Despite putting in a lot of energy to campaign for religious freedom, Indonesia remains a country rampant with stigma and discrimination against indigenous peoples.

They continue to face serious challenges, such as constant difficulties professing their traditional religions and even obtaining IDs.

“This country has neglected us for too long. Its policies have destroyed our communities,” said Yana, a member of the Sunda wiwitan faith group in Cireundeu village in Cimahi regency, West Java.

On Friday, Yana and three other men, who all wore traditional costumes, stood in front of participants of a seminar held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Jakarta. They took turns to convey prayers expressed in languages that might sound like mantras to most ears.

In addition to Yana, a follower of Sunda wiwitan, the religion of the Baduy tribe, the three other men represented three other indigenous belief systems: Kaharingan, the religion of the Dayak tribes in Kalimantan; Marapu, the religion of tribes in West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara and Nuaulu, the religion of tribes in Seram, Maluku.

In the seminar entitled “Cultural Genocide: A Threat to the Diversity and Integrity of Ancestral Beliefs,” held jointly by LIPI and several NGOs, Yana and his colleagues shared their experiences of the difficulties indigenous people in Indonesia faced in exercising their rights to freedom, including religious freedom.

Although they can obtain IDs, indigenous people must leave the religion column blank, implying that their beliefs are not recognized in Indonesia.

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