the oral traditions of the Atsabe Kemaks people, they came relatively late under the colonial Portuguese rule. One reason could have been the far-reaching dispersal of the inhabitants and the impassibility of the mountainous landscape. Only in the 19th century did the Portuguese-Angolan troops had first invaded the area. The then Kings Dom Tomás Pinto opposed the invaders. But Dom Tomás was defeated and had to go to Atambua to flee to West Timor. Portuguese sources mentioned the region of Atsabe and Liurai only in the middle of the 19th century. The Atsabe rulers were particularly prone to rebel against the colonial leaders and their presence in the island. Two of Dom Tomás' grandchildren, Nai Resi and Nai Sama later fought for power. While Nai Resi turned against the Portuguese colonialists, Nai Sama supported the Portuguese. Nai Sama was finally executed by his own men, while Nai Resi was captured by the Portuguese in Hatulia and executed as well. The Portuguese were first regarded as another people with their own ruler. After the resistance to them had failed, the Kemak people accepted the leaders of the Portuguese as part of their higher hierarchy that provided them with a larger army, holy men, the Catholic priests and with a larger Lulic (ritual practitioner). The flag of the Portuguese and even its flagpole were viewed as sacred objects. The colonial rulers, confirmed as administrators of Portugal, were again legitimized by handing over of the flag. The acceptance of Kemak people for the established Catholicism was closely related to their understanding of the personified holiness. This imported concept of holiness is seen as a stronger expansion of the local's existing traditional Luli. The Catholic priests were given land to build chapels and were allowed to do mission work. But the success of conversion was not much because of the friendless but rather so that one's own spiritual powers can be increased. Nai Resi's son, Dom Cipriano Gonçalves (Dom Siprianu) became the ruler of Atsabe in 1912 until 1943. During the Japanese occupation of Timor, he and the population of Atsabe made passive resistance. Therefore, Siprianu along with six of his relatives were taken hostage by the Japanese and later executed. Since the Portuguese education system was reserved for the ruling class, they was also able to secure the leading positions in the colonial administration. The same was true later during the Indonesian occupation,