The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life

by Doug Bock Clark

The epic story of the world's last subsistence whalers At a time when global change has eradicated thousands of unique cultures, The Last Whalers tells the stunning inside story of the Lamalerans, an ancient tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who live on a volcanic island so remote it is known by other Indonesians as The Land Left Behind. They have survived for centuries by taking whales with bamboo harpoons, but now are being pushed toward collapse by the encroachment of the modern world. Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark, who lived with the Lamalerans across three years, weaves together their stories with novelistic flair to usher us inside this hidden drama. Jon, an orphaned apprentice whaler, strives to earn his harpoon and feed his ailing grandparents. Ika, Jon's indomitable younger sister, struggles to forge a modern life in a tradition-bound culture and realize a star-crossed love. Ignatius, a legendary harpooner entering retirement, labors to hand down the Ways of the Ancestors to his son, Ben, who would rather become a DJ in the distant tourist mecca of Bali. With brilliant, breathtaking prose and empathetic, fast-paced storytelling, Clark details how the fragile dreams of one of the world's dwindling indigenous peoples are colliding with the irresistible upheavals of our rapidly transforming world, and delivers to us a group of families we will never forget.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Anthropology, Nature, Travel, Audiobook, Asia

Audio CD

First published January 8, 2019

Reviews

[Woman Reading (is away exploring) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ☆

Baleo! Baleo! -- the hunt is on!

Something calls to men in the "David and Goliath" battle between them and the leviathans of the deep. Otherwise, novels like Moby-Dick or, the Whale or The Old Man and the Sea wouldn't be so popular. But in The Last Whalers, Clark described the Lamalerans, a very real indigenous tribe of about 1,500 people living in eastern Indonesia, as they engaged in their subsistence hunting of sperm whales.

Clark immersed himself with the Lamalerans to the point of attaining language fluency. Respectful and empathetic, the author thankfully didn't romanticize the tribe's lifestyle (because voluntarily foregoing indoor plumbing is committing to strenuous labor; no thank you!). While replete with highly evocative prose, this account struck a balance describing the context of indigenous peoples and their typical fates as they encounter the modernity of the 21st century. And it will be the big question of this tribe's future that will linger after the book is read.

This was not, however, a dry academic ethnography. Clark personalized his narrative by following individuals young (the aspiring harpooner Jon and his sister Ika) and old (Sipri, the Head of the Wujon clan and thus a Lord of the Land with shamanic responsibilities). The Lamalerans are Christians who still practice some of their animist rituals. Ige Gerek, the Calling of the Whales ceremony, is the most significant tradition and is performed by the Lords of the Land at the start of the four-months hunting season.

The bong, bong, bong of the metal instrument echoed in the mountain alley, intimidating the normally raucous jungle birds into silence, and one of the young Wujons chanted without stop a sorcerous incantation, entreating the spirits onward. Sipri was careful never to look back, but he heard the Ancestors chattering behind him, as sibilant as a shushing breeze. Normally, Labalekang was busy with the kefela men working their gardens, but everyone knew the spirits were out that day, and the footpaths were empty. The jungle steamed. Butterflies flitted across their path like windblown scraps of rainbows.

The existential conflicts were reflected in the occupational decisions of the individual Lamalerans, in particular the younger generation. I'd have liked more older female perspectives though as the narrative felt overall to be quite male-centric. By the book's end, Clark advocated that

it is an ethical imperative to preserve traditional cultures and thereby to protect the earth's most vulnerable peoples. ... globalization has been an immensely inequitable process, with its greatest rewards flowing to the elite capable of capturing them, while vast swaths of the 370 million indigenous people worldwide have emerged worse off -- deprived of their ancestral livelihoods and support networks in exchange for the lethal poverty of urban slums or plantations.

And in the case of the Lamalerans, what could be lost is one of the most generous societies in the world. Anthropologists have observed that their altruism exceeds that of Americans or Europeans. Lamalerans for the most part eschew cash for a barter economy so they distribute wealth, ie. food, to ensure survival of the entire tribe. Bĕfãnã are gifts of whale meat, drawn from an individuals umã portion, and are the physical embodiment of the Ancestors' directive for the Lamalerans to share their good fortune with others.

Talé tou, kemui tou, onã tou, mata tou --
"One family, one heart, one action, one goal" to remind Lamalerans that the unity of the tribe is paramount.

I listened to the audiobook as well as read the hardcover. Don't miss the photos to drive home just how big the stakes are in this subsistence hunting lifestyle. The narrator did a fine job with the native vocabulary as I felt transplanted to this remote outpost in the Solor archipelago in eastern Indonesia. Whenever I picked up the audiobook, it was difficult to stop listening. Overall, The Last Whalers was a fascinating glimpse of an indigenous tribe with its future on the precipice.

This was a BOTM with the NFBC and I had the pleasure of reading it with a citizen of Indonesia. In the discussion thread, she shared YouTube links of the Lamalerans -- https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Silvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 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.

Secondly, everyone who's been my GR friends knows I love the ocean and books about ocean, right? I came to this book preparing myself to be horrified about the whaling and other hunting. But yet, it was not the case. The Lamalerans respected the whales, they even call them elders, who would have the final say of a tena's seaworthy (if a tena successfully catches its first whale with zero to very minimum damage). I was shocked reading about the Western NGOs who try to force the Lamalerans to change their way of living - even though their practice is still much more sustainable compared to others, especially industrial fishing (whose strong backers might make Lamalerans a more easy target to 'convert', regardless of their globally lawful status as aboriginal subsistence hunters). The tradition and culture described in this would change your opinion if you're completely against it.

Thirdly and probably the most important, it was almost mindboggling to think about how an indigenous culture like this could survive amongst the globalized world. It is a recurring theme in the book, ranging from using motorboats instead of tenas, driftnet instead of only harpoons, opening to a global market or just stay with subsistence fishing and bartering with nearby tribes. I feel like there would be more erosion of cultures and tradition - with both positive and negative impacts- as the area is opening up in terms of available infrastructures and many expat Lamalerans bringing modernities and whatnots. It is really hard to balance but they themselves just have to find and decide for themselves the most suitable formula, not us in Jakarta, or Kupang (provincial capital), and other parties.

Is the book without fault? Only very minor ones, e.g. the author use the word 'Bahasa' for our national language, yet it is supposed to be 'Indonesian' and that 'nekat' is not a verb but an adjective. Other than those and a few others, the book is a real treasure that all should read.

[Mark Mortensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this history of a present day Lamaleran tribe that exists on a remote Indonesian volcanic island, by harpooning whales for subsistence, to be quite fascinating. Tribal members are proud of their hunter-gatherer culture, which cannot remain isolated forever. After many centuries some fishermen transition from homemade sailboats to the power of a simple Johnson 15 HP engine. With Jakarta and Bali across the water modern conveniences of TV, cell phones, pop culture, along with Muslim religion, begin to test their Christianity and heritage. The older generation, as a testament to a simple way of life, is fading away leaving members to pass along their rich tradition both verbally and through written stories. The colorful photographs and in-depth central characters fully add to this non-fiction book.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was just far too much mundane detail than I cared to read. It is all detail, with no plot or distinctive characters. The Outside magazine article is enough for me. Moreover, I don't agree at all with the author's editorial stance on the Lamalerans and the importance of their whaling culture, and his arguments were so unpersuasive as to turn me off. It is an interesting cultural portrait still—occasionally, very interesting—and I appreciate the work that went into it; but I can't recommend this for a casual reader.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

By focusing on a couple of families in this remote Indonesian community, the author helps the reader to understand this ancient way of life and the impact that creeping modernity is having on it.

[Hollis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both endlessly fascinating and boring.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts soon.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One family, one heart, one action, one goal. Lamaleran saying

Lembata, in Southeast Asia, is home to the Lamalerans who arrived there 500 years ago. They settled on the beach under a cliff, surviving by fishing for sperm whale and Manta ray and flying fish. Those who are successful in the hunt share with aging family members and community members. They are one of the few hunter-gatherer societies left in the world. But industrialized society is crowding in on them. Their children are enticed to the cities for education and jobs. Some remain for the air conditioning and running water. Outboard motors and smaller boats are replacing the handcrafted boats propelled by oar and the young carry cell phones.

In the middle of the typhoon is life--Lamaleran song

The songs were more than music—they were prayers. from The Last Whalers

Over three years, Clark spent a year living with the Lamalerans, participating as a community member, even eating manta ray brains.

The whalers risk their lives to kill the whales by jumping off their boats and using their body weight to drive long-handled spears deep into the animals. The ropes attached to the spears can entangle a man. The whales fight back, overturning the boats. It is all quite horrendous and brutal. But without the whale meat, the people starve. The dried meat get them through the hunger months. They trade the dried meat for rice and vegetables with the people at the top of the hill who are farmers.

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.

Clark respects their traditions and way of life, noting that we should honor all cultures and be able to take the best each has to offer, learning from each other, cultural diversity perhaps essential to the survival of humanity.

The Lamalerans’ experience, then, speaks not just to the danger faced by earth’s remaining indigenous peoples but to the greater cultural extinction humanity is suffering. from The Last Whalers

Preserving the old ways and values in a changing world--it is what we all are dealing with, the universal challenge.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a non-fic about one of the last hunter-gatherers’ tribes on today’s Earth and the only one, which mainly survives of whale hunting. I read it as a part of monthly reading for December-January 2021/2022 at Non Fiction Book Club group.

The tribe of the Lamalerans (they live on the Lembata island, a remote Indonesian volcanic isle) They settled there around five centuries ago and because the land is quite poor, they cannot survive on agriculture. Therefore, they hunt the largest carnivore on Earth, the sperm whale. The book is based on studies of the author, who lived several years among the Lamalerans, and is structured around telling lives of several tribe members. A large part is about how globalization changes traditional centuries-old attitudes, how modern motors and cell phones can co-exist with belief in wizardry and keeping traditions. It should be noted, that the Lamalerans aren’t a newly discovered group, they were catholicized (while also keeping local beliefs) in the 1920s and say the names of almost all tribe members are usual for Catholics Ignatius or Jon (so they were influenced by the outside world for several generations already). However, during the last 30 years they got access to modern motors and ability to sell their catch for exports, as well as more strict rules about going to school or following other laws.

Previously, they harpoon-hunted whales on their tana (a boat with about 8-10 rowers and a harpooner), usually several at the same time, so they wound the whale and keep him by several dispersed boats, so it is unable to capsize any and run away. This made them one of the most communal cultures – only a group can hunt and deliver the whale and only whales have enough meat/fat to sustain the community in the quiet season. Seasonal work, drag-nets to catch smaller fish, including tuna, which is valued say in Japan and gives ways to improve living standards, but abandon the traditional cultures, destroys them very fast.

The book is interesting, but its way to present info as individual stories, while definitely has its merits, a little unfocused the overall picture for me.

[Paul C. Stalder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good first. From an anthropological perspective, this work is great. You are immersed in the culture from the start. You feel the handcrafted boats rock in the waves. You ache with the tension between the indigenous ways, and modern innovation. And you close this book with a rich understanding of a tiny community in the Far Pacific. Clark has totally removed himself from the narrative. There is never a, "I watched as..." or "I awoke to..." Clark is not a character in this story, which is both a positive and a negative. It is positive because there is no "white saviour, noble savage" complex to work around. It is positive because you see these people for who they are, not who Clark sees them as. Clark is telling us their stories, not his story about them. However, it is also a negative, which leads into the missing two stars in this review.
Maybe it is because of Clark's absence, or simply more noticeable because of it, but this book is wildly disjointed. It covers three years, sure, but they seem to be three random years, and the memories within are no better. There just is not an overarching narrative to this work. It is not academic enough to be an anthropological record. But it is also not pointed enough to be a memoir. It seems to straddle the fence between the two. Which, about halfway through, begins to leave the reader wondering, "What is the point?" On the whole I enjoyed this book, but the last half was slow going because I was losing interest. By that point, you have the background, you know the culture, you have witnessed a hunt. So what does Clark give you? Another hunt. Insignificant interactions. And a rich comment on how modernization is ruining their way of life. No. Wait. Clark does not go into that. And to his detriment. It is mentioned in passing, but there is not really a discussion about it. Going in, I assumed that was going to be the main focus. But it was not.
The value in this book is introducing you to this culture, this language. Could it have been done better? Sure. But so could most books. My recommendation for those of you looking to read it is to jump to the "About this Project" at the end and read that first, then read the rest of the text.

[Smiley938 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly boring. The author clearly learned a lot about whaling, but all the detail is just extraneous and not interesting. I think the society and culture has a story worth telling, but this book didn't do it justice.

[Wonjun Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Whalers is an absolutely extraordinary work. Clark’s portrayal of the Lamalerans, a hunter-gatherer tribe inhabiting a remote Indonesian island, is both fascinating and moving. He expertly shows how the Lamalerans hunt the largest carnivore in history, the sperm whale, using centuries-old technology. By having lived amongst the tribe across three years, the author is able to describe the hunts in stunning and dramatic detail, with the insight of someone intimately familiar with not only the mechanics of the process, but also the history, culture, and people of Lamalera.

The stories of the Lamalerans themselves are even more gripping--from a young orphaned whaler waiting for his big break to an aging legendary harpooner struggling to understand his son’s resistance to the traditional way of life. They bravely stand up to the forces of modernization, largely refusing modern technology that would make the hunts easier and far less dangerous, and relying on bartering and gift-giving instead of paper currency. They hold on to the ways of their ancestors, believing that their tradition--however inconvenient--contains their essence, and that by giving it up, they may lose what it means for them to live.

The Last Whalers reminds us to consider what we may be losing as we welcome the latest technology and conveniences with open arms. As modernization and globalization threaten the Lamaleran way of life, Clark richly illustrates how they navigate balancing tradition and progress in a way both exotic and familiar.

No doubt, the ways of the Lamalerans are vanishing, as are those of thousands of other indigenous people around the world. The Last Whalers details the lives and culture of a fascinating tribe while also provoking us to contemplate where we come from and what may be lost without a conscious effort. The forces of globalization, for better or worse, are unstoppable. But The Last Whalers helps us pause to celebrate the diversity and resilience of humanity that the Lamalerans exemplify. Reading it was an incredibly moving--and much needed--journey.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started the book with high hopes, and the first few chapters were very interesting. The author describes the life of a small group of whale hunters in a remote island in Indonesia. Apart from describing the high-adrenaline whale hunts and everyday life in the village, the author focuses on a couple of families in the village, all interrelated. He introduces us to a handful of people in the village, harpoonists and ship builders, a shaman, patriarchs. And, inevitably, we hear the modern world is encroaching on the village's traditions, with young men preferring to work in the cities and listen to pop music rather than to live on dried whale meat and participate in the old ceremonies.

I was mesmerized in the beginning, but by the time I was halfway through, certain questions started to come up in my skeptical mind. How did the author know so much about what these villagers were thinking? Had they really confided their inmost secret longings, some of them considered shameful, to this foreigner? Had this American journalist really spent a considerable amount of time living with these folks? How come he stayed outside of the story altogether - there was nothing about how he came to live with them, or how he communicated with them. (Disclaimer : I stopped reading the book about half-way through, so if this information was introduced later, I simply didn't get that far.). I found it odd - don't chroniclers of specific populations typically describe how they got to meet them and how much time they spent with them, and who their informants were?

All of this made it hard for me to separate out what was fact and what was inferred/recreated by the author, and this, together with the fact that at some point the stories became rather repetitive, all about the struggle of the old and new ways of living, made me lose interest at about mid-point.

[Kate Schwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quality reminder of my days as a Peace Corps Volunteer, when I lived far away in Thailand, immersing myself in another culture. Similarly, Clark lives among the Lamalarans, a small tribe on one small island in Indonesia. He is drawn to their culture's generosity, clearly shown in how they divide up the spoils of whale hunts, which they are allowed to do for subsistence purposes. (He was living on a nearby island when he saw the Lamalarans do this, then spent three years with them.)

He documents their culture, mostly through the lens of a few key characters, and describes how the Lalalarans are at a crossroads: they are at once an ancient tribe guided by "The Ancestors" and a group of individuals who are realizing that the modern world is full of fascinating things. Can they have both? History shows that it doesn't look good for their traditional ways, but...so far, so good.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book after reading an article about Otto Warmbier by the author that struck me as exceptionally well reported. The Last Whalers was beautifully written and intimately reported from page 1.

Around page 30, I wondered, do I really want to read an entire book about this? Realizing this was the regrettable sentiment of my impoverished attention span, I doubled down and am glad I did: This is as close to experiencing this way of life as I'll ever get.

When I think of books I've read about indigenous cultures, interaction with modernity/colonization tends to be the 'main event.' To its credit, this book didn't make that its central problem. Globalization was part of the story, but the drama of families and daily life took precedence. A wedding scene told from the perspective of the father of the groom who is remembering his dead wife made me cry.

[Javier Alemán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro fascinante que, lejos de caer en la exotización o en buensalvajismo, trata de ser respetuoso y honesto con una de las últimas culturas de cazadores-recolectores que sobrevive en plena globalización. Aunque es una crónica periodística, el autor, muy acertadamente, la convierte en una suerte de novelización en torno a varios de los miembros de la tribu y sus choques con la modernidad, cómo reaccionan al nuevo mundo que trata de invadirles y de qué manera hacen las paces entre lo nuevo y lo viejo. Al final se convierte en una hermosa carta de amor al modo de vida de los lamaleranos, pero sobre todo de la propia humanidad como ente diverso, y un recordatorio de que con cada manera de vivir que se pierde dejamos algo irrecuperable atrás, quizá parte de nuestra propia humanidad.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a remote island, in Indonesia, live a tribe of hunter-gatherers, called the Lamalerans. They are the last of the subsistence whalers, still hunting with wood harpoons and handmade boats.
The author spent several years, with these fascinating people. He focuses on a pair of young men and their families, as the men master the challenging art of whaling. Despite some dry passages, it is a fine adventure story, looking at a dying culture, dealing with a rapidly transforming world.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

In another life I could have been an anthropologist. I love the study of culture and humans. It is fascinating.
This book is about the Lamaleran people in Indonesia. It explores the their culture and way of life as a fishing village in a remote area of Indonesia. From whale hunting and boat building to children going to other areas to get education. How they have mashed together Catholicism and ancestral worship and how this plays out in a predominant Islamic nation. I found it all fascinating.

Warning, there is description of whale hunting so be aware.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable. Clark paints a vivid and unflinching portrait of life for a community in Indonesia that is - in ways large and small - wrestling with their hunter-gatherer past and an encroaching modern culture. Rather than romanticize the indigenous for its own sake (as many Westerners seem prone to), Clark allows the community to share their own multi-faceted views on their lives...as they were, as they are, and as they imagine them to be. A true accomplishment.

[Carla (Carla's Book Bits) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The loss of a culture is as permanent as the loss of a life, but rather than one star darkening, it is a whole constellation burning out. It is the disappearance of every soul that has constituted it. It is the end of a past and a future.

Amazing. Before reading The Last Whalers, I didn't know of the Lamalerans, how (in)famous they were & how controversial their way of living. I have so many thoughts, many of which I want to share when I've organized it all in my head much better.

It took me a bit of time to get into this. The beginning, no doubt, throws you into all the details, and there were many times I felt like maybe this would be too dense for me to enjoy. I'm so thankful that I gave this some time, because now I'd say that I'm in awe of how close I got to this culture, short of being right there myself. By the time I finished this book, I had confronted ethical dilemmas, fell in love with sights and traditions and many individuals' souls, and now I'm coming out feeling humbled. What a read. If you want to live in a world completely different than your own, this is not one to be missed.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rich and wonderfully crafted book. Clark does an excellent job of laying out the intricacies of the tribe's history, blending of local beliefs and Catholicism, personal relationships, and factors pushing individual people and larger change. There is a lot of detail, but he creates a story that allowed me to still keep track of all the players and micro and macro scales described. Certain situations were painted with such amazing detail I could see the hue of the water blending into that of the sky, the baby flying fish zipping away from the spray of the jonson boat. Clark's level of dedication to the town, it's people, and documenting their story is readily apparent across the entire story and in the note at the end. I found the book fascinating.

[Reme · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

Estar de acuerdo con el estilo de vida de este pueblo no es el punto del libro, como sí es dar a conocer una cultura distinta. Y sobre todo, el libro es una crónica que expone como la globalización y el capitalismo está absorbiendo y destruyendo a muchas comunidades con culturas, idiomas y religiones diferentes y propias, la pérdida de riqueza humana que eso supone. Y cómo existe esta que, aún adoptando formas de vida modernas, se resisten a desaparecer para ser un pueblo más dentro del sistema actual y continuar siendo ellos mismos. Y los dilemas y enfrentamientos internos y externos que eso les supone.

En fin, me ha parecido una lectura con una reflexión muy interesante y que pone sobre la mesa este problema al que se enfrenta el ser humano por vivir en el sistema que vive. Se me ha hecho un poco larga en ocasiones, pero me ha abierto la mente y me ha dado a conocer un problema del que, sinceramente, había pensado apenas nada.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really unbelievable piece of journalism here. Clark manages to deliver an intensely human depiction of the Lamalerans while also drawing connections to global trends and issues.

I love how Clark is pretty much invisible in the book. It is the Lamalerans' story, not Clark's, and he respects it as such.

This isn't a critique, but this book is little dense. It's certainly well worth the effort.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant piece of work. It was complex and empathetic, worldly and local, it made me fall in love with characters and think deeply about questions of the day. Illuminating for both those who know Indonesia well and those who don’t. Very approachable and readable

[Steve Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like whales dying but these guys are the only ones that get to do it

[Danika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a little more than halfway but couldn’t get through it. Pretty interesting culture that the author examines, but ultimately the book was waaaayyy too long for me right now.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts soon.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extraordinary, and difficult, book to read. The Lamalareans are an indigenuous society, located at the far eastern tip of Indonesia. For centuries, their way of life had not changed, and their religion, culture and society were intertwined with the Way of the Ancestors. The Way provided them with all their physical and spiritual needs. And then the modern world intruded.
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.

As subsistence whalers, their life is deeply entwined with the natural world, and the rhythms of that world. The description of the hunt, what an honor it is to be the harpooner of the whales, and the knowledge and skills needed to be successful, is compelling. The bravery of the crews, who hunt whales using traditional iron and bamboo harpoons to capture huge sperm whales, is astonishing. For someone from the Western world who is completely separated from the hunter/gatherer society its a brilliant picture of a different way of life.

The description of the killing of the whales and other marine animals, how they are harpooned, killed and rendered is difficult to read. The Lamalareans are subsistence hunters, and as such, they recognize the value and worth of the animals they are killing, and have a respect for them that is an integral part of their culture. Some of the intrusions from the modern world the Lamalareans are dealing with is overharvesting of species by commercial fishermen, and the desire of organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy to reduce or eliminate the whale hunt. I certainly don't like to see marine animals killed, but, stopping the hunt would almost certainly end the Lamalarean way of life. As I say, this was a tough book to read, but highly recommended.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

For three years journalist Doug Bock Clark lived on a remote Indonesian island with the Lamalerans, a tribe of some 1,500 who, as the world's last subsistence whale hunters, harvest their food (sperm whales when they're lucky but also manta rays, porpoises, and whale sharks) by leaping from their handcrafted oar-powered boats (called tena) and plunging a harpoon into their prey. So they're basically fighting whales in the water. This is dangerous! For human and whale. Broken bones abound, and deaths, though the only person we come to know in these 300+ pages who dies is killed by a massive devil ray; the creature wraps its wings around its attacker and dives to drown him. The Lamalerans are true hunter-gatherers: all food killed is shared, there's no money exchanged (even trade with other tribes, specifically an agriculture-based culture who live up the mountain, is done via barter; they give whale jerky, they get grains and veggies), and family-clans (not class) are the basic organizing principle. But also, of course, it IS the mid-2010s, and the modern world, in all of its capitalistic glory, has been encroaching for some time. This dynamic provides the central macro-tension of the book, but it's the story of individuals--we follow a couple of families very closely--that really drives the narrative, as well as serving to make larger points about society, humanity, determination, belief, values, traditions, etc. By the way, these people are not in any way "exotic", they just do and believe slightly different things than, probably, you. Clark does a great job with all of this, resisting the urge to romanticize or patronize, and the tales of the hunt (there are probably a half dozen) are undeniably exhilarating, even as they end with a churning sea red with blood and thick with viscera.

[prz.vanesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro totalmente diferente, con el que aprender mucho y que trata la desaparición de otras culturas y los conocimientos sobre los lamaleranos desde el respeto.
Por ponerle un pero es que utiliza vocabulario demasiado técnico a veces y hay que recurrir al diccionario y al glosario con frecuencia.

Lo volvería a comprar