Atoni
The Atoni (also known as the Atoin Meto or the Dawan) are an ethnic group on Timor, in Indonesian West Timor and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno. They number around 600,000.
According to ethnographer Clarke Cunningham, their culture is notable for its spatial symbolism, associated with a gender dichotomy. Each cardinal direction is associated with a gender, as are different parts of a house. Sex and gender do not always line up, as an important lord is called a "female-man," and is accordingly always a man, but performs stereotypically female duties.[citation needed]
Their language is one of the Timor-Flores group of Austronesian languages. The language has a variant spoken in the East Timorese-controlled area of Oecussi-Ambeno, locally referred to as Baikenu. Baikenu uses words derived from Portuguese, for example, obrigadu for "thank you", instead of the Indonesian terima kasih. [1]
A wordlist of 200 basic vocabulary items is available at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database[2].
Notes
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2009) |
Further reading
- Clarke E. Cunningham, Atoni Borrowing Of Children: An Aspect Of Mediation, in: Spiro, M.E. (ed.), American Ethnological Society Proceedings, Annual Spring Meeting, Seattle, 1965.
- Clarke E. Cunningham, Categories Of Descent Groups In A Timorese Village, in: Oceania 37, 1966:13-21.
- Herbert W. Jardner, Textilien der Atoni. Variationen eines Stils in West-Timor, unpubl. Magisterschrift, 1988,Köln.
- Herbert W. Jardner, Die Kuan Fatu-Chronik. Form und Kontext der mümdlichen Dichtung der Atoin Meto (Amanuban, Westtimor), Veröffentlichungen des Seminars für Indonesische und Südseesprachen der Unsiversität Hamburg, Band 23, Berlin und Hamburg, 1999.
- Herbert W. und Heidrun Jardner, Eingefangene Fäden. Textile Verzierungstechniken in West-Timor, Indonesien, Austronesia Bd.1, herausgegeben von Rainer Carle und Peter Pink, 2., neu bearb. und erw. Aufl., Hamburg, 1995.
- Andrew R. McWilliam, Harvest of the nakaf: A Study of Headhunting Among the Atoni of West Timor, B.Litt.thesis, Australian National University, 1982.
- Andrew R. McWilliam, Narrating the gate and the path. Place and precedence in South West Timor, Ph.D.thesis Australian National University, 1989.
- Schulte Nordholt, H.G., The Political System Of The Atoni Of Timor, Verhandelingen Koninklijk Instituut 60, 1971.
- Schulte Nordholt, H.G., The Symbolic Classification Of The Atoni Of Timor, in: James J. Fox, The Flow Of Life, Essays On Eastern Indonesia, Harvard University Press, 1980:231-247.
See also
External links
- Ethnologue entry for Uab Meto
- Ethnologue entry for Baikeno
- Yohanes Manhitu's Uab Meto (Dawanese Language) Site
- Atoni Wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
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