Living on the Floating Houses for Sustainable Livelihoods at Lake Tempe,South Sulawesi

Abstract

Living both inland and in floating houses are two aspects or life for the ethnic Buginese who dwell on the coast of Lake Tempe in South Sulawesi. Their primary occupations include fishing and farming, which resulted in the community’s decision to build their traditional houses in the form of stilted houses inland and floating houses over water. The unique characteristics of Lake Tempe which has both flood tide and ebb tide every year, enable them to live in floating houses and work as fishermen during the flood tide and live inland, working as farmers during the ebb tide. The aim of this study was to determine how the ethnic Buginese use both their stilted houses and the floating houses as a means of adaptation in order to sustain their livelihoods. The study employed qualitative methods through the Ethno-Architecture approach, which was then analyzed using the Spradley Model. The study found that the upper spaces in the houses over the lake that are used for fishing serve an economic function to the fisherman in helping to improve their livelihoods. In addition to being a comfortable dwelling, the floating house is also used to store and process the fresh fish into dried fish. The use of the upper space is not only regulated by the local government’s regulations, but also by customary law in order to maintain the harmony and sustainability of the relationship between humans and their environment. When the lake water recedes during dry season, the community settles inland and farms there around the lake, planting such crops as corns, beans and vegetables. Thus, living in the stilted houses inland and floating houses over the lake forms the community’s process of adapting to the environmental condition present on the coast of Lake Tempe and a means by which to improve livelihoods.