IN mid-October, a truck entered the residence of King Usif Namah Benu, the ruler of Boti, a village in South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. Around six Boti residents promptly set to work, unloading a cow and bringing it to the king’s backyard.

Next to his Ume Kbubu (dome-shaped traditional house), dozens of men and women gathered under a temporary roof made of palmyra midribs and leaves, weaving palmyra leaves into trays. Meanwhile, te