The Origins of the Distribution of Ancestors in Indonesia – The many tribes in Indonesia have had an impact on the emergence of regional language and cultural diversity that applies in everyday life. This wealth can become a problem if you are not good at managing the diversity and differences that exist. Of course this is also related to the origin of the arrival of ethnic groups and when they arrived in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, there are many ancient human species with different body characteristics from present-day humans. In its development, it is possible that these ancient human species have become extinct. Meanwhile, the Homo Sapiens type has evolved or changed slowly. Children will definitely ask who their real ancestors were.
With the motto “Unity in Diversity” which belongs to the Indonesian people, it unites the diversity that exists within it, including ethnic groups. In the book Encyclopedia of Indonesian Tribes by Dr. Zulyani Hidayah, you can learn about various ethnic groups in Indonesia.
The Origin of the Distribution of Ancestors in Indonesia
In understanding the origins of Indonesian ancestors, we must first look at the history of human birth, which Sinaumed’s can learn from the book Graphic Sapiens: The Birth of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari.
In the opinion of the Sarasin brothers, the natives of the Indonesian archipelago are a race of dark skin and small stature. At first they lived in Southeast Asia. When the ice age melted and sea water rose to form the South China Sea and the Java Sea, separating the volcanic mountains of the Indonesian archipelago from the mainland.
Some of the original inhabitants of the Indonesian archipelago remained and settled in inland areas, while the coastal areas were inhabited by immigrants. The natives are called the Veddas by the Sarasins. The races included in this group are the Hieng people in Cambodia, the Miaotse, Yao-Jen in China, and the Senoi in the Malay Peninsula.
Several ethnic groups, such as the Kubu, Lubu, Talang Mamak who inhabit Sumatra and Toala in Sulawesi, are the oldest inhabitants in the Indonesian archipelago. They have a close relationship with the ancestors of today’s Melanesians and the Vedda people who still exist today in Africa, South Asia, and Oceania. Vedda was the first human to come to the islands that are already inhabited. They brought the stone tool culture with them. The Melanesian and Vedda races lived in a mesolithic culture.
1. Proto-Malay
The Proto-Malays are believed to be the ancestors of the Polynesian Malays who spread from Madagascar to the easternmost island in the Pacific. They are thought to have come from southern China. This Malay race has the following characteristics: straight hair, brownish yellow skin and slanted eyes.
From southern China (Yunan) they migrated to Indochina and Siam then to the Indonesian archipelago. They initially occupied the coasts of North Sumatra, West Kalimantan and West Sulawesi.
When new immigrants arrived (Deutro Melayu or Ras Melayu Muda), they were of the Proto Malay race moving into the interior and looking for new places in the forest to be used as dwellings. Life in the forest makes them isolated from the outside world, thus fading their civilization. The original inhabitants and the Proto Malay race then merged and later became the Batak, Dayak, Toraja, Alas and Gayo tribes.
The life of this isolated race then caused Proto-Malay to gain influence from Hindu and Islamic culture in the future. The Proto-Malay race received Christian influences since they knew evangelists who entered their territory to introduce Christianity and a new civilization into their lives.
The distribution of the Dayak tribes to the southern Philippines, Sarawak and Malacca shows their migration route from the Indonesian archipelago. While the Batak tribes took the route to the West along the coast of Burma and West Malacca. Therefore, some similarities in the language used by the Karen people in Burma contain many similarities with the Batak language.
2. Deutero Malays
The Deutero Malay race is a race that came from northern Indochina. This race brought a new culture in the form of iron tools and weapons in the Indonesian archipelago or the Dongson culture. Some call them the Dongson people.
Their civilization is higher than the Proto Malay race. They could make tools out of bronze. Their civilization is marked by skill in working metal. Their move to the Indonesian archipelago can be seen from the distribution routes of the tools they left behind in several islands in Indonesia such as rectangular axes. This civilization can be found in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Malacca, Sulawesi, Java and East Nusa Tenggara.
In terms of tillage, they have the ability to irrigate agricultural lands that have been successfully created by clearing forests first. The Deutero Malay race also had a more advanced seafaring civilization than their predecessors because their adventures as sailors were aided by their mastery of astrology. Migration of the Deutero Malay race also uses sea shipping routes. Some of the Deutero Malay race have reached the Japanese archipelago and even up to Madagascar.
The arrival of the Deutero Malay race in Indonesia has been increasing over time. They then moved to look for a new place in the forest as their place of residence. In the end the Proto and Deutero Malays merged and became residents of the Indonesian archipelago.
In later times they became difficult to distinguish. Proto Malay includes the population in Gayo and Alas in northern Sumatra and Toraja in Sulawesi. Meanwhile, all residents in the Indonesian archipelago except the Papuan population who live around the Papua islands are of the Deutero Malay race.
3. Melanesoids
This Melanesoid race is spread across the Pacific Ocean on the islands to the east, namely Irian and the Australian continent. In the Indonesian archipelago they live in Papua, along with Papua New Guinea, Bismarck, Solomon, New Caledonia and Fiji, they are a Melanesoid family. As Daldjoeni said, around 70% of the Melanesoid tribe live in Papua while 30% inhabit several islands around Papua and Papua New Guinea.
Initially, the arrival of Melanesoids in Papua began during the last ice age or in 70,000 BC. At that time the Indonesian archipelago was uninhabited. When the temperature drops to maximum freezing and the sea water becomes frozen. Sea level is 100 m lower than today’s level. It was at that time that new islands appeared. The existence of these islands makes it easier for living things to move from Asia to the Oceania region.
The Melanesoid tribe moved eastward to Papua and then to the Australian continent which was previously an archipelago related to Papua. The Melanesoid tribe at that time reached 100 thousand people covering the regions of Papua and Australia. The civilization of the Melanesoid peoples is known as the paleoticum.
When the ice age ended and sea water began to rise again in 5000 BC, the islands of New Guinea and the Australian continent were separated as can be seen today. At that time the population reached 0.25 million and in 500 BC it reached 0.5 inhabitants.
The origin of the Melanesian people is the Proto Melanesians who are indigenous people in Java. They were human beings who were scattered in the eastern part and occupied Papua before the ice age ended and before the sea level rise that occurred at that time. In Papua, Wajak humans live in small groups along river estuaries.
They live by catching fish in the river and gathering plants. Their residence is in the form of settlements made of light materials. The houses are actually just tents or wind shelters that are often erected against the walls of a large cave. The tents and wind shelters are only used as places to sleep and take shelter while other activities are carried out at home.
The Proto Melanesoid nation continues to be pushed back by the Malay nation. Those who had not yet had time to reach the islands of Papua finally mixed with this new race. The mixing of Malays with Melanesoids produces Melanesoid Malays. Currently they are residents of East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.
4. Negrito and Weddid
Prior to the arrival of the old and young Malay groups, Negrito and Weddid people had already entered Indonesia. Negrito is the name given by the Spaniards because those they meet have black skin similar to the types of Negroes. To what extent this Negrito group is blood related to the Negro types found in Africa and the Melanesian islands, as well as how the history of their movement is also not known with certainty.
This Weddid group consists of people with mesocephalic heads and deep-set eyes that look like otters. Their skin is dark brown and the males average 155 cm tall. Weddid means the type of Vedda (a nation found on the island of Ceylon-Sri Lanka). The distribution of the Weddid people in Indonesia is quite wide, for example in Palembang and Jambi (Kubu), Siak, and southeast Sulawesi (Toala, Tokea and Tomuna).
The period of immigration spanned centuries. It is possible that they belong to the same racial group and from the same culture. They are the ancestors of today’s Indonesians.
About 170 languages spoken in the Indonesian Archipelago are Austronesian, namely Malayo-Polynesian. These languages were further grouped into two by Sarasin, namely Acehnese and languages in the interior of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
The second group is Batak, standard Malay, Javanese and Balinese. This group is related to the Malagi languages of Madagascar and Tagalog of Luzon. The geographical distribution of the two languages shows that the users were sailors in the past who already had more advanced civilizations.
Besides these languages, there are also North Halmahera and Papuan languages spoken in the interior of Papua and the northern island of Halmahera.
Theory of Indonesian Ancestors
According to several experts, several theories regarding the origins of the Indonesian nation’s ancestors.
1. Drs. Moh Ali
According to Drs. Moh Ali, the Indonesian nation comes from the Yunan-China region. This opinion was influenced by the opinion of Mens who argued that the Indonesian people came from the Mongol area which was pushed by stronger nations so they moved south, including Indonesia.
Moh Ali said that the ancestors of the Indonesian people came from the headwaters of the large rivers located on the Asian mainland and they came in waves. The first wave took place from 3000 to 1500 BC (Proto Malay) and the second wave occurred from 1500 to 500 BC (Deutero Malay).
The first and second waves can be distinguished by the shape of the boat used. The characteristics of the first wave are the Neolithic culture with one outrigger boat, while the second wave uses two outrigger boats.
2. Prof. Muhammad Yamin
Prof. Mohammad Yamin said that Indonesians are native to Indonesia’s own territory. Moh Yamin believes that there are some nations or tribes abroad who come from Indonesia.
Mohammad Yamin said that the findings of fossils and artifacts were more numerous and complete in Indonesia than other regions in Asia, such as the findings of Homo or Pithecanthropus Soloensis and Wajakensis fossils which were not found in other Asian regions including Southeast Asia.
3. Willem Smith
According to Willem Smith’s view, the origins of the Indonesian nation through the use of language by Indonesian people. Willem Smith categorizes the peoples of Asia on the basis of the language used, namely people who speak Togon, people who speak German and people who speak Austria.
Then the Austrian language is divided into two, namely nations that use Austro Asian languages and nations that use Austronesian languages. These Austronesian-speaking nations inhabit the Indonesian territory (Melanesia and Polynesia).
In the Out of Africa and Out of Taiwan theories explaining the origins of Indonesian ancestors it can be seen that how closely the dynamics of Melanesian history are related to the archipelago. The word Melanesia was first introduced by Dumot d’urville, a French explorer to refer to the ethnic area of the population with black skin and curly hair in the Pacific region.
According to Harry Truman, around 60,000 years ago, there was a group of people who with a spirit of courage crossed the straits and seas to reach the Indonesian archipelago.
They are Homo Sapiens which in literature books are called early modern humans. When departing from their native land, namely Africa, they have no destination. According to experts, this theory is called the Pout of Africa theory. In their thoughts there is only how they can find a new field of life that is more promising.
They are fortunate in their wanderings to be able to overcome all natural obstacles, from generation to generation they reach new areas of life in the origins and distribution of the ancestors of the Indonesian nation.
In a new place, they explore the available environmental resources to sustain life. They concocted from a variety of fruits, tubers that exist in the region. The animals are also hunted by them to make ends meet. For this purpose, stone tools and organic materials such as wood and bamboo were made.
In studying history, the main concept of this science is humans which is described in the book Humans and History: A Philosophical Review by Yulia Siska.
The Life Style of the Ancestors of the Indonesian Nation
The style of life of the ancestors of the Indonesian nation includes agrarian life, maritime life, social life, cultural arts life, and religious life.
a. Agrarian life
The ancestors of the Indonesian people lived by farming. This is evidenced by the discovery of special agricultural tools in the form of a square pickaxe and an oblong axe. We still find this agrarian life today in several areas, especially in rural areas.
b. marine life
The ancestors of the Indonesian people have been able to sail the sea. They also had knowledge of seas, winds, seasons and astronomy. They also built an outrigger boat, so they were able to fulfill their daily needs from the sea.
c. Social life
The ancestors of the Indonesian nation lived in an orderly society in their daily lives in mutual cooperation. With gotong royong, development in the area is accelerated, for example, a bridge was built in a village which was completed in a relatively short time because the residents worked together.
d. Cultural arts life
The ancestors of the Indonesian people were familiar with jewelery made of stone, bronze, beads and glass. Not only that, they are also good at painting, dancing, and so on, so they are known for their artistic and cultural life.
e. Religious life
The ancestors of the Indonesian people were familiar with forms of belief such as: worship of ancestral spirits, animism (the belief that an object has a spirit or soul), dynamism (the belief that every object has supernatural powers), and monotheism (the belief that outside oneself one power that exceeds himself, namely the power of God Almighty).
Basically, the ancestors of the Indonesian people already had a belief, namely recognizing the existence of extraordinary powers that are outside of human beings. Therefore, since ancient times, our ancestors have had a religious life.
From the explanation that has been explained above, it can be said that the origins of the distribution of ancestors in Indonesia were almost dominated by the Malay race. In addition, the distribution generally occurs through the sea or the ancestors did it by sailing.
Scholastic friends, the explanation above is the Origin of the Distribution of Ancestors in Indonesia . After reading the description above, hopefully it will further add to our understanding of history. Hope it is useful.