An institutional analysis of sasi laut in Maluku, Indonesia

Figure 17.1. Are these young
people going to continue sasi

17.5.4 Leadership

In some cases, LMD members appointed as section heads lack the appropriate knowledge
and skills to carry out their tasks. In other cases, village officials appeared poorly informed
about village issues and the activities and programs of village organizations. In such cases,
government decision-making may rest almost exclusively with the village head. Thus, the
modern village head may hold a very powerful and authoritarian position. As such, he is a
key decision-maker in the sasi institution.

Before 1979, the position of village leader was hereditary through the royal raja line.
Nowadays, the village head is elected by the people and, in theory, the elections are open to
anyone. Yet Nolloth is a fine example of a situation where the village head was selected because
he is the raja. He was inaugurated by both the village government and the adat leaders, and
thus assumed the sacred function of kepala adat. This allows him to lead the formal village
government as well as also be fully and legitimately involved in traditional ceremonies.

Our results support those of Riedel (1886) and Volker (1921) who maintained that compliance
to sasi rules depended largely on strong and tactful leadership. The village head must be
honest and respected or sasi is undermined. This was illustrated by stories from Hulaliu and
Nolloth where former leaders confiscated sasi profits and so caused sasi to weaken. Local
legitimacy of the village head is extremely important and still stems largely from his being
part of the raja family. Thus in some villages, formally elected leaders are not legitimate because
they are not from the right family. Yet, even in cases where the village head is from the right
family, legitimacy can be undermined if people think a different member of the raja line would
be more competent or more attuned to the villagers’ aspirations. In Hulaliu, the initiative of
the village head to revive sasi is hampered by a lack of legitimacy apparent from the level of
local political opposition. In Haruku, the formally elected leader is said to be of the raja line,
while others doubt his descent. He is not a long-term village resident and is said to represent

Institutional Resilience : Loss and Revival of Sasi 251

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