Description
Here, I explore perceptions of macaque sacredness among Balinese transmigrants in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. In Bali, long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that occupy religious temple sites are perceived as sacred by the Balinese people and preserved by local communities. The migration and relocation of Balinese people to Sulawesi may have affected their perceptions of macaque sacredness and therefore have consequences for the local macaque species (M. ochreata) in South Sulawesi. My research goal was to understand the Balinese transmigrants' perceptions of macaque populations living near the transmigrant communities in both sacred and non-sacred contexts to contextualize the overall relationship between them. Drawing upon the theoretical and methodological framework of ethnoprimatology, which focuses on the multi-faceted interrelations between human and nonhuman primates, I employ ethnographic field methods to investigate my research questions. Data were collected through semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with members of three Balinese transmigrant communities in the Luwu Timur district of South Sulawesi. All interviews (N = 100) were conducted by me in the national language of Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia. The sample was stratified between older and younger generations to examine the potential effect of being a 1st or 2nd generation transmigrant on perceptions of macaque sacredness. The results indicate that macaques in Sulawesi are not considered sacred by the Balinese transmigrants. The majority (87%) of respondents indicated that they did not perceive the macaques in Sulawesi to be sacred, while only 13% of respondents did. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the older and younger generations regarding perceptions of macaque sacredness. The general absence of macaque sacredness in South Sulawesi is largely due to the following interrelated factors: (1) macaque behavior that is either destructive to crops or regarded as fearful of humans, creating a perceived antagonistic and competitive nature in the relationship between humans and macaques in South Sulawesi; (2) macaques living in forest areas rather than in sacred temple spaces; and (3) the lack of historical association between people and macaques in South Sulawesi.
