His name is Mr. Quraisy, a pande lopi (‘boatman’) as well as sando lopi (‘boat shaman’). What distinguishes the boat here in Mandar from the others is the treatment. A boat is not just an inanimate object, it also has a soul.
From the beginning of the construction until it becomes the boat, there are rituals containing ussul (symbolization in the form of objects or customary practices to get good).
The boat is likened to a human body. The ivory or tajoq is like a rib, and kalandaqdaq is like a breast bone. The boat also has a posiq or belly button. When giving posiq, there is a ritual (called mapposiq), which is soul/spirit giving. The navel or posiq is like a source of life, just as the navel that is connected to the fetal placenta becomes an important organ for fetal growth. As the relation of mother and child.
For some boats/ships that have keel such as ba’gae, there is also a ritual, which includes “sperm” (in the form of cotton filled with moss from a well, a little rice, sotil wood chips, and gold: including ussul) is put when connecting the keel, like the moment of fertilization. The birth of a boat is like the birth of a baby.
Mr. Quraisy said, they always do rituals, because the sea is not our power, there are many dangers, many supernatural, so [we must] ask for safety from the Above, ask for the good.
Mr. Quraisy also revealed another secret, while being portrayed (the picture was on another paper, that I imitated, I drew it again). Boat shape as written by Allah (Arabic): “Alif” (steering wheel) “Lam” (screen) “Ha” (head / front side of the ship). That is, believe the establishment of a boat in the power of God. This is ancestral knowledge. “This is what my parents kept secret,” he explained. He said this is the foundation key to build a boat.
CEMETI 