Bugis Navigation. By Eugene Ammarell. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies Monograph 48, 1999. xiv, 299 pp, maps, illustrations. Reviewed by Joel C. Kuipers (The George Washington University).

The Bugis people of southern Sulawesi are bearers of an ancient heritage of maritime practice that for millennia supported the spread of Austronesian peoples throughout the archipelago. The Bugis still participate in what is arguably the largest and most vital commercial sailing tradition in the world. As part of his PhD dissertation research in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University, Eugene Ammerell apprenticed himself to some of the best of these indigenous Bugis navigators. He has written a fine, detailed ethnographic account of the indigenous system of navigation used by Bugis seafarers on Balobaloang, a tiny island located about halfway between southern Sulawesi and Sumbawa. Based on more than 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Indonesian and Buginese languages, Ammarell's study consists of data gathered while residing in the village and while at sea on various motorized and non-motorized craft en route between southern Sulawesi, Balobaloang, Bima, and various ports in eastern Indonesia. Although most Bugis seafarers now must run their auxiliary engines continuously in order to deliver their cargos profitably and on schedule, Ammarell was able to culminate his study with an extended chartered voyage through eastern Indonesia captained by the island's most senior navigator, a voyage during which minimal use was made of the auxiliary engine. Drawing on these experiences, Ammarell's ethnographic account provides a careful description of the Bugis system of spatial and temporal orientation, navigation, piloting, the role of the navigator, and the social impact of technological change. In addition, the book contains an appendix of economically significant flora and fauna in the Balobaloang area, plus eight maps, including four large detailed maps contained in a special map envelope in the back cover of the book.

Unlike the sailors of the Micronesian atolls, whose daring feats of indigenous navigation were chronicled in Thomas Gladwin's East is a big bird: navigation and logic on Puluwat atoll (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1970), most Bugis navigators are seldom out of sight of land for long, and generally tend to hug the coastlines of the much more densely packed archipelagoes of island Southeast Asia. This strategy also ensures access to food and water, since crossing open ocean carries the risk of becoming calmed in strong currents, which can carry a ship out of its way, and can cost them time and money. Where the Bugis navigators excel is in piloting their relatively large, heavily-laden sailing vessels (sometimes with a draft of two meters) through the treacherous reefs, dangerous currents and changing tides of the Flores sea. To determine their proximity to land, they interpret cloud and weather patterns, and distance between waves, and the presence of certain species of birds and fish. One of the main signs for reading the direction and force of current is the presence of kala-kala 'turbulence'. Other strategies for interpreting current include reading the inda 'phosphorescent plankton.' Reading all these signs simultaneously, they must be able to find a way to land a fully loaded ship safely at a busy pier, and then anchor it offshore safely. Where and how to anchor the ship turns out to be crucial decision, and often a source of arguments. The depth of the water, the condition of the ocean floor, the clarity of the water, predictions of the weather, goals of the trip, all play an important role in these decisions and can be a source of intense discussion: among other things, where the anchor is placed affects how long it will take the crew to load or unload the ship.

Planning the timing and course of a voyage also requires elaborate local knowledge. Ammarell shows that knowledge of the tides, stars, and weather patterns can be quite sophisticated. For example, in addition to paying attention to the sun's journey across the sky, the Bugis navigators also keep track of where the moon is by describing its position in the sky using a solar idiom: e.g. as "noon" "midnight" etc. This knowledge is essential for Bugis navigators because they know that the position of the moon helps them predict when the tides will be high or low - crucial information for deciding how and when to pilot a vessel through shallow waters, reefs etc. These calculations also vary by the season, as monsoons have an effect on the height of tide. The disposition of the tides is also crucial to calculating the current, and is a key factor in piloting close to shore. Ammarell nonetheless makes the observation that even though the captains often made accurate predictions of the direction and strength of tidal currents, it was the strength and direction of the anticipated wind that always trumped the tidal current as a factor in decisions about the timing and course of a journey.

In the Bugis system for describing wind direction, there are several systems that overlap: one kind of wind refers to one's own orientation e.g. tailwind, headwind; another kind refers to the direction of the wind in relation to a land mass: e.g. shore wind, sea breeze; a third kind of wind refers to the cardinal direction from which it comes: e.g. southeastern wind. Ammarell suggests that all three systems can overlap in the course of discussions, and the sailors are able to keep these orientations straight, although he does not provide any detailed examples from actual on-board conversations. Ammarell lists how sailors are able to predict the direction of the winds from the color and intensity of rainbows, the smell of a coral reef, the call of the buring bird, the configuration of the clouds. A conch is sometimes used to 'call the winds' in times of calm, and there are taboos against carrying breadfruit aboard ship, or playing music in the bow of the ship for fear of conjuring up a head wind (as Ammerell himself was once reminded).

Another example of how a rich body of relatively fixed conventional knowledge interacts with contextual factors in conversation occurs when discussing cardinal directions. For example, in the Maros dialect of the local Bugis language, the system of terms for cardinal directions corresponds to the terms for east west north south; however, these terms are also used to refer to the extreme points of their oblong island Balobaloang, which - as it happens - is not actually oriented on an E-W/N-S axis. In fact it is tilted about 35-40 degrees from an East-West orientation. How can they use the same system for both? Ammarell argues that in everyday life, and in most conversational contexts, this ambiguity is acceptable or resolved by context. When greater precision is required, they are able to achieve it by specifying the context more precisely, and informing the audience as to whether they are referring to the island or the sea.

Ammarell also provides some fascinating descriptions of the interaction of modern navigational devices on traditional Bugis sailing ships. Compasses are standard devices on Bugis ships (required by law on larger ships), but in practice are only occasionally referred to, especially among more experienced navigators. The latter tend to rely on wind directions, wave swells, and (at night) the location of stars. When the night is cloudy, sailors consult the compass by the light of a flashlight. Written charts are expensive and often not available.

For Indonesianists, Ammarell's discussions about the transformation of the Balobaloang community will make fascinating reading and a useful case study of technological and political change. The community of Balobaloang is remarkably interconnected since its founding in the mid 19th century under Dutch rule. For anyone who has visited Bugis enclaves on other islands in eastern Indonesia and wondered about the composition of the community, Ammarell's discussion of the social history of Balobaloang is enlightening. It suggests an internally stratified community often centered on the authority of a single individual - in this case H. LaHamade' Daeng Pasori, a person to whom nearly everyone on the island can claim a relation to descent or affinity through marriage.

Ammarell gives a brief history of motorization on the island, and outlines some of it effects, which include changes in hull design, crew size, cargo capacity and mast length. Motorization results in improvement in the steering and speed of the vessel, and in handling the vessels in a storm. Bugis sailors generally keep the engine running even when the wind is strong in order to keep the propeller from dragging in the water. Ammarell believes the rise in mechanization has resulted in increased cargo size, number of trips, higher revenues, and a general labor scarcity. Captains now bemoan the difficulty involved in recruiting a crew, particularly for a non-motorized vessel. In situations of labor scarcity, captains must be more mindful of the feelings of their crew members, who are aware that they have other options. With mechanization and improved literacy and education, the captain's knowledge is no longer so specialized and esoteric: as Ammarell states bluntly, with a compass and a map, anyone can navigate. While the authority of the Bugis navigators has declined, the standard of living has improved.

Rich and fascinating as it is, the book raises some questions for future research to answer: how have changing gender relations affected the transformation of this all-male world? Might these factors play as much role in the labor shortage as the changing technology? Given the declining authority of the captain, how are disputes on board resolved? I also wondered about the distinction between piloting and navigation and whether this contrast corresponded to anything in the Bugis data, or whether this was a somewhat awkward way of organizing the chapters.

But these are quibbles. Ammarell has produced a truly fine case study of navigation among the Bugis in Balobaloang, and an excellent detailed example of technological and social change in a poorly understood, but historically important sub-group in contemporary Indonesian society.

(This review was uploaded to www.antarakita.net on September 26, 2003)