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 arrive ...

, 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 divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, ...

. Apart from that, the Rotenese people also settled in islands surrounding

, such as Ndao Island, 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

during the reign of the

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia ...

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

, 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 veget ...

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, 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

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een portret van een Roti man met zijn vrouwen in vol ornaat TMnr 10005949

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 Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

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 popula ...

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 ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

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