Moluccans

Moluccans
Molucanos / Molukkers / Orang Maluku

200px Souteastern Maluku traditional ceremony.
Total population
(approx 3,900,000)
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia (Maluku, Maluku Islands, West Papua) The Netherlands Australia Austria New Zealand East Timor Germany Canada United Kingdom United States Israel Italy Denmark Portugal Spain Russia
Languages
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages: Dawera-Daweloor language, Taliabo language, English, Dutch, German, Italian
Religion
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hindu, Folk religion
Related ethnic groups
Melanesians, Papuan people

Moluccans refer to the original, indigenous inhabitants of the Maluku Islands, also called the Moluccas, which have been part of Indonesia since 1949. Moluccans are a blanket term for many ethnic and linguistic groups inhabiting the island groups.

Moluccans were originally Melanesian in origin. However, a long history of trade and seafaring has resulted in a high degree of mixed blood ancestry among Moluccans. Austronesian peoples added to the native Melanesian population around 2000 BCE. Melanesian features are strongest in the islands of Kei and Aru and amongst the interior people of Seram and Buru islands.

Later added to this Austronesian-Melanesian mix were Indian, Arabian, Jewish, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch genes due to colonization and marriage with foreign traders in the Middle Ages or with European soldiers during World War. Small number of German descendants added to Moluccan population especially in Ambon along with arrival of Protestant Missionaries since 15th century.

In addition to Indonesia, a large number of Moluccans have emigrated to Europe, with Netherlands as the first destination since 1950s. Second and greater wave of exodus happened between 1999-2003 triggered by Civil War which permanently displaced more than 800.000 refugees. As the result, at least 1.4 million Moluccan living outside Indonesia today, while 2.5 million of them choose to stay in Moluccas and the other surrounding region such as Papua, West Timor, North Sulawesi, Bali and Java.

History

For other uses, see Moluccan diaspora.

After the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies during World War II, Netherlands wanted to restore the old colonial situation. The indigenous Indonesians were against it. However, led by rebels and Soekarno, a struggle for independence broke out between 1945 to 1949. The reconstituted Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) was commissioned by the Dutch government to maintain order and to disarm the rebels. Moluccan professional soldiers formed an important part of this army. The Moluccan community was thus regarded by the Dutch as allies and vice versa. The government of the Netherlands had promised them that they would get their own free state in return for assisting the Netherlands. After international efforts particularly the United States could not support the Netherlands to maintain its colony, the Dutch government could no longer keep its promise to the Moluccans for a free state. The Moluccans, who were seen by the Indonesians as collaborators, had to go to the Netherlands. Molucans who served in the command of KNIL would reside temporarily in the Netherlands. The Moluccans were then housed in camps in the Netherlands, including the former Westerbork transit camp.

The Dutch Moluccans had repeatedly drawn the attention of the Dutch government to their claim for a free Republic of South Maluku (Republik Maluku Selatan or RMS) state of which the Dutch government had promised earlier. In the seventies this escalated more and more. One of the methods to gain attention on this matter was through the violent hijackings of 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis in De Punt, Wijster where hostages were taken and the train hijackers were killed.

Language

The Moluccans speak over a hundred different languages, with a majority of them belonging to the Central Malayo-Polynesian languages, especially the Central Moluccan languages. An important exception is the island of Halmahera and its surrounding islands, where the majority of the population speak West Papuan languages. Another exception is the Ambonese Malay or Ambonese language, one of the Malay-based creole languages, spoken mainly on Ambon and the nearby Ceram.

Religion

For other uses, see Moluccan Evangelical Church.

The Moluccans in the northern Moluccas (present province of North Maluku) are mainly Muslim and the Moluccans in the central and southern Moluccas (present day Maluku (province)) are mainly Christians.

The religions that are most often espoused by Moluccans in the Netherlands are the Protestant faith, and to a lesser extent Islam. In the other parts of Europe such as Italy and Iberian Peninsula, most of them adhered to Catholic with smaller group of Orthodox in Austria. For the rest, the majority religion of a country defines the religion of its Moluccan society. For example, almost all Moluccan in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Timor Leste and Philippines are Catholic while those who are staying in Germany and Denmark are Protestant. Many were divided into religious groups in refuge following the Sectarian Conflict in 1999. These refugees were moving altogether to countries outside Asia which share the same majority religion, in search of the new safe haven.

There are significant number of native Hindu followers in Kei Islands although the region is predominately Catholic. Judaism were once brought by Dutch in 15th century however it is believed that Jews has been introduced to this island since the era of Ottoman Empire with various of Hebrew words found by scholars in several native languages. Large number of Jews emigrated to Israel during the Civil War in 1999-2004.