Moko 

Alor, NTT, Indonesia
Alor is the largest of the five islands which form the Alor Archipelago and stretch from Flores to Alor in the east. It is in the Indonesian province of NTT. It is very volcanic and hilly and I have lugged my pack up those hills many times. In reply to my question “Are we nearly there?” people would answer encouragingly, “It’s just over the next rise!” Unfortunately the reaching of the next rise would evoke the same answer to the same question. In the mountains water was a scarce commodity. I arrived late in the afternoon in one village and my host showed me to my sleeping place and then gave me a mug of water. He informed me that this was my water ration for the whole time I would be there (a night and a day). This covered everything for which water was needed including bathing, cleaning teeth, etc.etc.
Kalabahi is the main and only town. It is situated on the shore of a magnificent harbor which rivals Sydney and Rio. This huge harbor empties out into the straight between the neighbouring island, Pantar and Alor and in the middle of the straight is the Island called Pura which is a perfectly shaped volcano coming straight out of the sea. Spectacular!
I was sitting in a coffee place (warung) in Kalabahi one Saturday night, chatting to the owner. I was the only patron. It had been a while since I sat down there. A motor bike came along the road and passed us by. The man looked at me and slowly said, “It’s a bit busy tonight”. That was the only vehicle to have travelled the road while I was on that street. It sort of sums up Kalabahi in the early 1980’s.
Alor has a very specific cultural feature which is not shared by any other island in Indonesia or the world. They use bride price for the acquiring of a spouse but in Alor it consists of an archaic metal drum modelled on the Don Song drums found in ancient Vietnam (dating back the the 8th century BC) and later in Indonesia. These drums, known as Moko, are made of bronze and on this island their purpose is only as bride price. It is rare to see them used as a musical instrument but all sorts of gongs and bronze instruments are found on the island and are often incorporated into music making. Even cracked and broken gongs are used. The main factor in their use would seem to be noise making rather than beauty of sound.
This film of young women dancing accompanied by five musicians (four young and one older who is also the leader of the group) who repeat the same pattern for all the dances. This video contains a quick (30 sec.) look at the gamelan (accompaniment) and then two dances.
At approximately 5’15” I have put in a section of looking at the drum called the MOKO. I have left the original soundtrack as sometimes it contains the sounds of the drums. I went to a place where they sell moko drums to film this.
This was filmed in the early 1980’s and these girls will long now be grandmothers or great grandmothers if someone was rich enough to buy the Moko drums needed to grasp their hand in the hope of eternal bliss. If the girl is attractive enough several suitors may vie for her and the one with the most expensive moko offering should win. Love does not seem to play a part in the transaction.