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Discover the people of Indonesia

(Click on the map to meet the people of Indonesia)

Indonesischen Ethnolinguistisch - Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Ein umfangreiches Online-Archiv mit Kartenmaterial finden sich im Perry Castaneda Library der Universität von Texas

BALINESE

There is probably no group in Indonesia more aware of its own ethnic identity than the nearly 2.5 million Balinese. Inhabitants of the islands of Bali and Lombok and the western half of Sumbawa, Balinese are often portrayed as a graceful, poised, and aesthetically inclined people. More...

ASMAT

The approximately 65,000 Asmat people of the south-central alluvial swamps of Irian Jaya Province are descended from a Papuan racial stock. Until the 1950s, when greater numbers of outsiders arrived, warfare, headhunting, and cannibalism were constant features of their social life. More...

MINANGKABAU

The Minangkabau - who predominate along the coasts of Sumatera Utara and Sumatera Barat, interior Riau, and northern Bengkulu provinces - number more than 3.5 million. They have large corporate descent groups and they traditionally reckon descent matrilineally. A young boy, for instance, has his primary responsibility to his mother's and sisters' clans. More...

JAVANESE

Many of the rules of etiquette center on the proper use of language, which is more problematic in Javanese than in most other languages. When addressing someone, Javanese speakers must choose from several different levels of politeness. These "speech levels" comprise words that have the same meaning, but are stylistically different. More...

SUNDANESE

The Sundanese language possesses an elaborate and sophisticated literature preserved in Indic scripts and in puppet dramas. These dramas use distinctive wooden dolls. More...

BATAK

The Batak orient themselves traditionally to the marga, a patrilineal descent group. This group owns land and does not permit marriage within it. Traditionally, each marga is a wife-giving and wife-taking unit. Whereas a young man takes a wife from his mother's clan, a young woman marries into a clan where her paternal aunts live. More...

TANIMBAR

Tanimbarese are affiliated with rahan (houses) that are important corporate units, responsible for making offerings to the ancestors, whose skulls were traditionally placed inside. More...

TORAJA

Inhabiting the wet, rugged mountains of the interior of Sulawesi, the Toraja grow rice for subsistence and coffee for cash. Traditionally, they live in fortified hilltop villages with from two to forty picturesque houses with large sweeping roofs that resemble buffalo horns. More...

DAYAK

Shamanic curing or balian is one of the core features of their ritual practices. This healing practice often occurs as a result of the loss of the soul, which has resulted in some kind of illness. Sickness comes by offending one of the many spirits inhabiting the earth and fields, usually from a failure to sacrifice to them. More...

ACEHNESE

Situated in the Special Region of Aceh the northernmost provincial-level unit of Sumatra, the more than 3.4 million Acehnese are most famous throughout the archipelago for their devotion to Islam and their militant resistance to colonial and republican rule. More...