Hat

Unknown artist

A round hat made of woven cotton. The yellow hat has three triangular points standing up on the top.This is the headgear of a Kapala Saniri, the head of the saniri, a local council. The adat costumes worn by the members of the council were a men's coat with long slips and yellow brass buttons, a vest and trousers. The clothing was usually cotton, like this one, but silk garments were worn for holidays. \Each group dressed in a particular color. The saniri members of Eti wore red, those of Sapalewa yellow and those of Tala blue. At the end of the 19th century green was also worn and the colours were no longer fixed for a certain group. (Van der Crab already described in his book published in 1864, that the Saniri of Tala wore red). Martin saw that the Kapala Saniri from Sapalewa wore green, and he had not seen yellow. Probably the colour of these trousers used to be green and it could have been the clothing of the Saniri of Sapalewa. On the three-pointed caps the saniri members wore silver plates with their function in Gothic letters. According to the Java messenger of January 18, 1896 the governor general Pahud came to Seram and the newspaper described the costumes of the Kepala Saniri. The place of the silver plates was not on the hat, but on the chest. A Kapala Saniri had a staff of 1.75 m. with a trident on the end, on which an oval plate with the Dutch coat of arms was attached. This trident also referred to the three rivers. \The function of a Kepala Saniri was to govern the district, preside over the council, judge, adat-head, tax collector, and they jointly presided over the Great Land Council of Western Seram. \Next to him stood three followers and together they formed the Saniri. They were the link between the Alfuru and the Dutch government. The Alfuru people chose the Kapala Saniri and the Government appointed them. Valentine did not mention the Kapala Saniri, so it may have been created during the 18th or 19th century. \Pata-siwa Two major groups existed on Seram: the Pata-lima in the east and the Pata-siwa in the west. The Pata-siwa was divided into the Pata-siwa-hitam and the Pata-siwa-putih. \The former are members of the Kakean (Kakihan) society. (According to Time, 15 October 1899, this was an alliance against the Company) They wore black clothes and had dark tattoos. In general, the cutting of heads was very common on Seram in the nineteenth century, but the Pata-siwa-hitam were especially feared. The Alfuru lived mainly in the mountains. The Pata-siwa-hitam could be divided into three groups, those of Sapalewa, Eti and Tala. Under the old administration of the Pata-siwa there were three Kapala Saniri with messengers and three Rajas (those of Sapalewa, Eti and Tala,). For leading the battle there was the Kapitan Makorissi (Makoeresi), but that also fell into disuse.These Kapala Saniri are closely associated with the Kakihan (Kakean) alliance, for they were also heads of the Kakihan alliance. For the hiring of the so-called newcomers, the rushing of heads was necessary. Indirectly, the Gouvernment agreed to this, while it also wanted to curb the killing.The saniri became a source of contention. After the murder of the Siwalete (a special messenger) of Tala the Dutch government banned the saniri. The Kapala Saniri and their messengers continued to exist. \Dutch administrative officials were called postholders (holding a post) on Seram, as well as on other posts in the Moluccas (and Timor PW)._____________________________Christiaan de Jong, F.J.P. Sachse, K. Martin