Hamatak halirin

The cosmological and socio-ecological roles of water in Koba Lima, Timor

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2876643
AutoresBalthasar Kehi (1. [email protected], autor de correspondencia), Lisa Palmer (0000-0002-8804-3608)
Año2012
Volumen168
Número4
Páginas445-471
Fecha de publicación2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0006-2294 • E-ISSN: 2213-4379
EditorialWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/22134379-90003552
OpenAlexW2101504335
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas10

The cosmological and socio-ecological roles of water, in particular spring water, have not been the subject of sustained analysis in the anthropological literatures of the eastern archipelago. Taking as our starting point the central role of water in the origin narratives and ritual practices of Koba Lima, a coalition of five ancient kingdoms located across the division of East Timor and Indonesian West Timor, we explore the profound cosmological meanings and many layered understandings of life and death associated with water. We argue that in this nuanced socio-ecological world, water is the blood and milk of the mother transformed into life itself through father fire. It is through these transformative capacities connected to water that the boundaries separating the visible and invisible worlds can be permeated, enabling the living access to matak malirin or good health and productive life force. The paper is both a contribution to the literature on archipelagic socio-cosmic dualisms and a unique ethnography which presents new material on the significance of water in this region

Archaeology · Archipelago · Geography · Narrative · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Asian Studies and History · Ecology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies