it was relatively easy. Thus, inbreeding was the rule in some groups, which
resulted in certain types and physical characteristics becoming dominant
over an entire area, although in other areas there was virtually a
complete mixture of physical characteristics. The same could be said
of cultural customs. This situation may well be one of the most important
reasons why Indonesia’s population consists of so many groups that
seem to be ethnically divergent in physiognomy, customs and kinship
systems.
However, modern socio-cultural research has long since established
a basic similarity, even a common root, for the languages and dialects
spoken in the archipelago. From the point of view of language ‘families’,
the Indonesians are Austronesians or, to use another name, MalayoPolynesians.
This language family stretches from Madagascar to Oceanic
Polynesia. However, probably also as a consequence of long isolation, many
sub-languages and sub-dialects were formed. Recent research done by
the Centre for Language Development, Indonesia, has registered over
400 languages and dialects, and it is expected that hundreds more will be
added to this list. These languages range from such widely spoken
languages as Javanese, spoken by some 60 million or more Javanese, to
some dialects and languages that are spoken by very small groups, sometimes
not exceeding a few thousand individuals. Parallel to the languages
and dialects, we find a corresponding number of ethnic groups and
sub-groups.
However, divergency was not the only result of ethnic development
in various degrees of isolation dwing ancient times. Due to its geographical
situation between two oceans (the Pacific and the Indian Oceans) and
between two continents (Asia and Australia), Indonesia has also been
subject to influence from foreign countries since relatively early times.
Owing to the enormous distances involved, this foreign influence differed
from area to area and from island to island. Thus we find islands and inland
areas of the larger islands that were virtually untouched by outside
influence and remained, until recent times, next to areas where continuous
communication with the outside world resulted in the creation of a culture
that became a mixture of various elements, blending and absorbing
foreign ideas into the original structure. In this way Chinese, Indian
(Hindu-Buddhist), Arabic (Muslim) and European (Christian) influences
have been integrated in various degrees into the local cultures which
are very varied and may be divided very roughly into the following
categories:
1. Those that have remained relatively archaic until very recent times,
such as the cultures of the people in the small islands to the west of
Sumatra (Nias, Enggano or the Mentawais), the culture of some Bataks
in Central Sumatra, the Dayaks of Kalimantan, the Torajas of South
Sulawesi, some groups inhabiting the smaller islands and groups of
islands in the east of Indonesia and Irian Jaya (West Inan).