Abstract
Besides the realm of South Belu there existed the realm of Sonba’i. which formerly probably covered the entire Atoni area.
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References
Middelkoop, 1938a.
Kruyt, 1923, pp. 777–780.
Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 470–780.
Nai = Lord. For the Nai Djabi group see p. 307 below. The name Kesnai is also mentioned here as that of one of the groups of autochthonous inhabitants. Cf. pp. 311, 453 below.
Middelkoop, 1938a, p. 493.
In the Timorese spoken in Central Timor r becomes /. Conversely in Amarasi 1 becomes r.
According to the myth related to Reijntjes (Report 1948, p. 71) by Tua Sonba’i, the ruler of Molo, they had the faces of mice: ifu = mouse. There they are called Iuf Belek and Fae Belek. The kauna ifu (mouse snake) is Oematan’s totem animal.
The Timau is the highest mountain in Amfoan and it is similarly the name for this area in general. Banam is Amanuban. The last name is not known, but it probably refers to Amarasi.
In another version Kune says to all those present: “Mm sona he bai tama” (stand aside so that he may enter) when the radiant man approaches (Koop-mans’ Report 1917, p. 175). And it is also said that he was given the name Sonba’i because he was victorious — sona = to stab, bai = many (Müller, 1875, II, p. 151). These derivations are of course no more than folk-etymologies.
Personal Communication.
Müller, 1857, II, p. 150.
In the myths which have arisen in Kune circles it was Fen Neno who killed Kune’s daughter.
Van Wouden, 1968, p. 111.
Kruyt, 1921, p. 779 and 1923, p. 432.
Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 421–434.
Pitai and Manbait are the heads of Sonba’i of Fatule’u.
Van Wouden, 1968, p. 110.
Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 419–421.
Lake and Senak are the two most prominent heads of Bikomi in Miomafo. Perhaps the narrator had some connection with Bikomi.
I.e., he was able to do as he pleased with them.
Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 415–419. Van Alphen, 1933, p. 127.
Kot fui = poisonous beans which have to be boiled down eight to ten times before they are edible, because of their high potassium cyanide content. See p. 52 above.
Middelkoop, 1938a, pp. 407, 438.
Op. cit., p. 410.
Op. cit., p. 414.
Van Alphen, 1933, p. 126.
Middelkoop, 1938a, p. 409.
Reijntjes’ Report, 1948, pp. 69–87. Indonesian text.
Pp. 318, 373 below.
MS. Visscher.
Müller, 1857, II, p. 149.
Middelkoop, 1963, p. 77.
Op. cit., p. 311.
See Govt. Resolution 14th April, 1909, No. 6, Memorandum 1912, p. 146.
Weidner’s Report, 1932, p. 23.
Reijntjes’ Report, Appendices.
Reported by Reijntjes and Middelkoop. Cf. p. 95 above.
Data supplied by Locher.
P. 236 above.
P. 267 above.
Weidner’s Report, p. 24.
Middelkoop, 1963, p. 76.
Id., p. 315.
P. 217 above.
Koopman’s Report, 1917, pp. 172 ff.,
Müller, 1857, II, p. 147.
P. 183 above.
Cf. map no. 5, no. 6 and Riedel 1887 map on p. 287.
Middelkoop, 1929b, p. 52.
Corpus Diplomaticum V, p. 489.
Haga, 1882, p. 391. Pp. 177 ff. above.
CD. VI, p. 88.
CD. I–VI.
De Roo van Alderwerelt, 1904, p. 205.
P. 183 above.
De Roo van Alderwerelt, 1904, pp. 209, 214.
Grijzen, 1904, p. 129. Cf. p. 202, note 84 above; for the Indonesian word fetor see Klinkert, 1916, p. 731.
De Roo van Alderwerelt, 1904, p. 210.
The designation still in use for the Netherlands East Indies Administration, which originally referred to the Dutch East India Company.
Van Germs, 1927, p. 447.
Cf. Beboki, where only men of inferior rank may enter by the women’s door. There, however, it is the door of the Neno Beboki, and here the door of the ruler’s sonaf that is concerned.
Hae = messenger. Kase = foreign. Haekase was the go-between in their dealings with the Topasses.
Steinmetz’s Report, 1916, p. 72. One difficulty, however, is that fai means night. There was one old Fai Mnasi who was nicknamed Metan = black, and whose son was nicknamed Molo = yellow. In the classificatory system of Timor all these designations are associated with the feminine (p. 416 below). His le’u, furthermore, was called Bi Nap = woman who picks up. We should perhaps assume that even at the time when Kono was still the masculine, executive authority of Sonba’i, he had a feminine, ritual function or was a meo feto (pp. 342, 343 below).
From the Portuguese marca.
Gifts presented to important guests are also called tuthais.
That is, in Dutch sources; De Roo van Alderwerelt, 1904, p. 204.
According to the myth of Wehale-Waiwiku it was Sina Mutin — Malaka.
Bifel — woman; mnasi — old. The name of the highest mountain of Tunbaba.
In Van Koot’s Report, 1913, p. 10, he is called Attoni Lulai, so that this name should definitely be translated with “man Liurai”.
Cf. p. 296. There Tunbaba metan comes from the north.
Puah = betel, but both the betel and the areca nuts are meant here.
Van Root’s Report, 1913, gives many examples of invasions suffered by Tunbaba.
De Roo van Alderwerelt, 1904, p. 204. P. 182 above.
Reported by Wortelboer.
Cf. Locher, 1956.
Although there is a tendency to suppress the name of Sonba’i in order to prove Bikomi’s independence, it is impossible to do so. The narrator omitted Sonba’i’s name when relating the myth to Locher (1956, p. 176), but he was alone at the time, whereas now he was accompanied by Senak who was married to a Sonba’i.
Tapen-pah = we overlook the land. Cf. p. 241 above.
Kisnai is a similar figure to Kune. In Noimuti, Bikomi and Amanuban he is the original inhabitant; his name is also known in Molo. P. , note 4, above.
Bifel = woman. Bi placed before a name turns it into a woman’s name, while Nai is used with men’s names. So the same name may be used for both men and women, e.g. Nai Tal Pa’i and Bi Tal Pa’i (pp. 125, 127 above).
Naidjan — lord, with regard to the soil. Uf = stem, trunk. Usif = lord, with
When Bana is the narrator his le’u place is always the point of departure.
They were able to enumerate only six names for the eight brothers. The four names mentioned by Senak are probably more authentic. But there is no essential difference, eight having the same classificatory function as four, as four clans may each in turn be divided into two.
Red is the masculine colour for victory and is often associated with the south. The cockerel is associated with Sonba’i, the representative of the sun and daylight. It is always possible to assign modern articles of which the time of their first introduction is known a place in a myth concerning primeval times. Cf. Fortes, 1945, p. 22, where one patriarch who came from abroad had a fez and a rifle.
There was a natural bridge here, formed by a huge boulder connecting both banks of the Noil Benain across a forty metres’ deep chasm. It was swept away by a great river-flood which resulted from a tropical cyclone, when in one week more than 700 mm. of rain fell in the whole of the central mountain range, from the Mutis to the Molo (Cf. Ormeling, 1955, p. 20). Cf. also the Sonba’i myth, p. 263 above.
Taken by itself this seems to point to the existence of a form of belief in reincarnation. This is the only story known to me which can be interpreted in this light. The point in question is always the preservation of the name. In Sonba’i myths, too, the tyrant and all his kin are massacred but for one infant boy who is saved. This is also the case with Taolin and Abi of Harneno on the analogy of the Sonba’i myths (Middelkoop, 1963, pp. 298 ff.).
The ruler of Ambenu and Oikusi.
The first of the two Usif of Tunbaba, who lives in the west, hence in a district with borders on Bikomi.
Here Lake is twice SonbaTs bride-giver, therefore.
Here Bana is allocated Senak’s le’u place, i.e. the most prominent place.
Lake (hence Bikomi) thus becomes one of Kono’s original bride-givers; this relationship is consolidated by a marriage in the 20th century, which is historically verifiable. This marriage was concluded on the basis of the rule according to which a ruler should marry the daughters of his amaf and of the usif of the peripheral areas, as well as those of the usif of other princedoms. It is another eloquent example of how the recent past may fuse with primeval events (un unun).
The Mexican dollar (petaca), still current in pre-war Portuguese Timor, has a higher silver content than the old Dutch East Indies rix-dollar, and usually constituted part of a higher bridewealth. See p. 175 note 64.
Locher, 1956, p. 169.
The title bestowed by the Dutch on the executive authority of each princedom. Hence in the realm of which Sonba’i was emperor Oematan and Kono were fettor. Cf. p. 280 note 57, above.
Of course Bana generally spoke through his mafefa, who did so at great length and in very high-flown language. He related the entire myth of origin. But Bana replied personally to some of the questions which followed.
Locher, 1956, pp. 174–177.
Therefore Cunningham’s statement that Atoni cloths are red and white in contrast to those of the Helon and the Belunese is incorrect. Cf. p. 45 above. Noiltoko also has indigo cloths in some parts.
Of course the reverse order is correct.
Cf. p. 276 where the same expression as that for Mela-Sanan in respect of Sonba’i is used.
This is an imitation of the way a cat leaps — meo — cat and warrior. Sometimes they would pull up their kain as they were doing this and expose their genitals — an expression of the deepest scorn for an enemy.
An allusion to a border dispute with Nilulat.
An attempt to win Noimuti over.
This js how he would like to explain the presence of Lake’s grave near Kono’s sonaf.
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Nordholt, H.G.S. (1971). The Immediate Sphere of Influence of Sonba’i. 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_9
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