Kai Islands

Kai Islands

The Kai Islands of Indonesia are in the south-eastern part of the Maluku Islands, in Maluku Province.
The islands comprise the Maluku Tenggara Regency within the Maluku Province. The Regency (which excludes the city of Tual) is sub-divided into 6 districts (kecamatan).
Inhabitants called the islands Nuhu Evav or Tanat Evav (Evav Land), but known as Kei for people from neighbourhood islands. "Kai" is actually a Dutch colonial era spelling, still persisting in books based on old resources. The islands are on the edge of the Banda Sea, south of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, west of the Aru Islands, and northeast of the Tanimbar Islands. The small group called Tayandu Islands (also Tahayad) is just west.
Kei Besar is mountainous and densely forested. Kei Kecil has the biggest population, and is flat. Actually it is a lifted coral reef. The capital is the town of Tual, mostly inhabited by Muslims. Nearby Langgur is the center for Christians. Kei is famous for the beauty of its beaches, e.g. Pasir Panjang.
The Kei islands are part of Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Asian and Australian continental shelves, and were never linked to either continent. As a result the Kei Islands have few native mammals and are part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion.
The tiny island of Tanimbarkei isn't part of Tanimbar, but of the Kei Islands and inhabited by fewer than 1000 very traditional people. Half of the population call themselves Hindus, but in fact are more or less practising ancestor worship.
After the 1999 clashes between the Muslim and Christian populations in Ambon, similar intercommunal clashes also swept through Kei, but quickly calmed down with fewer victims. The islands depend on 22 ratshcaap, or traditional local leaders called Rat or Raja, as kings of customary law.
The soil on Kei Kecil is poor. Slash and Burn agriculture is still common. Fishing is engaged in around Trepang. In Kei Kecil cultured pearl is harvested.
Three Austronesian languages are spoken on the Kei Islands; Keiese is the most widely spoken, in 207 villages on Kei Kecil, Kei Besar, and surrounding islands. Kurese is spoken on Kur Island and nearby Kaimeer, where Kei is used as a lingua franca. Bandanese is spoken in the villages of Banda-Eli and Banda-Elat (Wadan Elat) on the west and northeastern side of Kei Besar. Banda speakers originally came from the Banda Islands, but the language is no longer spoken there. There is no native writing system for the Keiese Language. Dutch Catholic missionaries write the language using a variation of the Roman alphabet.
Tiva :Single headed drums, consist of a calf skin membrane which is stretched over an enclosed space or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel.

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