Moluccans

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Moluccan
Molukker, Molucano, Orang Maluku
Cakalele.jpg
Moluccan men performing the traditional cakalele dance, carrying the parang salawaku (Maluku sword and shield).
Total population
2.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia: 2,203,415 (2010 census) [1]
(Maluku, North Maluku, Jakarta, East Java, North Sulawesi, West Papua)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands: ~70,000 (2018 census) [2]
Languages
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, North Halmahera languages, North Moluccan Malay, Ambonese Malay, Indonesian, Dutch
Religion
Majority Sunni Islam Minority Christianity (Protestantism (Moluccan Evangelical Church and Protestant Church of Maluku) and Roman Catholicism), Hinduism, Animism [3]
Related ethnic groups
Other Austronesians, Melanesians, Papuan people, Malagasy peoples

Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Eastern Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, [4] and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku. As such, "Moluccans" is used as a blanket term for the various ethnic and linguistic groups native to the islands.

Contents

Majority follow Islam with Christianity being the second major religion of most Moluccans. Despite religious differences, all groups share strong cultural bonds and a sense of common identity, such as through Adat. [5] Music is also a binding factor, playing an important role in the cultural identity, and the Moluccan capital city of Ambon was awarded the official status of City of Music by UNESCO in 2019. [6] [7]

A small population of Moluccans (~50.000+ [8] ) live in the Netherlands. This group mainly consists of the descendants of soldiers in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), who were originally brought to the Netherlands temporarily, and would have been sent back to their own independent republic, had the Dutch government not given up control of Indonesia. They and others in the world make up the Moluccan diaspora. The remainder consists of Moluccans serving in the Dutch navy and their descendants, as well as some who came to the Netherlands from western New Guinea after it too was handed over to Indonesia. [8]

However, the vast majority of Moluccans still live in the Moluccas and the other surrounding regions, such as Papua, East and West Timor, North Sulawesi and further west. [9]

History

Sukarno dancing with Moluccan people, 1958. Sukarno dancing with Moluccans, Bung Karno Penjambung Lidah Rakjat 247.jpg
Sukarno dancing with Moluccan people, 1958.

The indigenous inhabitants of the Maluku Islands are Melanesian in origin and have been aboriginal to the Maluku archipelago dating back at least 30.000 BCE. However, due to later Austronesian migration waves from around 5000 - 2000 BCE, genetic studies detail the presence of varying levels of Austronesian mitochondrial DNA in populations on different islands in Maluku. Whereas paternal genetic structure remains predominantly Melanesian in its make-up within the region. [10] This explains a primarily maternal Austronesian influence on the Melanesian population that influenced the development of typical socio-linguistic elements and other areas within the Moluccan culture, making Malayo-Polynesian languages dominating in most of the region, with the exception of some areas where languages belonging to the West Papuan language group are still prevalent. [11] Later added to this were several Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabian and English influences, due to colonization, intermarriage with foreign traders during the Silk-route era and Middle Ages, and even with European soldiers during the World Wars. A small number of German descendants was added to Moluccan population, especially in Ambon, along with arrival of Protestant Missionaries since 16th century. [12]

After the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies during World War II, the Netherlands wanted to restore the old colonial situation. The indigenous Indonesians were against it. However, led by rebels and Sukarno, a struggle for independence broke out between 1945 and 1950. [13] The reconstituted Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) was commissioned by the Dutch government to maintain order and to disarm the rebels. Moluccan professional soldiers formed an important part of this army. [13] The Moluccan community was thus regarded by the Dutch as allies and vice versa. The government of the Netherlands had promised the Moluccans that they would get their own free state and independence back in return for assisting the Netherlands. After international efforts could not support the Netherlands to maintain its colony, the Dutch government chose to no longer keep its promise to the Moluccans of an independent state. [14] The Moluccans, who were seen by the Indonesians as collaborators with the Dutch, were given two options, to demobilize the military force and "temporarily" go to the Netherlands before returning to an independent Maluku, or assimilate and take on the Indonesian nationality. Most Moluccans who served in the command of KNIL would reside temporarily in the Netherlands. [13] The Moluccans were instead discharged from military service shortly after arriving, and housed in repurposed WWII concentration camps in the Netherlands, including the former Westerbork transit camp. Where they were isolated from Dutch society and held under extremely poor living conditions for years. [15]

The Dutch Moluccans had repeatedly drawn the attention of the Dutch government to their claim for a free Republic of South Maluku, which the Dutch government had promised them. However, the situation began to escalate as RMS's struggle gained notoriety in the 1970s when demonstrations and violence propelled it into the Dutch public eye. [16] Finally, after still being ignored and denied a hearing by the government, one of the methods to gain attention on the matter was through the hijackings of 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis in De Punt, Wijster, where hostages were taken, and the members were killed. [17]

Language

The Moluccans speak over a hundred different languages, with a majority of them belonging to the Central Malayo-Polynesian language family. An important exception is the North Moluccan islands which include the island of Halmahera and its surrounding islands, where the majority of the population speak West Papuan languages (North Halmahera branch), possibly brought through historical migration from the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea. [18] [19] Another exception are the Malay-based creoles such as the Ambonese language (also known as Ambonese Malay), spoken mainly on Ambon and the nearby Ceram; and North Moluccan Malay used on the islands of Ternate, Tidore, [20] Halmahera and Sula Islands in North Maluku. [21] Moluccans living in the Netherlands mostly speak Ambonese and Buru, as well as the national and official Dutch language.

Religion

The Moluccans in northern Maluku (present province of North Maluku) are mainly Muslims. [22] While central and southern Maluku (present province of Maluku) have about equal numbers of Muslim and Christians. [23]


The religion most often adhered to by the Moluccans in the Netherlands is Protestant Christianity, and to a lesser extent Islam.[ citation needed ]

There are significant number of native Hindu (Tanimbar Kei people) followers in Kei Islands, a predominantly Catholic region, despite the Maluku province's overall Christian population being mainly Protestant.[ citation needed ]

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku Islands</span> Archipelago in eastern Indonesia

The Maluku Islands or the Moluccas are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Lying within Wallacea, the Moluccas have been considered a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacan Islands</span> Archipelago in Indonesia

The Bacan Islands, formerly also known as the Bachans, Bachians, and Batchians, are a group of islands in the Moluccas in Indonesia. They are mountainous and forested, lying south of Ternate and southwest of Halmahera. The islands are administered by the South Halmahera Regency of North Maluku Province. They formerly constituted the Sultanate of Bacan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Maluku</span> Province of Indonesia

North Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi to the west, Maluku to the south, Southwest Papua to the east, and Palau and the Philippines to the north. The provincial capital is Sofifi, mostly part of the city of Tidore Islands on the largest island of Halmahera, while the largest city is the island city of Ternate. The population of North Maluku was 1,038,087 in the 2010 census, making it one of the least-populous provinces in Indonesia, but by the 2020 Census the population had risen to 1,282,937, and the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,328,594.

In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south East Asia Archipelago as far as the Philippines. That contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay and in Malay Melayu Pasar. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin, influenced by contact among Malay, Hokkien, Portuguese, and Dutch traders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku (province)</span> Province of Indonesia

Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The largest city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, Southwest Papua, and West Papua in the north, Central Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi in the west, Banda Sea, Australia, East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara in the south and Arafura Sea, Central Papua and South Papua in the east. The land area is 57803.81 km2, and the total population of this province at the 2010 census was 1,533,506 people, rising to 1,848,923 at the 2020 census, the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,908,753. Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of South Maluku</span> Former secessionist country in Indonesia

South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, is a former unrecognised secessionist republic that originally claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which currently make up most of the Indonesian province of Maluku.

In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, or Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages apart from Polynesian and Micronesian. A typical classification of the Austronesian languages ca. 1970 would divide them into something like the following branches:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alifuru people</span> Broad term for peoples of Southeast Asia

Alfur, Alfurs, Alfuros, Alfures, Aliforoes, Alifuru or Horaforas people is a broad term recorded at the time of the Portuguese seaborne empire to refer all the non-Muslim, non-Christian peoples living in inaccessible areas of the interior in the eastern portion of Maritime Southeast Asia, mainly from the Arafura Sea area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambonese people</span> Indonesia ethnic group

The Ambonese, misunderstood as well as Moluccans, are an ethnic group of mixed Austronesian and Melanesian origin. They are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. The Ambonese are from Ambon Island in Maluku, an island group east of Sulawesi and north of Timor in Indonesia. They also live on the southwest of Seram Island; which is part of the Moluccas, Java, New Guinea; on the West Papua side and other regions of Indonesia. Additionally, there are about 35,000 Ambonese people living in the Netherlands. By the end of the 20th century, there were 258,331 Ambonese people living in Ambon, Maluku.

Tidore is a language of North Maluku, Indonesia, spoken by the Tidore people. The language is centered on the island of Tidore, but it is also spoken in some areas of the neighbouring Halmahera. Historically, it was the primary language of the Sultanate of Tidore, a major Moluccan Muslim state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultanate of Ternate</span> Sultanate

The Sultanate of Ternate, previously also known as the Kingdom of Gapi is one of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Indonesia besides the sultanates of Tidore, Jailolo, and Bacan.

Kei is an Austronesian language spoken in a small region of the Moluccas, a province of Indonesia.

Ternate is a language of northern Maluku, eastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the Ternate people, who inhabit the island of Ternate, as well as many other areas of the archipelago. It is the dominant indigenous language of North Maluku, historically important as a regional lingua franca. A North Halmahera language, it is unlike most languages of Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buru people</span> Ethnic Group in Indonesia

Buru people is an ethnic group mostly living on Indonesian island Buru, as well as on some other Maluku Islands. They also call themselves Gebfuka or Gebemliar, which literally means "people of the world" or "people of the land". Buru people are related to the eastern Indonesian anthropological group and from an ethnographic point of view are similar to other indigenous peoples of the island Buru. They speak the Buru language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisela people</span> Ethnic group of Indonesia

Lisela or Rana people is an ethnic group mostly living on Indonesian island Buru, as well as on some other Maluku Islands. They belong to the eastern Indonesian anthropological group and are sometimes referred to as northern Buru people. From an ethnographic point of view, Lisela are similar to other indigenous peoples of Buru island. They speak the Lisela language.

Lisela, also called Li Enyorot, is an Austronesian language; in 1989 it was spoken by about 11,900 Lisela people mostly living in the northern part of Indonesian island Buru. It is also preserved among the small Lisela community on the Ambon Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Halmahera languages</span> Language family

The North Halmahera (NH) languages are a family of languages spoken in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Halmahera and some neighboring islands in Indonesia. The southwestern part of the island is occupied by the unrelated South Halmahera languages, which are a subgroup of Austronesian. They may be most closely related to the languages of the Bird's Head region of West Papua, but this is not well-established.

The Moluccan diaspora refers to overseas Indonesians of Moluccan birth or descent living outside Indonesia. The most significant Moluccan diaspora community lives in the Netherlands, where it numbers c. 70,000 people as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Ambon</span> Indonesian military operation against Republic of South Maluku

The Invasion of Ambon was a combined Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the self proclaimed Republic of South Maluku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Latuharhary</span> Indonesian politician and nationalist (1900–1959)

Johannes Latuharhary was an Indonesian politician and nationalist of Moluccan descent, who served as the first Indonesian governor of Maluku from 1945 until 1955, though he did not assume office in Maluku until 1950. A Protestant Christian, Latuharhary was an early proponent of Moluccan inclusion in the Indonesian state and he was an active participant in the struggle for Indonesia's independence.

References

  1. ↑ "Kewarganegaraan, Suku Bangsa, Agama, Dan Bahasa Sehari-Hari Penduduk Indonesia". Badan Pusat Statistik. 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Molukkers in Nederland". CBS.
  3. ↑ "Admin Templates - Dashboard Templates".
  4. ↑ "INVASION OF AMBON". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954). 23 October 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  5. ↑ van Engelenhoven, Gerlov (1 July 2021). "From Indigenous Customary Law to Diasporic Cultural Heritage: Reappropriations of Adat Throughout the History of Moluccan Postcolonial Migration". International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique. 34 (3): 695–721. doi:10.1007/s11196-020-09781-y. hdl: 1887/3134516 . ISSN   1572-8722. S2CID   224961575.
  6. ↑ "Ambon". UNESCO Cities of Music. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Admin Templates - Dashboard Templates".
  8. 1 2 Beets et al., Demografische ontwikkeling van de Molukse bevolkingsgroep in Nederland
  9. ↑ Handoko, Wuri (2024). "Asal-Usul Masyarakat Maluku, Budaya dan Persebarannya". Kapata Arkeologi (in Indonesian). Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  10. ↑ Friedlaender, Jonathan S.; Friedlaender, Françoise R.; Hodgson, Jason A.; Stoltz, Matthew; Koki, George; Horvat, Gisele; Zhadanov, Sergey; Schurr, Theodore G.; Merriwether, D. Andrew (28 February 2007). "Melanesian mtDNA Complexity". PLOS ONE. 2 (2): e248. Bibcode:2007PLoSO...2..248F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000248 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   1803017 . PMID   17327912.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Jean Gelman (2003). Indonesia: Peoples and Histories. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 5–7. ISBN   0-300-10518-5.
  12. ↑ Robert Benjamin (2009). Unknown Creatures. Lulu.com. ISBN   978-06-152-6095-2.
  13. 1 2 3 Hulsbosch, Marianne (2014). Pointy Shoes and Pith Helmets: Dress and Identity Construction in Ambon from 1850 to 1942. BRILL. p. 31. ISBN   978-90-042-6081-8.
  14. ↑ Buitelaar, Marjo; Zock, Hetty, eds. (2013). Religious Voices in Self-Narratives: Making Sense of Life in Times of Transition. Walter de Gruyter. p. 194. ISBN   978-16-145-1170-0 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ Josh Varlin (11 May 2015). "The Westerbork transit camp and the destruction of Dutch Jewry". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  16. ↑ Kirsten E. Schulze (13 February 2020). "Laskar Jihad and The Conflict in Ambon". The Brown Journal of World Affairs. 9 (1): 57–69. JSTOR   24590272.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ↑ "Dutch State Sued Over 'Excessive Force' Against 1977 Moluccan Train Hijackers". Jakarta Globe. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Bellwood, Peter, ed. (2019), The Spice Islands in Prehistory: Archaeology in the Northern Moluccas, Indonesia, ANU Press, pp. 216–220, ISBN   978-1-76046-291-8
  19. ↑ Foley, William (2000), "The Languages of New Guinea", Annual Review of Anthropology, 29: 357–404, doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.357, JSTOR   223425
  20. ↑ Louis Boumans, ed. (1998). The Syntax of Codeswitching: Analysing Moroccan Arabic/Dutch Conversations. Tilburg University Press. p. 95. ISBN   90-361-9998-0.
  21. ↑ William Frawley, ed. (2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. pp. 351–352. ISBN   01-951-3977-1.
  22. ↑ Huibert van Beek, ed. (2006). A Handbook of Churches and Councils: Profiles of Ecumenical Relationships. World Council of Churches. p. 266. ISBN   28-254-1480-8.
  23. ↑ Noelle Higgins (2009). Regulating the Use of Force in Wars of National Liberation: The Need for a New Regime: A Study of the South Moluccas and Aceh. BRILL. p. 175. ISBN   978-90-474-2634-9.
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