The Makian Island and Momoi

Makian is an island that take place in the North Molucas teritory, it took place between Bacan Island and Tidore Island. It has one volcanic mountain named Kiabesi, in the local name kia or kie means mountain. Before reach this island from far away we can see the top of the mountian seems as two separated pilars, it happened because of the last eruption. Because of the eruption, this island has enough vertile soil. In this island the people use to cultivate the yearly plant, one that very famous is Canary. There is no harbour in this island, only port for public sea transportation those are the “semang” boat (Indonesian traditonal boat, that have balancing tools on rigth and left side of the boat, in some places in the east, people use to call it semang) and the speedboat. But there’s a very deep squat in a side of it’s beach, according to some source that place had been used as harbour for the dutch or portugesse’s ship.

Makian is given named, untill now it’s not so clear who gave that name. but according to the local ancient it’s real name was Tara. Not so much I can tell about this island, cause I only went there once, and that only for few hours. On my short visiting, I’ve seen the historycal sign, that as far as I know only from the story of my papa and my uncle. The sea shore that had been my father childhood, the debris of the big family house, the big whell that still used nowdays, the very long tomb of my father’s greatgrandma and greatgrandpa, and tombs of my ancestors. According to my papa stories, our origin was from Ternate, I’m not so clear untill now about the reason why my Greatgreatgreatgranpa move from Ternate to Makian. Then, he lived In this new island, in the edge of the island, make distance from the last village and he named that place, that community “Momoi”, momoi means Alone. untill now I’m still wondering, why???, why moving, and then made own neigborhood and named it “Alone”. Untill his children or maybe his grandchildren, on the Order of the Ternate authority, some of momoi’s back to Ternate and some of them still live in Makian and from family community place’s, the momoi develop into a village. In Ternate, most of the Momoi’s residence can be found near the Ternate Sultan’s Palace, but most of them has forgotten they are Momois, the youngsters especially, they just know that they are the makian’s who move to Ternate, for actually they don’t move anywhere they just come back.

Untill now, my father believe that he is a ternate. But for me, I’m Momoi. Eventough we have our origin in Ternate, but the water and land of Makian has take part on guard us for some generation. Tough I never know so much about it, I miss to comeback there. I love the philosophy of being Momoi, I love being alone.

For the canary is very famous product of this island, some people make jokes on it. They said if you come far away from ternate to makian on Id, don’t hope for chicken curry or ketupat (food made from rice that ocsionally served when Id) will be served to you, from one house to another they will only served you with one, that is the canary fruit. In this island they also had strange custom that they used to do in the Ramadhan, every after the Tarawih in the mosque, the young man prepared to figth each other and they really figth, but I’ts ok if somebody decided to join or not, and that custom happend everynigth on the Ramadhan’s. Preety scary. Those things makes me wanna proove all the story I’ve heard, and also my papa story about the large farming land, about the forest and the wild pig that very big and has horn, about three days using the semang boat rowing to ternate, about the kiabesi, all the stuff makes me wanna comeback.