The Butonese (sometimes Butuni, Butung) people is a collective term that embraces a number of ethnic groups of

Buton Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th largest island in the world and I ...

and neighbouring islands in

Southeast Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Tenggara) is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly ca ...

. Like many other ethnic groups in Sulawesi, the Butonese are seafarers and traders. Butonese have long since migrated to many parts of the Malay archipelago using smaller vessels ranging from those that can only accommodate five people to large boats that can hold up to about 150 tons of goods. In general, the Butonese are a community that inhabits the region of the historical Buton Sultanate. When the ''swapraja'' (self-governance, created by the Dutch colonial government) domain was abolished, so did the Buton Sultanate which ended in 1951. The area of the former Sultanate is now distributed over several regencies and cities of

. Among them are

Baubau Baubau is a city in Southeast Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The city is located on the southwest coast of Buton island. Baubau attained city status on 21 June 2001, based on Indonesian Law Number 13, for the year 2001. It covers an area of 294.9 ...

Buton Regency Buton Regency (''Kabupaten Buton'') is a regency of Indonesia's Southeast Sulawesi Province, lying entirely on Buton Island. Until 2014 it had an area of 2,681.22 km2, and a population estimated at 276,944 (for January 2014). However, in 2014 ...

South Buton Regency South Buton Regency ( id, Kabupaten Buton Selatan) is a regency located in Southeast Sulawesi. This regency was formed from the southern part of Buton Regency, from which it was separated by Act No.16 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area ...

Central Buton Regency Central Buton Regency ( id, Kabupaten Buton Tengah) is a new regency of Southeast Sulawesi established by separation from Buton Regency under Act No.15 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area of 837.08 km2 comprising the southern parts ...

North Buton Regency North Buton Regency (''Kabupaten Buton Utara'') is a regency of Indonesia's Southeast Sulawesi Province, which was separated from Buton Regency in accordance with Indonesia's Law Number 14 of 2007. The area of the regency, which covers the north p ...

Wakatobi Regency Wakatobi Regency is a group of ''ca.'' 150 islands forming an administrative regency located in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The four largest islands are Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Binongko and Tomia. The capital of the regency is located on Wangi- ...

and

Bombana Regency Bombana Regency (''Kabupaten Bombana'') is a regency of Southeast Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It consists of part of the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi, together with most of the substantial offshore island of Kabaena to the south. It covers a ...

. Occasionally, the

Bajau people The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exony ...

are mislabeled as Butonese people.

Culture

Apart from being a community of seafarers, the Butonese people are also familiar with agriculture in earlier times. Commodities that are planted include paddy, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, cotton, coconut, betel, pineapple, banana, and all other common needs of their everyday lives. Butonese people are well known for their culture and until today it can still be seen in regions of the Buton Sultanate. Such as the fortress of the Butonese palace which is the largest fortress in the world, the Malige Palace which is a traditional Butonese house that stands firmly as high as four stories without using a single nail, the currency of the Buton Sultanate called ''kampua'' or ''bida'', and many more. Most Butonese adhere to Islam. The Butonese adopted the religion around the mid-sixteenth century via

Ternate Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the we ...

influence.

References

Ethnic groups in Indonesia Sulawesi {{SESulawesi-geo-stub Muslim communities of Indonesia