Rotenese people are one of the native inhabitants of
Rote Island
Rote Island ( id, Pulau Rote, also spelled ''Roti'') is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost Portuguese sailor arrived ...
, while part of them reside in
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
. Apart from that, the Rotenese people also settled in islands surrounding
Rote Island
Rote Island ( id, Pulau Rote, also spelled ''Roti'') is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost Portuguese sailor arrived ...
, such as
Ndao Island , Rai Dhao
, image_name = Ndao.PNG
, image_caption = Satellite view of Ndao Island
, image_size =
, locator_map =
, map_caption =
, locator_ ...
, Nuse Island,
Pamana Island
Pamana Island (''Dana'', ''Dona'', ''Ndana'') is a small island off Rote Island in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province of Lesser Sunda Islands, and the southernmost point of Asia. It lies exactly on latitude 11°S. Administratively this isl ...
, Doo Island, Heliana Island, Landu Island, Manuk Island, and other smaller islands.
There are some who believed that the Rotenese people originally migrated from
Seram Island
Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...
,
Maluku.
They were thought to have arrived on the
Rote Island
Rote Island ( id, Pulau Rote, also spelled ''Roti'') is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost Portuguese sailor arrived ...
during the reign of the
Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
kingdom in the late 13th-16th century. It was during this time that there were references to the rulers of the Rotenese people. Initially, the Rotenese people founded settlements on the island of
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, where they engaged in manual
slash-and-burn
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...
farming and used irrigation system.
Language
The
Rotenese language is part of the
Austronesian languages, from the Southwest
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...
, which are made up of several dialects.
The main dialects are
Lole (Loleh),
Ringgou,
Termanu,
Bilba,
Dengka,
Dhao
''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other philo ...
,
Tii (Thie),
Oenale and
Dela (Delha).
Livelihood
The livelihood of the Rotenese people includes agriculture, animal farming, fishing, tapping
Neera
Neera, also called palm nectar, is a sap extracted from the inflorescence of various species of toddy palms and used as a drink. Neera extraction is generally performed before sunrise. It is sweet, translucent in colour. It is susceptible to ...
and palm crafting.
Lands that are well irrigated is used as paddy field or water catchment.
The main farming produce are rice, corn, cassava, sorghum, millet, as well as other commodities like pepper, peanuts, vegetables and coffee; while the main animal farming are buffaloes, cattle, horses and poultry.
Rotenese women work on traditional weaving handicrafts, woven
Pandan leaves,
pottery and so on. Small trades are also common.
Diet
The most common diet of the Rotenese people are from tubers, porridge, and fish with spicy seasonings.
Social structure
The kinship system of this people are nucleus family kinship or broad family with patriarchalistic in character, and also maintains an
exogamy
Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...
clan marriage customs.
The formation of large families consist of the smaller clans called ''nggi leo''; which in turn the formation of these smaller clans make up of the larger clans called ''leo''.
Religion
The traditional beliefs of the Rotenese people centers on a creator known as Lamatuan or Lamatuak. This deity that is regarded as a creator, predestinator and the one who blesses, is symbolized by a three-branched pillar.
Today, most Rotenese people practices
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
,
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
or
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
Culture
Traditional Rotenese clothing is a ''kain'' (a cloth of up to 2.5 meters long, wrapped around the waist, reaching to the knees or ankles), as well as jackets and shirts, with a specific style of a straw hat called ''ti'i langga''. A typical family is small and based on
patrilocal
In social anthropology, patrilocal residence or patrilocality, also known as virilocal residence or virilocality, are terms referring to the social system in which a married couple resides with or near the husband's parents. The concept of locat ...
marriage; where the wife resides in the community of her husband.
References
{{Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Ethnic groups in Indonesia