Indonesia's tree of 1,000 uses - From their first meal to their coffin: How the Rotinese in southern Indonesia make the most of this "tree of life"
When Alexander Haninuna was born, his first meal was the juice from a lontar palm in his backyard. When he dies, he will be buried in a coffin made from the wood of the same tree.
And all through his life he will be indebted to this "tree of life" for everday products such as mats, containers for watering the garden, trays for winnowing rice, fans, umbrellas, belts, knife-sheaths, thatch, cigarette papers and even bags for transporting chickens to market.
Haninuna, now 49, lives on Roti, the southernmost island of the Indonesian archipelago and home to thousands of lontar palms, one of the planet's most efficient sugar-producing trees.
Roti has suffered from surface erosion for many years, and in a great example of ecological efficiency the Rotinese have learnt to utilize the tens of thousands of lontar palms that have colonized their soil-depleted environment.
The lontar palm -- or the "tree of life" -- is crucial for the people of Roti island in southern Indonesia, who use it for food, shelter and a huge array of other everyday products.
Climbing trees not just for kids
Climbing and tapping the lontar is strictly a male activity and boys begin by practicing on shorter palms -- the trees can eventually grow to 30 meters -- at an early age.
From the age of 15 if they climb and work hard, they can win the respect of their family and community, and in particular the adoration of the opposite sex.
The treasured juice from the palm is called tuak manis, and forms a staple for the Rotinese, especially when other foods are unavailable. Two or three trees are enough to support a family -- each tree can yield 200-400 liters of juice each year for up to 35 years.
Like most Rotinese men, Haninuna is an expert climber and has been scampering up and down these trees since he was a teenager.
Because of the lontar, Roti and nearby Savu are the only islands in eastern Nusa Tenggara that do not experience lapar biasa -- the annual food shortage.
1,000 uses and counting
The leaves of the lontar palm are also used to make ceremonial hats, as Alexander Haninuna wears here.
Tuak manis is the first nutrition that a newborn Rotinese baby receives, even before its mother’s milk. And when a Rotinese dies, he or she will be buried in a coffin made from the hollowed-out trunk of the palm.
Tuak manis can also be cooked to produce gula lempeng -- delicious biscuits of set brown sugar.
The leaves are never wasted. Houses are re-roofed every four to five years, and the old thatch is burnt in the garden to fertilize it.
The lontar is also used to make hats called tilangga for different occasions, ranging from everyday use to celebrations.
The lontar leaf also provides the Rotinese with a unique musical instrument called the sasando; the leaf is fashioned into a hemispherical sounding board into which a copper-stringed bamboo tube is inserted, producing a harp-like sound when plucked.
When the "tree of life" finally becomes old and unproductive, the trunk, which is stronger than coconut, can be shaped into house beams, posts and rafters or hollowed out for coffins or pig-feeding troughs. ( cnngo.com )
When Alexander Haninuna was born, his first meal was the juice from a lontar palm in his backyard. When he dies, he will be buried in a coffin made from the wood of the same tree.
And all through his life he will be indebted to this "tree of life" for everday products such as mats, containers for watering the garden, trays for winnowing rice, fans, umbrellas, belts, knife-sheaths, thatch, cigarette papers and even bags for transporting chickens to market.
Haninuna, now 49, lives on Roti, the southernmost island of the Indonesian archipelago and home to thousands of lontar palms, one of the planet's most efficient sugar-producing trees.
Roti has suffered from surface erosion for many years, and in a great example of ecological efficiency the Rotinese have learnt to utilize the tens of thousands of lontar palms that have colonized their soil-depleted environment.
The lontar palm -- or the "tree of life" -- is crucial for the people of Roti island in southern Indonesia, who use it for food, shelter and a huge array of other everyday products.
- Some of the tools used to collect the lontar palm juice -- tuak manis -- all made from parts of the palm itself
- Alexander Haninuna, 49, climbs his first lontar palm of the day. So far in his life, he has climbed the three trees in his backyard thousands of times.
- Haninuna collects the lontar juice from baskets hung in the palm’s crown
- A lontar palm is one of the best sugar-producing trees on earth and each tree can provide 200-400 liters of juice a year for up to 35 years.
- The freshly tapped lontar juice can be cooked to form a thick brown syrup called gula air, which cools into delicious sweet biscuits.
- The broad lontar leaf is woven into mats, betel nut boxes, containers for watering the garden, trays for winnowing rice, fans, umbrellas, belts, knife-sheaths, thatch, cigarette papers and even bags for transporting chickens to market
Climbing and tapping the lontar is strictly a male activity and boys begin by practicing on shorter palms -- the trees can eventually grow to 30 meters -- at an early age.
From the age of 15 if they climb and work hard, they can win the respect of their family and community, and in particular the adoration of the opposite sex.
The treasured juice from the palm is called tuak manis, and forms a staple for the Rotinese, especially when other foods are unavailable. Two or three trees are enough to support a family -- each tree can yield 200-400 liters of juice each year for up to 35 years.
Like most Rotinese men, Haninuna is an expert climber and has been scampering up and down these trees since he was a teenager.
Because of the lontar, Roti and nearby Savu are the only islands in eastern Nusa Tenggara that do not experience lapar biasa -- the annual food shortage.
1,000 uses and counting
The leaves of the lontar palm are also used to make ceremonial hats, as Alexander Haninuna wears here.
Tuak manis is the first nutrition that a newborn Rotinese baby receives, even before its mother’s milk. And when a Rotinese dies, he or she will be buried in a coffin made from the hollowed-out trunk of the palm.
Tuak manis can also be cooked to produce gula lempeng -- delicious biscuits of set brown sugar.
The leaves are never wasted. Houses are re-roofed every four to five years, and the old thatch is burnt in the garden to fertilize it.
The lontar is also used to make hats called tilangga for different occasions, ranging from everyday use to celebrations.
The lontar leaf also provides the Rotinese with a unique musical instrument called the sasando; the leaf is fashioned into a hemispherical sounding board into which a copper-stringed bamboo tube is inserted, producing a harp-like sound when plucked.
When the "tree of life" finally becomes old and unproductive, the trunk, which is stronger than coconut, can be shaped into house beams, posts and rafters or hollowed out for coffins or pig-feeding troughs. ( cnngo.com )
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