If a family has lost it's moko it is considered to be on a downhill slide and they loose a lot of respect in the community.
These drums can be used as a dowery when a wife is taken and they are used in celebrations bring in the new year.
How they got to Alor and surrounding islands is a bit of an unsolved mystery but it has been deduced that the early models came from Vietnam. The later models were made in China.
There is a one room museum in Kalabahi across from the Pelangi Hotel. You will have to find the caretaker to unlock the door for you. There is no charge but I gave him 2000 rupiah because he was a great guy and enjoyed showing us around.
A big assortment of mokos are on display including one enormous one that was unearthed in 1972.
The caretaker proudly states that his family had 2 mokos.
There are a lot of artifacts on Alor but the people generally do not sell them but rather keep them as family heirlooms.
One morning a man did approach me in the street to come to his house to see 2 bronze arm bands and a stone bead headband that he was trying to sell for 500 dollars. These were some real beautiful pieces that belonged in a museum.
He realized that these were valuable collectibles. I did not see any of the arm bands in the museum but they had some beautiful intricate beadwork.
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