Indigenous people
Indigenous people
When I picked up The Jakarta Post of March 22, 1999, and read
on page one "Indigenous people take united stand," I was so happy I
could have jumped sky high with joy. To be sure that I had the
right interpretation of the word indigenous, I consulted an
English-Indonesian dictionary, and what I found confirmed my
optimism, because indigenous means pribumi in Bahasa Indonesia.
We are all pribumi; a country of about 200 million pribumi.
And the indigenous people taking a united stand can only mean
that at last there is unity, and the days of fighting and
quarreling are over. We are all facing a peaceful period, with no
arguments, no murders and no fighting against each other. At
last, we have all come to our senses and realized how foolish it
was to fight each other and cause suffering on a scale we never
experienced before.
Then I started to read further, and the more I read, the
sadder I became because what the Post classifies as indigenous
does not mean pribumi in general, which comprises North
Sumatrans, South Sumatrans, Javanese people, Madurese, Buginese,
Minahasa people, Dayak, Irianese, etc., in short Indonesian
people from Sabang to Merauke, but just a small fraction of the
whole Indonesian people, who are spitting out their bitterness in
a five-day meeting. What a waste of time and energy.
They find that all investors, the Indonesian government and
the military are threatening their livelihood and they ask that
their sovereignty be recognized. If the Indonesian government
does not recognize their sovereignty, then they will not
recognize the state. I think there is a misconception of
political terms -- like sovereignty of the indigenous people --
which needs clarification, because as far as I know there is no
such term as indigenous sovereignty.
My joy and happiness at reading the title of this article
disappeared completely and feelings of fear and uncertainty took
over. After more than 50 years of independence, there are still
things which create different interpretations, which can be
detrimental to the unity of the Indonesian people.
I hope that our political leaders will pay attention to this
phenomena and consider the seriousness of this "proclamation".
There is still time for action.
My disappointment was healed slightly when I opened Kompas
daily of March 23, 1999, page 11, where I clearly read that this
activity was held by an alliance of traditional communities of
nusantara, which in my opinion has less political content than
when we compare it with the title of meeting of indigenous
people. The term indigenous points to a birthright, while customs
and traditions grow out of the habit of the people which can
change with time and development. Indigenousness is permanent.
Once a Javanese or an Achenese or a Batak or an Ambonese or an
Irianese, you remain so for life. Of course, there can be changes
in your legal status, but indigenous remains indigenous.
Although this week-long meeting contains certain political
elements and aspirations, the name of the meeting itself is more
directed to a desire that the central government should pay more
attention to the customs and traditions of the people in this
archipelago.
What a relief!
SOEGIH ARTO
Jakarta