Tribal people misunderstood

AMBON, Maluku: Most government officials and the public have little knowledge about isolated tribes in Indonesia, an official said here yesterday.

This has resulted in the misunderstanding of tribes living subsistent lives in secluded regions, said Budi Santoso, an aide to the State Minister for the Environment.

It is wrong to assume that tribal people live in isolation because they are socially and culturally primitive, he said at a Patimura University seminar.

He said their socio-cultural values are generally similar to those of "ordinary" people's. Tribal peoples, he added, are isolated only physically. (pan)