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CULTURES OF ALOR

The population of Alor Regency, East Indonesia, exceeds 200,000 presently. About 25 languages are spoken in Alor Regency including the national language, Bahasa Indonesia. Alurung, called Alorese by Western scholars, belongs to the same language family as Indonesian or the Austronesian ethnolinguistic family. The other languages spoken in the regency belong to the Alor-Pantar family. These include Abui, Adang, Blagar, Hamap, Kabola, Kiramang, Klon, Kui, Kula, Tereweng, and Wersing.

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Textile production is confined to coastal areas so we won't find weaving inland. Alurung settlements are coastal; thus, Alurung women weave. The majority of the Alor-Pantar language speaking groups live inland, such as the Abui, do not weave but produced barkcloth for clothing in the past. Some members of the Kabola continue this tradition. Women of other coastal communities speaking one of these non-Austronesian languages may weave. These include the Adang, Blagar, Kiramang, Kui, and Taruamang. The Klon, who live near the Kiramang on the coast of South Alor, wove in the past. 

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Learn more about these groups and their cultures in future blog posts.

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