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“Little Kingdoms”: Adat and Inequality in the Kei Islands, Eastern Indonesia

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“Little Kingdoms”: Adat and Inequality in the Kei Islands, Eastern Indonesia “LITTLE KINGDOMS”: ADAT AND INEQUALITY IN THE KEI ISLANDS, EASTERN INDONESIA by Todd Ryan Hooe B.A., St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 1990 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Todd Ryan Hooe It was defended on February 29, 2012 and approved by Dr. Joseph Alter, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology Dr. Robert M. Hayden, Professor, Department of Anthropology Dr. Andrew J. Strathern, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Department of Anthropology Dr. Andrew Weintraub, Professor, Department of Music Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Richard Scaglion, Professor, Department of Anthropology ii Copyright © by Todd Ryan Hooe 2012 iii “LITTLE KINGDOMS”: ADAT AND INEQUALITY IN THE KEI ISLANDS, EASTERN INDONESIA Todd Ryan Hooe, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 In the Kei islands, adat (custom or tradition) and social hierarchy are inextricably intertwined. This dissertation highlights the entanglements of rank and adat through an analysis of the mobilization of “tradition” by the Kei elite during both the New Order and post-Suharto periods. My central argument is that the construction of tradition is intimately tied to the creation and justification of inequality within Kei society. Over the past twenty years, the Kei elite (i.e., the mel-mel) have articulated particular visions of adat in order to maintain their dominance in the face of local, national and global challenges and uncertainties. The longitudinal approach of this research problematizes the distinction commonly made between the depoliticization of adat during the New Order and the adat revivalism of the post-Suharto years. Based on ethnographic research from 1994 to 1996, as well as a variety of secondary sources of data from the post-Suharto period, it is argued that adat revivalism in the Kei islands emerged in a New Order context in which the mel-mel successfully captured the state bureaucracy and its resources. During the New Order, adat emerged not only as a powerful symbol of Kei identity, but also as a salient resource in local political life. This is demonstrated through an analysis of constructions of adat during state-sponsored rituals and the discourse and practice of Kei adat law. This dissertation then examines continuities in the mobilization of iv tradition during the post-Suharto period, focusing on adat reconciliation rituals, efforts to establish and maintain adat territories and communities, the commoditization of adat titles, and the rearticulation of adat prohibitions (sasi). Based on these analyses, it is argued that over the past twenty years, high-ranking individuals, both inside and outside the local government, have appropriated adat as the proprietary domain of the Kei aristocracy. As a result, elite articulations of adat have contributed to the rigidification of Kei social hierarchy. Thus, while constructions of tradition may amplify distinctions between cultural insiders and outsiders, this study shows that they may also result in the sharpening of divisions and inequalities within adat communities. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. XV 1.0 INTRODUCTION: KEI ADAT AND THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF TRADITION .................... 1 1.1 ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF “TRADITION” ......................... 4 1.2 PACIFIC MODELS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRADITION ................................ 7 1.3 THE POLITICS OF TRADITION IN INDONESIA .................................................. 11 1.4 THE “ARTICULATION” OF ADAT .................................................................... 14 1.5 OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION ................................................................... 20 1.6 “LITTLE KINGDOMS” OF THE KEI ISLANDS ..................................................... 24 2.0 THE KEI ARCHIPELAGO AND CONTEXTS OF RESEARCH .......................................... 30 2.1 GEOGRAPHIC CONTEXT ................................................................................ 30 2.2 LINGUISTIC AND PREHISTORIC CONTEXTS ..................................................... 34 2.3 THE COLONIAL CONTEXT .............................................................................. 37 2.4 NATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTEXTS ............................................... 41 2.5 DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT ............................................................................. 44 2.6 RELIGIOUS CONTEXTS .................................................................................. 46 2.7 RESEARCH METHODS AND FIELDWORK SITES ............................................... 53 2.8 KEI LIVELIHOODS .......................................................................................... 64 vi 2.9 SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 78 3.0 RANK, HISTORY, AND ADAT IN THE KEI ISLANDS ................................................... 80 3.1 RANK AND DIARCHY IN THE KEI ISLANDS ...................................................... 81 3.2 RANK AND KEI SOCIAL ORGANIZATION ......................................................... 86 3.3 ADAT POLITIES IN THE KEI ISLANDS .............................................................. 98 3.4 RANK, ADAT, AND TERRITORIALIZATION .................................................... 102 3.5 KEI ORIGIN NARRATIVES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PAST .................. 106 3.6 KEI ADAT AND THE ORIGINS OF LARVUL NGABAL ....................................... 112 3.7 THE ORIGIN OF RAT BOMAV ....................................................................... 120 3.8 THE ORIGIN OF FER OHOITEL ...................................................................... 125 3.9 THE ORIGIN OF MEL YAMFAAK ................................................................... 130 3.10 THE ORIGIN OF TABAB YAMLIM ................................................................. 136 3.11 THE FORMATION OF RATSCHAP TABAB YAMLIM ........................................ 142 3.12 LAND/SEA TENURE AND ADAT TERRITORIES ............................................... 146 3.13 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 149 4.0 KEI ADAT AS ARISTOCRATIC CULTURE IN NEW ORDER INDONESIA ...................... 150 4.1 LOCAL HIERARCHY AND STATE BUREAUCRACY IN THE KEI ISLANDS ............. 151 4.2 TERRITORIALIZATION AND ADAT COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW ORDER ......... 157 4.3 OVERLAPPING TERRITORIALITIES IN THE KEI ISLANDS ................................. 161 4.4 KEI ARISTOCRATIC CULTURE IN THE NEW ORDER ........................................ 167 4.5 THE POLITICS OF ADAT RITUAL IN THE NEW ORDER .................................... 170 4.6 VILLAGE HEAD INSTALLATION RITUALS ....................................................... 175 vii 4.7 THE POLITICS OF BELANG RACES ................................................................. 182 4.8 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 198 5.0 ADAT LAW, HARMONY, AND INEQUALITY IN THE KEI ISLANDS ........................... 200 5.1 LARVUL NGABAL AS ETHNIC SYMBOL ......................................................... 200 5.2 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND THE REVITALIZATION OF ADAT LAW ........ 205 5.3 KEI ADAT LAW AS “HARMONY IDEOLOGY” ................................................. 209 5.4 CONFLICT AND DISPUTING IN THE KEI ISLANDS ........................................... 211 5.5 RANK AND ADAT LEGAL PRACTICE .............................................................. 213 5.6 THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION CASE ................................................................ 217 5.7 THE TUTREAN-SATHER CONFLICT ............................................................... 221 5.8 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 233 6.0 KEI ADAT AND LOCAL POLITICS IN POST-SUHARTO INDONESIA ........................... 235 6.1 COMMUNAL CONFLICT AND THE “DEATH” OF KEI ADAT ............................. 237 6.2 CONFLICT, RELIGION, AND LOCAL POLITICS IN THE KEI ISLANDS .................. 240 6.3 ADAT AND RECONCILIATION IN THE KEI ISLANDS ........................................ 245 6.4 DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL POLITICS .................................................. 251 6.5 REGIONAL AUTONOMY AND KEI ADAT COMMUNITIES ............................... 256 6.6 PEMEKARAN AND ADAT TERRITORIES IN THE KEI ISLANDS ......................... 263 6.7 “SELLING” ADAT TITLES, OR THE “COMMODITIZATION” OF TRADITION ...... 271 6.8 SASI AND POPULAR PROTEST IN THE KEI ISLANDS ....................................... 276 6.9 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 286 7.0 CONCLUSION: ADAT, INEQUALITY, AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN INDONESIA ....... 289 viii 7.1 KEI ADAT AND THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF TRADITION ................................... 290 7.2 ADAT AND INEQUALITY IN THE KEI ISLANDS ............................................... 293 7.3 ANTECEDENTS OF ADAT REVIVALISM IN THE KEI ISLANDS ........................... 301 7.4 DEMOCRATIZATION AND ADAT REVIVALISM IN INDONESIA ....................... 307 APPENDIX A: RATSCHAP OF THE KEI ISLANDS ....................................................................
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