ANTHROPOS
104.2009: 469-482
Bui Hangi - The Deity’s Human Wife
Analysis of a Myth from Pura, Eastern Indonesia
Susanne Rodemeier
. kstract. - For the last 70 years Protestantism and govemmen-
j mfluence have been the main factors contributing to change
the Alor archipelago. Consequently people’s thinking and
a ln § is today strongly influenced by Christianity, which makes
study of the suppressed local traditions difficult. When a myth
s Use d as the main theme of a documentary film on that area,
v ^si-experimental situation arose in which an in-depth obser-
^ 1() n of traditional believes and their conflict with Christianity
tr^ Carne P oss ible. The selected myth deals with one aspect of the
'tional marriage rules that may put even a deity under obliga-
n to help people. As such, it challenges the Christian way to
a C ; 0ac h and understand the sacred, [myth, religion, tradition,
Wiring nature, Alor-Archipelago, Java, Islam in Indonesia],
Su,
ten- 831106 Rodemeier > PhD (Leipzig University, 2006); the doc-
dissertation: “Tutu kadire in Pandai-Munaseli. Erzählen
^ U ^ r ' nnern au f der vergessenen Insel Pantar (Ostindonesien).”
ntl l recently research assistant at the Institute of Southeast
fo lan Studies at Passau University. So far her interests have
l at CUse d on women’s traditional knowledge and on gender re-
tty l0riS ’ n c be Alor archipelago as well as on the relation be-
^ !fn religion (Christianity and Islam) and the local tradition.
0 Urre ntly works as assistant at the Institute of Anthropol-
^ Cluster of Excellence “Formation of normative orders”
elf O
cern ° et ^ e ^-University Frankfurt, Germany. Her research con-
Pubp n ° W lslam and ever yday life on Java, Indonesia. - Online
Kr ’ Ca tion: “Lego-lego Platz und naga-Darstellung. Jenseitige
bis 6 lm ^ entrum einer Quellenstudie über die ostindonesische
e Alor” (master thesis).
Nevertheless, Hicks also identifies an important
difference between his research results from Timor
and Mauss’ more general considerations. The dif
ference between Mauss and Hicks becomes rele
vant when Hicks analyzes narratives in which a
divinity becomes dependent upon a human being.
In the narratives Hicks collected, the divinity of
highest rank in the realm of the world under the
sea has a sickness which only a human being could
cure, as it is the young man’s fishing hook which
sticks in the deity’s cheek. 1
When doing research in another area in eastern
Indonesia, on the island of Pura (Alor archipela
go), 2 * I was able to collect a narrative which goes
even further than Hicks’ narrative. On Pura a man
was able to secure permanent commitment of a de
ity through a marriage alliance. The deity’s obli
gation guarantees that the man’s family and his
descendents have a never-ending supply of water
and food, i.e., of life and fertility. The observa
tion of different ways of dealing with deities calls
for an analysis of the symbolism of this narrative
from Pura. This will be accomplished as the first
step. Then I will continue my analysis by looking
^ rc el Mauss (1990 [1950]: 169, 269) points out
be' ^ eitles are always of higher status than human
n §s. This is only possible because their gifts are
an SUC ^ a value that people can never give back
bolrl ng e 9 u ivalent. David Hicks (2007: 39 f.) up-
gifi S ^ auss ’ argument by pointing to the deities’
s which usually are life, fertility, and abundance.
1 A variety of this story from Timor is known in the village
Alor Kecil on Alor Island. My knowledge of this very story
triggered the narration of the story from nearby Pura, which
I will analyze here. In both stories a red fish is of relevance,
a detail which seems unknown on Timor. This is remarkable
as otherwise the story from Alor Kecil shares many details
with the one Hicks collected on Timor.
2 For one year, from June 1999 until May 2000, I conducted
ethnological field research in the Alor-Pantar Archipelago.
