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Indigenous Cultures in Indonesia Today

Decent Essays

Indigenous Cultures of Indonesia Today
Erlangga Rajendra
Geography 1500
Dr. Moshe Rapaport
Indigenous Cultures of Indonesia Today
The Republic of Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation, with a population of 203 million people living on around a thousand permanently occupied islands. The population is constituted by some 200-300 ethnic groups each speaking their own language and dialects. The Indonesian national culture is multicultural and is anchored on the older societies and interethnic relations. The national culture was developed by those who fought the Dutch colonialists in the 21st century. During this period, there were cultural stresses that the colonialists like the Dutch, the Portuguese and others brought …show more content…

The law should stress the importance of traditional cultural practices and resources like forests to the indigenous people and encourage their representation in any corporate decision that may affect them ( Pye & Jacobson , 2012).
Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN) is actively fighting for the right of indigenous people to control their resources like land, forests, indigenous religion from interference from the corporates. They are pushing for political representation and free and prior informed consent before any major decision to use their resources by the government and corporates. This free and prior informed consent (FPIC) is today not yet incorporated into law and this is seen by AMAN to be favoring businesses, political elites and bureaucrats. FPIC, if entrenched into law would make businesses responsible in their activities as it would punish those who break it ( Pye & Jacobson , 2012).
Despite Indonesia being a signatory the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the indigenous people say they are not allowed to enjoy its benefits. Several conflicts between businesses and the indigenous are reported monthly. There are some changes that have been felt in the last decade since the state amended the constitution to recognize the indigenous people’s rights. The law also stresses the right of indigenous people to their

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