The national language is Indonesian, which was adapted from the Malay language at the time of independence from the Netherlands (1945-1948).However, every small region has its own dialect or language. All of them are ultimately part of the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages.Likewise, cultural practices are reminiscent of peoples not only in Southeast Asia but across the Pacific.Today, we will look at Indonesian rituals from two perspectives: historical and ethnographic.First we will consider some of the ritual practices that were part of past cultures in Indonesia, and then we will look at practices there today.