Indonesian crazy blues

Lakey Beach, Dompu, Nusa Tenggara Barat , Indonesia

Lakey Beach, Dompu, Nusa Tenggara Barat

 First of all, introduce my name RIZKI, this opportunity I will be a little story about my experience during the visit at Lakey beach in Nusa Tenggara Barat Dompu .....

In May, 2013, I happened to have an agenda that must be met and must be met with the wife and kids in the city of bima, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province. Understandably my wife works in Bima , Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia, whereas I have to work in one of the districts in East Java and coincidence my son was on 19 May 2013 aged 1 year old.

Almost every single month I have to Bima, and chanced upon my holiday dawned May 2013 to look for other recreational places than others, and then my wife suggested to visit Lakey beach in Dompu, Nusa Tenggara Barat. Short story on Thursday in March 2014 my wife and went to kepantai Lakey while I Leave my son to his grandmother ....

A trip to the beach Lakey my mileage by using a 130 CC motorcycle matic (no brand ya hehehe) .... My first impression out district borders bima is beautiful scenery by taking a winding mountain path meanders, (similar to that in Puncak west Java),,,, estimates of the expected trip to Lakey 

Beach bima about 2 hours, but because beautiful scenery during a trip to the beach Lakey 2 hours certainly does not feel. 

The most beautiful scenery is the time I've got to Dompu and headed toward the coast Lakey, with mountains and hills winding road meanders I feel so happy because for the first time my life saw beautiful scenery, with asphalt road that is good, during the trip Dompu - Lakey I feel with happy hearts, so once I cross paths with tourist surfer riding a motorcycle with a board that hangs in the matic motor, sometimes I also often see sumbawa cows with fat body along the way .... (but do not carry surfboards ... :-p)

Contortion winding paths and beaches aroma began to feel, makes me even more passionate to immediately get on the beach .... Lakey, Dompu distance - about 40 kilometers Lakey's supposed .....
Along my journey we cross forests and hills, I finally arrived at the mouth of the valley and out of the hilly area, I pass the trip with a little joke with the wife, that soon will soon be up on the beach Lakey.

I was a little surprised when I passed an extensive area on the right path with a fence around it and I see from a helipad with helicopter being parked on it, in my heart say, severe Lakey society also could have a helicopter, hehehehe ... but I'm sure the very rich to park the helicopter in helipad very close to the beautiful beaches and the famous Lakey waves are favored by surfers the world, ... (artist hollywood maybe)

Continue my journey, and 15 minutes later I was arrive at the beach Lakey, then I asked my wife where the locations to be visited, because I also feel confused Lakey very long coastline endless bleak,, approximately 20 kilometers, finally I agreed with my wife that I want to see big waves that very popular among surfers in the worlds

Finally I found the location of the surfer, I take breathe in deep and forget a little office work that awaits

.
First impression, really beautiful wide beach with clean blue water waves and unspoiled many people ....  After finding shelter, I immediately remove my gadget tool, Cybershot camera, tablet, and started to take photos with the background Lakey beach behind me and the wife,,,,

 Sometime I see torrist with surf board with soaking wet .... In my heart I thought, surely they are maniacs surf, far from overseas and traveling thousands of kilometers just to play surf, why do I say maniac surfer??? Logically I believe in their country there are beaches that can surf, doin far away must to Indonesia?????? It's a full philosophical question for me ....

Maniac surving the right word in my opinion ....

Back to the story,

We enjoy the lakey beach, and there is my desire to take bathe at Lakey Beach, but my intent undo it because I did not bring a change of clothes and the weather was very hot at all (my estimate almost 40 c),

Finally, because the air is very hot, and must be in bima before 5 pm, so we decided to go home after obtaining Lakey little documentation on the beach with my beloved wife ....

Back home

Soon we packed boxed, and the return journey we started ..... Lakey goodbye. My wife and agreed at a later time if there is a chance we will spend the night on the beach with my son and took an overnight at Lakey Beach, because I see already is a guesthouse, small hotel, enlisting Lakey beach with affordable tariff ..... c.u

15:30 pm we started to drive home to the bima, we take the same path to the left for the beach trip Lakey. Finally with motor speed matic I average 80 km / h, ... at 17.00 we got home in the town of Bima and met my beloved son.

Conclusion: I recommend to friends to visit Lakey beach in Nusa Tenggara Barat Dompu . thank you.

The Asmat

The Asmat are renowned for their bold woodcarving and their headhunting and cannibalistic way of life. To understand the Asmat, we must understand the habitat that they live in.

 The Asmat live on the rugged and isolated southern coast of Irian Jaya, in an area of approximately 10,000 square miles. The dominant habitats there are swamps and mangroves.

 The Asmat homeland has been described as ..."...essentially a gigantic mud plain covered by ...tropical rain forest. Numberless rivers intersect it. Beneath the green blanket of forest lies mud...Besides one or two forlorn patches of firm sand, the remnants of old dunes, the spongy soil yields easily to the tread of human feet. Mud is everywhere; even the rivers are grey with it." from The Asmat of New Guinea: The Journal of Michael Rockefeller

 

 The Asmat World View: The Asmat believe all things have a spirit (animism): humans, animals, plants and even special locations such as a whirlpool or the bottom of a river. They also believe that the universe is divided between the world that can be seen and the unseen realm of the spirits. To the Asmat, it was important to maintain a proper balance between the seen and unseen. Birth and death balance the population between the seen and unseen realms, and one cannot take place without the other. An imbalance is manifested in disease, hunger, misfortune and death--caused by unsettled spirits.

 The Asmat remained isolated from "modern" society until the 1950's, protected by their remote and rugged location. On one side is a mountain range covered by dense, almost impenetrable jungles and on the other, the mud flats of waterways with treacherous currents. There are currently an estimated 65,000 Asmat living in 60 villages. In the 1960's, some villages were as large as 1,000-1,500, while tiny ones had only 50-100. But the average was 300-400.

The Crosiers, Catholic missionaries, were the first Westerners to establish a permanent presence near the Asmat territory in 1958. In 1961, Michael Rockefeller disappeared in Asmat territory. He was collecting Asmat art for the New York Museum of Primitive Art and no one knows what happened to him after his boat capsized and he was stranded in a bank in the middle of a river. Some believe he drowned or was eaten by crocodiles. Others believe that he made it to shore, but was killed and eaten by the Asmat. Yet others believe he just went native to be among the Asmat that he so admired.

The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea island, residing in the Papua province of Indonesia. Having one of the most well-known and vibrant woodcarving traditions in the Pacific, their art is sought by collectors worldwide. The Asmat inhabit a region on the island's southwestern coast bordering the Arafura Sea, with lands totaling approximately 18,000 km2 (7,336 mi2) and consisting of mangrove, tidal swamp, freshwater swamp, and lowland rainforest. The land of Asmat is located both within and adjacent to Lorentz National Park and World Heritage Site, the largest protected area in the Asia-Pacific region. The total Asmat population is estimated to be around 70,000. The term "Asmat" is used to refer both to the people and the region they inhabit.

Traditionally, man y Asmat men practiced polygyny by marrying more than one woman. In many cases, men were expected to marry a male relative's wife if that male relative died (otherwise the woman and her children would be left without a source of protection or economic support). Schneebaum reported that many Asmat men had long-term ritual sexual/friendship relationships (mbai) with other men, although the prevalence of this practice has been disputed by others. In the mbai system, male partners were also known to share their wives in a practice called papitsj. It is probable that missionary influence in the last several decades has reduced the occurrence of both mbai and papitsj.

Culture and subsistence

The natural environment has been a major factor affecting the Asmat, as their culture and way of life are heavily dependent on the rich natural resources found in their forests, rivers, and seas. The Asmat mainly subsist on starch from the sago palm (Metroxylon sagu), fish, forest game, and other items gathered from their forests and waters. Materials for canoes, dwellings, and woodcarvings are also all gathered locally, and thus their culture and biodiversity are intertwined. Due to the daily flooding which occurs in many parts of their land, Asmat dwellings have typically been built two or more meters above the ground, raised on wooden posts. In some inland regions, the Asmat have lived in tree houses, sometimes as high as 25 meters from the ground. The Asmat have traditionally placed great emphasis on the veneration of ancestors, particularly those who were accomplished warriors. Asmat art, most noticeably elaborate, stylized wood carving, is designed to honour ancestors. Many Asmat artifacts have been collected by the world's museums, among the most notable of which are those found in the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam.

Traditionally, many Asmat men practiced polygyny by marrying more than one woman. In many cases, men were expected to marry a male relative's wife if that male relative died (otherwise the woman and her children would be left without a source of protection or economic support). Schneebaum reported that many Asmat men had long-term ritual sexual/friendship relationships (mbai) with other men, although the prevalence of this practice has been disputed by others. In the mbai system, male partners were also known to share their wives in a practice called papitsj.It is probable that missionary influence in the last several decades has reduced the occurrence of both mbai and papitsj.

Language and ethnic sub-groups

Linguistic classification of the native language(s) of the Asmat people is somewhat problematic, but is generally characterized as being a group of closely related languages or dialects (most mutually intelligible to some degree), known as the Asmat family, which is a sub-family of the Trans–New Guinea language phylum. However, some ethnic groups who speak languages in the Asmat language family, such as the Kamoro and Sempan peoples who live adjacent to the Asmat, are ethnically distinct from Asmat.

Asmat may be thought of as an umbrella term for twelve different ethnic sub-groups with shared linguistic and cultural affinities and sense of shared identity. These twelve Asmat groups include Joirat, Emari Ducur, Bismam, Becembub, Simai, Kenekap, Unir Siran, Unir Epmak, Safan, Aramatak, Bras, and Yupmakcain. Further complicating the issue, these groups speak approximately five dialects (Casuarina Coast Asmat, Yaosakor Asmat, Central Asmat, North Asmat, Citak). However, at some important level these groups share a sense of identity and would likely refer to themselves as "Asmat".

History

Until the 1950s, their remote and harsh location isolated the Asmat from other peoples. It was not until the mid-20th century that they came into regular contact with outsiders. Initially, the Asmat had a reputation as headhunters and cannibals, and were left undisturbed.

The first apparent sighting of the Asmat people by explorers was from the deck of a ship led by a Dutch trader, Jan Carstensz in the year 1623. Captain James Cook and his crew were the first to actually land in Asmat on September 3, 1770 (near what is now the village of Pirimapun). According to the journals of Captain Cook, a small party from the HM Bark Endeavour encountered a group of Asmat warriors; sensing a threat, the explorers quickly retreated. In 1826, another Dutch explorer, Kolff, anchored in approximately the same area as that visited by Cook. When the Asmat warriors again frightened the visitors with loud noises and bursts of white powder, Kolff's crew also rapidly withdrew. The Dutch, who gained sovereignty over the western half of the island in 1793, did not begin exploring the region until the early 1900s, when they established a government post in Merauke in the southeast corner of the territory. From there, several exploratory excursions with the goal of reaching the central mountain range passed through the Asmat area and gathered small numbers of zoological specimens and artifacts. These artifacts were taken to Europe where they generated much interest, and probably influenced modernist and surrealist Western artists such as Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso.

The first colonial post was established in the Asmat area in Agats in 1938. This small outpost was closed in 1942 due to the onset of World War II. After the war, Father G. Zegwaard, a Dutch Missionary, began patrols into Asmat from the Mimika area to the west. In 1953, Zegwaard re-established the post in Agats, which was to become the government headquarters and the base for Roman Catholic missionaries. It was not until Catholic missionaries established the post in 1953 that significant interaction with the Asmat people began. Catholic missionaries, many with degrees in anthropology, were successful in persuading the Asmat to stop cannibalism and headhunting, while encouraging the continuation of other important cultural cycles and festivals such as shield and bisj ceremonies, which were incorporated into an adapted Catholic liturgy.

Asmat was the launching point for an arduous joint French-Dutch expedition from the south to north coast of New Guinea in 1958 to 1959, which was documented by the team and resulted in a book and documentary film, The Sky Above, The Mud Below, which won an Academy Award in 1961. In November 1961, the 22-year old Michael C. Rockefeller, son of Nelson A. Rockefeller who was then the Governor of the State of New York and member of one of the wealthiest families in the United States, disappeared in Asmat when his boat overturned while on an art collecting expedition. His disappearance, followed by an intensive and ultimately unsuccessful search by the Dutch authorities, has been the source of much speculation as to Mr. Rockefeller's fate. In 1962, the Indonesian government took over administration of western New Guinea.

After a short period under the new Indonesian administration from 1964 to 1968 in which Asmat cultural ceremonies were officially discouraged. Local Bishop Alphonse Sowada was instrumental in facilitating the revitalization of woodcarving and other festivals, which remain strong today. The church, along with Tobias Schneebaum and Ursula Konrad, established the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress (AMCP) in the local town of Agats in 1973, to maintain local pride in Asmat cultural traditions. Each year in early October, the church sponsors a woodcarving competition and auction to recognize outstanding carvers.

Current context

Even today, the Asmat are relatively isolated and their most important cultural traditions are still strong, though their interaction with the outside world has been increasing over the last decades. Many Asmat have received higher education in other parts of Indonesia and some in Europe. The Asmat seek to find ways to incorporate new technology and beneficial services such as health, communications, and education, while preserving their cultural traditions. The biodiversity of their area has been under some pressure from outside logging and fishing, although this has faced significant and not unsuccessful resistance. In the year 2000, the Asmat formed Lembaga Musyawarah Adat Asmat (LMAA), a civil society organization that represents and articulates their interests and aspirations. LMAA has been working with Indo-Pacific Conservation Alliance since 1999, and has established separate traditional sub-councils, or Forum Adat Rumpun (FAR) to implement joint activities. In 2004, the Asmat region became a separate governmental administrative unit or Kabupaten, and elected Mr. Yufen Biakai, former director of the AMCP and current Chairman of LMAA, as its Bupati (head of local government

traditional dayak tatto

for many outsiders the name has been synonymous with a forbidding and isolated wilderness, a steamy rain-soaked place, dangerous and forlorn. While it was among the first lands in Asia to be visited by Europeans, it remained among the last to be mapped.

Borneo is the third largest island in the world. Six major, and numerous minor, navigable rivers traverse the interior and function as trade and communication routes for the indigenous peoples who live here, namely the Dayak. Dayak, meaning "interior" or "inland" person, is the term used to describe the variety of indigenous native tribes of Borneo, each of which has its own language and separate culture. Approximately three million Dayak - Ibans, Kayans, Kenyahs and others - live in Borneo. Most groups are settled cultivating rice in shifting or rain-fed fields supplementing their incomes with the sale of cash crops: ginger, pepper, cocoa, palm oil. However several hundred Penan, nomadic hunter-gatherers, continue to follow a traditional lifestyle in the jungle, one that is rapidly vanishing.

Aside from a few scattered reports of missionaries, traders, and a handful of explorers in the mid-19th century, almost nothing was known about the Dayak and their customs. To these outsiders only one thing was for certain: that the island was inhabited by "primitive" peoples who worshipped pagan gods and spirits and whose knowledge and skills made this land their home.

By 1900, however, anthropological interest in Borneo peaked and became the focus of several museum expeditions by the Dutch and British. With the many ethnological accounts that followed, some of the most interesting material that was generated focused upon the traditional tattooing practices of the Dayak. Tattooing was believed to be a sacred activity that was connected to many aspects of traditional Dayak culture, especially spirit worship and headhunting.

The most important symbol marking participation in the headhunt was tattoo (Iban: pantang). Among the Kayan, anthropomorphic figures were tattooed onto the fingers and were known as tegulun. Although they denoted having taken a head, tegulun possibly represented a sacrifice to a helper spirit that in former times was propitiated by killing a slave upon the construction of a new longhouse. Other tattoos covered the entire body. For example, this elder Dayak man photographed in 1896 

 (fig. 1 - click for larger image) 

Possesses a style no longer seen in this era of modernity. The central tattoo motif on his chest represents the trunk of the Garing tree; adjoining it above are the two outstretched wings of the hornbill - a messenger of the Iban war god, Lang Singalang Burong. Garing trees are believed to be immortal and invulnerable while the hornbill, marking rank and prestige, is believed to provide protection against the intrusion of evil spirits living in the jungle. Interestingly, images of the hornbill (Iban: tenyalang) were oftentimes carved and propitiated with sacrifices of pigs and human heads prior to them being mounted on display poles, since the spirit of the tenyalang was believed to leave its wooden body, fly to the longhouse of an enemy, and weaken the spirit of the headhunters living there. The tattooing that appears down the arms and over the shoulders represents the leaves of the areca palm, considered as another effective weapon against malevolent spirits. In a sense, then, Dayak men of this time were covered with a visual canopy of the creatures and plants that lived within their jungle domain. However, and when combined together, tattoos performed as an indelible form of camouflage acting upon the malevolent forces encountered in the jungle - headhunters and evil spirits. In the past, it seems that tattoo was one of the primary devices for completion - holding the body and its constituent parts together in a dangerous world - and maybe this is why the Ngaju Dayak say, "the tattooed man is the perfect and sacred man, and only such may receive the perfect tattooing."

Just as a great warrior was tattooed to mark his achievements in the human hunt, women were tattooed as proof of their accomplishments in weaving, dancing or singing - as well as for protective purposes. Following ritual precautions, weavers communicated with their spirit helpers before initiating a design. It was thought that this action would prevent irritating other spirits represented in a new weaving. Textile work, a hazardous undertaking recognized by the Iban as "women's war" (kayau indu'), was both socially and ritually marked by tattoo. Among the Kayan, tattoo (tedek) was handtapped onto the fingers of women in various patterns 

(fig. 2), 

  
 










although black spikes running from the knuckles to mid-digits was a fairly common design

For Borneo's Dayak peoples, spirits embody everything: animals, plants, and humans, Krutak explained. Many groups have drawn on this power by using images from nature in their tattoos, creating a composite of floral motifs using plants with curative or protective powers and powerful animal images. 

 

Tattoos are created by artists who consult spirit guides to reveal a design. Among Borneo's Kayan people, women are the artists, a hereditary position passed from mother to daughter. Among the Iban, the largest and most feared indigenous group in Borneo, men apply the tattoos.

These tattoos are blue-black, made of soot or powdered charcoal, substances thought to ward off malevolent spirits. Some groups spike their pigment with charms—a ground-up piece of a meteorite or shard of animal bone—to make their tattoos even more powerful.

For the outline, the artist attaches up to five bamboo splinters or European needles to a stick. After dipping them in pigment, he or she taps them into the skin with a mallet. Solid areas are filled in with a circular configuration of 15 to 20 needles.

A Spiritual Artform

Dayak tattoo is a spiritual artform that merges images of humans, animals, and plants into one unit, expressing the proliferation of life and the integration of living and spiritual beings in the cosmos. Death and fertility were the primary axes around which tattoo creativity spiraled. Tattooing offered visual testimony to the refusal of Dayak individuals to accept the finality of death and assert the indestructibility of their being. By emulating the life of the gods in everyday ritual, the Dayak procured their own form of divine power that ensured the perpetuation of human life in a continuum of eternity. Therefore, tattoos were articulating symbols inscribing implicit Dayak ideologies of existence upon the living canvas of human flesh.

Ritual Tattooing

Traditionally, Dayak tattooing was performed in a sacred ritual among gathered tribe members. Among the Ngaju Dayak, Krutak said, the tattoo artist began with a sacrifice to ancestor spirits, killing a chicken or other fowl and spilling its blood.

After a period of chanting, the artist started an extremely painful tattooing process that often lasted six or eight hours. Some tattoos were applied over many weeks.

For coming-of-age tattoo rituals, the village men dressed in bark-cloth. This cloth, made from the paper mulberry tree, also draped corpses and was worn by widows.

Tattooing, like other initiation rites, symbolized both a passing away and a new beginning, a death and a life. 

Head-hunting Tattoos

One Dayak group, the Iban, believe that the soul inhabits the head. Therefore, taking the head of one's enemy gives you their soul. Taking the head also conferred your victim's status, skill and power, which helped ensure farming success and fertility among the tribe.

Upon return from a successful head-hunting raid, participants were promptly recognized with tattoos inked on their fingers, usually images of anthropomorphic animals.

Head-hunting was made illegal over a century ago—but even today, an occasional head is still taken.

Tattooed Women

In past times, just as Iban men were tattooed to recognize their prowess in hunting or warfare, Iban women were adorned for accomplishments in weaving, dancing, or singing. Adolescent Kayan girls were tattooed at puberty to render status as an adult, to attract men, and to provide protection against evil spirits.

As they grew older, women were often covered by a weave of inked images spreading around their legs, across the tops of their feet, forearms, and fingers.

But only very wealthy Kayan women sported these intricate tattoos, Krutak said—"only aristocracy who could pay with a sword, a gong, pigs, or old trading beads." Only aristocratic women were allowed to use particular designs, because only these women were powerful enough to resist any negative magic associated with the designs themselves, he said. Slaves were forbidden to tattoo.

Marking Perfection

Tattooing was done in stages over many years and was governed by various taboos. Once a Ngaju man had acquired some wealth and reputation, his shoulders were adorned with a star and his arms decorated with rooster wings and plant patterns.

"But later in life, perhaps at the age of 40, only 'perfect' men would be allowed to receive the complete form of Ngaju tattoo," Krutak said. These were men who had distinguished themselves by living their lives according to ceremonial law, participating in head-hunting expeditions and the offering of a human sacrifice—and who had acquired wealth.

This "complete" tattoo was applied over many days. The man's arms were covered with images of areca palm fronds that were said to protect him from malevolent jungle spirits. Then his torso was tattooed with a design of the Tree of Life, an everlasting symbol of strength and divinity that protected him from his flesh-and-blood enemies. He was then considered godlike, perfect and sacred, and it was believed that in the next world he would receive a golden body. 

Among the Iban, the chests and backs of older, venerated warriors were completely decorated with a collage of powerful images. The hornbill was a favored motif because the bird was seen as a messenger of the war god Lang and also marked rank and prestige. Other favorites were the scorpion and the water serpent, which protected the wearer from evil spirits lurking in the jungle.