The Nuaulu, Naulu or Nunuhai are a tribe located in

Seram 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,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Description

The tribe name 'Nuaulu' means head atersof the Nua River, which is the ancestral homeland of the Nuaulu people. In the late 19th century or early 20th century, the Nuaulu people were moved down to the coast by the Dutch for purposes of pacification. The Nuaulu are divided into two groups, namely the northern and the southern groups. Numbering at a total of 2500 people, they live in the

Amahai Amahai is a village on the south coast of the Indonesian island of Seram 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 ...

district of Central Seram. The Northern Nuaulu inhabit two villages on the north coast of central

Island, whilst the Southern group inhabit five villages on the south coast and interior of

District. These two

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

are not mutually intelligible.

Religion

The majority of the Nuaulu people still adhere to their traditional religion which is based on a belief that the ancestors control everyday life and if the traditions they handed down are not followed correctly the living will be punished with sickness, death, and lack of prosperity. Nuaulu religion also states that there is an original creator called Upu Kuanahatana, and that there is powerful magic which people can use for good, or bad, purposes. Nuaulu people build

Baileo Baileo is a custom house, in Maluku and North Maluku, Indonesia. The term is derived from the word ''bale'' or ''balai'', which is a Malay word for a village meeting place. The house is a representation of the Baileo Maluku culture and has an i ...

for spiritual purposes.

Culture

The Nuaulu people are often mistakenly referred to as the

Manusela people The Manusela or Wahai people has a population of over 10,100 centered in the Manusela mountains of North Seram, Maluku, Indonesia. They are also found along Teluti Bay in south Seram, which suggests their name of their tribe. The Manusela follow ...

, who like the Nuaulu people wear a traditional red cloth on their heads, speak a similar language and practice the same traditional beliefs, the Naurus. The Nuaulu retained a custom of headhunting until the 1940s.

Livelihood

Sago is the staple food of the Nuaulu. Nuaulu are subsistence farmers who use shifting cultivation techniques; they also grow cash crops such as coconuts, cloves, and nutmeg.

Honors

The Nuaulu people are honored in the scientific name of a species of gecko, ''

Cyrtodactylus nuaulu ''Cyrtodactylus nuaulu'' is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to Indonesia. Etymology The specific name, ''nuaulu'', is in honor of the Nuaulu people. Geographic range ''C. nuaulu'' is found on Ser ...

'', which is native to Seram Island.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Nuaulu", p. 191).

References

External links

Nuaulu.net
Ethnic groups in Indonesia Maluku (province) Seram Island Headhunting Central Maluku Regency {{Asia-ethno-group-stub