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Indonesia - Lembata - Lamalera - Whale Hunters

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Hunt and Landing. Usually the fishermen/ whalers leave in the morning around 6 am, and return in the late afternoon to land their catch which they spear with hands-on bamboo harpoons (manta rays, dolphins, sharks, turtles) smaller fish will be caught by nets. Those who catch manta rays, sharks or dolphins only share the catch with the boat crew, whereas the whales will be shared among the community followed by strict rules. It's great teamwork, Everyone congregates to help pushing the "Johnsons" (engine boats) back into the shelters, even the youngest children.

The clans inhabiting the tiny village of Lamalera, on the sunbaked Lembata island (Nusa Tenggara Timur Province) have been spearing and landing sperm whales by hand for at least six centuries. Traditional whaling is incredibly difficult and therefore an unpredictable path of day to day survival. But despite the ongoing economic and religous transition, the society of this tiny village has not lost a single bit of their pride nor their identity. And because the Lamalerans have been doing this since the dawn of time, they carry on, even with a permission from the Indonesian government – as long as they hunt for their own consumption and not for commercial sale. Most of the fishing tradition dates back way before the transcontinental Republic of Indonesia even existed. Historical tales indicate that the Lamalerans originated from Sulawesi, where they waded out with nets for mackerel or other small fish; more experienced, they pushed off in boats and and captured bigger prey; and at last, launching a small fleet of sailing boats on the Banda Sea, explored this watery world until they must have reached what is now Lamalera. The first European record of their existence is an anonymous Portuguese document from 1643.

Filename
Indonesia-Lembata-Lamalera-419.jpg
Copyright
Claudio Sieber
Image Size
5280x3525 / 13.6MB
Hunt and Landing. Usually the fishermen/ whalers leave in the morning around 6 am, and return in the late afternoon to land their catch which they spear with hands-on bamboo harpoons (manta rays, dolphins, sharks, turtles) smaller fish will be caught by nets. Those who catch manta rays, sharks or dolphins only share the catch with the boat crew, whereas the whales will be shared among the community followed by strict rules. It's great teamwork, Everyone congregates to help pushing the "Johnsons" (engine boats) back into the shelters, even the youngest children.<br /> <br /> The clans inhabiting the tiny village of Lamalera, on the sunbaked Lembata island (Nusa Tenggara Timur Province) have been spearing and landing sperm whales by hand for at least six centuries. Traditional whaling is incredibly difficult and therefore an unpredictable path of day to day survival. But despite the ongoing economic and religous transition, the society of this tiny village has not lost a single bit of their pride nor their identity. And because the Lamalerans have been doing this since the dawn of time, they carry on, even with a permission from the Indonesian government – as long as they hunt for their own consumption and not for commercial sale. Most of the fishing tradition dates back way before the transcontinental Republic of Indonesia even existed. Historical tales indicate that the Lamalerans originated from Sulawesi, where they waded out with nets for mackerel or other small fish; more experienced, they pushed off in boats and and captured bigger prey; and at last, launching a small fleet of sailing boats on the Banda Sea, explored this watery world until they must have reached what is now Lamalera. The first European record of their existence is an anonymous Portuguese document from 1643.