Tanimbar Islands

Tanimbar Islands or East Sea is a group of islands in Lesser Sunda Islands, which is the largest island of Yamdena. Yamdena island has an area of 3333 km ² stretching from north to south.



On the Yamdena island there are about 40 villages that located on the coast. The people are dependent on subsistence agriculture and fishing. There are two major cities in the island, namely Saumlaki Yamdena (the district capital) and Larat (North Tanimbar district capital). Tanimbar Islands is one of the islands in the West Southeast Maluku regency.



Tanimbar Islands, which is one of the outer islands of Indonesia, is havibf a lot of customs and cultural heritage to a very high value. In Tanimbar, the custom is still become part of the daily life of the community. The indigenous of Tanimbar islands called the custom as duan-lolat. Literally, it can be understood as the relationship between the master (duan) and his servant (lolat). Duan-lolat Custom is a govern social relationships and it explains the rules in behavior during everyday life in case of solving problems, the division of the estate, until solving the crime.



The obligations of each duan against lolat is to protect and nurture. But at the same time, the lolat must gives respect and obey the rules of the duan. This rule makes the position of Tanimbar women in a high position as a symbol of life giver. Thus, in Tanimbar traditional societies, they would be grateful if anyone has a daughter.



Tanimbar people are majority Catholic follower. Ironically, each mantra that spoken in ceremonies or rituals will always ends with a Catholic prayer. On the highest hill in Saumlaki, where we can see almost the whole island Yamdena, there is a maria cave and the statue of Christ the King. During to celebrate the religion activity will be start at this place.




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