The cover image is from Kompas’s article: Alasan Kisah Cinta Sedarah “I La Galigo” adalah Kisah Klasik GSA

When the contemporary world talks about the "Blue Pacific" as a geopolitical concept, often the narrative that emerges is great power rivalry, maritime security strategies, and extractive economic interests. However, long before this modern terminology appeared, the maritime society of the archipelago already had a cosmology and philosophy that placed the sea as a space of life, spirituality, and solidarity. The epic La Galigo, a monumental literary work from the land of Bugis-Makassar, offers a highly relevant alternative lens for understanding the relationship between the archipelago and the Pacific in the 21st century.

La Galigo is not just a literary work, it is a cultural encyclopedia that records the cosmology, value systems and social practices of maritime societies. With more than 300,000 lines, this epic is one of the longest literary works in the world, surpassing the Mahabharata or Iliad. UNESCO has even recognized La Galigo as a "Memory of the World" in 2011, recognizing the importance of this cultural heritage to human civilization. It contains a deep understanding of man's relationship with the ocean that goes beyond the logic of modern exploitation. In the context of Blue Pacific, a concept that describes the Pacific Ocean as a space of identity, sovereignty, and sustainability for Pacific island nations. La Galigo's values offer a philosophical foundation for building more meaningful solidarity.

The relationship between the archipelago and the Pacific is not a new construction. The Austronesian shipping network has connected the Indonesian archipelago with Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia since thousands of years ago. Linguistic, genetic, and archaeological evidence suggests that the great migration of Austronesian peoples from Taiwan through the archipelago to the tip of the Pacific created a vast maritime cultural continuum. Recent research confirms that Austronesian expansion began about 4,000 years ago from Taiwan, spread to the Philippines and Indonesia, then continued to the Pacific islands until it reached Polynesia, Micronesia, and even Madagascar The Bugis-Makassar sailors themselves are famous as the accomplished navigators who explored all the way to Northern Australia, establishing trade relationships with Aboriginal peoples that spanned centuries.

La Galigo records this tradition of sailing through figures such as Sawerigading, the hero who sailed the seas in spiritual and political quests. In this epic, the dominant main theme is that the voyage and the odyssey of sea travel are not just physical expeditions, but also the search for meaning, diplomacy, and alliance building. The Bugis people are identified with two main characteristics, namely wanderers and seafarers, which are their cultural identity to this day. In this narrative, the sea is not a barrier that separates, but rather a highway that connects. This concept resonates strongly with the vision of Blue Pacific put forward by contemporary Pacific leaders that the Pacific Ocean is a common identity that unites, not a dividing geographical division.

This interconnectedness is important to understand in today's geopolitical context, where the Pacific region is often seen solely as an arena for great power competition. La Galigo's perspective reminds us that long before European colonialism and the US-China rivalry, the region already had an organic connectivity network built on the basis of cultural exchange, trade and maritime knowledge.

One of La Galigo's most important contributions was his cosmology, which saw the universe in three layers, namely the upper world (botinglangi), the middle world (ale kawa), and the lower world (buriliung). The sea in this cosmology is not just a physical space, but a spiritual dimension that connects the three worlds. The sea is the source of life, the place of origin, as well as the space for transformation.

This cosmological understanding has profound ethical implications. The sea must be treated with respect and reciprocity which means taking from the sea also means giving back, maintaining balance, and respecting the life that is in it. The concept of "ade" (cosmic balance or justice) in Bugis philosophy emphasizes that natural and social harmony can only be achieved when all the elements are in proper proportion.

In the context of the Blue Pacific, this concept offers a critique of neoliberal "blue economy" approaches that tend to see the ocean as a resource that can be extracted without limits. Pacific nations facing the existential threat of climate change, illegal fishing, and the exploitation of marine resources by multinational corporations need an alternative paradigm. La Galigo offers a model of a relationship with the sea that is sustainable, spiritual, and communal (values that also live in indigenous Pacific traditions).

A central value in the Bugis-Makassar culture is "siri", which is often translated as pride, shame, or honor. But "siri" is more than just an individual concept, it is a social principle that governs relationships between individuals, communities, and even kingdoms. This concept of "siri" does not stand alone, but is always paired with "pacce", which means empathy and social solidarity. Research shows that "siri" reflects self-esteem and dignity, while pacce encourages concern for the suffering of others and strong solidarity in society. These two values are like two sides of the currency that are inseparable in shaping the identity and social behavior of the Bugis-Makassar community. "Siri" demands that every entity should be treated with respect and dignity, and that violations of this honor should be responded to.

In traditional Bugis-Makassar diplomacy, the "siri" creates a horizontal system of solidarity in which small kingdoms form alliances to face common threats, without having to lose their respective sovereignty. This is very similar to the "Pacific Way" principle developed by Pacific nations that emphasizes a culture-based consensus approach, rather than domination or hegemony.

For Pacific nations that are often treated as weak and marginalized small island states in global politics, the concept of the series offers the moral legitimacy to demand equal treatment. When Vanuatu's leaders are taking the issue of climate crime (ecocide) to the International Court of Justice, or when Tuvalu is campaigning for the right to life of a country that has been submerged by sea level rise, they are practicing siri (maintaining their self-esteem and refusing to be treated as passive victims).

Indonesia, as the largest maritime country in the world with the cultural heritage of La Galigo, has a moral responsibility to support this solidarity. Not as a superior patron, but as fellow maritime communities who share shared common values and challenges. Solidarity based on series' is horizontal solidarity, in which strength is not measured by economic or military measures, but by moral integrity and commitment to justice.

The Blue Pacific concept initiated by the Pacific Islands Forum in 2017 is an attempt by Pacific nations to reclaim their agency in defining the identity and future of the region. At the 48^th meeting in Samoa in 2017, Pacific leaders adopted the "Blue Pacific" identity to encourage collective action in support of their vision under the Framework for Pacific Regionalism. In 2022, leaders endorsed the "2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent" as the main blueprint to advance Pacific regionalism over the next three decades. The strategy emphasizes that "the Blue Pacific Continent is our home, our oceans, our land, and our shared heritage," with a strong commitment to the health and well-being of Pacific peoples, human rights, and justice for all. It is a decolonial project that rejects narratives imposed by external forces, both from the colonial era and contemporary geopolitics.

La Galigo, as a pre-colonial text that records indigenous cosmology and values, offers epistemic resources for this decolonial project. When Pacific nations seek to define the "Pacific Way" or "Oceania" as an autonomous identity, they can learn from how La Galigo records and preserves local knowledge against the hegemony of external cultures. Furthermore, La Galigo shows that the maritime civilization of the Pacific Archipelago was never inferior to continental or Western civilization. They have a sustainable political, economic, and spiritual system. This recognition is important to build collective confidence for the Global South in the face of the epistemic dominance of the North.

In the midst of the climate crisis, geopolitical rivalries, and global injustice, the archipelago-Pacific solidarity based on La Galigo's values offers an alternative path. It is not a solidarity built on short-term strategic interests, but on a deep understanding that the sea is a shared life, and the fate of maritime communities is intertwined. La Galigo teaches that true strength does not come from dominance, but from the ability to maintain balance, respect others, and maintain collective self-esteem. Blue Pacific, if understood through this lens, is not just a geopolitical strategy but a moral vision for a more just world order in which the sea is once again the link of civilization, not the arena for power struggle.