East Timor Law Journal
Other Writings
WEAVING THE COUNTRY TOGETHER: IDENTITIES AND TRADITIONS IN EAST TIMOR



CONTENTS


CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION  

CHAPTER 2ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR PAST: THE LOCATION OF CLOTH WITHIN EAST TIMORESE COSMOLOGICAL SOCIO- CULTURAL STRUCTURES

CHAPTER 3TIMOR LOROSAE: INSIDE OR OUTSIDE INDONESIAN HISTORIES? CONCEPTS OF TRADITION AND IDENTIY

CHAPTER 4THE DYNAMIC DIALOGUE: THE FUTURE FOR EAST TIMORESE TEXTILES

CHAPTER 5CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


Natali Pride BA (Hons)
UNSW 2002


Contents

Abstractii

Statement of Originalityiii

Thesis Consultation Authorisation Form:      iv
School of History

Thesis Consultation Authorisation Form:       v
School of Modern Languages Studies

Interviewer’s Copyright Statement vi

Glossary               vii

List of Images      ix

1.Introduction1

2.All You Have Is Your Past: The Location of       17
          Cloth Within East Timorese Cosmological
          Socio-Cultural Structures

3.Timor Lorosae: Inside or Outside Indonesian    43
          Histories?  Concepts of Tradition and Identity

4.The Dynamic Dialogue: The Future for East      67
          Timorese Textiles

5.Conclusion       82

Bibliography                      88

Acknowledgements          103



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Abstract

The primary concern of this thesis is to address the imbalance and bias in current approaches to East Timorese histories through the medium of textiles, thus providing an alternative perspective on the prevailing historical discourse which distances East Timor from its cultural and geographical context.  The analysis is divided into five parts.

The central issues, raised in the Introduction, are identified as follows.  Firstly, no comprehensive study had yet been completed on East Timorese textiles or Timorese textiles in general.  East Timor’s rich material heritage receives peripheral attention within the available studies of Indonesian textiles.  Secondly, the bias in the literature favours political, colonial and military histories, subsequently gendering the historical discourse and bypassing women’s histories.  Finally, current manifestations of identity and tradition in East Timor reflect the imbalance of historical texts, with East Timorese nationalists relying on the presentation of a limited and homogeneous view of their many histories to justify independence.

Chapter Two focuses on the symbolic values attributed to cloth by the people of Timor, with specific reference to East Timor.  The close connection textiles have to ceremonies and rituals is demonstrated here with a discussion of headhunting and marital gift exchange.  While specific to each locality, the patterns of these rituals suggest an overarching unity of cultural patterns across the island.

The ensuing section, Chapter Three, is concerned with analysing concepts of tradition and identity in East Timor with respect to historical precedent.  This chapter uses textiles in a less overt manner, in order to extrapolate on these concepts and gain a broader perspective of the many connections between East Timorese and Indonesian histories.

The following section, Chapter Four, identifies textiles as increasingly active participants in the nationalist discourse, from the local to the international level.  This chapter brings the concerns of Chapter Three into the present period, and looks at the contribution currently being made by textiles to the contested issues of identities and traditions.  East Timorese weavers are increasingly finding themselves caught between a desire to modernise, and international demands for textiles which are firmly rooted in the past.  This chapter argues that the definition of contemporary textiles as ‘traditional’ is still valid, as they are essentially being used as they always have; that is, to communicate a message.

Finally, the conclusion addresses the limitations faced by this study, as well as recommending further avenues of research
Sources used include a wide variety of Indonesian and English books, journals, exhibition catalogues and newspaper and magazine articles; a series of interviews conducted in East Timor with weavers, co-ordinators of weaving co-operatives, and those selling the textiles provided a more contemporary perspective to the study.


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Statement of Originality

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except whereby due acknowledgement is made in the thesis.  Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis.

I declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.

(Signed) ………………………..

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THESIS CONSULTATION AUTHORISATION FORM
School of History

I, ............................................................................................. (name)
.................................................................................................(address)
understand that one copy of my .......................thesis,
entitled......................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
will be deposited in the School of History, UNSW, to be consulted by bona fide researchers as determined by the School of History.

I understand that the School’s current policy is to allow the borrowing of theses only by members of the academic staff, and I give the following authorisation for the use of my thesis:

I authorise the School of History to allow bona fide researchers and students to consult my thesis, provided that full acknowledgment is made in any resulting piece of work or publication;

I authorise the loan of my thesis to bona fide researchers as determined from time to time by the School of History;

I authorise the photocopying of sections of my thesis under the provisions of the Copyright Act.

Requests for restricted access for a period of up to two years should be made in writing to the Head of School.

Signed ..............................................................................
Dated ................................................................................

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THESIS CONSULTATION AUTHORISATION FORM
School of Modern Languages Studies

I, ............................................................................................. (name)
.................................................................................................(address)
understand that one copy of my .......................thesis,
entitled......................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
will be deposited in the School of Modern Languages Studies, UNSW, to be consulted by bona fide researchers as determined by the School of History.

I understand that the School’s current policy is to allow the borrowing of theses only by members of the academic staff, and I give the following authorisation for the use of my thesis:

I authorise the School of Modern Languages Studies to allow bona fide researchers and students to consult my thesis, provided that full acknowledgment is made in any resulting piece of work or publication;

I authorise the loan of my thesis to bona fide researchers as determined from time to time by the School of Modern Languages Studies;

I authorise the photocopying of sections of my thesis under the provisions of the Copyright Act.
Requests for restricted access for a period of up to two years should be made in writing to the Head of School.

Signed ..............................................................................
Dated ................................................................................

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INTERVIEWER'S COPYRIGHT STATEMENT


I ................................................................................................................
of ..................................................................................................................
..................................……………………………………………………
and student in the School of History and School of Modern Languages Studies, University of New South Wales, agree that

1. All the material I create or collect in the course of carrying out interviews will be owned by the School of History and School of Modern Languages Studies, UNSW.

2. Every copyright that I may have in programs of questions, tape recordings, interview transcripts, and any other material produced by my interviews will be assigned to the School of History and School of Modern Languages Studies, UNSW.

Signed .............................................
Date .................................................

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Glossary

The glossary consists of Indonesian words unless otherwise stated.


Alat-alatTool, equipment

Adat      Tradition, custom, customary law (from Arabic)

Batavia   Present-day Jakarta.  Named Batavia by Dutch East India Company in 1619, renamed                                                                            Jakarta during World War II by the Japanese

Batik      Cloth made by covering designs with wax, dying the whole cloth, melting off the wax,                                                                            then reapplying the wax and re-dying.  A distinctly Javanese form of decorating cloth.

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika          Usually translated as Unity in Diversity, this is Indonesia’s national slogan.

Ikat              Weaving style which involves tying groups of threads to form a resistance to the dye,                                                                            then weaving these partially dyed threads to form a motif or pattern.

Kain       Uncut sarong

Kebaya                 Javanese woman’s blouse, the front of which is fastened together, usually worn with a                                                                          sarong.  Now worn throughout Indonesia and Malaysia.

Kenangan            Memories, souvenirs

Leste     East (Portuguese)

Liurai     Local king

Lontar    Palm leaf


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Lorosae        East (Tetum)

Lulik                             Sacred objects believed to possess special powers (Tetum)

Mahar          Brideprice, bridewealth (Arabic)

Panca Sila                   Five Principles: belief in one supreme God; justice and civility among peoples; the unity                                                                         of Indonesia; democracy through deliberation and consensus among representatives;                                                                           social justice for all. 

Pasar           Market

Pasar Tais                          Textile market (Pasar: Indonesian; Tais: Tetum)

Patola                          Richly decorated Indian textile (Indian)

Selendang                           Shawl or scarf worn over one shoulder or diagonally across body

Tais                              East Timorese textile, handwoven and naturally dyed (Tetum)

Tais Feto                             East Timorese textile worn by women; uncut tubular form (Tetum)

Tais Mane                    East Timorese textile worn by men; a rectangular piece of cloth (Tetum)

Taman Mini Indonesia
Indah                                  Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Theme Park

Tradisional            Traditional

Uma Lulik                      Special house where sacred objects are stored (Tetum)


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List of Maps and Figures

Figure 1.19
Pasar Tais, Dili
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 1.210
Pasar Tais, Dili
Photo by Sancho Goncalves

Figure 2.118
Pasar Tais, Dili
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 2.224
Weaving Scene
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 2.332
Headhunting Costume

Figure 2.435
Dili’s Sports Stadium
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 2.539
Selendang
Photo by Andrew Payne/ Nicki Harber

Figure 2.640
1930s postcard

Figure 3.151
Altar Cloth

Figure 3.260
Image of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Figure 3.363
East Timor Provincial Museum
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 3.466
Map

Figure 4.168
Independence Day Celebrations


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Figure 4.271
Constituent Assembly Building
Photo by Natali Pride

Figure 4.372
Dili’s Sports Stadium

Figure 4.473
Independent Electoral Commission Poster

Figure 4.573
Independent Electoral Commission Poster

Figure 4.675
Selling threads in Los Palos

Figure 6.1102
Pasar Tais
Photo by Natali Pride

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