Anthropos
99.2004: 365-379
An Anthropological Study
of Atsabe Perceptions of Kolimau 2000
A New East Timorese Religious Cult or Internal Security Problem?
Andrea K. Molnar
Abstract. - Foreign and East Timor newsprint media copiously
reported on the Kolimau 2000 group’s violent activities and
represented it as a new form of militia or religious cult that is a
threat to national security. The article highlights the erroneous
ness of these assessments and demonstrates that the situation
18 highly complex, at least in the Atsabe region. Through
an anthropological analysis of the dynamics of local power
relations, social organization, and the local historical processes
that underlie these, the article shows that local economic and
Power struggles are as much at the root of the problem as are
issues of policing. [East Timor, Kolimau 2000, religious cult,
social organization, power relations, national security]
Andrea K. Molnar, Ph. D. in Anthropology (Canberra, The
Australian National University, 1995); Associate Professor in
department of Anthropology, and Faculty Associate in Center
f°r Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University.
" Areas of research: eastern Indonesia and East Timor. -
Publications include: Grandchildren of the Ga’e Ancestors.
Social Organization and Cosmology among the Hoga Sara
°f Flores (Leiden 2000); The Transnational Anthropologist.
Personal Reflections on Career Choice and Practicings in
Anthropology. In: C. A. Mortland (ed.), Diasporic Identity.
Selected Papers on Refugees and Immigrants (Washington
1998); Christianity and Traditional Religion among the Hoga
Sara of West-Central Flores (Anthropos 1997); and numerous
°ther articles.
The purpose of this article is to highlight the
complexity of the situation concerning the Koli-
|?au (or Colimau) 2000 group operating in the
^rrnera district of East Timor. The group and its
Activities have been much reported on by the for-
ei gn and East Timor newsprint media, representing
this group as a threat to the security of the new
na tion, particularly after violent incidences in the
Bobonaro and Ermera districts early in 2003. The
scant confusing descriptions of this group depicted
it as a paramilitary or militia group with possible
ties to former 1999 militia groups currently in
Indonesian Timor, a group of bandits, and even as
a revitalization cult lead by a powerful traditional
healer. Aside from the violent or extortionist ac
tivities of this group, that have received copious
media attention, very little else is known about
the purpose, ideology, and other activities of Koli
mau 2000. Much of the media description of this
group tends to generalize, suggesting that it is a
homogeneous entity with common characteristics
and goals throughout East Timor. In contrast two
parliamentary members (Antonio Ximenes and Jo
sé Andrade), 1 made an effort of their own volition
to descend from Dili into the field to find out first
hand about the group by engaging the group in
discussion. Their findings suggested that there are
actually three different Kolimau groups in this new
country (Suara Timor Lorosae 2003c). 2
1 Speaker of the National Parliament, Francisco Guterres
told Suara Timor Lorosae on Wednesday that the two
MPs, Antonio Ximenes and Jose Andrade’s meeting with
Kolimau 2000 was not at the request of the Parliament.
He added, “the recent meeting with Kolimau 2000 was a
personal initiative from the two deputes” (Suara Timor Lo
rosae 2003c). Concerning websources: page numbers, title
of articles, names of authors are often unclear or missing.
2 MP José Andrade’s explanations in parliament were dis
missed by F-FDTL chief of State, Colonel Lere Anan Timor
(see, for example, Timor Post 2003b, Suara Timor Lorosae
2003c). Interestingly, in the August 5, 2002 Timor Post,