Abstract
This part of the world was brought under cultivation by the peoples of Timor. In Miomafo, Insana and Beboki these were the Atoni, or, as they call themselves, the Atoni Pah Meto (= people of the dry land). This name implicitly indicates the type of cultural choice made by them, as they avoid the sea and the coast. They do not know any names of fish, and do not go fishing or sailing — contacts with peoples from other islands were not established or maintained by them.
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References
Duarte Barbosa, 1921, p. 195 (1518 ed. Dames).
Loeber, 1921, IV, p. 720. The comparisons with other areas below have also been taken from him.
For weaving techniques in Indonesia in general, and the art of ikat dyeing in particular, the reader is referred to the works of Jasper and Pirngadi, 1912, Loeber, 1921, Nevermann, 1938, and Jager Gerlings, 1952.
See Ch. XII below.
E.g. Ormeling, 1955, p. 112.
Evans Pritchard, The Nuer, 1963 (1940), p. 26.
P. 58 below.
Cf. Rouffaer, 1899.
Urne — limited lineage, descent group. P. 92 below.
Communication Middelkoop. See Middelkoop, 1949, p. 89, plate no. 2.
Le Roux, 1929, pp. 30–39.
Ormeling, 1955, p. 114.
Personal communication.
Hessing, 1921, p. 238.
Hoekstra, 1948, p. 43.
In Hoekstra, 1948, p. 41.
Op. cit., p. 44.
Le Roux, 1929, p. 41.
Groetieveldt, 1880, p. 116.
Duarte Barbosa, 1921, p. 195.
Cf. also Monumento, Cartographica Vaticana, vol. I, 1944, map no. 26, and the description on p. 53. This map must have been copied from “da un Padron real iberico”, p. 54.
See p. 465 below.
Krom, 1938, p. 229.
P. 165.
P. 3, note 5, above.
Lontar palm — Borasani flabelli fer L.; Tim. tune. Coconut palm — Cocos nucífera L.; Tim. nook. Areca palm — Polyscias Forst; Tim. puah. Gebang palm — Corypha gebanga Bl.; Tim. gebang. Sago palm — Arenga pinnata; Tim. bone. Banana tree — Musa paradisiaca L.; Tim. uki. Manggo tree — Mangifera op.; Tim. upun. Tamarind tree — Tamarinda indica L.; Tim. kiu.
Tahalele, 1950, p. 496.
Pterocarpus indicus Willd., Indon. kaju merah.
The major custodian of the land (tobe naek) of Subun was the most eminent authority on ritual texts. The clerk of Insana assisted with the editing. With their assistance and that of a large number of adat experts in Insana a translation of these ritual texts was made. After my departure Dr. Middelkoop took the text in hand and retranslated it. We later discussed the mutual deviations, and during these discussions his extensive and profound knowledge of Timorese was invaluable in the interpretation of passages which were obscure because of their archaic language or as a result of poetic licence and peculiarities of dialect.
We shall call the archaic community kuan and the modern one, which is much larger, kampung.
Lit. a hair of the head or body (Middelkoop). This is a common term for a sacrificial animal, whether this be a rooster, pig or goat or a buffalo. The first sacrificial animal during a ritual which requires the killing of a number of animals is always a rooster. Hence the translation “feathered one, furred one” in Insana.
Lit. “egg”, that is, an egg used in auguring. Lines are drawn across its surface (e.g. one for the Lord of Heaven (Uis Neno), one for the ancestors (nitu), and so on). The line which turns out to be nearest the germ of the egg is then considered to have predictive significance.
Liurai-Sonba’i are also substitute words for corn and rice, without either of them appearing to refer to one of these crops in particular. According to a populair myth Liurai-Sonba’i are the origin of corn and rice. P. 271 below.
Lit. “coldness and coolness” (mainikin ma oetene); it denotes all that is good and beneficial: the health or well-being of the individual and the community as well as that of the livestock and the crops. Cf. the Nuer word koc, cool, in the supplication “may we be cool”, and the benediction “may you be cool”, which can be freely translated with “peace be with you”; as well as in the evening prayer “may their souls be very cool”. Evans-Pritchard, 1962 (1965), pp. 25, 150. “Coolness” has the same meaning in most Indonesian languages.
The Timorese word for disease, menas (= heat, as opposed to mainikin) refers to the heat of fever and disease, as well as to the heat of an excessively dry season which leads to famine. Bunuk = misfortune, taboo sign and the resulting misfortune if it is disobeyed; here it refers to the disaster which will ensue from errors in the performance of the ritual.
Mutonan = to inform; it is a euphemism for “to ask permission”. Cf. also the prayer on p. 59.
Onen = invocation; it implies information given as well as prayer and worship.
“Old and young” refers to the distance in time, “far and nigh” to social distance or the degree of relationship.
The weather has to remain dry until after burning down.
P. 430 below.
Nope = cloud; habu = mist, vapour, and here means rain or drizzle, that is, the rains of the westerly monsoon and the light drizzle of the easterly monsoon.
Mainikin and oetene: coldness and coolness; here the words denote fertility and the waxing of the crops.
Lit. “upon Thee”.
These are four synonyms for soil: afu = fine earth, dust; naidjan z=z black soil, humus, land, territory (Nai is also one of the ruler’s appellations); pah = earth as opposed to heaven (neno), but also refers to a territory and its people, and in the latter case even becomes a form of address — hex pah = you people, man, lord; nifu = lake. Cf. Indon. tanah air, earth and water, native soil, native land.
Nono = a forest creeper planted around gardens and attached to the surrounding fence; metaphorically it designates, here too, the fertility of the clan as well as that of the crops.
Hau = tree, wood; here it designates the extended and limited lineages of the clan.
That is, about this rite or prayer, for if errors have been committed — if, for instance, a line has been omitted — talking about it will result in the disaster which may possibly ensue manifesting itself sooner.
Au le’uk — au matau. Le’u may also mean sacred, inviolable. It is often used in combination with nuni, taboo, prohibited, as well as with nono, fertility. Here it occurs in parallelism with matau, which is usually combined with mahonit, e.g. au mahonit, au matauk: my potency, my progenitive power.
Lit. to shake. This must be a reference to the circumstance of a person’s being hit by a falling tree.
M one = masculine, outside.
Lit. covered, i.e. of the cooking-pot.
Cf. Radcliffe-Brown, On joking relationships, 1963 (1940). P. 113 below.
Sifo = to extinguish; nopo = split bamboo. This nopo is symbolic of all the trees which have been burnt down. It gives off an especially intense heat.
Fini = corn and rice put aside immediately after the harvest and kept for planting the next season. The rice and corn used for the mortuary feast are also called fini, as a supply of food must always be kept in reserve in case there are unexpected deaths.
I.e. Belu, Savu and Roti or part of Roti. The Atoni’s international horizons were restricted to these three peoples. To these he opposed himself, but together the four of them constituted the familiar world. Anyone outside these was a “stranger” (kase).
Oenun is the mythical place in South Belu at which Liurai-Sonba’i came ashore. Maubeis (a metathetical form of Maubesi) is a bay in South Belu — here it is not the Maubesi in Insana. Oebiok is equivalent to Waiwiku: Oe = wax (water); the b sound lies somewhere in between our b and w, and io before k is a common metathesis. Pigafetta (1522) already refers to Oebich (Le Roux, 1929, p. 31). Oebiok, Hau Timo, Dirma and Lakekon are the four quarters of this realm ruled by the Liurai and his three loro.
Etu is the word for the gardens belonging to or laid out for a head. The garden of the ordinary Atoni is called lele.
A mountain in South Belu. Kateri = prongs. A holy place of the Melu, according to the myth the original inhabitants of Belu.
The Atoni has three kinds of fence, one made of bamboo (biul), one of small tree trunks and branches (bahan) and one of stone (baki). The words used here are biul and bahan. (See photographs 18 and 19.)
In other words, while roaming through Timor, Liurai-Sonba’i established permanent, safe settlements.
In South Belu.
Istana, Skrt.; the usual word for the residence of a ruler is sonaf. In Timorese the word istana refers to a royal bivouac or temporary residence. Hence it is used in parallelism with garden hut, which is also a temporary residence.
In South Belu. Tubaki lies a good five kilometres from the bay of Maubesi. Lobus lies on the border of Anas.
There is a story about Keun according to which Sonba’i once fled there. Mone supposedly is a mountain in Oilolok.
Thirty kilometres to the west of Insana in Central Timor.
This refers to the central sacrificial place of the realm of Ambenu; cf. Beboki, pp. 243, 246 below.
Kupang and the Dutch.
In other words, garlic and onions were introduced via Kupang, possibly through the agency of the Dutch.
Babau lies thirty kilometres to the east of Kupang; Panmuti is a promontory near the Noimina River, 60 kilometres to the east of Kupang.
Mutis: the highest mountain in Central Timor. Babnain the twin of the Mutis.
In Portuguese Oikusi. Tulika is the centre of Ambenu.
Four villages near the coast of Insana, not far from Mena, the former port of Insana; cf. p. 160 below.
These lie further away from the coast. Fafinesu is the northernmost district of Insana, named after Mount Fafi-nesu.
These are the four places of origin of Maubesi, the nucleus of Insana.
That is, east and west, south and north. In Amarasi the masculine sea (tasi mone) is the “external sea”, and the feminine sea (tasi feto) the “internal” one, that is, that part of the ocean that is nearest the coast. Cf. Cunningham, 1964, p. 50. In Insana and Beboki as well as in Portuguese Timor (Forbes 1885, p. 448) this dualism refers exclusively to south and north. Both forms of categorization fit in equally well with the total world view, as exterior and south are both masculine, and interior and north feminine. Pp. 240, 414 below.
These two words are interchangeable. Kaidjulan, “rain-tree” (not mentioned by Meijer Drees, 1950) refers to corn. Ik-elo “tail-grass”, elo meaning grass and iko tail; this refers to the ear of the rice, which is not supposed to be mentioned by name. It is the finest variety of rice and is reserved for the heads.
Funan ankina ma nenba ankina, i.e. Liurai and Sonba’i. Funan = moon, neno = heaven, sometimes sun, day. Liurai and Sonba’i are also called neno ana, which may then be translated with “son of heaven”.
The word used is mon = ignorant, foolish; cf. p. 73. Here it means that they only receive; the usual principle of reciprocity, which requires that all gifts be remembered in connection with the counter-gifts which must be offered later, does not apply to them.
Lasi ma tondje or toni, the ritual words. For lasi see p. 424.
A tobe, like a kasui, is a small basket woven out of lontar leaves. A kasui is a simple, round basket, whereas a tobe should be more ornamental and is quadrangular or hexagonal in shape.
Cf. Middelkoop, 1931, p. 279. I was once a witness (in 1947) to the examination of a pig’s liver at a sacrifice at which a pig was immolated by the raja of Molo, Tobe Sonba’i.
Baki = stone. Hence more than one stone is used.
There is no mention here of the seed of Liurai-Sonba’i, for Liurai-Sonba’i are the rice and the corn themselves; their names are substitute words for the crops, the real names of which must not be mentioned in the ritual.
The manggo (upu — L. mangifera indica) is a fruit which ripens during the westerly monsoon, and the water-melon, timo, is picked during the easterly monsoon. This is a substitute expression for the early and the late rains, therefore.
Setel is a reference to rice, asak to meat, neither of which is to be mentioned by name.
Lit. tropical pea. Indon. katjang idjau.
The name for the place of origin of the clan (kanaf) always denotes a high, inaccessible place such as a cliff, which is nevertheless habitable because there is a spring on it. Furthermore, the words “rock” and “source” express the dual unity of earth and water; cf. note 44 above.
Uisfini is the plural form of usif (lord); the title of the Lord of Heaven is Uis Neno and that of the Lord of the Earth Uis Pah. The ruler and his representatives are also addressed with usif.
Kelili is an oblong basket which is used for offerings and for serving important guests; tobe is also a sacrificial basket. Nakaf = head.
Tuanfini is the plural form of tuan = lord, a form of address for all persons of high social rank. In this context it is used with reference to the major custodians of the land, who as such own the sacrificial basket, while the usif are the heads of the basket.
I.e., in this case the atupas. See also the chapter on the political structure.
Kapitan is a Portuguese title still used with reference to the major custodians of the land, who are at the same time the great fathers. See p. 232 below. Clearly the usif has no actual function here. This is a development which took place specifically in Insana, where the usif became very prominent. Cf. pp. 220 and 374 below.
“Bearded” means “covered with long moss” and refers to the cold mountain summit. It is also symbolic of the antiquity of the cliff of origin of the natal clan and hence also of the kanaf.
Van Alphen, 1933. Cf. Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 454–461, and 1949, p. 461.
Cf. p. 63, note 54, above.
Another metaphor for corn, which must not be called by its usual name.
Lit.: shade, i.e. the spot in which they lie in the shade of a clump of trees in the meadow.
Pena = corn; sain = millet (sorghum vulgare). Here it is used as a synonym for the young corn; paen sain has become the general term for this corn; sain (millet) is also found in Timor, especially in the drier areas.
Tui used verbally means “to draw a line”. When a deceased person is carried away for burial the atoni amaf holds a coin in his hand, and with it draws a line along the ground: tui lalan = he draws the path, i.e. he points out the direction in which the deceased has to be carried. Tuis also is the word for the continuous borders on Timorese cloths.
The small plate on which the distaff is spun with the hand in cotton spinning. (See photograph 12.)
Bninis, a small mangle used for seeding cotton. Sifo, a bow which is bent by means of a string and with which the cotton is beaten. (See photograph 11.)
The weaver places the niun around her back so that she can tauten the entire loom by leaning back. (See photograph 13.)
Steinmetz, 1916, p. 31.
Kruyt, 1923, p. 483. Kruyt’s report on Timor is not altogether reliable, as he was forced to employ a guide with an inadequate knowledge of the language.
Fua mnutu is a reference to rice, which is not supposed to be mentioned directly.
Pandan, Tim. ekam. Nikis, L. Cassia fistula.
Ficus fulva Reinr.; Tim. hau saib.
Poni in Miomafo and Oilolok (in Insana); in the remainder of Insana and in Beboki this basket is called oko, and in Manamas and Ambenu (Port. Oikusi) bo’o.
Personal communication.
Steinmetz, 1916, pp. 30, 31.
In bundles of four in Molo. Communication Middelkoop.
Maka’, boiled rice, the most highly prized food and hence the term used to designate food in general (Indon. makan = to eat). Liurai-Sonba’i are once again metaphors for rice and corn.
Paha tuan: N.B. tuan, not usif. Only Uis Pah, the Lord of the Earth, is called usif.
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Nordholt, H.G.S. (1971). The Economic Life. In: The Political System of the Atoni of Timor. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1013-4_3
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