Looking at descriptive, comparative social and historical evidence, this study explored factors contributing to language death for two languages formerly spoken on the Indonesian island of Buru. Field data were gathered from the last remaining speaker of Hukumina and from the last four speakers of Kayeli. A significant historical event that set in motion changing social dynamics was the forced relocation by the Dutch in 1656 of a number of coastal communities on this and surrounding islands, which severed the ties between Hukumina speakers and their traditional place of origin (with its access to ancestors and associated power). The same event brought a large number of outsiders to live around the Dutch fort near the traditional village of Kayeli, creating a multiethnic and multilingual community that gradually resulted in a shift to Malay for both Hukumina and Kayeli language communities. This contrasts with the Buru language still spoken as the primary means of daily communication in the island's interior. Also, using supporting evidence from other languages in the area, the study concludes that traditional notions of place and power are tightly linked to language ecology in this region. Contains 33 references. (Author/MSE)