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The community that live in Lamalera East Nusa Tenggara rested from catching whales. Successful hunters will be celebrated as a hero, while the fall always remembered his name. “Call me Ishmael”. Ishmael sailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, on the pequod, a whaling ship from the era of the 1800s. Captain Ahab, a stump-legged sailors who commanded the ship, moving toward the Pacific Ocean with a secret mission: to find a wild whale named Moby Dick, for the sake of revenge. Moby Dick: or, The Whale is a classic novel published in 1851 and was mentioned literary circles as one of the novel in the history of the heritage of English literature. Bait the line “Call me Ishmael” in which it could become one of the most famous opening lines in the world of American literature.

Sanga is not Ishmael. Sanga straight body with blackened skin. His eyes swept the horizon narrowed. During his life had catch a dozen whales, but never flashed a hint of cruelty in his face. Emitted just looks authoritative, patient, and wise. Perhaps the life-death struggle with the pope was brought to maturity in him. However, Sanga and Ishmael had a similar mission: to hunt whales. In the novel Moby Dick, this profession is named harpooner, while in the Village Lamalera, where Sanga live, called lamafa.

The event begins when the sun began to break. Hundreds of people attended, a fairly large number given the population Lamalera only about 2500 people. They gathered in front of the chapel that were piled on the beach. The men wear a sarong, plus a boss dress shirt or sweatshirt. Sarong is a daily fashion Lamalera population of a Catholic majority. While women wear blouses with tie fabric subordinates. Everything was sitting orderly repose sand beach.
There was silence enveloped the beach. Indeed there is a bit of grief in the hearts of the congregation going. Today they will pray for the souls of parents, brother, sister, uncle, or even the children who were killed during the hunt whales, stingrays, and turtles, the primary catched population in the eastern Archipelago.

This action has been done for a hundred years for the family. The names of the victims and called her. Not everything is, but quite a lot. Even those who died in the 1800s still remembered his name. The cause of their deaths vary. Some whales were killed when stabbed, dragged away the giant mammals to the ocean floor, or losing fight against a giant turtle. Lamafa profession is full of risks. Only a handful of brave men who would do this action.

Because it is still using the ancient ways of hunting was also the style of this entry category Lamalera Aboriginal Whaling. Other tribes who practice a similar tradition (to hunt whales for consumption) among other Alaskan Eskimos, Mecca Washington State, Kanda Inuit and Chukotka Russia. However, unlike Lamalera, some of these people are familiar with modern technology. They use the speed boat, radio transmitters, and a harpoon gun.

Whales were hunted sperm whale species (sperm whale) whose length ranges from 11 to 20 meters and often appeared in Lembata waters. This coincidence of the same species with the pope in the novel Moby Dick. While avoidance of blue whales were hunted; one of the tribes in Lamalera even make holy symbols. Though actually, if you think of it, a long blue whale can reach 33 meters and weighs 190 tons it was impossible to be caught using primitive methods.

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