Introduction

Two decades after the last Indonesian troops pulled out of Timor-Leste, at a point in time when the average East Timorese citizen has been born several years after independence, the fallen dead of the 1975-1999 struggle are visually more present than ever before. The valorisation of the heroes and martyrs of the independence struggle has been made official state policy. New, massive statues have been erected in Dili to commemorate dead leaders of the independence movement and the wounded demonstrators of the Santa Cruz massacre of 1991, and heroes’ cemeteries have been built for the unearthed remains of fallen FALINTIL (Forças Armadas para a Libertaçao Nacional de Timor-Leste – the armed wing of the East Timorese independence movement) fighters (cf. Leach 2017 and Leach, this volume, for a broader discussion of official memorialisation processes, national identity, and state-building).

In parallel with these state-led efforts, families have used their increased incomes to build elaborate and very visible graves for family members who died during the struggle – especially for those who participated in the armed struggle. As discussed in the Introduction to this book, this trend in private commemorations has been so great that the central government felt the need to intervene through the nation-wide Kore Metan Nasional. The dead heroes of the independence struggle are also routinely evoked in political speeches, especially as an admonition to the younger generations born after independence, who are now demographically in the majority.