History of the Archive and acknowledgements
This archive was initially established with data collected by Dr Lisa Palmer Mok (University of Melbourne) who carried out research together with local ritual leaders, custodians of the water and other community members in the Baucau-Viqueque area to collect stories on the social and cultural significance of water (2010-2015). More recently (2012-2019) she has recorded a range of cultural practices in the Baucau district (with Sr. Quintiliano Mok, Sr. Celastinu Freitas, Sr. Fransisco Almeida, Sr. Egas da Silva and Sr. Kiku Moniz), Maubisse (with Sr. Demetrio do Amaral do Carvalho and Sr. Jorge Lopes) and Fatumean (with Dr Balthasar Kehi). The archive also includes contributions from Dr Andrew McWilliam (University of Western Sydney/Australian National University) who has conducted extensive research among Fataluku communities of Lautem, from Dr Susanna Barnes who conducted fieldwork with communities in Bobonaro, Ainaro and the sub-district of Uato Lari (2008-2016) and Sr. Josh Trindade from his community in Uato Lari. Since 2020 Dr Kirsty Sword Gusmao has also contributed to the archive content and development, including by facilitating contributions from the Alola Foundation (supported by Senhor José Sabino Ximenes).
The Archive team acknowledges and is grateful for the involvement of local communities in particular the custodians of the words, custodians of the water, ritual elders and other individuals who shared their knowledge about aspects of their culture.
The Archive team would also like to acknowledge and thank those who supported the project in a number of ways including Dr Seth Keen, who was involved in the early stages of conceptualisation and design, Glen MacLaren and Steve Wealands from Environmental Systems Solutions who developed the information management system and Susanna Barnes who helped modify and develop the capacity of the original archive.
Finally, the Archive team would like to thank the following organisations for their support and funding: the Australian Research Council (DP1095131 & DP160104519), Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Office of the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste, the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Sydney/Australian National University.