History of East Timor between Myths, Memory Realms, Macau and the Challenges of Cultural Anthropology

174 Pages·2016·0.98 MB·English

by  Ivo Carneiro de Sousa

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HISTORY OF EAST TIMOR
BETWEEN MYTHS, MEMORY REALMS, MACAU
AND THE CHALLENGES OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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History of East Timor
Author
Ivo Carneiro de Sousa
Publisher
EWIAS, East-West Institute for Advanced Studies
Design & Composition
Graffiti communications
Printing
Welfare Printing
First Edition, May 2018
1000 copies
© EWIAS & Ivo Carneiro de Sousa
ISBN 978-99965-709-1-9
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Ivo Carneiro de Sousa

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History of East Timor
Ivo Carneiro de Sousa
HISTORY OF EAST TIMOR
BETWEEN MYTHS, MEMORY REALMS, MACAU
AND THE CHALLENGES OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
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History of East Timor
C
ontents
P O
art ne
INTRODUCTION TO EAST TIMOR THROUGH MYTHS,
TRADITIONAL HISTORY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 11
P t
art wO
PRE-HISTORY, ETHNICITY, LANGUAGES
AND THE FORMATION OF EAST TIMOR PRE-COLONIAL HISTORY 31
P t
art hree
LINEAGES, ALLIANCES AND POLITIES,
COLONIAL RULE AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY 59
P F
art Our
PORTUGUESE AND LUSO-ASIAN LEGACIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
view from Bidao, east timor 81
Part Five
PHILIP II, EAST TIMOR, THE PHILIPPINES
AND THE TRUE KING OF TIMOR AND PORTUGAL 95
Part Six
SANDALWOOD, TRADERS, MISSIONARIES AND CHINESE EMIGRANTS
HISTORY OF MACAU-EAST TIMOR RELATIONS 115
reFerenceS 157
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History of East Timor
Is till remember as if it was yesterday the first paper on “pre-colonial history
of East Timor” that I have presented in late September 1983 in a solidarity
conference organized in Lisbon. In the end, the Timorese priest that
assembled the gathering, father Apolinário Maria Aparício Gueterres was
more than disappointed: he had only counted 17 people attending the day-
long conference, and more than half were the members of a traditional dance
group that performed during the event. In those early 1980’s still quiet close
to the brutal Indonesian invasion of the independent Democratic Republic
of East Timor few days after being proclaimed on November 28, 1975, the
Timorese national cause seemed forgotten, but not ever lost. Afterward, I
have attended tens of the most different conferences, debates, and workshops
on the so-called “East-Timor problem” where I had always tried to present
serious scientific perspectives on historical and anthropological themes. I had
also presented papers on, at least, ten international major conferences on East-
Timor in several different continents. Among other pleasant memories, I still
recall the vivid academic and political impacts of a conference organized in
Maputo, in 1997, entitled “Africa and the East-Timor question.” Gathering
African research centers from Portugal, Mozambique, South Africa, Angola
and others countries, coordinated with intelligence by Dr. Mari Alkatiri, the
conference has ended up with a superb closing lecture by Dra. Graça Machel
that after that has bridged the East-Timorese national resistance to Nelson
Mandela moral solidarity engagement: a very eloquent example of the
closest cooperation ever between advanced scientific research and generous
solidarity universal principles.
Other than teaching History and Culture of East Timor during several
years, from 1994 to 2002, supervising doctoral and master dissertations on
the country history and anthropology, I had coordinated between 1994-
1999 UNET (Universities Network for East-Timor), gathering more than 50
institutions from diverse world geographies. I was also the stirring research-
coordinator of the Portuguese Center for the Study of Southeast Asia
(CEPESA), between 2000 and 2005, two periods of the most challenging
work that allowed me to systematically publish and co-edit books, journals
issues and several novel papers on East-Timor. During these last two
decades, divers colleagues, friends and a lot of students have been asking me
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to gather some of my most useful papers and to come out with a book able
to help young researchers and post-graduate students. I have ever had time
to do it until, finally, these last months between 2017 and 2018 I decided
to return to my papers, even the oldest ones, and I have sincerely sought to
build up a useful printed volume. After countless hesitations, I have picked
up six texts among more than thirty, published between 1995 and 2011,
and started trying to give them some pertinent connections. The result was
indeed a lot of unforeseen work: I have not only revised the papers, but I
really rewrote them, updating sources, data and bibliography after reading
practically all, but not many, new interesting fresh research on East Timor
archeology, history and anthropology. The result of this effort finally ends
up with this title that I expect can sincerely encourage young researchers and
post-graduate students to study a country that I love and respect.
Lastly, readers from the most diverse cultural, ideological or political
backgrounds, and belonging as well, I hope, to different geographies and
nationalities will certainly either forget or understand me by dedicating this
book to one of the East-Timorese leaders that I have always admired the
most: to Dr. Mari Alkatiri with lasting esteem, com a estima de sempre.
Ivo Carneiro de Sousa
Taipa in front of Macau, May 1, 2018

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History of East Timor
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