The Kemak (, also known as Ema) people are an ethnic group numbering 80,000 in north-central Timor island. They primarily live in the district of Bobonaro, East Timor, while the rest live in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. They are close to the Tetum people. The Kemak people speak the Kemak language. Kemak people are one of the smallest of the 14 Austronesian subgroups in Timor. Most of them are adherents of traditional beliefs, while part of them profess to the Catholic faith. Territorial community is headed by a leader, divided into genera. There are three levels of conjunctions. The "private" type of group corresponds to the level of uma or house. It does not only mean housing, but its category includes the exogamous groups of older and younger brothers who share a common ancestor. The "collective" type refers to the Morobe community, which encompasses 7 villages containing mainly 3 houses, and united by a common ritual cycle. Settlement area For the most part the Kemak people live in Atabae, Cailaco, Maliana (Bobonaro District, 39,000 Kemaks) and Atsabe (Ermera District, 18,500 Kemaks), but also partly in the Cova Lima District (2,100 Kemaks) of East Timor and in Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara of Indonesia. According to the 2010 East Timor census, 61,969 people identify Kemak language as their mother tongue. In 1970, there were 45,084 people. History Kemak people of Atsabe Before the colonial period, Atsabe was one of the centers of Timor under the koronel bote (meaning "Kings") of Atsabe Kemak, which dominated the entire Kemak inhabited areas in East Timor until the colonial period. The Kemak areas includes the north of present-day Bobonaro, in the northern Ainaro, and in the area of Suai that were tributary to Atsabe. The small Kemak empire of Marobo had a peripheral location, which is why the Kemak people there were mixed with the neighboring Bunak people for generations. Atsabe was part of a complex alliance system through rituals, marriage and trade, though which the Tetun Dili people of Wehali with its capital, Laran were established. Laran was at the same time the spiritual center of the entire island. In addition to Tetum Dili and Kemak people, the Bunak people and Mambai people of Aileu were also part of this alliance system. Together with the east of the island, the Portuguese called this area Belu (also Belos or Fialaran). According to