Abui people
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The Abui are an indigenous ethnic group (also known as Barawahing, Barue or Namatalaki) residing on
Alor Island Alor ( id, Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. It is located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from ...
, East Nusa Tenggara,
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 Guine ...
. Abui people are spread across the districts of South Alor, East Alor, and Northwest Alor in Alor Regency. Abui people speak the
Abui language Abui is a non-Austronesian language of the Alor Archipelago. It is spoken in the central part of Alor Island in Eastern Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province by the Abui people. The native name in the Takalelang dialect is ''Abui tanga'' ...
, which is a Papuan (non-Austronesian) language, as well as
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
, and a Malay-based creole known as Alor Malay.


Etymology

The term ''Abui'' is an Abui word that means ‘mountains’ or alternatively ‘enclosed place’. Abui people refer to themselves as , literally meaning 'the mountain people'. The bare term is often associated with the large mountain range in central Alor, , and is often contrasted to the smaller mountain range in the Kabola/Adang speaking area in the bird's head of Alor. The language is referred to as in the Takalelang variety (the most well-studied variety) and in the Welai, Mola, and Mainang varieties. The glossonym ''Abui'' was first introduced by Cora Du Bois in the late 1930s after the ethnonym was already in circulation. This ethnonym is also used in Alor Malay/Indonesian to refer to Abui speakers. The term ''Barawahing'' is a derogatory
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
meaning 'black, smelly, smoky.'


History


Origins

According to Abui oral tradition, Abui people settled in Alor in ancient times and did not find other settlers there. Later some of them moved to the Kabola peninsula.Nicolspeyer, Martha Margaretha. 1940. De sociale structuur van een Aloreesche bevolkingsgroep. Rijswijk: Kramers. The same tradition accounts that they dwelled in caves in the mountains in the Mainang area. In this area also some rock art is found. Abui refer to neighbouring tribes as ‘younger siblings’ or as ‘new arrivals’. However, the oral tradition in Alor serves too often as a political instrument. The oral tradition has not been verified by archaeological research yet.


Ethnography

The American anthropologist
Cora Du Bois Cora Alice Du Bois (October 26, 1903 – April 7, 1991) was an American cultural anthropologist and a key figure in culture and personality studies and in psychological anthropology more generally. She was Samuel Zemurray Jr. and Doris Zemurray ...
studied and lived among Abui people from 1937 to 1939 in the village of Atimelang, resulting in the publication, ''The People of Alor.'' Around the same time, the Dutch sociologist Martha Margaretha Nicolspeyer published a study of the Abui social structure.


Culture

Abui people from Takpala village engage in a traditional dance known as ''lego-lego'', in which dancers move in a circular pattern. Gongs and mokos are also beaten.


Religion

The original religion of the inhabitants of Alor Islands was animistic until much later when
Protestant 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 ...
missionaries arrived. Majority of the
Alor Island Alor ( id, Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. It is located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from ...
communities are Christians, except for those living along the coast line tend to be Muslims as most of the Muslims living there migrated from other islands. The Abui people generally are predominantly Protestant. However, their beliefs have animistic influences as well. Catholic communities are found in
Kalabahi Kalabahi is a town on Alor Island and it is the capital of Alor Regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. The town possesses the only puskesmas available in the district, in west Kalabahi. It covers 4 ''kelurahan'' (villages) of the T ...
and particularly among the Abui people in Takalelang and Mainang. There is also one Muslim Abui community, found in the coastal village of Nurdin.


Economy


Agriculture

Abui speakers are mainly farmers, just like other inhabitants of Alor. However, in mountainous areas hunting and gathering is also an important supplement to the staple diet of
corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
, and
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
. In the coastal areas, which are less favourable for agriculture, many farmers have switched to fishing, the traditional activity of the Austronesian population. Traditional livestock are pigs and chicken. However, livestock seldom supplement the diet due to frequent swine fever and poultry diseases. Thus, the diet is not well balanced, often resulting in poor health conditions and
anaemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
, especially among children and women. In the mountainous areas the situation is better as traditional hunting provides a more balanced diet. The mountains also favour a number of important cash crops such as
tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs ...
,
coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
,
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
,
cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, s ...
,
cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
, cashew nuts, candlenuts (Aleurites moluccana),
vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...
, almonds (
Canarium ''Canarium'' is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; inclu ...
) and
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
. These provide the farmers with additional income, which results in generally better living standards than for people in the coastal areas.


Tourism

The Abui "traditional village of Takpala" (''kampung tradisional Takpala'') is a tourist destination consisting of a small cluster of traditional houses on a hillside. Visitors watch performances, pose for photographs in traditional attire, and buy handicrafts. In 1980, the Takpala Village won second place for most traditional village at the national level. There are also many Western researchers who would visit the village in order to study the culture, lifestyle and language of the Abui people. Ever since then, Takpala Village is considered a cultural heritage area by the Alor Regency and a tourist destination. Aside from cultural tourism,
Alor Island Alor ( id, Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. It is located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from ...
is also known as a world class diving location. To date, there are 42 registered diving sites in
Alor Island Alor ( id, Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. It is located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from ...
.


Education

Educational facilities in the Abui area are limited to elementary and secondary schools in district capitals. The nearest university is in
Kalabahi Kalabahi is a town on Alor Island and it is the capital of Alor Regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. The town possesses the only puskesmas available in the district, in west Kalabahi. It covers 4 ''kelurahan'' (villages) of the T ...
, which offers limited training in economy, law, English and computer science. The more significant educational institutions are found in Kupang, the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara.


References


External links


Abui (short film)

Literature and articles in Alor Abui
Literature and articles in Alor Abui {{Ethnic groups in Indonesia Ethnic groups in Indonesia Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia