Voluntary Isolation of the Boti

Photo Courtesy: Chris Dunham

Abstract: As the world struggles with the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, I am reminded of the indigenous group Boti and their remote, tiny kingdom in West Timor, Indonesia. When I visited them in 2017, I was in awe of the sheer simplicity of their lifestyle. Strangers to electricity and machines, they are supremely self sufficient. Despite a tenuous existence, they are proof that a simple, secluded life can be a happy one.

Chris Dunham is a London-born travel photographer and writer with a lifelong interest in the tribes and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. The article should be cited as Dunhan C. 2020. Voluntary Isolation of The Boti, Geography and You, 20(146): 52-55.