IBU PERTIWI

Oil on Canvas 100x75 Cm

IBU PERTIWI by Hasrul Kokoh (2015)

THE STORY OF HOTONG
*Curator: Helena Rea.

Surabaya, 31 January 2015.    

Moluccas is the land that is famous for cloves, which had attracted Portuguese colonizing the land for more than 400 years. The following story is not about cloves, but the ‘Hotong’. It is the customary carbohydrate for the Tanimbar-Key Island communities in the Upper North Southeast Moluccas. They learned from generation to generation that the family ought to set aside the Hotong in a strongbox after the harvest season. It was wise advice of saving their resources.  

At my first encounter with the Hotong, I thought it was wild flower seeds. As I jiggled the branches, the tiny bits of sandy brown grains spread. Hotong has three types of colours: orange, yellow, and black, which can only be recognized when the flower is dry.

The Hotong needs special treatment. It has to be kept in leaf-based vessels, made by the women to secure the Hotong. They will offer that up during the traditional harvest ceremony and hand it to the King of Tan-Kei. Once it is stored in the barn, it can last for decades.

According to the Tan-Kei Customary law, the Hotong that is stored aims to secure the seed and farming situations when the farmers have to go through extreme seasons, natural disasters, and shortage supplies. When the conflict broke out in Ambon in 2011, the barns supplied the refugees with various hotong-based cuisine such as Wajik Legit and Lemang.

The Hotong is needed for daily consumption and celebrations, as well as for gifts, including wedding gifts, birthday gifts, etc. The hotong is the symbol of happiness and well-being. It is believed that they will never suffer from shortages of food stocks. There are more they keep in their garden including bananas, cassavas, and peanuts, as well as breeding cattle and fish, goats, and poultry. The women are the living Goddesses. They always share the Hotong in abundance: packages and smiles. 

-End-

KISAH HOTONG


Surabaya, 31 Januari 2015.      

Hotong masih menjadi sumber karbohidrat utama di Kampung Adat Tanimbar Kei (Tan-Kei), pulau paling ujung tenggara Kepulauan Kei Kecil, Maluku Tenggara. Tiap-tiap keluarga wajib menyisihkan segantang untuk disimpan di lumbung Adat setiapkali usai masa panen. Saat pertama kali ditunjukkan, aku pikir ini bunga semak, ternyata bila di kibas-kibas dengan sedikit tenaga, bulir-bulir mungil kecoklatan luruh seperti pasir pantai. Hotong rupanya memiliki 3 jenis dan baru bisa dikenali bila telah kering. Ada yang berwarna Jingga, kuning, dan hitam.

Sebelum diserahkan ke lumbung yang berada di kampung tua kompleks para raja dan tua adat Tan-Kei tinggal, para ibu menganyam wadah sebentuk botol dari pandan pantai. Tak sebulirpun lungsur bila sudah terperangkap didalamnya, Ia bahkan bisa bertahan hingga puluhan tahun dalam lumbung.

Hukum adat Tan-Kei mengatur, stok hotong yang tersimpan dalam lumbung bisa dimanfaatkan bila terjadi musibah atau bencana alam, termasuk bila masa paceklik terjadi. Ketika kerusuhan Ambon pecah pada 2011, lumbung ini berfungsi menyajikan wajik legit dan lemang nikmat kepada mereka yang mengungsi ke Tanimbar Kei dari berbagai kampung dan pulau-pulau di sekitar Maluku. 

Para ibu telah membagi hasil panenan untuk menjaga siklusnya. Sebagian untuk dikonsumsi, sebagian bila ada acara keluarga, menyambut tamu jauh, acara di kampung: sumbangan kematian, bingkisan kelahiran, hadiah pernikahan atau perayaan kuningan dan saraswati, natal, waisak, Idul Fitri. Dan yang paling penting stok bibit untuk masa tanam berikutnya.

Saat menyaksikan para ibu Tan-Kei menumbuk hotong dalam lesung sambil bersenandung dengan senyum dan peluh, saya yakin mereka tak akan pernah kehabisan bahan makanan, karena mereka juga merawat ayam, kambing, sapi, ikan dan kerang-kerang di laut, kebun kelapa, pisang, jagun, ubi, ketela dan talas, kacang tanah, kacang hijau dan hitam, pohon mangga, asam jawa, buah labu, cabai – tomat dan sayuran, serta beragam buah-buahan. Seperti Dewi perawat kehidupan – penyedia makanan.

-Selesai-

Baca juga:

TANIMBAR KEI