Mambai
The Mambai ( Mambae, Manbae ) are according to the Tetum the second largest ethnic group in East Timor. Originally they were called by the Portuguese as Maubere. Maubere or Mau Bere is a common male first name among the Mambai.
Settlement area
The Mambai live from the interior of the district of Dili to the south coast of the country, especially in the districts Ainaro and Manufahi. Its main centers are Ermera, Aileu, Remexio, Turiscai, Maubisse, Ainaro and seed. Among the Exiltimoresen in Australia Mambai form one of the main groups.
Culture
The language Mambai is a Malayo - Polynesian Central language of Timor branch. It is equipped with 131 361 speakers the second most common native language in East Timor.
Striking in comparison to the neighboring ethnic groups are the traditional round huts of Mambai that are still widely used today. Most live in the Mambai small hamlets, where rice, maize and cassava are grown. The houses in the villages are divided into Fada, whose inhabitants are closely related. These belong to one of the many clans (Lisa ) that share a common holy house ( Fad lisa ). Several clans are grouped into a larger cult group tu lis, which has a common parent company, fun the house of origin Fada ni. Several of these ancestral homes can certainly stand together on a hill. They are then in a circle around an altar of stone, with a three -ended totem pole. The relationship between the root and its branches is equated with father and mother ( Aman nor Inan ) to their children ( Anan ). Men remain within their tribe ( patrilineal ), but only marry women from outside ( exogamous ), so that all members can refer to a male lineage. Regularly meet up in its place of origin ( Fun).
Each parent company is derived in turn from two lineages. These two ancestors are the parent or male house ( Uman fun) and a female domestic ( Nai fun) respectively. They are also called " mother and father water buffalo " ( Arabau inan normal arabau aman ). The male line represents the earliest ancestor, the female ancestor of the later ones. Together they form "those who support the rock " or "those who hold the tree ". Those lines which are derived about female descendants, " new men " ( Maen heua ) so for example the houses of the husband of the daughter or the child's sister called. Will a man marry a woman from an unrelated house, he must first fun ritual to ask for permission you Uman.
Totem in Hohulu, Maubisse
Stone altar of HIUT Lel
Like the other ethnic groups of East Timor are the Mambai today largely followers of the Catholic faith. Nevertheless, it is also possible today in the Christian rites traces of animist, traditional religion found. Especially with the rites of the neighboring Kemak there are some parallels. To be designated at Mambai and Kemak funeral ceremonies as Black rituals. Secondary burials ( Mambai: Maet - keon ) are where the bones of the dead dug up, cleaned and buried again, were once common even in the Mambai, but do not seem to occur today.
In the culture of Mambai during the colonial period was the cult of the flag of Portugal is of central importance. When the Portuguese conquered the Timorese, they handed the Liurais ( Timorese petty kings ) as vassals of the Portuguese flag, which, even to sacred objects were in the eyes of Timorese, as well as the flagpole which the rule of the Portuguese and of them loyal Liurais legitimized. According to their origin myth of the world order created by two brothers. The older brother, thus descended from the peoples of Timor, has held the ritual power of the cosmos. The younger brother has the power over the social order. From this non- Timorese peoples descended from, in this case the Portuguese. The myth tells of the loss, the search and recovery of lost, sacred object, namely the Portuguese flag. This sacred meaning of the flag caused some problems, as the flag of Portugal in 1910 was changed when changing from a monarchy to a republic. (see also: Rise of Manufahi )
Importance in politics
Four of the eight candidates in the 2007 presidential election were Mambai:
- Francisco Xavier do Amaral, ASDT.
- Fernando de Araújo ( currently Deputy Prime Minister of East Timor ), PD.
- Lúcia Lobato, PSD.
- Manuel Tilman, KOTA.