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Local tradition on Alor and Pantar; An attempt at localizing Galiyao

1995; Brill; Volume: 151; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1163/22134379-90003040

2213-4379

Susanne Rodemeier,

Philippine History and Culture

An Attempt at Localizing GaliyaoGaliyao appears, among other geographical names, in the Nagara-Kertagama, an old Javanese text of the realm of Majapahit written in 1357.Early European maps and documents also mention Galiyao 1 (Barnes 1982:407-8).Then, around 1650, the name seems to have suddenly disappeared.This 'disappearance' does not permit easy identification of the location of Galiyao.As a result, modern scholars trying to identify this location have had to argue indirectly, basing their determination on the sometimes rather vague information of early European sources.Van Fraassen (1976:295-6) based his identification on a phonetic similarity of names, suggesting an identification of Galiyao with the island of Kalao, situated between Flores and Selayar.Barnes acknowledges the strength of Van Fraassen's argument where he writes: 'Kalao does indeed look more like Galiyao than do the designations of any of the other islands or districts which have been suggested from time to time, and the strength of van Fraassen's position lies in this similarity' (Barnes 1982:407).Nonetheless, Barnes (1982:409) as well as Le Roux (1929:12), who relied basically on written documents and maps, came to the conclusion that the island of Pantar should be considered as the original Galiyao.That the 'disappearance' of the name Galiyao around 1650 is not a reality becomes evident only when one looks at local traditions.On Adonara and Solor, Dietrich (1984:317) found references to 'Galéau', which, interestingly enough, was associated with an area between Lembata and Alor, thus supporting Le Roux's and Barnes' identification.Besides Dietrich's information on the west of Alor and Pantar, I discovered that there was a Galiyao known even to the east of these two islands, namely on Wetar.Elbert stopped on this island during his 'Sunda Expedition' in 1910 (Elbert 1911-12,11:223).Here he met traders from Alor and from the small island of Pulau Kambing, also known as Atauro, which is located between Alor and Wetar.Some Wetarese, namely the Tobu Tihu living in the interior of Wetar, called these traders 'Galigau'.The Tobu Tihu claim a common origin with the 'Galigau' people.This is seen as a ' In these documents the various spellings, such as Galiyao, Gallejau, Galigau, Galéau, Galiou, Galao, and so on, are probably the result of the name being written as it was heard by different foreigners.