History

Local history holds that ancestors of contemporary Kai islanders came from Bali, part of the expanding Majapahit kingdom from the western archipelago. The village of Ohoi-Ewur (first Raja Ewab: Raja Ohoi-Ewur = Raja Tabtut) on Kai Kecil or Nuhuroa island was the arrival point for the Balinese aristocrats and their army. They stayed in the village with local residents. As a result, Ohoi-Ewur became a seat of government, where the local law (Larvul Ngabal) – Red Blood and Balinese Spear – was developed at the initiative of the royal princess Dit Sakmas.^[11]

Evidence for these stories include an inheritance and a harbor named 'Bal Sorbay' (Bali Surabaya) on Kai Kecil which is, presumably, the harbor at which the royals arrived.

It is recognized by Kai islanders that some of their ancestors came from other places such as Sumbawa island (Sumbau), Buton (Vutun) in Sulawesi, Seram (Seran) and Gorom (Ngoran) islands in the Central Moluccas, and the sultanates of Jailolo (Dalo) and Ternate (Ternat) as well.

The tiny island of Tanimbarkei is not part of Tanimbar, as the name might suggest, but is one of the Kai Islands. It is inhabited by fewer than 1000 very traditional people. Half of the population call themselves Hindus, but are more or less practicing ancestor worship.

After the 1999 clashes between the Muslim and Christian populations in Ambon, similar inter-communal clashes swept through Kai but quickly calmed down.

All of the islands depend on 22 ratshcaap, or traditional local leaders called Rat or Raja, as kings of customary law.

Languages

The official language in the Kai Islands is Indonesian, although local languages exist between regions.

Three Austronesian languages are spoken on the Kai Islands; Keiese is the most widely spoken, in 207 villages on Kai Kecil, Kai Besar, and surrounding islands. Kurese is spoken on Kur Island and nearby Kaimeer, where Kai is used as a lingua franca. Bandanese is spoken in the villages of Banda-Eli (Wadan El) and Banda-Elat (Wadan Elat) on the west and northeastern side of Kai Besar. Banda speakers originally came from the Banda Islands, but the language is no longer spoken there.

There is no native writing system for the Keiese language. Dutch Catholic missionaries wrote the language using a variation of the Roman alphabet.^[12]

Musical instruments

Some Kai musical instruments include:

• Savarngil: A small native flute from 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches) long, open at both ends with six fingerholes placed along the pip. It is made of bamboo and keyless.
• Tiva: Single headed drums, consist of a calf skin membrane which is stretched over an enclosed space or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel.
• Dada: A medium-size gong 30 to 38 centimeters (12 to 15 inches) in size, with a crashing sound and a raised boss or nipple in the center.

Religion

The predominant religion in the Kai Islands is Christianity, where unlike like much of the surrounding area there are more Catholics (44%) than Protestants (26%). Consequently, the islands are regarded as the center of Catholicism in all of Maluku.^[13]

A primary minority in the region consists of Muslims (28%) and half of the people who live on the small island of Tanimbarkei practice a variant of the Hindu religion, which involves a form of ancestor worship.

Mythology

Their story of creation is an earth-diver myth that involves sending a dog down to the earth, who brings up his sandy paws.^[14]

There were three brothers and two sisters in the upper sky-world. While fishing one day, Parpara, the youngest of the brothers, lost a fish-hook which he had borrowed from Hian, his oldest brother. Angered by the loss of the hook, Hian demanded that it be found and returned to him. After much fruitless search, the Parpara met a fish who asked him what his trouble was, and who, on learning the facts, promised to aid in the search. At length they discovered another fish who was very ill because of something stuck in its throat. The object proved to be the long-lost hook, which the friendly fish delivered to Parpara, who thus was able to restore it to its owner.

Parpara, however, determined to have his revenge upon his brother, and so he secretly fastened a bamboo vessel full of palm liquor above Hian's bed in such a way that when the latter rose, he would be almost certain to upset it. The expected happened, and Parpara then demanded of his brother that he return to him the spilled liquor. Hian endeavoured, of course fruitlessly, to gather it up, and in his efforts dug so deeply into the ground that he made an opening clear through the sky-world.

Wondering what might lie below, the brothers determined to tie one of their dogs to a long rope and lower him through the aperture; and when they had done this, and the dog had been drawn up again, they found white sand sticking to his feet, whereupon they resolved to go down themselves, although the other inhabitants of the heaven-world refused to accompany them thither. Sliding down the rope, the three brothers and one of the sisters, together with their four dogs, safely reached the world which lay below, and which was thus discovered for the first time. As the second sister was descending, however, one of the brothers chanced to look up, at which his sister was so ashamed that she shook the rope and was hauled up by the other sky-people. In this way the three brothers with their sister were the first occupants of the world and became the ancestors of the human race.

Agriculture

The soil on Kai Kecil is of poor quality; slash-and-burn agriculture is common. Fishing is usually done around Trepang, and cultured pearls are harvested in Kai Kecil.