Leva Season
There stands the Whaleman’s
Chapel, a sacred place even before the missionaries came to spread the word of God. This evening, the whalers crowd the beach to discuss new rules for the upcoming whaling season and sort out issues between clans. Besides diffusing minor problems, the discussion revolves around teamwork. Too much engine sound scares a whale off, hence the more enginepowered boats used to assist a crew, the smaller the chance of catching a whale. In the new Leva Season, the crews nearest a sighted whale will decide if, and when, they need support from their comrades, while the others will wait a fair distance for a sign.
It frequently happens that when several paledang are cruising in company, a whale might be struck by the harpoon of one Lamafa, then escape, and be finally killed and captured by another one. Previously, the most violent disputes would often arise between the whalers regarding who gets which share, but in Lamalera today, the rules are clear.
A week after Lamafa Petrus pierced the sperm whale, its body was found floating at sea. The whale must have drifted away in the current and was eventually retaken by the crew of Lamafa Goris, who towed it alongside without risk of life or line. Being aware of the gigantic catch, I walk over to Petrus who is leisurely repairing his boat. As I’m about to give him a high-five, I notice that he’s not in the greatest of moods as I’ve expected him to be. I learn that Papa Petrus, although having basically killed this whale, has no right to receive any share of it, as it belongs to the crew which brings the catch back ashore.
However, now the whale is to be landed at Lamalera’s beach. Because it had been killed just before the official whaling season, the Lamalerans consider it a gift from their ancestors and Ina Leva. It requires over a dozen men to tie up this weighty gift. Whilst the clan waits for low tide, they ostentatiously sharpen their knives. The butchery of a 15-metre long sperm whale is quite a hideous scene, as one may imagine. I’m told that for bigger whales, they’d use chainsaws. But for this rather small specimen, knives get the job done. Participating crew members will be rewarded with a share according to their role: The decision of who receives what whale part comes from the boat maker of the traditional
paledang, the Ata Molan. He will routinely point at parts and explain how they are to be cut.
Some might trade their share in nearby villages such as Posiwatu, Imulolong, and sometimes Lewoleba. Although an unwritten law dictates that one can only exchange whale flesh for other food, but never sold for money, a few Lamalerans might sell their share to other villagers to pay some bills.
The whalers carve away blubber and dissect the whale to bits. It smells like another world, as if the ocean has taken over the land. Amidst the tumult of blood and knifes, childish laughter echoes around as children build small dams of sand to diverge bloodstreams in between washing cuts.