Nutmeg dries in a street in the Banda Islands. Ian Williams / for NBC News

The massacre is illustrated in gory detail in paintings in a tiny museum in Banda Neira, the main town.

Banda nutmeg is still regarded as the finest in the world, but the spice is now grown in several other countries. And the trade in Indonesia is controlled by powerful traders from elsewhere in the country. The U.S. is the biggest importer of spices, including nutmeg, and customized spice mixes have become fashionable among celebrity Manhattan chefs and top-end restaurants the haunts of New Yorks own aristocracy.

We really have to take back control of our own nutmeg, create our own brand, said Alwi.

Today, the Bandas' most prized asset is their underwater environment, including the worlds fastest growing and most resilient reef. It sprung to life on the lava flow from a 1988 volcanic eruption and both delights and puzzles marine biologists.

Ive seen nothing like it. Its really quite unique, said Mareike Huhn, scientific coordinator for Luminocean, a conservation group, who has been studying Bandas reefs for five years.

The Banda Islands once attracted celebrity visitors, including Mick Jagger, and Princess Diana, whose portrait hangs in the lobby of a weathered waterfront hotel. But the tourist business was abruptly shut down at the turn of the century by violence on neighboring Ambon, which spilled onto the islands.

Boats are now the most reliable way to get there, the fastest taking six hours from Ambon. But like the flights, they too can be unpredictable.

A canon remains in the old 17th century Fort Belgica in Banda Neira. Ian Williams / for NBC News

There are plans to expand the airport, which holds the promise of development. But Alwi and Huhn are afraid an uncontrolled influx of tourists a feature of modern globalization could damage the Banda Islands most valuable asset: the environment. A group of Russian spear-fishing tourists were recently run out of town. And illegal Chinese shark finning is threatening a seasonal gathering of hammerheads.

We have to have a conservation plan, Alwi said.

Not for the first time, the tiny Banda Islands are trying to navigate the difficult seas of globalization looking for development without destroying what is special about the islands, and hoping for a little help from Manhattan, that other and much richer island for which they were traded three and half centuries ago.

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Why the Banda Islands Were Once More Valuable Than Manhattan ... - NBCNews.com