ABSTRACT
In June 1992, Jennie and I passed through the Transmigration site of Samal Baru on Seram’s north central coast on our way to the village of Siahari, the northernmost Maneo settlement. We remained in Siahari for about two weeks before moving into the mountains. For reasons we could not immediately fathom, the place seemed odd. It contained ten houses, all but one of which seemed occupied at the time, and I counted some 30 residents. Only later, on subsequent visits, did we realize that the settlement is generally empty except on Saturdays and Sundays; the only house consistently occupied lay some 100 meters outside the village. People stayed when we were there because they were curious to see what we would do. When we departed for the mountains, much to their relief, I am sure, they left too, most of them returning to the Transmigration site we had recently passed through.
