Indigenous people<\/p>\n
When I picked up The Jakarta Post of March 22, 1999, and read
\non page one \"Indigenous people take united stand,\" I was so happy I
\ncould have jumped sky high with joy. To be sure that I had the
\nright interpretation of the word indigenous, I consulted an
\nEnglish-Indonesian dictionary, and what I found confirmed my
\noptimism, because indigenous means pribumi in Bahasa Indonesia.<\/p>\n
We are all pribumi; a country of about 200 million pribumi.
\nAnd the indigenous people taking a united stand can only mean
\nthat at last there is unity, and the days of fighting and
\nquarreling are over. We are all facing a peaceful period, with no
\narguments, no murders and no fighting against each other. At
\nlast, we have all come to our senses and realized how foolish it
\nwas to fight each other and cause suffering on a scale we never
\nexperienced before.<\/p>\n
Then I started to read further, and the more I read, the
\nsadder I became because what the Post classifies as indigenous
\ndoes not mean pribumi in general, which comprises North
\nSumatrans, South Sumatrans, Javanese people, Madurese, Buginese,
\nMinahasa people, Dayak, Irianese, etc., in short Indonesian
\npeople from Sabang to Merauke, but just a small fraction of the
\nwhole Indonesian people, who are spitting out their bitterness in
\na five-day meeting. What a waste of time and energy.<\/p>\n
They find that all investors, the Indonesian government and
\nthe military are threatening their livelihood and they ask that
\ntheir sovereignty be recognized. If the Indonesian government
\ndoes not recognize their sovereignty, then they will not
\nrecognize the state. I think there is a misconception of
\npolitical terms -- like sovereignty of the indigenous people --
\nwhich needs clarification, because as far as I know there is no
\nsuch term as indigenous sovereignty.<\/p>\n
My joy and happiness at reading the title of this article
\ndisappeared completely and feelings of fear and uncertainty took
\nover. After more than 50 years of independence, there are still
\nthings which create different interpretations, which can be
\ndetrimental to the unity of the Indonesian people.<\/p>\n
I hope that our political leaders will pay attention to this
\nphenomena and consider the seriousness of this \"proclamation\".
\nThere is still time for action.<\/p>\n
My disappointment was healed slightly when I opened Kompas
\ndaily of March 23, 1999, page 11, where I clearly read that this
\nactivity was held by an alliance of traditional communities of
\nnusantara, which in my opinion has less political content than
\nwhen we compare it with the title of meeting of indigenous
\npeople. The term indigenous points to a birthright, while customs
\nand traditions grow out of the habit of the people which can
\nchange with time and development. Indigenousness is permanent.<\/p>\n
Once a Javanese or an Achenese or a Batak or an Ambonese or an
\nIrianese, you remain so for life. Of course, there can be changes
\nin your legal status, but indigenous remains indigenous.<\/p>\n
Although this week-long meeting contains certain political
\nelements and aspirations, the name of the meeting itself is more
\ndirected to a desire that the central government should pay more
\nattention to the customs and traditions of the people in this
\narchipelago.<\/p>\n
What a relief!<\/p>\n
SOEGIH ARTO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indigenous-people-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }