Ambonese people

Ambonese
Orang Ambon[1]
Ambon bride and groom in traditional attire.
Total population
c. 1.590.000
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia
Netherlands
Suriname
Australia
United States
Indonesia (Maluku)c. 1.500.000
Netherlandsc. 90.000
Languages
Ambonese Malay, bahasa tanah, Indonesian (in Indonesia), Dutch (in Netherlands)
Religion
50% Sunni Islam and 50% Christianity[2]
Related ethnic groups
Melanesians, Polynesians, Moluccans, Malagasy

The Ambonese (Orang Ambon) are an ethnic group of mixed Austronesian and Polynesians origin from Ambon Island and the southwest of Seram Island in Indonesia's Maluku Province. Additionally, there are about 35,000 Ambonese living in the Netherlands.[3] As of the 2007 census, there were 258,331 Ambonese living in Ambon, Maluku.[4] The Ambonese are predominantly Muslim and Christian.[2]

Language

The dominant language is Ambonese Malay, also known as Ambonese. It developed as a trade language in the central part of Maluku and is spoken as a second language elsewhere in Maluku. Many Ambonese speak their own regional languages, which are collectively known as bahasa tanah. Fluency in bahasa tanah is most common in Muslim communities, whereas in Christian villages they have mostly been replaced by Ambonese Malay.[5] Additionally, many Ambonese people speak Indonesian, especially around Ambon City and other urban areas, such as Jakarta.[6]

Religion

The predominant religions of the Ambonese are Christianity (Reformed Christianity and Roman Catholicism) and Sunni Islam. According to Mikhail Anatolievich Chlenov, relations between the adherents of both faiths have generally been peaceful, based on the community bonds through pela, a type of blood-brother relationship.[7] However, he also mentions that clashes between Ambonese people and other non-indigenous ethnic groups occur on religious grounds. Rising tensions in the 1990s resulted in the 1998 Maluku sectarian conflict. With the threat of civil war, many were forced to move to refugee camps in Ambon, with divisions solidifying between Muslim and Christian communities.[8] The conflict resulted in thousands of casualties and up to 700,000 people displaced.[9]

History

Ambon was first colonized by Portugal in 1526, before being occupied by the Dutch in 1605 in an attempt to monopolize the nutmeg trade, ultimately resulting in the Amboyna massacre.[10]. There was significant population mixing between the indigenous populations of Ambon Island and Seram Island, the victims of the international slave trade, and immigrants from other parts of Indonesia and Europe.[11] The spice trade established under the rule of the Sultanate of Ternate was also seized by the Portuguese and Dutch.[12]

The Ambonese people resisted Dutch colonization into the 19th century. By the mid-19th century, however, many had Europeanized and achieved a privileged position in Indonesia. These wealthy townspeople (nicknamed "black Dutch" by Europeans) were legally equated with the ruling colonizers and were involved in state and military services. Many indigenous customs such as tattooing have largely disappeared as a result of this assimilation.[13][14][15]

During the Indonesian National Revolution of 1945–1949, large groups of Ambonese people, especially members of the colonial army, emigrated to the Netherlands and New Guinea.[3]

Economy

Ambon is a center of production of spices such as carnation and nutmeg,[10] as well as sago.[16] Fishery, agriculture, horticulture, and small trades are also common means of earning a living in Ambon.[17] Ambonese craftsmen work in various industries such as pottery, blacksmithing, weapons making, shipbuilding, carving on tortoiseshell and mother of pearl, making ornamental crafts from carnation buds, and weaving boxes and mats from strips of palm leaves.[18]

Social structure

Many Ambonese live in traditional rural communities called negeri, headed by a leader called a raja. Communities are divided into territorial groups called soa, which consist of patrilineal clans called mata ruma. Marriage ceremonies are performed only within sectarian groups, traditionally in the form of patrilocal marriages.[19] Relations between members of the community are governed by traditional norms of behaviour called adat. Today, adat largely governs matters of family, inheritance and land rights, and elections for leadership positions.[20]

Culture and lifestyle

A typical Ambonese village consists of about 1,500 people who live in houses made from woven sago leaves[16] or plastered bamboo, wood, and coral stones on stone foundations.[21] The people cultivate the surrounding hillsides.[13] Traditional rural settlements of Ambonese people are located on the shore and have a linear layout. Houses are built on stilts.

Clothing

Men adopted modern European-style clothing due to colonization,[22] only on special occasions wearing short jackets and black trousers.[23] Women often wear thin blouses or small-patterned sarongs. Older women typically wear black, while younger women typically wear bright colored cotton dresses up to knee-length.[24][25]

Food

The basis of the Ambonese diet is porridge made from sago starch,[16] vegetables, taro, cassava, and fish. The inhabitants of the Ambon Island also have access to imported rice.

Music

The Ambonese people have a rich musical folklore which has absorbed many European musical elements—for example, the Ambonese quadrille (katreji)[26] and the songs of the lagoon, which are accompanied by a violin and lap steel guitar.[27] Traditional musical instruments include the 12 gongs,[28] drums, bamboo flute (efluit),[29] xylophone (tatabuhan kayu)[30] and the Aeolian harp.

References

  1. ^ "Mengenal Asal Suku Ambon, Etnis Terbesar di Antara Orang-orang Maluku". detail73.com (in Indonesian). Detail 73. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Indonesia: The violence in Ambon - Indonesia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 1999-03-31. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. ^ a b Georgina Ashworth, ed. (1977). "Minority Rights Group". World Minorities, Volume 1. Quartermaine House. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-905898-00-1.
  4. ^ Adam, Jeroen (2010). "How ordinary folk became involved in the Ambonese conflict: Understanding private opportunities during communal violence". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 166 (1): 25–48. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003624. JSTOR 27868550.
  5. ^ Soplanit, Julian (28 March 2011). ""Bahasa Tana": The Mother Tongue of the Moluccan People". juliansoplanit.blogspot.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ James T. Collins (1980). Ambonese Malay and Creolization Theory. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ASIN B007FCCSKG.
  7. ^ Михаил Анатольевич Членов (1976). Население Молуккских Островов. Наука. OCLC 10478045.
  8. ^ Patricia Spyer (October 2002). "Fire without Smoke and Other Phantoms of Ambon's Violence: Media Effects, Agency, and the Work of Imagination". Indonesia. 74 (74): 31. doi:10.2307/3351523. hdl:1813/54277. JSTOR 3351523.
  9. ^ "Ambon: Colonialism, Peace and Music". What an Amazing World!. 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  10. ^ a b A. Kurniawan Ulung (29 September 2017). "Banda Islands a hidden treasure in Indonesia". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  11. ^ Илья Полонский (2018). Кровь джунглей: партизанские войны в Азии. Litres. ISBN 978-50-403-3809-2.
  12. ^ Muridan Satrio Widjojo (2009). The Revolt of Prince Nuku: Cross-Cultural Alliance-making in Maluku, C.1780-1810. BRILL. p. 1. ISBN 978-90-041-7201-2.
  13. ^ a b "Grolier Incorporated". Academic American Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Grolier. 1989. ISBN 978-0-7172-2024-3.
  14. ^ Maarten Hesselt Van Dinter (2005). The World Of Tattoo: An Illustrated History. Centraal Boekhuis. ISBN 978-90-683-2192-0.
  15. ^ Budy P Resosudarmo & Frank Jotzo, ed. (2009). Working with Nature against Poverty: Development, Resources and the Environment in Eastern Indonesia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 278. ISBN 978-98-123-0959-4.
  16. ^ a b c Ellen Hitipeuw-Palyama (1 January 2018). "Siwalima Museum, Treasures from the Moluccas Revisited". Global Indonesian Voices. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  17. ^ John E. Dixon & Robert P. Scheurell (1995). Social security programs: a cross-cultural comparative perspective. Greenwood Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-313-29654-3.
  18. ^ Richard Chauvel (1990). Nationalists, soldiers and separatists: the Ambonese islands from colonialism to revolt, 1880–1950. KITLV Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-90-671-8025-2.
  19. ^ Frank L. Cooley (1962). Ambonese kin groups. Ethnology. Vol. 1. p. 102. OCLC 882992239.
  20. ^ Frank L. Cooley (1966). "Altar and Throne in Central Moluccan Societies". Indonesia: A Semi-Annual Journal Devoted to Indonesia's Culture, History and Social and Political Problems. Indonesia, No. 2: 140. ISSN 0019-7289.
  21. ^ John E. Dixon & Robert P. Scheurell (1995). Social security programs: a cross-cultural comparative perspective. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-29654-3.
  22. ^ Roxana Waterson (2009). Paths and Rivers: Sa'dan Toraja Society in Transformation. KITLV Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-90-671-8307-9.
  23. ^ H. W. Ponder (1944). In Javanese Waters: Some Sidelights on a Few of the Countless Lovely, Little Known Islands Scattered Over the Banda Sea & Some Glimpses of Their Strange & Stormy History. Seeley, Service & Company Limited. p. 176. OCLC 274703.
  24. ^ The National Geographic Magazine, Volume 73. National Geographic Society. 1938. p. 707.
  25. ^ Reimar Schefold, Vincent Dekker & Nico de Jonge (1991). Indonesia in focus: ancient traditions, modern times. Kegan Paul International. p. 126.
  26. ^ Don Van Minde (1997). Malayu Ambong: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax. Research School CNWS. p. 342. ISBN 978-90-737-8294-5.
  27. ^ Don Niles & Denis Crowdy, ed. (2000). Papers from Ivilikou: Papua New Guinea Music Conference & Festival (1997). Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies. p. 22. ISBN 978-99-806-8041-9.
  28. ^ Jaap Kunst (2013). Music in Java: Its history, Its Theory and Its Technique. Springer. p. 160. ISBN 978-94-017-7130-6.
  29. ^ Tom Dutton & Darrell T. Tryon (1994). Language Contact and Change in the Austronesian World. Walter de Gruyter. p. 262. ISBN 978-3-11-088309-1.
  30. ^ Jaap Kunst, Elisabeth den Otter, Felix van Lamsweerde & Maya Frijn (1994). Sammlung. Royal Tropical Institute Press (KIT (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen). p. 193.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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