Abstract
This paper examines the historical dynamism of Timorese indigenous waterscapes in order to understand the ways in which local peoples ‘curate’ their regional histories. In the Baucau-Viqueque region of Timor Leste understandings of and interactions with subterranean waters, and the springs from where it emerges, are deeply embedded in the foundational organizing principles of local social, political and economic life. By taking up the idea of springs as an historical “archive” and drawing on regional oral narratives associated with water, migration, rice and irrigation, this paper argues that this localized meshwork (Ingold 2011) of water history functions to encode, communicate, mediate and negotiate historical contingencies and moral values as well as the ongoing possibilities of socio-political futures. In this landscape, springs form the knots that hold together these narrative histories, while their dynamic role as focal points for ritual activities reflects, keeps strong and enables new trans-generational and trans-spatial connections.
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Notes
In this and other Timorese multilingual settings the local preference is to highlight cultural inclusiveness and synergies, not linguistic differentiation (cf. Schapper 2011). Differentiation between groups, when asserted, is made on the basis of divisions between ‘houses’ and their customs (‘lisan’) not language. Although the Makasae language now dominates in the Baucau district, the names and origin histories of many Baucau sacred houses, along with place names themselves, suggest that in the past the Baucau region was dominated by the ‘Kawamina’ language group (cf. McWilliam 2007).
Karst fed springs of the marine terrace zone combined with a pattern of denser vegetation and cave overhangs or ‘wave cut notches’ are also believed to be early inhabitation sites (Metzner 1977, p. 25; cf. Glover 1986). Glover has dated habitation sites in this area to 15,000 years BCE (Glover 1986).
The ecological record suggests that breadfruit originated in eastern Melanesia before colonising out across broader Oceania.
Hägerdal (2012) refers to a number of historical sources which briefly mention the colonial significance and expansion of the kingdom of Luca suggesting it remained a significant kingdom into the nineteenth century.
I know of at least five similar stories from localities in the Baucau Viqueque region (in Venilale, Cairiri, Ossu, Wailili, and Lacluta). The protagonist in such stories is always a son of Luca or connected to it through one of its subkingdoms, Vemasse and Vessoru (which are characterized in ritual verse as the buffalo horns of the Kingdom of Luca).
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Acknowledgments
Parts of this article are drawn from my book titled Water Politics and Spiritual Ecology: Custom, governance and development (Routledge 2015). I repeat my acknowledgment here to all of those people within Timor Leste and elsewhere who so generously enabled and contributed to my research. I also acknowledge the Australian Research Council whose support in the form of two grants (LP0561857 [2005–2008] and DP1095131 [2009–2012]) provided the necessary funds to carry out this long term field research. I would like to thank the editor of this Special Issue and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on this article.
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Palmer, L. Subterranean waters and the ‘curation’ of underground histories in Timor Leste. Water Hist 8, 431–448 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-016-0171-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-016-0171-0