Flores is part of Indonesia’s Eastern
Islands. It stretches snakelike between the longitudes of 118°–125° E,
and between the latitudes of 8°–11° S.
The fascinating, strikingly beautiful
island is blessed with plenty of natural attractions. There are white
sandy beaches and deserted islands, soft-shaped hilly landscapes with
beautiful rice field vistas, interspersed with mountainous areas. The
island’s distinct rugged landscape with its complex v-shaped valleys and
knife-edged ridges was formed by an impressive, young volcanic mountain
range which spans over its approximately 400km length. Fourteen of the
volcanoes are still active; others, like famous Mount Kelimutu in the
Ende district, are extinct but nonetheless impressive with their crater
lakes and calderas. Until not so long ago, this challenging terrain was
hardly penetrable – a fact that contributed to the preservation of
Flores’ extraordinary cultural diversity.
Flores can be visited all year around.
Be aware, though, that the access to some of the mainland attractions
during the rainy season (December – February) may be quite challenging
or even impossible. Due to elevated sea levels, diving may also be
restricted to certain sites.
In Flores you will find plenty of
beaches. Black, white and even pink sandy beaches, blue pebble beaches,
beaches with mountains in the background, or just the jungle behind.
Those untouched, beautiful coastal strips with crystal-clear water are
spread all around the island.Besides the beaches, there are several
small islands which are great places to relax in idyllic surroundings.
Around Labuan Bajo,West Flores, are the secluded islands of
Kanawa, Seraya Kecil and Bidadari.
They can be easily reached by one of the local excursion boats or by a
chartered fishing boat. All of these islands are blessed with white
sandy beaches and turquoise water. Take a swim, snorkel or lay back and
just enjoy your pristine hideaway.
Around Maumere (East Flores), there a plenty of easily accessible islands. The
chain of islands
includes, among others, Besar (‘Big’ in Indonesian), Babi (‘Pig’ in
Indonesian), Pangabatang, Sukun, Palu’e, Pemana Besar and Pemana Kecil.
Due to the small distances, chartering a boat and hopping around the
islands is the best option for exploring all the idyllic beaches.
Before you dip into any of these
tropical waters, reassure yourself that they are free of strong
currents, and pay attention to tidal changes. Please be aware that –
except for the islands that are frequently visited by tourists – it is
considered inappropriate for women to wear just a bikini. If you do not
want to attract too much attention, it is highly recommended to wear a
t-shirt and shorts for swimming.
Forest
Flores is abound with great forests.
They range from lush, green mangrove forests in a healthy coastal
ecosystem and bamboo forests (around Bena Village) to vast areas of
tropical rain forests.
Mbeliling Forest
in the West Manggarai district consists of two types of tropical rain
forest ecosystems and is rich in limited-range bird life and endemic
bird species. Furthermore, it serves as a critical watershed area for
nearly 33,000 people who live in the area.
Besides Mbeliling, which offers great
hiking opportunities, there are several other tropical forests that may
be explored on foot, e.g. the mountainous forest of Mount Ndeki, the
isolated mountainous scenery of Wae Rebo Village (both in the Manggarai
district), or the forests of Kelimutu National Park (Ende District).
The Mount Ndeki is one of the best
places to observe tropical species of birds while wandering in the
pristine wilderness of the mountainous forest. The forest is also home
to green vipers camouflaging themselves as dry branches.
Most of the forests can be perfectly
combined with a cultural visit to the nearby villages; for example, to
visit the village of Wae Rebo, there is a pleasant hike through a dense
rain forest along a narrow path to reach the village. This forest is one
of the biologically richest areas in Indonesia.
The surroundings of the Kelimutu crater
lake, belonging to the famous Kelimutu National Park offer lush forests
full of birdsong. These forests are blessed with rare flora, such as
pine, mountain fig, and red wood.
The current geological formations found
in Flores and throughout Indonesia were predominantly shaped by dynamic
geological transformations during the early Pleistocene period (1.8
million years ago). These transformations included significant tectonic
movements with corresponding volcanic activities and extremely high
sea-level fluctuations.
A craggy mountainous landscape reflects
the island’s turbulent geological history in the midst of the so-called
‘Ring of Fire’, a geologically unstable hot-spot. Flores is part of a
volcanic belt which stretches from Sumatra through Java and Bali to the
Banda Sea. The island’s highest, still active volcanoes are Mount Egon
(1703m) in Maumere and Mount Inerie (2245m) in the Ngada district.
However, the most famous volcano is Kelimutu with its tri-colored crater
lakes, shimmering in green, turquoise, and black-red. Although many of
the volcanoes in Flores are not classified as active, they display a
number of post-volcanic formations worth seeing, such as calderas,
basalt columns, and volcanic lakes.
The volcanic activity is strongly linked
to the island’s position in a subduction zone, which is a tectonically
active spot where a number of different tectonic plates – the Eurasian,
Pacific, Indian-Australian, and Philippino plates – collide. There, the
heavier oceanic plate sinks under the lighter continental plate, where
they melt in the heat of a layer of liquid asthenosphere. The emerging
pressure, friction, and melting processes at the edge of these plates
often cause volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Flores is
very prone to these natural powers that sometimes cause major disasters:
in 1992, a strong earthquake, followed by a massive tidal wave, claimed
the lives of 3,000 people and destroyed the town of Maumere and its
surroundings.
History
Since very early times, the Florinese
have been confronted with people from many parts of the world. Some of
them came with purely economic intentions, others with ideas of power
and belief. Whatever their interest in Flores might have been, it is
certain that these outside influences left their footprints and
contributed to the already manifold social and cultural diversity.
Flores has had its own history long
before the first traders or missionaries arrived. However, as ancient
Florinese societies shared their history through oral tradition, little
is known about the origins of many of them. The first foreign visitors
to Flores probably encountered dispersed, independent settlements
consisting of several lineages which descended from a common ancestor.
By that time, political authority was locally limited.
Before the first Europeans reached
Flores, Makassarese and Bugis seafarers from Southern Sulawesi came to
Flores for trading and slave raiding, and took control of some of the
coastal areas. While the eastern coastal areas of Flores were under the
authority of the emperors of Ternate in the Moluccas, West Flores was
prominently ruled by the sultanates of Bima in Sumbawa and Goa in
Sulawesi.
Colonial era
A Portuguese expedition crew reached the
island in the early 16th century and named it ‘Cabo das Flores’, which
means ‘Cape of Flowers’. The island became an important strategic point
for the economic activities of Portuguese traders. However, Flores
itself was neither a source of valuable spices nor sandalwood. After a
long period of struggling with other trade powers, the Portuguese were
finally defeated and withdrew themselves to Dili in East Timor in 1769.
They renounced all their spheres of influence in Eastern Indonesia and
sold their remaining enclaves on Flores to the Dutch administration.
Even though the Dutch administration was
eager to expand its influence in Indonesia, it hardly interfered in
local political issues at the beginning. When the Dutch administration
decided to increase Flores’ potential as a source of income for its
state treasury, systematic measures were taken to improve the island’s
infrastructure and educational system. Being increasingly challenged
with rebellions and inter-tribal wars, the Dutch army launched a massive
military campaign in 1907 to settle the disputes. After being subdued
in 1909, the island was provided with a new administrative system,
dividing it into the five major districts of Manggarai, Ngada, Ende,
Sikka, and Flores Timur. Each of these administrative units was headed
by a local leader who was appointed by the Dutch colonial government.
Except for a short period of Japanese
occupation during World War II, the Dutch remained the dominating
colonial force until Indonesia became an independent nation state in
1945.
Nation building
The main focus of Indonesia’s first
president, Soekarno, was the building of a national identity for the
new-born state and the preservation of its fragile unity. Soekarno and
Hatta proclaimed Indonesian independence on 17th August 1945. After four
years of bitter armed struggle and international pressure, the
Netherlands formally recognized Indonesian independence. On 17th August
1945, Soekarno proclaimed a single unitary Republic of Indonesia. He
also elaborated the idea of Pancasila, Indonesia’s five pillars of
national unity, as an attempt to incorporate the many different
religious and ethnic groups into an independent nation state.
President Soeharto, who followed
Soekarno after a period of violent takeover in 1965, aimed to lead
Indonesia from its rural condition into the modern industrialized world.
An important political issue under his so-called New Order government
was the economic development and growth of Indonesia. Therefore, the
government launched many health care, education, economy, and
infrastructure programs and projects with the idea of bringing modernity
to the remotest villages. After a long period of governing Indonesia in
a rather authoritarian way, President Soeharto was brought to fall in
1998.
Flores today
After the Soeharto regime, Indonesia was
turning into a more democratic and decentralized state. The positive
effects of these new policies for Flores were limited: the majority of
the Florinese people could not directly benefit from the increased local
autonomy and decentralization, and remained to be among the poorest
inhabitants of Indonesia. Most families on Flores still struggle with
the educational system. They cannot afford to pay the school fees for
their children, thereby reducing their future opportunities to make a
living beyond rural agriculture. Besides, the access to health care is
very limited – not only in the remote villages, but also in the larger
towns. Furthermore, the access to water, electricity, transportation,
communication, and information is still at a low coverage level.
However, the policy shift from a
centralized focus on Javanese culture to an increased appreciation of
Indonesia’s rich local cultural varieties brought some positive change:
traditional cultural features and peculiarities are not equated with
backwardness anymore, but proudly valued as the country’s treasure and
heritage, which also has the potential to attract domestic and foreign
tourists – and their spending power.
People and culture
To talk about one single Florinese
culture would definitely not live up to the stunning variety that
visitors find in Flores: unique local expressions of livelihood,
ethnicity, language, origin, belief systems, social structures, and
history that found their way through history into the present.
Flores’ amazing cultural diversity can
be partly explained by its geographical attributes, partly also due to
outside influences. However diverse, Florinese societies still share
many common cultural and linguistic traits within and beyond their
island.
Language & Ethnicity
The uniqueness of Flores lies in its
amazing wealth of cultures, languages, and history. One of the
explanations for these local varieties lies in the island’s mountainous
nature: it hindered the access to the interior areas and made
communication between individual communities difficult, thus preserving a
huge range of long-standing local peculiarities.
Flores is inhabited by 1.8 million
people who roughly belong to the major ethno-linguistic entities of
Manggarai, Ngada, Nagekeo, Ende and Lio, Sikka and Lamaholot. These
groups can be further divided into many sub-entities with their own
cultural features and dialects.
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), the
official language, is used in the context of education, business, and
formal affairs. However, everyday conversations in Flores are still
carried out in the countless local languages and dialects, which all
belong to the so-called Austro-Polynesian language family.
Lamaholot
The Lamaholot people live in Eastern
Flores in an area reaching from the mainland of the Flores Timur
district to the islands of Solor, Adonara, and Lembata. Lamaholot is
more of a language than an ethnic group. The linguistic boundaries do
not exactly correspond to the political borders, and the Lamaholot
people do not consider themselves to be a cultural unity. However, the
name ‘Lamaholot’ has been recently applied to the ethnic group as they
share many common cultural elements – e.g. the widespread practice of
the use of elephant tusks as a part of marriage prestige.
Another widely shared element of
Lamaholot culture used to be its distinct system of ritual leadership,
where four ritual leaders also shared governing power: the kepala koten
(kepala means ‘head’ in Indonesian) was in control of internal village
affairs. The kepala kelen took care of the external affairs. The other
two positions, hurit (also hurin or hurint ) and marang, had advisory
functions, while other influential village elders ensured that none of
these leaders got too powerful.
As is common place in many parts of
Eastern Indonesia, the Lamaholot people also used to recognize a
double-gendered divine being, consisting of ‘Lera Wulan’ (sun-moon) and
its female complement, ‘Tana Ekan’. Nowadays, the male Lera Wulan is
associated with the Christian or Muslim notion of God. According to the
traditional Lamaholot belief system, lesser spirits, called nitu,
inhabit treetops, large stones, springs, and holes in the ground. Also
worthy of mentioned are Ile Woka, the god of the mountains, and Hari
Botan, the god of the sea.
Besides prominent ceremonies and
festivals associated with house building, agricultural happenings, and
other events, the Lamaholot people also hold celebrations on the beach
in connection with the beginning of the annual fishing cycle.
Sikka
The Sikkanese people live in the Sikka
district in East-central Flores. They are famed for their fine ikat
weaving, a handicraft deeply rooted in Sikkanese society, which is still
of high economic and social importance. Producing probably the finest
ikat in Flores, it is a pleasure to see so many people wearing the
beautiful traditional sarongs in their daily lives. Besides the art of
ikat weaving, the district boasts a fascinating history of their ancient
kingdom and the integration of early outside influences into their
local culture.
The Tana ‘Ai and the Sikka-Krowe
The two major societies of this district
are the Tana ‘Ai people in the mountainous eastern part of the district
and the Sikka-Krowe people in the central areas, as well as on the
north and south coasts. Sikka is the name of the ethnic group as well as
the domain formerly ruled by the King of Sikka. Apart from speaking
different languages, the Sikka-Krowe and the Tana ‘Ai societies also
have some cultural differences.
Due to their isolated settlements, the
Tana ‘Ai were not exposed a lot to outside influence until recently.
They used to live in several loosely organized domains called tana.
These domains were less territorial entities, but more defined by
religious and ceremonial borders. Each tana was led by the head of the
domain’s founding clan, and also had its own mahé, a central ceremonial
site which was found either in the village center or at a place in the
surrounding forests. Unlike many (other) Florinese societies, the Tana
‘Ai never had their own kingdom, nor did they have a prominent
bride-wealth system. Another distinctive feature of the Tana ‘Ai is
their complex and elaborate ritual language.
In contrast, the Sikka-Krowe were
frequently exposed to foreign encounters, including the Portuguese at
the beginning of the 17th century, who left cultural footprints that are
still noticeable. The Sikka-Krowe turned into a small kingdom, with the
village of Sikka Natar on the south coast as its center of power.
The first king to rule Sikka in the
beginning of the 17th century was Mo’ang (or Don) Alésu Ximenes da
Silva. During the Portuguese era in Eastern Flores, the people of Sikka
Natar took on Portuguese names, with the name ‘da Silva’ referring to
the members of the ruling house. A myth dates the origin of this ruling
house to a time way before the arrival of the Portuguese. The story
tells about people from South Asia who were shipwrecked on the southern
coast of Flores near today’s Sikka Natar. As they could not repair their
ship, they decided to settle there. Soon they started to arrange
marriage alliances with the indigenous people who lived in the hilly
interior. Don Alésu is believed to be a descendant of these shipwrecked
wayfarers. The myth also tells that the young Don Alesu travelled to
Malaka where he studied political science and got acquainted with
Christian religion. When he returned to Sikka, he brought with him
Catholicism and founded the Kingdom of Sikka.
After Don Alésu, Sikka was under the
subsequent rule of seventeen of his descendants. During the 19th and
20th centuries, the Dutch transformed it into a semi-autonomous state,
based on a policy of self-rule. The small kingdom had its heyday right
after the Dutch withdrawal post World War II. With the passing of the
last king, Don Josephus Thomas Ximenes da Silva in 1952, the rule of the
royal house of Sikka came to an end. Even though the kingdom had to
give way to the young Indonesian nation state, it lived on in the memory
of the Sikkanese people as a prominent element of their cultural
history.
Ende-Lio
The festive Lio people live in the Ende
district of Central Flores, where they make up the ethnic majority. The
Lionese people use a fascinating range of artwork – architecture,
carving, ikat weaving, jewellery, and more – which bursts with symbols
that tell about their history, social life, and cultural values. Some of
the most prominent motifs in Lionese culture are boats, snakes, horses,
and humans. With natural attractions like the world-famous Kelimutu
crater lakes, the Lio area is a hiker’s paradise and worth at least a
couple of days of exploring.
The influence of adat
belief systems
is still quite strong in the Lio area. This may be explained by the
fact that most of the Lionese people settled in mountainous terrain,
therefore never gave up dry-rice farming. Consequently, many ritual and
ceremonial activities related to the agricultural cycle of dry rice are
still considered important, be it at the time of starting a new dry-rice
field, the planting, or harvesting.
A characteristic of many Florinese
cultures, the traditional Lionese belief system, is also centered around
the notion of a highest divine being that unites opposites, called du’a
gheta lulu wula, nggae ghale wena tana – the old one up on the Moon,
the ruler on Earth. The Lionese people believe in an afterlife.
Therefore, the dead are buried with gifts to take to their afterlife.
Good and bad spirits, as well as magic practices, are other important
elements of the traditional belief system. Many of these ideas and
practices live on, quite smoothly paralleled by Catholicism and Islam.
The Lionese people used to have and
still have a distinct political system dominated by the mosalaki –
leadership personalities with different responsibilities. At the very
top of the hierarchy stands the ria bewa, or the ‘great long one’. As he
has an all- encompassing decisive power, he may be called the highest
authority of a Lionese village. The ria bewa is followed by the mosalaki
pu’u, the ‘first mosalaki’, who takes the role of the ria bewa’s
executive and assistant in ritual matters. If, for example, the ria bewa
decides that measures have to be taken to bring rain, the mosalaki pu’u
will ensure that the necessary rituals will be arranged and performed
properly. Depending on the size of a community, there is a number of
additional mosalaki, each with his own specific responsibilities.
Ngada Nagekeo
Visitors to Flores who are eager to
encounter an extraordinarily vivid traditional material and ideal
culture should take some time to meet the Ngada (or Ngadha) and the
Nagekeo people. These fascinating communities live in Kabupaten Ngada
and Kabupaten Nagekeo, the same-named districts in Central Flores. The
Ngada people prominently settled around the legendary Mount Inerie and
the district’s capital town, Bajawa. The Nagekeo people settled around
the district’s capital town, Mbay. Apart from the Ngada and the Nagekeo
communities, who represent the major socio-cultural units, the districts
are home to several minor ethno-linguistic groups.
Even though the icons of Ngada culture –
eye-catching ancestral shrines, impressive megalithic formations, a
distinct architecture and a vivid ceremonial live are testimonies to a
distant past; they are not just relics, but an integral part of the
Ngada people’s present, which is a syncretistic co-existence of ancient
belief systems and Catholicism.
In contrast to other Florinese societies
and the Nagekeo people whose social organization is based on
patri-linearity, the Ngada people determine their clan belonging through
their maternal line. Genealogical continuity is transmitted only
through women, and the children are regarded as members of their
mother’s clan. Land rights, material inheritance and residence are
passed on matrilineally as well. However, Ngada matrilineal structure
does not mean that women have all the decisive power in a community’s
daily life. It is the men who usually dominate the public sphere,
gatherings, and political or legal debates. In the private realm,
though, it is the women who take prominent decisive roles.
In their local language, the Ngada
people refer to their village as nua. A nua consists of several houses
which are owned by different clans. The houses are usually set up along
two parallel lines. Each clan owns a pair of ancestral shrines, Ngadhu
and Bhaga, which are situated in the center of the Nua. Next to the
shrines, arrangements of megaliths are another famous element of Ngada
material culture.
The most popular villages in the Ngada district are
Bena and
Wogo.
Both have become signposts of Ngada culture and display the richness of
Ngada traditions. However, there are many other villages off the beaten
track which are worth a visit.
The Manggaraian people are famed for
their long-standing heritage of ritual and ceremonial life, as well as
distinct agricultural and architectural practices.
Caci performances, lingko fields and the
Penti ceremony
are just a few among many highlights that the Manggaraian people are
proud of. With its many myth-spun cultural sites, embedded in beautiful
natural surroundings, Manggarai offers treasures not to be missed during
a trip to Flores.
Manggarai, situated in the westernmost
part of Flores, is the island’s most densely populated region. It is
divided into the three kabupaten (administrative districts) of
Manggarai Barat in the West, Manggarai in the center, and Manggarai
Timur in the East. Manggarai is considered to be roughly an
ethno-linguistic unit. However, there are many different dialects of the
Manggaraian language as well as some local variations of cultural
elements.
Very little is known of the earliest
history of the Manggaraian people. This gives way to colorful myths and
stories about their origin and descent. Many Manggaraian people believe
that their ancestors came from Minangkabau in West Sumatra, settled on
the coast, then proceeded to the island’s interior.
A central theme of Manggaraian culture
is the unity of the village, the house, and the fields, which is most
visibly expressed in their circular shape and their spatial division
into segments. A house used to be much more than a shelter to its
inhabitants, rather an expression of identity and belonging: the
particular architecture and structure symbolized kinship and marriage
relations, as well as patrilineal descent. Before the Dutch colonial
administration put an end to this way of living, entire clans used to
inhabit a single house, with different generations living side by side.
