The Last Whale Hunters of Indonesia | Lamalera: The Ultimate Battle | Free Documentary

you your names are stephanus Ignatius Gabriel and Joseph are Indonesian Christians and

whale

hunters

until now these men were doing well despite the hard lives despite the danger today they have to face a completely different type of

battle

a final

battle

for their survival

lamalera

a remote village of 2,500 people on the south coast of Lambada Island, one of the Sun Islands in Indonesia, people follow the rhythm of the

whale

s that swim off the coast from May to November as they migrate from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific . The ancient hunt has not changed in centuries but they have not caught a single sperm whale for several months the malera is dying silently and no one is paying attention today we saw a big whale we rowed until it surfaced and then the pigeon surfaced one again and we dived again we were tired so I came back maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will see it again and then we will get to work.

We are praying that supplies are dwindling. Some strips of fat and pieces of meat are still drying in the sun. How the Lamarans preserve their precious catch they never sell any part of a whale instead they trade pieces for fruits, vegetables and tobacco the people are self-sufficient avoiding the temptations of globalization and this is exactly what worries Joseph the harpooner and his IBU wife María shares her concern with him the sarang that she weaves and sells will not be enough to feed the family the year is difficult there are no whales if the whales no longer come we will die if we only have small fish we will barely survive it is not the same as with the whales Lera depends completely on the whales the money to pay for school comes from the whales when the whales arrive we are happy that they do not come we are not happy the whole town is in tune with the forge the man is completely focused on hunting, which It includes making harpoon heads so that the sacred bond that unites people with the whale is never broken.

This is why Michael Batona, a journalist from Kang who was born on the island, is fighting for the whale and the villagers of Lamalera are one of them. a single spirit a single soul the people of L Mera can live or die everything depends on the whale while they wait for the whales they restore the sails of the Tena the lamaran know that their ships have a soul even if they change or completely rebuild one the original name never will change these ships of ours are alive this tradition has been part of us since our ancestral time from our parents to us Ignacio is the father of José standing on the bow of his clan's ship.

Once the brave harpooner of the demo sapang was the star of the seas, each clan owns a ship and for us who live in LA Malera this ship is alive it will be passed on to our children our grandchildren our descendants this ship and this tradition cannot disappear by exploring The seas constantly looking for a whale to launch is a waste of time Ignatius knows something out of the ordinary is happening behind this column of black smoke is the enemy, an insidious and powerful one, straight from a neighboring island, those are bombs, are they? did you hear they are bombs?

The police already raided them but they didn't do it. We won't catch them The villagers of Lamalera are angry Everyone is angry How can they come here to fish using dynamite? The government has already banned this type of fishing. He banned these techniques. So why do Laka people come here with bombs? We are very angry. Can? t work we can't go to the sea because they are fishing with dynamite everywhere they have to stop fishing with explosives permanently in the region of

lamalera

the curse has a name lamaa that making the survival of an entire town is at stake for old ignacius more more that nothing is about the survival of his clan, his son and his family.

Night, Ignacio, have you just arrived? Yes, I just arrived, please sit down, have some TW, living here in Lamalera is very difficult. I have saved some money. We have to go to Larantuka to buy a motor I will put it on the boat to hunt dolphins and manta rays in the sea to have food for my wife and children this year it was very difficult because the whales did not come we did not catch any. it is very difficult it is very difficult to feed my family I love our Traditions I also like the idea of ​​having a motor it is good for our lives for our families I am a harpooner I love going to the sea with oars but now we have to go far to find fish it is because I want to buy an engine, what do you think about it?

I like the idea of ​​Joseph buying an engine, even if it is expensive, we have to buy one, we will bring it back, but we will continue to follow our traditions. we will use the engine at the same time we like both sir durus I have come because we have a problem in our town the whales do not come and in our town if they do not come we are hungry the whales always used to show up but this year maybe they did not come because of the people of oura who drop too many bombs bother the whales later we will go to the Old Town to perform a ceremony like the one the Ancients did fighting against the fatigue of the waves and The current Joseph and his crew have no choice but to row for a day all the way to Larantuka, a small seaport on the eastern coast of Flores Island, to understand the relationship between whales and the people of Lamalera.

To understand their history, the Lan have traditions that affect the nature that surrounds them and have an impact on their lives. If they want to capture whales each year, they have to perform a traditional ceremony. It is proof of the relationship between the whale and the lamalan. They are one. SP shared the meat of a slaughtered rooster and drank tuac ignatioso. His ancestors also did this to bring back the whales. Stone tells our ancestors from Heaven to Earth that we need the whales to come so that our village can have enough to eat because we are poor and hungry ta ta harpooners believe they can harpoon very large whales even with a boat as small as this one that is smaller than a whale D but despite everything the whale can die in an hour or two using traditional equipment this means that the whale is a reincarnation of the ancestors it has a spirit that understands the language of humans you can listen to the stories of the lamerens on August 3, 1983 they cut off my arm I swam to return to the boat where there were coiled ropes and my arm was trapped in one of those ropes they dragged me deep under the water I gave myself to God I didn't know if I would live die only God could help me survive until someone came to save me after my accident another man was injured the rope was wrapped around his leg they had to cut it but he is still alive today about larantuka finally he is so big he could never come to the

last

time Joseph came here was to attend Holy Week which brought together no less than 15,000 pilgrims from all over Indonesia this Catholic event celebrated since the 17th century celebrates both the Portuguese heritage and the Queen of the Rosary the patron saint of the city tries to open it it is used yes it is used is it of any use yes it is ok so you agree? 5 million rupees we can negotiate yes we can how much a little more than 2 million oh no I can't let's go for 4,500,000 ok 4,500,000 5 million 500,000 that makes 4,500,000 right yes ok a pioneer lives in lamalera stepanus was one of the first to equip his boat with a powerful engine that 9 years ago with the help of his brother who lives in Jakata was able to acquire a piece of the modern world and at the same time revolutionize fishing in years past there were not many engines just one or two now there are too many motors people are happy because they no longer have to row almost no one uses oars now except when there is a whale and they go to sea with ten cent bills before we had no expense, no cost, but now with all these motors We have long before everything depended on the wind and our energy and it didn't cost anything now we have to have an engine and it is expensive to keep up while I wait for Wales I have to go out to sea using the engine to look for fish many dolphins any fish I find I have to fishing to feed my family fishing with a motor with a tenna or a stabilizer is not the same the tenna is the best since I like it when we have to use the oars I don't like motors now I am making a small boat to Go out and catch small fish whether using a line or a net this is what I do.

I learned to do this from my parents when I left school my father taught me to work when I have to go get food. I know what to do. My father wants to follow the traditions of our ancestors. I like to follow my father, but I need to have a motor to earn more money. how my father made some money and my wife and children too everyone is happy it is true that young people don't want to row anymore they really want to use motors if I ask them to go out to sea using oars they don't want Follow me there are really big changes happening at the moment.

They like engines, but I don't like them. Why, equipped with a motor, the vanana can slide through the water at full speed following a pot of dolphins. The hunting technique is the same, but Joseph. It has to be an acrobat standing alone on the bow of the boat. The dolphins are intelligent and above all very fast. He swims today for his first trip to the sea. The villain and her crew will return home empty-handed. The police are looking for people from Lera who they are fishing with explosives they are investigating there that means that the bombs could stop that means that the fish will return the dolphins the man career body spe Joseph will not give up he wants to catch a dolphin no matter what happens in an instant the harpooner has seen his prey and does not It is a dolphin that has been captured but a mola MOA a sunfish an exceptional catch the mola mola lives in deep waters and comes to the surface to feed on jellyfish it is one of the heaviest fish in the world that can weigh more than a ton to where we are right now this time Joseph is confident and throws himself into a school of tuna who are too busy hunting to sense the danger tuna was harpooned but escaped the battle is far from over Haroon again the tuna hasn't done it yet He has been forced to risk everything.

Joseph orders one of his crew to jump into the water to have fun. The people who have engines are the ones who divide the catch in the TAA. The way of distributing the fish is still traditional. It is the type of distribution. We inherited it. of our ancestors and it is a fair system the new economic model does not allow us to share with everyone fishing a lot with motor but it is not the same if we capture a whale then everyone in the malera but also the people who live in the hills can have a share people bring a lot using the engine but they keep it for themselves they do not share it with the widows in the past with the tenna we shared it with the widows with the family but with the engines it is the owner who keeps everything he does We do not share the engines With widows, we depend on the owners to give us a little to eat.

Before it was different. Today it is like that. Essie set the table. Dinner is almost ready for us who live in L when we wait for the whales. We don't farm the land, so when we have a motor instead of waiting for the whales, we can still go out fishing when we come back, then we will have enough food to give to our parents, our children, our women, our families, Hello, Stephanus ha been waiting a long time. It's time for this moment and now his older brother who he hasn't seen in 13 years is here. The brother who went to live and work as a seaman in Jakarta after traveling for several days, has finally stepped on the beach of memories of him. his people his arms loaded with gifts with wife and children I am very happy because I can see them all again they are still in good shape I saw my mother and I missed seeing her a lot after 13 years now I have a wife and the children I can finally return to them and We are lucky to see each other again.

Mom is lucky to be able to hug her grandchildren. You too will hunt whales later. We will go whale hunting together. Okay, I want to go back, but where do you want to go this time? I can see changes with modernization. I see that people live more easily. There are some people who use motors for sea fishing instead of traditional boats. It is easier. Why not? But the problem is that our inheritance. It is disappearing, we have to protect our traditions and our culture, but the movement of modernization and globalization is drastic, it levels everything and for future generations our traditions will have disappeared.

That is why we are concerned that the whales are invisible from the sea, that is why the fishermen have decided to go out to sea to find them. According to tradition, you cannot put a motor in a tenna, so the men will go out using a sail and rowing several miles away. The coast begins a long wait once again the sperm whales remain invisible the sun soon the

hunters

have to return home almost 500 years ago the ancestors of these sailors followed the same route also sailing aboard Athens Guided by the stars these wanderers of the sea were originally from the island of Su Wy and moved to an island not far from here overthrown by an earthquake hit by a tidal wave they headed to the Sea and found refuge here they made a pact with the Lambada traditionally known as the Lords of theland and they moved to a hostile plot of land that no one else wanted, only idiots want to live in the jungle but if our ancestors were stupid they would never have moved here because here there are stones everywhere there are stones in every little place man nor It doesn't even grow in the bush, corn doesn't grow here or apples and I don't.

I even know what else it doesn't make sense for people to live here, but then how did they survive? The new arrivals knew how to make pottery and used harpoon heads made of hardwood for fishing. The people of Lambata were not fishermen, but they knew how. forge iron so the two communities exchanged techniques and as part of their agreements the traveling fishermen won the right to build a village on the beach and thus lamalera was born. the newcomers adopted the local language lamaalot using iron harpoons they became excellent hunters and They exchanged whale meat for fruits and vegetables produced by local farmers.

They were also able to exchange for clay pots. After teaching the technique to locals in 1920, a German missionary brought the Catholic faith to the island. The relics of traditional beliefs and the bones of ancestors were buried forever under the newly built church. It dawned in Lamalera at the moment when the fishermen of the net returned to the beach using the motor. They fished far from shore in the middle of the night Joseph and his crew watched this strange spectacle that grows every year Dolphins Rays Sharks the catch now includes dozens of fish every day I don't like trolling or netting. because they are not traditional techniques here we are used to fishing with nets at night we don't usually do it during the day it is only to attract flying fish people fish with nets for money but if the whale appears everyone goes hunting I am sure that our ancestors ​​They would cry if they saw our situation today because now it is difficult for people to live because there are no longer whales, only those who fish with nets bring everything that others have to buy food, that is not the case. good with the net what I like is the traditional fishing method with only a harpoon in the bow well foreigner in the bow this time it is an angular fish that succumbs to Joseph's harpoon and what was unthinkable just a few years ago is now possible: motorized hunting

last

s for many minutes, leaving no chance for the manday, no matter how big it may be, the fishermen no longer talk about patience in boats with oars and sails or luck, but about intensive hunting and everything that fishing will be unlimited and visible. of the Western world Beyond reasonable need, however, lamalera fishermen have a completely different view of things, if we catch whales or any other fish, we are happy, we can have anything if we fish, because here in lamalera there is no nothing more, there is no business. no Factory and these fish, what happens to them once they are CAU, we eat them and we love to eat them, that's all, we should feel pity looking at the carcass of a dolphin or we should understand the world as it is and not as we do.

Imagine this is only for eating here there is no production there is nothing when we catch an animal like this it is to eat it our women and children are happy it is time for IBU's wife María José to exchange a few kilos of dried meat on The small Muslim village of Wandon It is only 7 km from Lamalera. It's Saturday market day. I like coming to this market. I come to buy corn, bananas, manc. I exchange it for fish. This market has been around for a long time since our ancestors, once everyone paid their entrance fee in kind a whistle marks the start of the Bing my husband is very good at getting fish from the sea, he brings it to me and I come here to exchange it every time I come every Saturday I barter until everything has been marketed the next day day after month the catches in lamalera increase more and more thanks to the use of modern methods the fishermen now have the bombs they have been silent in the distance the Indonesian police did their job burning and sinking two boats imprisoning three fishermen from the town of Lamalera but another even more tragic Fate has just struck Lamalera a few years ago a whale hunter drew the attention of environmental protection organizations today they are extremely concerned about the hundreds of rays and dolphins that end up stranded every year we have a regional project to create a marine reserve in lmata specifically in La Malera we are looking for an alternative to their lifestyle a sustainable lifestyle for the fishermen of lamalera we do not know if there is overpopulation or a drop in local population as with the manay and the dolphins in fact we still do not have enough scientific data also the fishermen still catch them using traditional methods they do not use modern equipment they still use harpoons the reserve and the WWF are deceiving us they are deceiving the people it means that for a On the one hand we are trying to build by protecting these traditions and on the other we are trying to do whatever it takes to survive using modernization.

We have to focus on two objectives of our programme: first, environmental protection, especially for Wales, and then we have to pay attention to the local culture here. We are worried about what will happen in 10 or 20 years because the local culture could disappear, therefore we are trying to create a link between the protection of the sea and the protection of the culture of the Lamara community, if this Reserve happens, it would be a big problem and I don't want it if they prohibit fishing how we live we try to explain what the reserve is the way people think their concept of the reserve is really not the same as ours if they don't let us fish what we will do naturally at that time We live off the sea and if they prohibit fishing we will not be able to achieve it.

The people from WWF came with some big ideas. They do not understand that Lamalera is not a type of Corporation and it is not a company that does business with the whale. It is a local community, the blood in its veins. flows thanks to the whale the only objective of these charities is to make this nature reserve and we here in Lala will not let them enter the town as long as this is That's how things are until we find a satisfactory solution for this Reserve project the children have to go to school but if we don't have the money they have to leave school since the time of our ancestors we have all been fishermen but parents no longer want this future for their children because tomorrow or the next day life will be even more difficult soon will end we have to pray for help so that God gives us his permission not to end with a ban otherwise all the people of lamalera will die praying not to die today the lalaran have no choice but to follow their faith in the church and its guidance reigning like a harpooner on the bow of a ten dollar bill Ignacio kept his word, having finished his boat in time before the rough seas of winter arrive and he can share the ancient technique of stone fishing with his grandson, while Joseph he can find to offer his wife and children a real house thanks to the fact that motor fishing has become profitable and he sells the leftover meat to the Hillside Villages he has money but for how long do we have to reject this Reservation right now we are thinking about the future therefore we have to reject now we are thinking that we have children and grandchildren and we wonder what their future will be that is what we think sperm whales are rare today animal protection organizations point the finger at the killing of marine animals that considered excessive and the Indonesian government intends to declare the waters of lambata a wildlife sanctuary the exploits of the men of lamalera will then become legendary unless, like their ships, they remain determined to live as they always have to never die for them.