The sakét oelèe neuraja (in Kreemer’s spelling; variant s.o. neurajeuq; literally “illness at the onset of maturity” — ziekte bij het begin van de wasdom) is the Atjehnese concept of a critical maturation-crisis through which, according to the Atjeher, every buffalo (like all other animals and humans) must pass before it is adult. The crisis shows no specific disease-symptoms but is recognised, in buffaloes, by “the falling-out of the nest-hairs” (het uitvallen der nestharen); if the animal does not pass this crisis, all sorts of illnesses can ensue. The concept is recorded in Kreemer’s *De Karbouw* ([[1956)]] (p. 172) — citing Snouck Hurgronje’s Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] (vol. II, p. 52) and Kreemer’s *Atjeh* (vol. II, p. 624).
The concept
The sakét oelèe neuraja passage in De Karbouw (p. 172) reads:
“Volgens de Atjeher moet iedere karbouw, evenals alle andere dieren en mensen, vóórdat hij volwassen is, een soort krisis doormaken, die sakét oelèe neuraja (of s.o. neurajeuq, d.i. ‘ziekte bij het begin van de wasdom’) wordt genoemd, maar geen bepaalde ziekte-symptomen vertoont. Bij buffels heet dat kritieke moment ‘het uitvallen der nestharen.’ Doorstaat het dier die krisis niet, dan kunnen allerlei ziekten daarvan het gevolg zijn.” The structural elements are:
- Universality: every buffalo — like all other animals and humans — must pass through the crisis before adulthood.
- Name: sakét oelèe neuraja (or s.o. neurajeuq), literally “illness at the onset of maturity” (ziekte bij het begin van de wasdom).
- Symptomatology: no specific disease-symptoms; the crisis is recognised, in buffaloes, by “the falling-out of the nest-hairs” (het uitvallen der nestharen).
- Consequence of failure: if the animal does not pass this crisis, all sorts of illnesses can ensue.
Significance
The sakét oelèe neuraja is significant for the encyclopedia of Acheh history as a documented instance of the Atjehnese folk-veterinary concept of a critical maturation-crisis — a concept that frames the buffalo’s transition to adulthood as a ritual-magical passage rather than as a merely physiological one. The concept’s universality (every buffalo, like all other animals and humans, must pass through it) and its symptom-free character (recognised only by the falling-out of the nest-hairs) document a folk-veterinary taxonomy in which the buffalo’s life-cycle was integrated with a wider conceptual scheme of maturation-crisis applying to all animate beings. The concept is documented by Snouck Hurgronje in Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers ([[1893-94)|De Atjehers]] (vol. II, p. 52) and by Kreemer in *Atjeh* (vol. II, p. 624), and is re-cited in *De Karbouw* (p. 172) as one of the principal documents of the Atjehnese folk-veterinary conceptualisation of the buffalo’s life-cycle.
Sources
De Karbouw — Zijn betekenis voor de volken van de Indonesische Archipel, by J. Kreemer (‘s-Gravenhage / Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve, 1956), p. 172.
De Atjehers, by C. Snouck Hurgronje, 2 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1893-94), vol. II, p. 52. Atjèh, by J. Kreemer, vol. II (1923), p. 624.