Rotenese

The Rotenese are the Austronesian people of Rote Island, a dry savanna island southwest of Timor, with communities also on neighbouring Ndao and in West Timor. Their traditions trace them to migrants from Seram in Maluku who reached Rote between the late 1200s and the 1500s, in the Majapahit era, when the first Rotenese rulers are mentioned. They also settled on Timor, farming with slash-and-burn fields and irrigation.

Rotenese is a Southwest Malayo-Polynesian language with many dialects. Their old faith centred on the creator Lamatuan, symbolised by a three-branched pillar, and the horned ti'i langga straw hat remains the mark of Rotenese identity.