FLORESfrom Portuguese meaning “flower” is an island located in the administrative area of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The name Flores comes from the Portuguese word “cabo de flores” meaning “Tanjung bunga”. The name was originally given by S.M. Cabot to call the eastern region of the island of Flores. Finally in official use since the year 1636 by Dutch East Indies governor Hendrik Brouwer. An in-depth study by Orinbao (1969) reveals that Flores island’s original name is Nusa Nipa (snake island) anthropologically, this term is more useful because it contains various philosophical, cultural, and ritualistic traditions of Flores society.Flores belongs to the small Sunda Islands with Bali and NTB, with an area of approximately 14,300 km². The highest peak is Mount Ranaka (2350m) which is the second highest mountain in East Nusa Tenggara, after Mount Mutis, 2427m in West Timor.
Flores has one of the rare and protected animals in the world namely Varanus komodoensis or better known as the giant lizard. Raptil lives on Komodo Island and Rinca Island, both located in West Manggarai Regency, West Flores. In addition to Komodo Island and Rinca Island which are included in the Komodo National Park area, Flores also has one more National Park located in Ende Regency, namely Kelimutu National Park. The main attraction of Kelimutu National Park is its Three Color Lake which always changes the color of its lake water. But actually within the Flores National Park area grows and develops naturally various species of plant and moss species. Therefore, in early 2007, the manager of Kelimutu National Park began to identify the biological richness of Kelimutu National Park to be developed into Kelimutu Botanical Garden. So, later the tourists who come to the Area of Nature Tourism Kelimutu, in addition to enjoy the magic of the Three Color Lake, also can observe the biodiversity in the Botanical Garden of Kelimutu. In Wae Rebo, a traditional house of manggarai is very unique, at this time many foreign tourists and local tourists come there and in cancar is Spider rice field, in Soa, east of Bajawa city, Ngada district capital there is a place of natural hot spring and Bena Village ( Traditional house ) In Riung, north of Ngada district, there are 17 marine parks as beautiful as Bunaken Marine Park in Manado. What is unique about this marine park is that there is an island called Bat island which is home to thousands of bats
The Flores are ethnic mixes between Malay, Melanesian and Portuguese. Due to the Portuguese colony, interaction with the Portuguese culture was deeply felt in Flores culture, both through genetics, religion, and culture. There are several tribes on the island of Flores which consists of eight major tribes, among others: Manggara, Riung, Ngada, Nage-Keo, Ende, Lio, Sikka and Larantuka. Cultural differences between Riung, Ngada, Nage-Keo, Ende, Lio and Sikka sub-tribes are not very large. However, the distinction between these sub-ethnic groups and the Manggarai people is large. Just as in terms of physical form, there is one striking difference. The Floresian population from the Riung people to the East shows more Melanesian traits, such as Papuans, whereas the Manggarai show more Mongoloid-Malay characteristics. The Larantuka sub-tribes are different from others. This is because they are more mixed with the influence of cultural elements from other Indonesian tribes dating and mixed in the city of Larantuka.
Based on the results of leksikostatistik calculations we can divide some elements of the local language in Flores based on differences in each tribe. Each of these tribes has a variety of languages and ways of pronunciation. In general the language is derived from the Malay language that helped develop the areas inhabited by these tribes. Like other areas in NTT, Manggarai also has the effect of wandering from people across from, such as China, Java, Bugis, Makasar, Holland and so on. So do not be surprised if Manggarai language also has a more distinctive language apart from the physical characteristics that are different from other tribe people who are in Flores. In addition, from the elements of art as well as music, there are characteristics of each beat tropical songs from each region such as Larantuka, Maumere, Ende, Bajawa, Manggarai.
Dance from Flores one of them is Caci dance is a war dance as well as a folk game between a pair of male dancers who fought with whips and shields in Flores. Caci is a dance of attractions from the earth of Congkasae Manggarai. Almost all regions of this region recognize this dance. Manggarai community pride is often brought on special occasions. Caci Caci dance comes from the words ca and ci. Ca means one and ci means test. Thus, the meaning of vocabulary is a one-on-one test to prove who is right and wrong and is a ritual Penti Manggarai, apart from Caci dance in Manggarai there are also dances in Flores which started to be popular nationally namely Gawi, Sodh’a, Rokatenda and Ja ‘ i.
