Also known as Barawahing, Barue or Namatalaki, the Abui are an indigenous ethnic group residing on Alor Island, located through southeastern Indonesia, not far from the northwestern coast of Timor. The term Abui means "mountains" or alternatively "enclosed place". Abui language is a member of the Alor-Pantar languages, a family of clearly related Papuan languages. Their original religion was animistic until much later when Protestant missionaries arrived, and many Abui people become Christians.
According to their oral tradition, Abui people settled in Alor in ancient times and did not find other settlers there. The same tradition accounts that they dwelled in caves in the mountains in the Mainang area. Abui refer to neighbouring tribes as "younger siblings" or as "new arrivals". Abui speakers are mainly farmers, but in mountainous areas hunting and gathering is also an important supplement to the staple diet of corn, cassava, and rice.
In the coastal areas, which are less favourable for agriculture, many farmers have switched to fishing, the traditional activity of the Austronesian population. Traditional livestock are pigs and chicken. The diet is not well balanced, often resulting in poor health conditions and anaemia, especially among children and women. In the mountainous areas the situation is better as traditional hunting provides a more balanced diet. The mountains also favour a number of important cash crops.
Considered a cultural heritage area by the Alor Regency, the Abui "traditional village of Takpala" is a tourist destination consisting of a small cluster of traditional houses on a hillside. Visitors watch performances, pose for photographs in traditional attire, and buy handicrafts. The village engage in a traditional dance known as lego-lego, in which dancers move in a circular pattern. Gongs and mokos are also beaten.
About the stamps
The first two stamps make up the series Millennium Computer Bug, issued on May 2, 1999.
The second stamp is part of the series Early Childhood Education, issued on May 2, 2014. The three stamps have the same face value (3.000 IDR)
The last stamp is part of the series UN World Conference on Disarter Risk Reduction, issued on March 14, 2015. The three stamps have the same face value (3.000 IDR).
1/3 Disarter Risk Reduction
2/3 Flood disarter Mitigation
3/3 Humanitarian Aid - It's on the postcard 3026
References
Abui people - Wikipedia
Sender: Dionisius Sundoro (direct swap)
Sent from Bandung (Java / Indonesia), on 22.03.2017
Photo: Marlin Bato
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