ABSTRACT
In Timor-Leste, these diffi cult legacies have been complicated by the distinct cultural and linguistic affi liations promoted by successive colonial regimes, political schisms within the former independence movement, a lack of justice for the victims of human rights abuses during the Indonesian occupation and, in 2006-7, the brief but violent rise of regional tensions. These fi ssures have complicated the process of nation building and the articulation of a unifying postcolonial national identity since independence was restored in 2002. As such, they are critical to understanding the cultural heritage of the independence struggle and its conservation in Timor-Leste, which is itself an exercise in articulating cultural nationalism.
