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I. N. Parker
Fig. 14.3 Church service, Saporkren village, Waigeo, 2015
to punish greedy people from taking too much without sharing. A man in Saporkren
village recalled that in 2015, crocodiles attacked four men who had trespassed into
sasi gereja zones that were under protection. Winds and currents could also draw
someone off course, or they could drown. To them, sasi is a divine law (hukum dari
Tuhan): “Someone who enters and violates a sasi place will be subject to punishment
from God. The person will become sick or he will be a victim from nature—bitten by
a fish, or a tree can fall on them.” An elder on Ayau atoll said that if a fisherman steals,
his wife’s body would become barren. By taking from a place whose abundance is a
sign of divine grace, God would ‘steal’ his wife’s life-giving fertility. Only until he
confesses to a member of the clan with land and sea rights will his wife be capable
of giving birth. According to a Beteo conversation advisor on Ayau, “Only people of
bad character would take from a sasi place, in contrast with the majority who desire
goodness.”
To protect oneself from future retribution after trespassing into a protected sasi
zone, a person must first apologize to the landowning clans or kin groups who have
management oversight (pemilik). Most then pay a fine (denda) to the owners or church
congregation of up to 10 million Indonesian Rupiah (about 700 USD), a percentage
I. N. Parker
Fig. 14.3 Church service, Saporkren village, Waigeo, 2015
to punish greedy people from taking too much without sharing. A man in Saporkren
village recalled that in 2015, crocodiles attacked four men who had trespassed into
sasi gereja zones that were under protection. Winds and currents could also draw
someone off course, or they could drown. To them, sasi is a divine law (hukum dari
Tuhan): “Someone who enters and violates a sasi place will be subject to punishment
from God. The person will become sick or he will be a victim from nature—bitten by
a fish, or a tree can fall on them.” An elder on Ayau atoll said that if a fisherman steals,
his wife’s body would become barren. By taking from a place whose abundance is a
sign of divine grace, God would ‘steal’ his wife’s life-giving fertility. Only until he
confesses to a member of the clan with land and sea rights will his wife be capable
of giving birth. According to a Beteo conversation advisor on Ayau, “Only people of
bad character would take from a sasi place, in contrast with the majority who desire
goodness.”
To protect oneself from future retribution after trespassing into a protected sasi
zone, a person must first apologize to the landowning clans or kin groups who have
management oversight (pemilik). Most then pay a fine (denda) to the owners or church
congregation of up to 10 million Indonesian Rupiah (about 700 USD), a percentage