Kisar

Last updated
Kisar
Native name:
Yotowawa
Maluku Islands en.png
Kisar in the south of Maluku Islands as a part of the Barat Daya Islands
Geography
Location South East Asia
Coordinates 8°04′S127°11′E / 8.06°S 127.18°E / -8.06; 127.18
Area81.83 km2 (31.59 sq mi) [1]
Administration
Indonesia
Province Maluku
Regency Southwest Maluku Regency
District Pulau-Pulau Terselatan
Largest settlement Wonreli

Kisar, also known as Yotowawa, is a small island in the Southwestern Moluccas in Indonesia, located to the northeast of Timor Island. Most of the island is included within the Southernmost Islands District ( Kecamatan Pulau Pulau Terselatan ) within the Southwest Islands Regency of Maluku Province. The District previously also includes the larger (but less populated) Romang Island further north, but this with its own outliers was subsequently split off to form its own district (Kecamatan Kepulauan Romang). The rest of the island forms the North Kisar District (Kecamatan Kisar Utara) within the regency. It is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. The principal town is Wonreli, with 6,652 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. [2]

Contents

Geography, geology and ecology

Kisar is similar geographically and geologically to the nearby islands of Timor, Leti, and Moa. The interior of the island is hilly, with several small mountains lined roughly east–west. The highest of these, Gunung Taitulu, rises approximately 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, and from the top, nearby Wetar and Timor are easily seen. The entire island is encircled by a series of rugged limestone cliffs that look like giant stairsteps rising from the coast. These uplifted terraces represent former coral reefs that have been thrust from the sea due to the active tectonics of the region. [3] Those terraces are also gently warped. An uplift rate of the island of approximately 0.5 mm/yr over the past several hundred thousand years has been calculated by obtaining ages of coral samples from the terraces. [4]

The rocks exposed in the interior of the island are primarily composed of low to medium-grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, with scattered amphibolites. The metasedimentary rocks are quartz-rich and the amphibolites represent mafic igneous intrusions. Age analyses of detrital minerals, petrology, and geochemistry all indicate that the island belongs geologically with the other islands of the Outer Banda Arc. [5] This series of islands formed when the northern edge of the Australian continent was upthrust in collision with southeast Asia. These islands are paralleled by the Inner Banda Arc, a series of active and extinct volcanic islands, including neighboring Wetar. The islands in the Banda Arc are arranged in a distinct horseshoe shape and represent a young, emerging mountain belt. Thus, Kisar represents one peak of a new mountain range rising from the sea.

The Timor Monitor (Varanus timorensis) is found in Kisar.

Language

The Kisar language (a trade language, also known as Meher or Yotowawa) and the unrelated Oirata language (closely related to Fataluku) are spoken on Kisar. [6] [7]

History

Kisar warriors. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van twee krijgers uit Kisar bij de decorstukken van een fotostudio TMnr 60039093.jpg
Kisar warriors.

The island was inhabited long before the colonial period. Cave paintings dating back 2,500 years have been found in Kisar after a wide-scale archaeological work.

In 1665 the Dutch VOC built a military base and named the island after the Kisar word for white sand. From the European outpost on Kisar a relatively large Indo Eurasian community developed named the 'Mestizo from Kisar' to this day their descendants live as Rajas and chiefs on Kisar. Surviving family names include: Joostenz, Wouthuysen, Caffin, Lerrick, Peelman, Lander, Ruff, Bellmin-Belder, Coenradi, van Delsen, Schilling and Bakker.

In 1795 Kisar was under British rule, in 1803 it was under Dutch/French rule and in 1810 again under English rule. In 1817 Kisar was returned to the Dutch until the outpost was abandoned in 1819. After that time Kisar upheld close ties with their Portuguese, Topasses and Timorese neighbours on Timor.

Kisar villagers COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Bewoners van het dorp Kisar TMnr 10005996.jpg
Kisar villagers

After WWII and Indonesia's independence the island was temporarily considered part of the segregated RMS, but ultimately became part of the unitary Indonesian state.

The current and 12th Raja (king) of Kisar, Johannes J. Bakker, succeeded his father Raja Hairmere Philipus Zacharias Bakker. [8] The first Raja Cornelis Bakker, who also ruled Wetar, Roma and Leti island via his brothers[ citation needed ], was crowned ca. 1665.

Nowadays the Raja is respected as a traditional dignitary, but has no political power. The present Raja is well educated and for 5 years worked as a government official in nearby East-Timor, when part of Indonesia. There he met his wife Maria Antonette Ribeiru. [8]

Transport

Kisar has a small airport, near Purpura village on the north side of the island, with flights to Ambon, Moa (one of the Leti Islands) and Kupang. Passenger ships connect Kisar to Ambon, Kupang, and other nearby islands, and there are speed boats to Ambon and Moa.

Academic study

In 1928 the German Professor E.Rodenwaldt published his study "Die Mestizen auf Kisar", "Mikroskopische Beobachtungen an den Haaren der Kisaresen und Kisarbastarde". [9] His work is published in two German language volumes, one volume details measurements and photographs of the observed Mestizos. It contains a family tree showing the very complicated inter-marriages between the descendants of Mestizo families, as well as indicating skin, eye, and hair colour heredity. The study shows a unique natural experiment spanning over two centuries and is considered an essential academic work in the area of human heredity. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

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Ambon Island Island of Indonesia

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Banda Sea A sea between Sulawesi and Maluku

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Maluku (province) Province of Indonesia

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Wetar Island in Indonesia

Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which include nearby Alor and Timor, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands. To the south, across the Wetar Strait, lies the island of Timor; at its closest it is 50 km away. To the west, across the Ombai Strait, lies the island of Alor. To the southwest is the very small island of Liran, which is also part of Wetar district (kecamatan) and, further southwest, the small East Timorese island of Atauro. To the north is the Banda Sea and to the east lie Romang and Damar Islands, while to the southeast lie the other principal islands of the Barat Daya Islands. Including Liran, Wetar has an area of 2,651.9 km2, and had a population of 7,916 at the 2010 Census.

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Romang (island)

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Indos in pre-colonial history

Indo people are a Eurasian people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. Through the 16th and 18th century known by the name Mestiço. To this day they form one of the largest Eurasian communities in the world. The early beginning of this community started with the arrival of Portuguese traders in South East Asia in the 16th century. The second large wave started with the arrival of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) employees in the 17th century and throughout the 18th century. Even though the VOC is often considered a state within a state, formal colonisation by the Dutch only commenced in the 19th century.

Yellow-throated whistler Species of bird

The yellow-throated whistler or Banda Sea whistler, is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to central and south-eastern Wallacea, where it ranges from Timor east to the Tanimbars and north to Seram and Banggai. The oriole whistler is sometimes alternatively called the yellow-throated whistler, leading to confusion between both species.

Southwest Maluku Regency Regency in Maluku, Indonesia

Southwest Maluku Regency is a regency of Maluku Province, Indonesia. It comprises a number of islands and island groups in the south of the province, including Lirang Island, Wetar Island, Kisar Island, Romang Island, the Letti Islands, the Damer Islands, Mdona Hyera and the Babar Islands. The administrative centre lies at Tiakur on Moa Island, but the largest town is Wonreli.

<i>Troides staudingeri</i> Species of butterfly

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Banda Arc Set of island arcs in eastern Indonesia

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Pulau-Pulau Terselatan is a district (Kecamatan) in the Maluku Barat Daya regency (kabupaten) of the province of Maluku, Indonesia. The district includes the islands of Kisar and Romang, with the surrounding small islands of Njata, Mitan, Tellang, Limtutu, Loud, Kital, Maopora and Djuha; all lie to the east of the larger island of Wetar. The main town is Wonreli on Kisar Island.

References

  1. ↑ "-- Direktorat Jenderal Kelautan Pesisir dan Pulau-pulau Kecil, Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan --".
  2. ↑ Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
  3. ↑ Major, Jonathan. "THE TECTONIC EVOLUTION AND REGIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF KISAR ISLAND, INDONESIA". Archived from the original on 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  4. ↑ Major, Jonathan; Harris, Ron; Chiang, Hong-Wei; Cox, Nicole; Shen, Chuan-Chou; Nelson, Stephen T.; Prasetyadi, Carolus; Rianto, Arif (2013). "Quaternary hinterland evolution of the active Banda Arc: Surface uplift and neotectonic deformation recorded by coral terraces at Kisar, Indonesia". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 73: 149–161. Bibcode:2013JAESc..73..149M. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.023. hdl:1959.17/68114.
  5. ↑ Major, Jonathan (2011). Evolution and Emergence of the Hinterland in the Active Banda Arc-Continent Collision: Insights From the Metamorphic Rocks and Coral Terraces of Kisar, Indonesia (thesis). Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Kisar". ethnologue.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Oirata". ethnologue.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  8. 1 2 Pandanwangie (9 August 2005). "Indonesia Pusaka: Kisar - North of East Timor". riaulingga.blogspot.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Rodenwaldt, E. (20 April 2018). "Die Mestizen auf Kisar" . Retrieved 20 April 2018– via The Open Library.
  10. ↑ "Human hybrids in various parts of the world". www.mixedracestudies.org. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Family website. (in Dutch) Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
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