THE VILLAGE OF PEPELA, ROTI ISLAND, EAST NUSA TENGGARA & MAP OF ISLAND OF EAST NUSA TENGGARA, INCLUDING ROTE

The Village of Pepela, Roti Island,  East NUSA Tenggara 

(HOW TO GET) can be reached within two hours with the daily inter-island fast ferry from Kupang on West Timor. From Ba'A it is another two hours by public transport to Nemberala village.

A passenger ferry operates daily between Kupang and Pantai Baru, a small mangrove fringed bay on the northwestern side of Roti. A motor boat also travels twice a week between Pepela and the village of Namosain in Kupang. The trip takes around six hours depending on the weather conditions

Gambar : Pelabuhan Nelayan Tradisional “Papela” – Kecamatan Rote Timur—NTT merupakan  pangkalan utama para nelayan tradisional asal Pulau Rote, Sulawesi Setan, Bajo, Boton, Madura, dan Jawa Timur lainnya,  mencari biota laut ke Pulau Pasir =Ashmore Reef (Tanah Hak Ulayat Masyarakat Suku Rote) sepanjang tahun sejak ratusan tahun silam sebelum tahun 1522.

Di Pelabuhan ini, Antonio Pigafetta, asal Portugis rombongan Magelhaens dengan kapalnya “Victory”nya berlabuh dan bertemu dengan sorang nelayan tradisional bernama “Rotte” pada tanggal 30-04-1522, yang berlayar dari Filipina, dan meneruskan pelayarannya menuju Tanjung Harapan di Afrika Selatan, balik ke Eropa. Perahu para nelayan Papela, selalu ke Pulau Pasir (Ashmore Reef) Tanah Adat Hak Ulayat Masyarakat Suku Rote jauh sebelum kedatangan Antoni Pegafitta  pada tahun 1522, dan jauh sebelum, Inggris menemukan Benua Australia pada tahun 1788. Walaupun Keamanan Australia menagkap para nelayan tradisonal Indonesia khususnya asal Pulau Rote, namun tetap saja mereka mencari biota laut di Pulau Pasir, oleh karena mereka masih tetap merasa Pulau Pasir (Ashmore Reef)  adalah milik Masyarakat Suku Rote berabad-abat  hingga saat ini. (Sumber Gambar : Internet).

The island of Roti (Rote)  is located in the Timor Sea, southwest of Kupang, the capital of West Timor. It is the southernmost inhabited island of Indonesia. Administratively it is part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timor (East Nusa Tenggara). The capital of Roti is Ba'a, which is located on the western side of the island. The village of Pepela is located on the northeastern end of Roti and on the southern side of a large sheltered bay (see Map 2-3). The bay is fringed by sandy beaches and mangroves, while coral reefs are located in its centre. At the settlement of Pepela, the sandy beach drops away steeply providing a deep-water anchorage close inshore. The bay is very attractive and provides year round shelter from the strong easterly and westerly monsoonal winds.

Dusun Pepela is officially part of Desa Londalusi, within Kecamatan Rote Timur, whose capital is Eahun (about 9 km inland from Pepela). In 1994, the total population of Londalusi was 2765 and the population of Pepela was approximately 800. The ethnic composition of Pepela is mixed, comprising native Christian Rotinese, descendants of Muslim Butonese immigrants from other islands (Fox 1998: 127), Bugis from Southeast Sulawesi, and Bajo from the Tukang Besi Islands. The economy of the inhabitants of Pepela is based on fishing in the Timor Sea and associated trade in marine products. Most land is owned by the native Rotinese, so the Muslim inhabitants are dependent on the sea for their income.

The native Christian population engages in agricultural activity, local strand collecting, and inshore fishing in small boats. They are ‘not noted for their open sea sailing traditions’ (Fox 1998: 126). The history of the settlement of Muslim maritime people at Pepela has not been documented, but Pepela was traditionally a port for the eastern part of Roti (ibid.: 127).

Roti was important in the maritime trading network in the nineteenth century because the Rotinese produced cloth sails made from the gewang fan leaf palm (Corypha elata) for their own small boats and for sale (ibid.: 126). A sketch of a Macassan perahu off Raffles Bay in north Australia that was drawn by Le Breton in 1839 illustrates the traditional sails produced and traded by the Rotinese (see Macknight 1976, Plate 33). The Rotinese were also renowned for their cakes of crystallised sugar made from the juice of the lontar palm (Borassus sp.) (Fox 1977b). Bajo and Pepela residents state that, in the past, Binongko sailors from the Tukang Besi Islands regularly visited Pepela to purchase lontar palm sugar, which was then traded throughout the Indonesian archipelago. This trade continues to the present day, but vessels from Roti also sail to the Tukang Besi Islands to sell palm sugar directly to the Bajo.

This kind of maritime trading activity would account for some Muslim settlement in Pepela, possibly commencing in the early twentieth century but most probably after the 1920s. Subsequent settlement by other Muslim groups appears to be the result of fishing activity undertaken in the Timor Sea. Today the fishing population of Pepela is largely made up of migrants from other islands or their descendants, though many have intermarried with the local Rotinese population. The islands of origin most commonly mentioned by Pepela residents are Sulawesi, Buton, Binongko, Alor, Pantar, Flores and Java. [9]

The settlement of Pepela stretches inland from the coast for approximately one kilometre. A pier dominates the harbour and from here a road leads through the centre of the village up the hill. Most of the settlement is on the western side, but to the east of the main residential area is an area called Kampung Baru (New Village), which is a cluster of Bajo houses. Further to the east, and situated at the base of a ridge, is a coconut plantation and cemetery. The main Bajo settlement is located away from the main part of the village on Tanjung Pasir (Sand Spit/Point), called Tanjung for short. There is a handful of small shops along the main road. There are one or two wells in the village, but most water is collected in jerry cans from a small lake and well to the west (about 1 km from the pier) and then transported in wooden carts. Houses are mainly of brick construction although a few are made from thatched palm leaf panels.

On the other side of the bay is the Christian settlement of Suoi (Dusun Suoi, Desa Dai Ama). In recent years some of the males from Suoi have joined Pepela perahu in fishing activities in the Timor Sea. To the east of Pepela is a small Rotinese settlement, Dusun Haroe (Desa Hundi Hopo), the last point that boats pass by before sailing into the Timor Sea.

A passenger ferry operates daily between Kupang and Pantai Baru, a small mangrove fringed bay on the northwestern side of Roti. A motor boat also travels twice a week between Pepela and the village of Namosain in Kupang. The trip takes around six hours depending on the weather conditions. By Jess Halliday-Internet.

Map of the islands of East Nusa Tenggara, including Rote.

Rote Island (Indonesian: Pulau Rote, also spelled Roti) is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has an area of 1200 km². It lies 500 km northeast of the Australian coast and 170 km northeast of the Pulau Pasir (Ashmore and Cartier Islands). The island is situated to the southwest of the larger island of Timor. To the north is the Savu Sea, and to the south is the Timor Sea. To the west is Savu and Sumba. The uninhabited Dana Island (also called Ndana), just south of Rote, with an area of 14 km², is the southernmost island of Indonesia. Along with some other nearby small islands, such as Ndao, it forms the kabupaten (regency) of Roti Ndao, which in 2005 held an estimated population of 108,615.

The main town, called Ba'a, is located in the north of the island. It has a good surf area in the south around the village of Nembralla. There is a daily ferry to the island from Kupang, the provincial capital on West Timor, which brings tourists. Rote has many historical relies including fine antique Chinese porcelains, as well as ancient arts and traditions. Many prominent Indonesia nationalist leaders were born here. A popular music instrument Sasando, which is made of palm leaves.

According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost Portuguese (Antonio Pigafetta) (1522) sailor arrived and asked a farmer where he was. The surprised farmer, who could not speaking Portuguese, introduced himself, "Rote".

Rote just off the southern tip of Timor Island consists of rolling hills, terraced plantations, and acacia palm, savanna and some forests. The Rotinese depend, like the Savunese, on lontar palm for basic survival, but also as the supplement their income with fishing and jewelry making.

Agriculture is the main form of employment. Fishing is also important, especially in the eastern village of Papela, which has led to disputes with Australia over the water between them.[1] (MOU BOX-Internet)

Penulis : Drs.Simon Arnold Julian Jacob