Our guest speaker today was John Hinnant who was (until he recently retired) an anthropologist at Michigan State University.  He is now re-locating to Bali.

The story starts in 1990 when two medical professors from Udayana University, Drs. Arhya and Winata,  were conducting a government survey of the distribution of goitre and dwarfism in North Bali.  When they got to the village of Bengkala, they found a high incidence (2.2%. or 47 people) of congenital recessive deafness, which interested them.  (Bengkala is about 12 Km east of Singaraja, about 3.5 Km south of the north coast road, and is not far from the road to Kintamani.)

This discovery led to a collaboration of academics in Bali with academics from Michigan State University.  Initially, there were only geneticists and then John was invited to join the research.

This work started in 1992 and continued for 5 years.  Permissions were needed from various levels of government and from LIPI (the Indonesian Science Research Institute).  Also the researchers needed consent from all the volunteers who would participate. Since the deaf/mute people do not write, they signed with an "X" and a finger print, as did some of the hearing.

The genetic study needed detailed family trees (collected by John), which involved interviews and the checking of available records.  For a recessive trait to build to high levels, the community must be “closed,” with marriages occurring only within the group. Once a recesssive genetic mutation occurs, generations must pass before it is widespread enough for people carrying the trait to intermarry and produce children displaying  the trait (in this case deafness).

The   deaf people of the village are farmers, but also play specific village roles such as  managing burials in the cemetery and maintaining the piped-in water supply  system.  The deaf people have their own dance troop,  which has become well known in north Bali, and has appeared on Indonesian television.

In Bengkala a unique sign language has developed, which is widely known in the hearing community as well.  It depends not only on hand movements but also on facial expressions.  The sign language is sophisticated, with a complex grammar and the ability to convey abstract concepts.

Even though the research project concluded in 1998, John has remained in social contact with the deaf community, some of whose members visit John's house in Lovina.  There are some sad stories (motorbike accidents) and  good stories (John's research assistant training in Holland as a teacher of the deaf).  The deaf community of Bengkala continues to thrive.

There were a couple of questions but then time ran out.