(continuing " sepotong tanah makasar..." )

A Tearful Reunion

Matjuwi Burarrwanga and Mansjur Muhayang were separated by circumstances for decades until they were brought back together in a tearful reunion.

THE old Land Rover sped through the dense forests of Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory one afternoon last August. At the wheel was Datjing Burarrwanga, smoking and enjoying the tune sung over the car radio by Bob Marley: "One love, one heart…. Let’s get together and feel all right… hear the children crying."

Suddenly everyone was jolted by the cry of a child squeezed between passengers as the overcrowded jeep shook over the bumpy road. In the car were Datjing and all members of his family: wife, children and grandchildren. "We’ll soon be in Gulumari, the gravesite of our grandma. Move the child up here," he called out as he stepped on the accelerator. Datjing was taking Tempo on a visit to the grave of Gunanong, the family’s great grandmother.

The grave is located on the coast of Gulumari, about 30 kilometers from Galiwinku. The dirt road traversed by the old jeep was the only decent road on Elcho Island. From the air the island, 50 kilometers long and 6 kilometers wide, looks like an elongated snake. "The Macassan blood in my body flows from Gunanong," said Datjing as he cleared the tombstone of sand and leaves.
Gunanong was the daughter born of the marriage of Husein Daeng Rangka, a Macassan, and Yalyarrambu, an aborigine woman. Records show that Husein was among the last sailors to visit Arnhem Land. "He took Yalyarrambu with him to Makassar where she died and was buried," says Matjuwi, Datjing’s father.

Matjuwi, 74, chose to stay home and did not join the visit because of failing health. Age has also robbed him of eyesight. But the old man has a strong memory of members of his family in Makassar. "How is Mansjur Muhayang? I miss him," he said inquiring about his stepbrother in Makassar. The question was translated by one of his grandchildren. Unlike his son, Matjuwi doesn’t speak English.

Accompanied by Australian historian Peter Spillet, Matjuwi went to Makassar in 1987 to retrace the journey taken by the Macassan sailors to Arnhem Land centuries ago. In Makassar, Matjuwi rebuilt ties with the family of his ancestors in Sulawesi, paying homage to the grave of Husein Daeng Rangka, who in his aborigine tongue was called Yotjing (sometimes spelled "Ocing").
Mansjur Muhayang is a great grandchild of Yotjing. "Mansjur joined the voyage to Galiwinku on board a padewakang called Hati Marege," says Peter Spillet. Spillet described the reunion between Mansjur and Matjuwi as an emotional one with the two brothers crying in each other’s arms.

Some of Matjuwi’s children later in the late 1900s also went to see uncle Mansjur Muhayang in Makassar. At that time, Andrish Saint-Clare, an Australian choreographer, expressed an interest in producing a performance reliving the voyages of the Macassan sailors to Arnhem Land.
Before going to Makassar, Matjuwi knew of his roots in Sulawesi only through stories recited by Nona, a name by which Husein addressed Gunanong. "Nona is a Makassarese name given by Yotjing to Gunanong," Datjing explained. Datjing itself is a corruption of Daeng Gassing, a Makassarese name which means a big daeng. Daeng is a name by which a male person is called in Makassar.

It was Spillet and Michael Cook, lecturer at Batchelor College in Darwin, who brought the idea of taking Matjuwi to Makassar. "Without such a visit, little of the puzzle would have been solved," writes Michael Cooke in his report. In his book A Voyage to Marege, McKnight writes that Gunanong was born and died in Makassar and never returned to Galiwinku. On the contrary, Matjuwi says his grandmother never went to Makassar. She was born and died in Galiwinku when Matjuwi was about 10 years old.

Datjing said he has a good record of the family tree. His father never ceased to recount stories about his roots in Makassar in songs and paintings. Matjuwi is a gifted painter. His works have been displayed in exhibitions in many countries, including America, Canada, and Japan.
One of his most famous paintings is on display at the Museum Art and Gallery Northern Territory in Darwin. It’s a painting about the abduction of an aunt by Macassan sailors. "My aunt was abducted to Makassar and never returned. They are all members of the family," Matjuwi writes in the synopsis of the painting.

Matjuwi’s painting talent is inherited by his children. Only the Burarrwanga clan seems to possess such talent on Elcho Island. Their paintings, done on all kinds of media, from tree trunk, bark to canvas, are on regular display at the Galiwinku Art Center. Buyers come from all over Australia.

The Matjuwi family lives a relatively comfortable life in a well-furnished house complete with electronic goods and home appliances: television, video player, refrigerators, gas stove. No sofas, however, are seen in the house because by tradition aborigines generally sit on the floor.
On return from their visit to the grave in Gulumari, Datjing and members of his family later in the afternoon joined Matjuwi for the initiation of one of the boys into manhood in a ceremony held under the jamblang trees at the back of the house.

Matjuwi, who has been elected chief of the Gumatj clan—consisting of the Burarrwanga and Yunupinju families—sat on an iron bed with an old mattress. Bare-chested and with a bottle of Sprite in his hand he began singing. Accompanied by yidoki, an aborigine wind instrument, and the beats of two pieces of wood called bilmark. Members of the clan, coming from all parts of Arnhem Land, then joined Matjuwi singing and dancing. "The songs tell of the myths of our ancestors, including those from Makassar," Datjing told Tempo in whispers.

As the beats from the bilmark intensified and the singing reached a crescendo, a sense of sacredness and mysticism filled the air. Red paints were rubbed all over the boy’s chest and back as the women danced around. Suddenly one of the women seized the hands of this reporter and shouted: "Come join the dance. You are part of the family. Indonesians are the family."

Endah WS (Galiwinkku, Arnhemland Austalia)