The Last Whalers: The Life of an Endangered Tribe in a Land Left Behind

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stars. As an Indonesian, I am glad this book is written. There are not many books out there about Indonesia's marine communities and culture, let alone the Lamalerans in Lembata Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province. First of all, I like that the narrative is using the POVs of Lamalerans. They could be very, very detailed, from constructing the tenas (the whaling boats) to household duties. I enjoy being immersed like that. There are many types of POVs: Jon the aspiring lamafa (main harpooner), Ika his sister (I love her parts about the traditional market and bartering practice), Ignatius the old harpooner, Frans the shaman & shipwright, Bena the Katy Perry fan girl, and many more. As someone who grew up in the concrete jungle of Jakarta and part of one ethnic minority group, I feel like there are still so many facets and types of lives in my own country that are completely different from mine and considering the fact that we have more than 300 ethnic groups and 700++ languages, my own life experience is basically nothing.

The Last Whalers is marvelous because readers come to know these people intimately. A young man dreams of becoming a harpooner, the most honored position in their society, yet also dreams of life in the city. A young woman receives an education but committed to care for her elders must return to the village. The elders must preserve the old ways and knowledge while accepting that change is inevitable. To leave the village is to also leave the unity of one family, one heart, one action, one goal. It is hard to walk away from the strength of community to live in isolation with only yourself to depend upon.Me topé con este libro por casualidad en la biblioteca y me llamó la atención, así que decidí leerlo. Los últimos balleneros es una crónica de investigación periodística, aunque narrada como cualquier novela de ficción, en el que el autor nos descubre la vida de los lamarelanos, una tribu de la costa de Indonesia que se resiste a la globalización y al capitalismo. En su crónica, nos da a conocer a algunas de las personas que viven en esta tribu y, a través de sus experiencias, conocemos sus costumbres, su religión, su propio idioma, cultura y su modo de vida. Viven sin luz, sin agua, y sin apenas coches, motos, televisiones, móviles etc. Y su único modo de sustento es el trueque, sobre todo la pesca. Y la caza de ballenas.

The author describes their culture and life through some individual members of the tribe who we get to know, and through them the reader sees the stresses of balancing the ancestral ways with the impact of their collision with the modern world and their efforts to adjust to this new world.Like a first-rate novel, too, “The Last Whalers” has an abiding but unforced theme. It’s about the flood of modernity, in the form of outboard motors and cellphones and televised soap operas, as seen from the perspective of a curious but wary society that fears losing itself in the deluge.