick person, even take to the hospital, the medic say nothing to the sick person because the raises of bad spirit. When the devil spirit comes and tells, “I hate him or her, because he or she does not give anything to me, I need this animal or meat, or foods, if not I can kill him or her if you don’t do that.” According to the customs of the indigenous ethnic group habitually assist and see the incidents, the bad spirit which they called ’puan’ or witchcraft (the practice of magic, especially the use of spells and the invocation of evil spirits or wicca in old English word). Smith (2004). And a word ‘suangi’ prowling, nocturnal evil sorcery.

The bad spirits are: a. witchcraft, the person uses black magic, or called ‘puan’ in Buná, and ‘buan’ in tetun word, and ‘suangi’ in bahasa word.  b. The natural spirit rises to a sick person probably he or she destroys or disturbs the forbidden places which occupied and lived by sacred natural land lord which they called as ‘mug gomo’ in Buná, (‘rai na’in’ as called in Tetun word). The natural spirit normally hide and stays under a biggest tree (usually banyan trees), biggest stones, deeper water, or forbidden land.  c. The bad spirits from own family’s ancestors, the spirits come and rise to the family in the ‘malisan’, condemnation because of the behavior of the family members, probably the family has forgotten about their ancestors who had passed away many years ago.

Hik no gua – the way to Traces

Everything is done based on the structural of an internal part of a family. And follows the rules of norms based on ‘Ai’ and ‘Malu’. The wealthy was descended by a man (the father) from ‘Ai’ belong to the mother and all her generation. Because ‘Ai’ has an important function when a girl married with this ‘Ai’ generation. If a ritual subject matter arises, the ‘Ai’ group must connected or informed firstly, if not the ritual ceremony must not be executed or cancelled, or must pay penalty to the ‘Ai’ side. The man who desires to marry with a girl called ‘mone lako lolo’ means a man is as same as a guest, to find a girl in a family. Or another meaning is a man looking for a girl and visit and sit in balcony of a family, to look for a girl.

The man already explained and he is ready to take over his new family, so he also ready to prepare and give contribution to ‘lal etan and lal masá’ da’el no ha’al–small to biggest subject matter should be responsible and shouldering all heavy tasks are given to him. He (the man) becomes a part of new big family in a new tribe. He stands in the middle of both tribes, his tribe and his wife’s tribe. He can shares his contribution to his both, wife’s tribe and his own tribe families, whenever a problem, lal guju and lal belis – black or mourning and white subject matter, his new family have to take a part and ready to share with other previous families. There is a list of ‘ai’ for Deu Pó Manugatal, Manugatal Sacred  tribe house, they are:

1. Siligatal
2. Aitula (atak)
3. Lelo Bele (gemel gol)

These three tribal groups above are able to be married with ‘Manugatal’ tribal group. The word ‘ai’ means a brother-in-law sides that are already married with our daughters or her family. Because the man who married with our sisters or daughter are called ‘mone man’ or use another word ‘ai’.

Ai tuk ton no, malu tege hese

The ai tribes put together, the malu tribes sharing to each other Ai tuk ton, no malu tege ese means all the properties are from all ‘mone man, or that they say ‘ai’ put together with their families are given or shared much of the property like ‘belis’, silver and ‘bule’en’ or gold overflowed to ‘Deu Pó’ of manugatal sacred house to that they called such ‘malu’. ‘Malu’ means, the families are descended by the ancient as almost relative or they are from a same clan in the period of ancestor. So, they are not allowed to be married or relevant with this.  And ‘malu’ with Manugatal are:

1. Aitula
2. Motgol
3. Hagubul
4. Púgeben Wa

All these tribal sacred houses they are forbidden to married each other started since the ancient times. They are still the same group with ‘Manugatal’ clan. They are not allowed to getting married each other even they have own their young generation from other places if they are still the same clan from these four clan groups. They are still from a same ancestor according to pre-history of an unwritten or oral history since the ancient’s periods, in the old generation eras. If someone from them in fracturing the rules they are going to be killed by the spirits of the ancestors from their unseen spirits.

Malu Tuuk Kede with Manugatal Clan

Malu tuuk kede means the ‘malu’ brothers’ clan, they collect and combining all the things together become one unit or bunches. They are as following:

Laukatal

Púgeben

Lelo Bele

Maugatal etc.

Malu tuuk kede means, they are still descended in a same clan or tribe by the ancient people, since in the ancient generation. Tucker (2003:8) states that, “as an active participant in community life, these bearers of tradition are primary sources of culture and history. They are as folklorist, Barbara Kirshenblatt – Gimblett writes: “living link in historical chain, eye witnesses to history, and shapers of a vital and indigenous way of life. They are unparallel in the vividness and authenticity they can bring to the study of local history and culture.”     

Haketak – Separating in black release ritual 

Lamá Pele tál –break and destroy the eating tools, this habit is done to separating the eating tools were belong to the people that had passed away in the previous times. Their eating instruments should be destroyed and separating from the live people, because they are away, they are not coming back anymore. This habits normally done by other clan groups as it called black release and kore metan in Tetun word. This ritual tradition can be done all at once for many dead persons in a clan side. So for this clan, ‘Deu Pó’ Manugatal, the rests mortal people are 70 or more. Some were killed by the enemies in war conflicts, some were dead because of illness attacked. Some of them unidentified their bones, some are identified buried and graved in the funeral of their cemetery. Many of them were not released out their black ceremony, as negative in Bunak gumuthun ní tá or seidauk mutun, in Tetun negative terms also if forgettable their rests of born can be negative consequences will be threating the living people or comes through dreams sometimes.

Mok golo – pú pelek- plant the banana trees and plant the areca nut trees

The ritual is being made, a group of tribal leaders in the house that they are doing the rites, they send out some plates of foods, lama sai, or ‘lok dato’ (it is a habit to accept a guest by given betel nut or areca nut in a box to respect and given the foods to the guests) to serve the people who are doing ‘lakumerin’, it is a song sung to accompany when a dead person or scull born is being laid in the house.

Fig. 17: Apa lasik is ready to be slaughtered, it being accompanied by some young men for sacrificed to the ritual. Photo by the writer at Fatuk-Metan October 5^th, 2019.

Besi Lebel – cast the spear    

The contributions are collected together with other tribes leaders which still has relative connection in the wedding robes family, ‘deu guk osu’ foreign tribes, other foreign clan groups. And in this round the tribal group of solving the matter, throw the spear to slaughter the animals such cows or buffaloes to start the sacrifice for the ritual activities.

Lasik

Lasik is a habit on having food together with ‘Ai’ and ‘Malu’, eat food use hand without spoons, the people put the foods in front of both, ‘Ai’ and ‘Malu’ salt and chili are prepared in front of ‘Ai’ and ‘Malu’. Other persons can provide and put the food into the plates, and don’t touch or take anything belong to other persons, don’t bow down and moving around, stay calm over the sitting place, if not it will be seriously negative impacts, the leg can be broken. Lasik add with ‘apa’ or ‘apa lasik’ that use to called cow or buffalo is ready to be slaughtered for the ritual activities then the meats to be shared to other tribal or clans are said ‘ai and malu’, they are already in different clans or tribal or other Uma –Lulik.

Besi Pera – war instruments

Besi pera, the war instruments are utilized for packing the war tools. Sesal pó, sacred bones, are given to a ‘matas’ or an old man from each clan. Lasik is a meat bone given to a clan leader. Each ‘momen’ or old ladies, from every clan representing and gets the ‘si pó’, sacred meat or sacred bone, as ‘si lasik’, sacred meat. Apa lasik, a sacred cow or sacred buffalo is worn or dressed with tais, belak, and these tais and belak, morten are removed out by ‘malu’ only. Means that the heavy things are removed by ‘malu’, they are still relative family in the periods of ancient times.

Apa lasik, or sacred cow or buffalo is taken to the kitchen after slaughtering and slighted by some persons. And it becomes a ‘si Pó’, holy meat, for sharing the bones and meat. This ‘lasik’ meat use for black subject matters (tribute to dead people) or ‘lal guju’ only. ‘Si lasik’, the sacred meat is distributed accordingly to the structural link, in following the rules of bones sharing systems that based on the each sacred houses accepting. This cow is accompanied by a group of people used for tribute to the soul of ancestors, through ‘sirin’ (see fig. 15). After slaughtering the cow called ‘apa lasik’, the meats will be shared to ‘ka’a’ and ka’u’, older brother and young brother. The sacred house as called, ‘deu ka’a’ and ‘deu kau’, deu ka’a, a house is belonging to older brother, and ‘deu kau’ is belonging to young brother. When this cow is killed, the both arms, first arm shared to the older brother called ‘dugun ka’a’, and the second arm shared to the young brother called ‘dugun kau’. This means that both sacred houses are descended from a same ancestry, as older and young brothers. The ‘lasik’ meats should be carried on pole used coconut part poles, and poke with bush ropes, called ‘tupa’, and pole it with ojaga’el (coconut parts, the ‘si lasik’ holy meats/bones are:

1. Sii dubun ka’a and dubun kau, the sacred meats are ready to be given to older brother and young brothers.
2. Elan – kele – sacred meat is from arm parts, it’s given to ‘ai’.
3. Gubul – gebe’el – the meat of head and chin parts are given to ‘malu’.

Deu nil á – House inauguration

Two until four persons are spilling on the roof of the new house, they are from ‘Malu’ parts,. The objective of this ritual is to share the good healthy, ‘matak – malirin’ in tetun words. ‘Si Mie’ is eaten by the house owner, this ‘si mie’ is a tradition way that referred to some patriotic men whoever stay in this house and very powerful and brave family in the future. This kind of meat is being hung on the wall of new house, nearly with ‘ojol’, cooking place, inside the house, and this hanging meat, ‘si mie’ is eaten directly by teeth and pulled it with teeth also and without holding with hand. Then in mentioning the ‘kaluk’ name. Kaluk is an amulet, it is a part of Lulik and used for facing the war fighting, so this ‘kaluk’ always give them strength and powerful also to protect them forever.

After the inauguration is conducted, the house owner, as holding and leading the ‘deu Pó or sacred house’ can be built also a ‘sirin’ it is to represent that, the  ancestors were brave men and never fear about to die, ‘sirin’ is representing as ‘kaluk’. Kaluk is an amulet it’s used by a brave man during a war conflict in an area since the era of ancient times. Kaluk also means a talisman as a protector for everyone in a tribal house. The ‘kaluk’ is prohibited and hold by the women, also a child, unless it can be lack of strengths or no more power of this ‘kaluk’ can cause a patriotic man become weak or sick, also the woman who touch this ‘kaluk’ can cause as crazy woman or a child.

Throwing to each other use wood stick or Alun gini tete ritual

This is an event that after an inauguration done for a new house building periods, then a group of people from the new house building family should go to get the water from the well water sources. This signified that the ancestors finished build a family’s house building in a place then they go and collect the water from the water sources, the enemies are waiting for them in hiding closer with the well water sources to mean that the enemies have confiscated the water sources then they fought each other during the periods of ancient times since hundred thousand years ago. It was a civil war conflict periods in the past, then they bring the water to the new house then spilled it down the fresh water from the roof of the new house then watering the family members of the tribal group to get the new fresh live from the ancestors.  The ancestors build a house need the water to drink for more live. But the ancestors also bravely decide and take the water don’t think about high risk that they would face and don’t care about the consequences; the water well must be confiscated back from the enemies.

Mostly the regard stories are totally from oral history, the writer just traces back to the periods of their living duration, no totally acknowledged one hundred percent.  They are also most powerful people in their eras, dominated and occupied many lands in Timor, according to the verbal pre-history, including the people of west Timor as we call today, Atambua and Kupang (NTT-R.I.). The inhabitants of the people of west Timor were away from East Timor because of civil war, (Silva, 2023) and then they felt afraid before the Portuguese rivalries arrive and hold the land of Timor at that time.

CONCLUSIONS

Some conclusions that the writer takes in this writing, the people of Timor who live and occupy the land of Timor (including west Timor) they thought that the invisible things are highest than the living people, therefore they respect the ancestors and nature as un seen things that a highest invisible things dominating the life of people and the highest invisible things as they called spirits, or  Spiritu as in Tetun as they mention and Mugen o Beimil, Tata mil – the spirits of the ancestors and nature has its own spirits Muk gomo, phan Gomo, hot Gomo, hul Gomo, (the owners of land, the owners of heaven or God as we call today, the owners of sun, and the owners of moon), etc. unseen things have huge powers than the living human. Hik o gua is a way and traces to the living ways of ancestors before they die and to be followed by the young generations. As some examples shown in this part traditional wedding in and out systems adopted by various people in the land of Timor entirely, from Jaco island to Flores, and from Atauro to Manufahi and Covalima. That means the young generation must follow the example things that are created by the ancestor or  beigua tuil, follow a way of ancestors.

Methods of Research

Method is a way how to find and get a new thing through an effort. Soanes and Stevenson (2004) define that, method is a particular procedure for accomplishing or approaching something. Methodology is a system of method used in a particular field. (ibid, 2004); (Christensen, 2006)  and (Creswell, 2018). The method that the researcher uses in this writing, qualitative descriptive analysis, the writer uses some steps of research methods, they are: a. Case study research: collect and gather the information from the native inhabitants through interview and conversations to get the facts;  b. Library research: find and getting the books or references from the library and websites,  and sometimes use telephone for looking for the related articles resources; c. Field researches: in field research the researcher uses and collecting the data by observing, interviewing (directly) with at least more than 15 informants, some are not included in this writing, and take pictures by using telephone camera preparing  some evidences for this writing issues, and handwriting uses pen, book for formal writing then type it into the laptop, also uses flash disk and hard disk to save the files. d. The location of research: The systematic investigation was done when the writer visited many times to the villages, such as Wala, Nikir and Fatuk – Metan of Tilomar post administrative (as mentioned in the topic) and including the activities is done in Dili, sometimes. Mostly the writer expensed lots of money for the ritual activities, because the ritual ceremony tradition are mentioned in this writing is the writer’s own family by contribution and collecting some money from the family members of the researcher then puts together, to buy the animals like pigs and cows and also some foods are collected such some sages of rice, vegetables, cooking oil, cooking spices, etc. There are the secondary data is taken from the list of Sucos and aldeias of the post administrative of Tilomar (Salele) (2020), Covalima district. Each of village has different total populations, Wala 326 inhabitants, Nikir 218 population, and Fatuk Metan 213. Total of the population involved in this research are totally 752. These three sub villages are parts of Suco of Beiseuk which has completely total 7 sub villages like: Maubisse, Foho-Lulik, Baer, Nikir, Wala, Fatuk metan, Wetaba /Wala Nova.  The sample in this research are 15 persons for representing 3 villages as mentioned in the topic.

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