Forest:

Abstract

1. A community-based Ecology: the role of native people The role of our native or indigenous people, worldwide, in terms of justice, should be included when global community is seeking a way for a more sustainable condition of our global environment. In this study, I hold the idea of empowering such community as one of the important ways to sustain the global ecosystem (Cobb 1994). It is not difficult to observe that in this so-called globalization era, local or native people, especially the rural communities, have no access even to decide what they really need or do not need. In such global economic system, they are simply being dictated to consume the products provided by the global giant transnational corporations (Korten 1995). Consciously or unconsciously, they are the powerless, and can become merely the victims of the system. In the framework of sustainability, my thesis is that, instead of giant global or national corporations, or even powerful centralized national political authority, our local communities should remain the basis of any economic engineering of the global economic system (Cobb 1994; Daly and Cobb 1994), and the basis of any system of national political outgrowth. When underlining the vital role of the "indigenous people and other local communities", the Rio Earth Summit (June 1-14, 1992) surely assumed that such groups have something to do substantially with our global Eco crisis. And when the Rio Declaration explicitly put it as "their knowledge and traditional practices", apparently, the summit was joining a recent worldwide theology discourse that looking for a more appropriate worldview and values. For instance, in Eastern religions and generally in native religious life as well (McDaniel 1995; Rasmussen 1996). But, since such groups are generally peripheral communities, especially in this centralized global economic system that was to step in is not easy at all.

2. House and Sacredness in Amarasi and Israel In the field of theology, this means how to develop a contextual Eco theology that actually to be conditioned by ecological values of native people. It must be a community- based ecotheology. And to develop such a contextual Eco theology in the context of Amarasi people — a sub-tribe in West Timor, Indonesia — means to include two main concepts of the people. Those are the ume (household) as basis of social organization; and the re 'u (sacred, sacredness) as a religious cosmological concept. This study takes the Amarasi traditional hamlet, kuan, as its sample, seeking values behind the behavior of the people to their forest. Anthropologically speaking, human behavior is related to two aspects. Those are the symbolic meaning of space and place; and the worldview and cosmology that the people share. The research finds that for the Amarasi people, those aspects are the kuan (traditional hamlet) - that consists of cluster of ume (house) — and the re'u (sacred, sacredness). The autonomous kuan has been ecologically managed with the ume, clan household, as its basis, generation through generation. This organization of the so called "house society" (Levi Strauss; Clark E. Cunningham; James J. Fox) could be a sample of an ecological community, since any kuan is just called a kuan when its family members live side by side harmoniously with their forest, and livestock, as an integral unit, besides, together with supranatural powers, both their God, Vis Neno Vis Afu (God of heaven God of earth), and the spirit of the ancestors. So, one cannot speak about kuan without forest, and the reverse. The kuan is a cluster of houses (hamlet) referring to an alliance of lineage, and growing as ume-based system Members of this house society are genealogically tied together as a clan They share the same "space" (kuan) and the same "family name" (kanaf) The authority that manage the kuan is am uf (father of the trunk) an eldest among mother's brothers that belongs to the feminine alliance group which is supported by the atoran (traditional oral law). The am uf, who resides the um uf (house of the trunk), is recognized both as social and religious leader of the kuan, determined by his position to the ancestors (trunk). Actually, uf (trunk) points to the genealogical originality of the am uf. The closer the am uf to the ancestor lineage the higher his authority being recognized by the members of the kuan (order of precedence). Moreover, through the strategy of the pattern of both asymmetric and levirate marriage, the system preserves the political authority of am uf. The authority is, basically, to protect the survival and the wellbeing of the whole members of kuan. For such protection the system relies, in one side, its social order on the authority of the am uf with his original lineage and, in another side, its religious life on the divine powers (Uis Neno Uis Afu; and the spirit of the ancestor). In regards to the religious authority of am uf people of Amarasi, and people of Atoni (West Timor) in general, believe that the divine power exists everywhere in the nature, both through manifestation, and hierogamic marriage. Consequently, the place or thing where the deity exists, is considered re' u (sacred). The place where the people usually offer the sacrifice for their God, Uis Neno Vis Afu, is recognized as sacred. Accordingly, those who have contact with such places or things should behave respectfully. Since the ritual activities take place usually in the midst of nature (forest, etc.), people may not behave impolite or arbitrarily to nature. On the contrary, they should perform a respectful behavior to the forest, land, water resources, etc. Practically, such behavior is controlled under the authority of am-uf, as a clan leader, and the atoran. To break such atoran will bring disaster, both to the person and the whole kuan as well.

3. The Bible concept of beth-'av and qdsh Both concepts, house (ume) and sacred (re'u) surprisingly coincide with those related concepts from historical experience of Israel In a beth- av (father house) people of Israel live in a genealogical lineage of mishpahah (clan), lake Amarasi kuan, the mishpahah actually is an independent and self-supporting unit, both economically and politically. The role of father ('av) in the beth-'av, sustained by the civil law, is the basic authority functioning as the pillar of the whole system including the clan (mishpahah), the tribe (shevet), and even the whole nation (goy), generation through generation. Accordingly, both the endogamic (and levirate) marriage pattern, and the inalienable land politics, are the strategies that maintain the authority. Since the people of Israel presuppose the land as belongs to God (promised land, Ex. 26:9), the land should be treated as a living being. The land is not merely an object. It has such a kind of "soul" that makes it possible for a spiritual relation with human being. Besides, any place where God abides, for instance in a mountain, is considered holy or sacred (qdsh). Accordingly, one should behave respectfully when approaching such place. That is why Moses should put his shoes off from his feet when approaching the mountain of God, Horeb, for “the place on which you are standing is holy ground." (Ex. 3:5). As Von Rad criticized Rudolf Otto' s Numinous (The Idea of the Holy), actually, the idea of qdsh is not only expressed exclusively in the relationship between God and human being, but also in the midst of nature where God, with His Holiness, exists. It is the responsibility of every heth-'av, (father) to guide and motivate its own family members in order to behave respectfully to the land. By doing so the beth-'av, in one hand, prevents the land from becoming a ,shemama, because of sin and, in another hand, maintains the condition of the land, as an adamah, in bringing much crop. Besides, such respectful behavior to nature is determined by the assumption of qdsh. So, it is the role of beth-'av to teach its family members according to the assumption As in the context of kuan in Amarasi, both concepts: land as God's own (promised land), and the qdsh, are determined factors that influence the behavior of the people to the land and, generally, to nature.

4. Family disempowerment, and nature desacralization Contextually speaking, for the Amarasi people, there are two main causes that negatively influence the behavior of the people to their environment. Those are the family disempowerment, and the nature desacralization. The role of the basic unit, household or family (clan), especially of the native community, in our prevailing economic and political system is very peripheral. Particularly the dominance of the Trans National Corporations (TNCs) in the system, besides, of course, undemocratic and centralized states, has been largely criticized as one of the reasons (David C. Korten, 1995; Lester R. Brown, 1998). Even the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg (September 2002) explicitly warned its participants on the threat of the TNCs toward the very idea of "partnership." In such kind of worldwide dominance, the important role of house or family (clan), as the basic unit of our global community system, of course, are simply being disempowered. Besides, especially for the Amarasi people, put the system of "Desa Gaya Baru" ( 1968) into effect, actually, brought forth a negatively substantial impact into the community kuan. The authority of this genealogical originality-based organization, am uf (father of trunk), including its traditional civil law (atoran ) ,had been working for a long time, were being neglected at once. Briefly put, people of Amarasi experienced a heavy social disorientation caused by the disorder of social lineage. The change brought forth a kind of social shock. The role of the ume and kuan were simply being disempowered. The nature desacralizationing in Amarasi particularly came from the approach of the evangelization. The frontal attack against the native belief of such approach influences the viewpoint of the people. If in the traditional community of kuan , native belief believes that the trees, forests, water resources, etc., are re 'u (sacred) assuming the divine powers which are manifested in nature, now, according to the "new religion" (Christian), all those natural objects are not re'u (sacred) at all. They are j ust natural object, so people can treat them for the sake of economic human interest. In sum, the approach of both global economic system and the (Christian) evangelization to nature has been presupposed by a similar assumption that nature has no spiritual value at all. Trees, forest, water resources, are merely objects of human needs. This is the very assumption that pushes and enhances the spirit of the anthropocentrism that manifests itself in the form of the environmental degradation. So, a nightmare just comes through when the unsustainability exists as a cosmological and moral disorder tied into a cultural, social, and environmental one (Rasmussen 1996).

5. Developing a contextual ecotheology Every study of contextual ecotheology of the people of Amarasi must, at least, significantly involve these two basic concepts, the meaning of ume (house) as a basic social organization; and the concept of re'u (sacred), a religious assumption about sacred things or places related to divine manifestation. For Amarasi people, htc e t nune, first, the contextual ecotheology could be a revitalization of the authority of ume as basic institution for developing ecological behavior and values. A long experience of a home-based adaptability with their forest proofs that Amarasi people, from their umc now, are able to manage their environment, particularly their forest, sustainably. Second, the contextual ecotheology could also be a resacralization of natural environment. By assuming cosmological concept of r e 'u ,this house community (kuan) has performed their respectful behavior to nature, generation through generation. Therefore, there is no reason that Amarasi people, now, are not able to perform such conservative behavior especially to their natural forest. Any respectful behavior to nature could be seen as their respect to God, the Creator (ef. "theocentric perspective" of Gustafson 1981, 1984, 1994). Facing our common challenge of the global ecocrisis, this study highlights these two strong points which this native community, Amarasi, could contribute. As a matter of fact, the way to step in is not easy at all, however, is not impossible.