Describing Space Cognition from Ritual Practices among Bajo Settlements in Southeast Sulawesi: The Affective Bond between People, Spirits, and the Sea

Abstract

This article explores the Bajo/Sama people’s perspectives and beliefs about the sea, focusing on the ritual practices of these settlements in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The sea has traditionally been the source of the Bajo’s livelihood: they have used the sea for fishing, dwelling, shipping, practicing healing rituals, and carrying across the deceased for burial on islands. The Bajo believe that the “twin spirit” of a newborn is born when the placenta is submerged in the ocean. The twin spirit resides in and is spiritually connected with the person throughout their life. The Bajo’s healing rituals call on these spirits for help, which deepens their connection with the sea. This belief extends to the powerful and profound spirits nabi and mbo’, who dwell far from the kampung (settlements), as well as kaka, tuli, and kutta, who are familial spirits that dwell by the settlements and in the sea and are often part of healing rituals. By analyzing Bajo practices and beliefs, this paper reveals that the Bajo perceive the sea as being part of the relationship between spirits and humans. For the Bajo, the sea not only enables their physical livelihood but also has an affective bond with them, and it is a space for the spirits of siblings, ancestors, and the Bajo. Bajo ritual practices might reproduce in new migrant places, as the spirits join the Bajo’s journey on the sea as their protectors and mediators between humans and other spirits.