TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

What does 'pribumi' really mean?

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, October 17, 2017

Share This Article

Change Size

What does 'pribumi' really mean? Indonesia is a culturally diverse country. (Shutterstock/File)

J

akarta officially welcomed a new governor, Anies Baswedan, on Monday. Amid the celebration, Anies’s first speech created controversy after he called on the capital’s pribumi (native Indonesians) to play a larger role in Indonesia.

Since last night, the country’s netizens have been sharing their opinion on social media.

Despite the controversy, let us brush up on the history of pribumi.

It is common knowledge that Indonesia is a culturally diverse country as the archipelago is blessed with hundreds of ethnicities and around 700 languages.

But who are the native Indonesians?

In 1854, the Dutch coined the term pribumi for its three-tiered racial classification, using it to describe Indonesians and placing them below European and Foreign Oriental races, such as the Chinese, Arabs and Indians.

Read also: Passionate supporters throng Anies-Sandiaga celebration at City Hall

Kompas.com reported that the word was commonly used to describe people who had been inhabiting one area for generations. For Indonesian natives, science proved the opposite.

Eijkman Institute researcher professor Herawati said that there was no dominant gene in the western and eastern parts of Indonesia. Meanwhile, in the northern part, the dominant gene was the Austroasiatic gene, followed by Austronesians.

The genetic mixture was the result the human migration, namely earliest human, Austroasiatic and Austronesians migrations.

Moreover, as the archipelago is nestled between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the country was once a trading center, creating a greater mixture of genes.

In 2017, Herawati and her colleagues from the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) studied 500 DNA samples from 25 regions in Asia. She discovered that when one’s DNA is tested, the result shows a mixture of Chinese, Indian and European genes. (jes/kes)

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.