Hamatak halirin

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

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2876643
AutoresBalthasar Kehi (1. [email protected], autor correspondente), Lisa Palmer (0000-0002-8804-3608)
Ano2012
Volume168
Fascículo4
Páginas445-471
Data de publicação2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoBijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0006-2294 • E-ISSN: 2213-4379
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/22134379-90003552
OpenAlexW2101504335
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas15
Referências 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