Jakarta, IO – As an archipelagic country, Indonesia has tens of thousands of islands. The southernmost is Rote Island which is located between the Sawu Sea and borders the Indian Ocean.
The island consists of 107 smaller islands with only eight are inhabited islands. It has a total area of 330 square km, per Detikcom. Experts believe that the inhabitants of Rote Island came from Seram Island in Maluku.
According to history, the name ‘Rote’ originated from a Portuguese who made a landing there in the 15th century. Anecdotally, he asked a fisherman about the name of the island.
However, the confused fisherman replied with his own name. This was the amusing origin of the island’s name.
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According to the archives of the Dutch East Indies government, Rote Island was written as ‘Rotti or Rottij‘ which later redesignated to ‘Roti‘. However, the people of Rote who have nine dialects more often call it ‘Lote’ especially for those who cannot trill or roll the consonant /r/.
The tradition on Rote Island is fishing in the open sea called ndai tasi. Aside from means of livelihood, it is the foundation of their culture. In the past, ndai tasi was carried out to meet daily needs by capturing fish and other seafood. Surplus catches are usually shared with neighbors and family because they are considered valuable to share, not to be enjoyed by oneself. (un)