ABSTRACT
The Moluccas are an Indonesian archipelago. The author describes the Moluccan traditional culture and the colonial and postcolonial religious history of Maluku . Traditional village life, the adat system, cultural customs, native religion, and the central importance of music constitute the traditional basis of Moluccan identity and culture. From the fifteenth century, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism were introduced on the Moluccas. The Moluccan Protestant church was established during three centuries of Dutch colonial rule. Under the governments of Sukarno and Suharto, the Moluccan church adapted to the postcolonial national context and pursued a policy of religious purification. A political shift from centralization to diversity happened in the last decades. In 1999, a religious conflict broke out on the Moluccas.
