Flores is an island located in the administrative area of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The word Flores comes from the Portuguese “cabo de flores” which means ‘flower cape’. The name was originally given by S.M. Cabot to refer to the eastern region of the island. This name was finally used officially since 1636 by the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies Hendrik Brouwer. A study by Orinbao (1969) revealed that the original name of Flores Island was “Nusa Nipa”, which means ‘snake island’. From an anthropological perspective, this term is more useful because it contains various philosophical, cultural, and traditional meanings of the Flores people.
