The contemporary population of the Banda Islands ultimately embraces its status of being non-autochthonous (bukan orang asli Banda) while affirming the veracity of its claim to be truly local—authentically of the islands (orang Banda asli). This claim is rooted in their presence and engagement with the blessed land of Banda (tanah Banda tanah berkat) through membership of a negeri adat and participation in its defining ritual activities, a participation that for the bulk of residents is enhanced and deepened through their identification also as Muslims.

In Banda, representations of the islands as tanah berkat draw on understanding the islands as physically embodying the religious foundations of moral order that inform the locally cogent terms of moral community. As such, they appear as capable as nationalism in ‘linking fraternity, power and time meaningfully together’ (Anderson 1991: 36), and of doing so with considerable ontological potency with respect to locality and community. The implications for identification are summarised cogently by Battaglia (1999: 119): ‘The struggle for identity reveals itself as based in claiming a distinctive moral order, rather than in maintaining national, ethnic or any other sort of mappable boundaries.’