ABSTRACT
This chapter is an exploration of the deceptive voices and empowering silences with regard to the articulation of Moluccan identity in the Netherlands. It starts with a personal case study: that of my Moluccan grandmother, who refused to talk about her pre-migration past throughout her life. I will place this case study in the larger context of the Moluccan community, through an analysis of adat, a concept which the community deems central to its collective identity. I will interpret this term as an identity marker that incorporates silence into its basic functioning. The purpose of this comparative analysis is to argue that both voice and silence are deliberate and constitutive elements of the individual and collective processes of remembering the past.
