FactsofIndonesia.com

Top 31 Indonesian Tribes List – History and Cultures

Review by : Yuli SE., MM

Indonesia is a big archipelago, consists of more than 17.000 islands. With that many islands, Indonesia consists of more than 1000 tribes. Some tribes are bigger than the other, and some tribes are considered as sub-tribes of the bigger tribes. Each of these tribes has their own uniqueness and cultures, which contribute to Indonesia’s rich cultures. Before Youth Pledge at 28 October 1928, some tribes considered themselves as individual countries. However, after Youth Pledge, most tribes united and called themselves “Indonesians”. After Independence, more tribes united into Indonesia, and forming what we know as Indonesia now.

History

There are many opinions about where Indonesian people’s ancestors came from. Historians spoke out their arguments of justification from their own suppositions. Although there are so many opinions, there is one opinion that has strong evidence. The opinion came from a Dutch historian, Von Heine Geldern.

Tribes in Indonesia

Actually, there are hundreds of major tribes in Indonesia, but in this article I will only explain 31 tribes that represent 34 provinces of Indonesia. Each of these tribes has its own uniqueness and creativity which are characterized by different style of cultures.

1. Aceh Tribes

Aceh Tribe is one of the oldest tribe in Indonesia. They are from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province. Their major religion is Islam, and the dialect is Aceh dialect. Aceh dialect came from west Malay-Polinesia language, which still in the same family as Champa language that is spoken in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is the most west side of Indonesia, and in middle century it was one of the most important port around Malay Strait. There are many foreign people and traders staying in the port, for example Arabians, Chinese, Thai, Champas, and Malay.

Then, some of these traders would later choose to marry local women and live around the coast line. That is why Aceh Tribe is descendant of those races.

2. Minangkabau Tribes

Minangkabau Tribe is from West Sumatra Province. Sometimes this tribe is just called “Minang”. So, if we hear somebody says “He is a Minang”, it means he is from Minangkabau Tribe. Minangkabau Tribe mostly embrace Islam religion, and Islam became the base of their cultures, for example Randai dance. Their dialect is Minang dialect, which has the similarity with Malay dialect.

Minangkabau Tribe has matriarchal culture, which means that the house would later belong to the daughters of the family, and the woman pays the dowry to the man’s family in wedding.

The boys, after reaching 12-13 years old, start to live in mosques or Islamic boarding school, while the girls stay with their family. After reaching early adult age, the boys would go out of their hometown for finding job, experience, and knowledges, which later would be very useful when they start a family. Therefore, some Minang people live outside of West Sumatra Province, even abroad.

The first president of Singapore, Yusof bin Ishak, is a Minang descent. Singapore’s national anthem, Majulah Singapura, was composed by Zubir Said who was born in Minangkabau.

3. Batak Tribes

Batak Tribe is from North Sumatera. This is one of the biggest tribes in Indonesial, because it has many sub-tribes: Batak Karo, Batak Toba, Batak Simalungun, Batak Pakpak, Batak Angkola, and Batak Mandailing.

Batak arts are also already recognized worldwide, for example Serampang Dua Belas dance, Tor-tor dance, Batak accoustic musics, and its traditional house. Those dances and musics are often performed abroad. If you want to know more about Batak Tribe, you can visit Lake Toba (the biggest caldera in the world) in North Sumatra.

Batak tribe also has their own traditional clothes, the Ulos. Ulos can be very expensive, depends on the material and golden threads woven in the cloth. Ulos is worn in all traditional ceremonies, such as marriage, building new house, funerals, submission of heritage, welcoming guests, and annual feasts.

4. Betawi Tribes

Every Indonesian people know that Betawi Tribe comes from DKI Jakarta Province. This tribe never leaves their art of massive dolls, which are called “ondel-ondel”.

A historian, Sagiman MD, said that Betawi Tribe has been exist since Neolithicum period, while the indigenous Betawi people came from Java Island: Javan, Sunda and Madura people.

Betawi arts are often aired in local Indonesia television, such as lenong and traditional dances since it represent the art of Indonesia’s capital city. Some sitcoms also have stories about the life of Betawi people.

5. Baduy Tribes

Baduy Tribe lives in Banten Province. They were Pajajaran citizens who fled into the hinterland of Banten when Sunda Kelapa port was overcome by Demak kingdom.

Then, until now, Baduy Tribe has very simple lifestyle. They are against any modernization. They live without electricity, cars, or anything from modernization.

They speak Baduy dialect, which is rooted from Sundanese language. Actually, Baduy Tribe consists of 2 sub-tribe: Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy) and Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy).

Others

There are several tribes that existed in Indonesia beside that has been explained above, such as:

10. Akit Tribes

Akit Tribe is one of the oldest tribes in Indonesia. The tribe is from Riau Province. There are many other tribes in Riau province, such as Talang Mamak Tribe, Malay Tribe, Laut Tribe, Bunoi Tribe, and Sakai Tribe; but Akit Tribe is the oldest one in Riau, the tribe was already exist far before other tribes came and settled in Riau.

Moreover, until now, Akit Tribe still has simple lifestyle. They forage and gather foods in the forest, just like their prehistoric ancestors.

11.Sakai Tribes

Sakai Tribe is also from Riau, but they live in hinterland. The data and social map of Indonesia showed that most of Sakai people live in isolated areas and far away from modernization. They also lack access of education.

Although they live in isolated areas, Sakai people always preserve their cultures. We can see that through the unique traditional houses of Sakai people. They never want to stay in other type of house, even the modern ones.

Now, an area in Riau which is full of Sakai traditional houses is made into touristic place. Many foureign tourists coming there to see Sakai cultures.

12. Kerinci Tribes

Kerinci Tribe lives in Jambi Province. When we hear about Kerinci, we usually think about the highest volcano of South-east Asia, not the tribe. Since thousands years ago, there is a tribe who lives in the Bukit Barisan highland, around Mount Kerinci. Therefore, this tribe is named Kerinci Tribe. They have their own dialect, but still in the same family of Austronesian language. They mainly do agricultures.

We can see the cultures of this tribe if we do hiking on Mount Kerinci, or when we visit Lake Kaco, a caldera on Kerinci Mountain.

13. Musi Tribes

Musi Tribe is also known as Sekayu Tribe. They live in South Sumatera, near Palembang. Musi people originally live around the sides of Musi river, but now we can find them dispersing around Indonesia because of works and educations. Their dialect is Musi dialect, which is actually a Malay dialect but they replace “a” at the end of word with “e” (like in “get”). They live by doing agricultures, fishing, trading, and working in companies.

14. Lampung Tribes

Lampung Tribe is the of a tribe which has the same name with their place to live, Lampung Province. They are known to have rich cultures, and they are friendly. They mix well with Javanese transmigrants. They speak Lampung dialect, which is rooted from Malay language. The most known cultures of Lampung Tribe is tradition of eating together called “Seruit”. This tradition is usually done in big celebrations, like Eidh al Fitri, Wedding, and other traditional ceremony.

Then, Seruit is done by sitting together on a carpet face-to-face, with foods in the middle. The menu is various, from grilled fish, cooked and raw vegetables, and sambal (Indonesian and Malay chilli sauce). The foods are placed on layers of banana leaves and eaten directly by hands. This symbolizes the harmony and kinship of Lampung people.

See also: Luwak Coffee – Indonesian Landmarks

15. Serawai Tribes

Serawai is a tribe who lives in Bengkulu Province. The word Serawai is derived from “Satu Rawai”, means “one family”. Serawai people are known for their high mobility and hard-working. They often leave their hometown to seek new and better life. They speak Malay language.

In Bengkulu, Serawai people live by doing farming and agricultures. They plant various agricultural plants, like coffee, cloves, para rubber tree, crops, and horticultures.

16. Samin Tribes

Samin Tribe lives in Central Java Province. They still embrace their ancestor’s cult, Samin Surosentiko. This cult taught “sedulur sikep”, fighting without violence when they were asked to pay tax by the Dutch.

In colonial time, Samin Tribe really hated the Dutch because the Dutch asked them to pay tax or land-rent. They think that lands are public properties, so they do not need to pay tax.

Samin people are dispersed throughout Central Java, but most of them live in Blora, 127 km on east side of Semarang.

17. Javan Tribes

This tribe originally came from Central Java, but now dispersed to East Java, Yogyakarta, and also throughout Indonesia by transmigration program. We also can find Javan Tribe in Suriname, South America, as a result of transmigration and agriculture programs by the Dutch. They speak Javanese language.

Javan Tribe are known for their gentle manners, which we can see in many of their performed arts. They are also known to be hard-workers. All of Indonesian presidents are from Javan Tribe.

18. Bali Tribes

Just like the name, this tribe comes from Bali Island. The majority of Balinese people still honor their ancestral teachings, such as using Balinese language, Balinese cultures, and Hinduism.

Balinese cultures are already famous over the world, and many foreign tourists come to Bali to witness the rich cultures. Balinese cultures are never far away from performance arts and sculptures. Balinese people are called artists, because they do various types of art activities (such as traditional dancers and sculptors) in their free time, regardless of their daily jobs, such as traders, teachers, farmers, drivers, etc.

Development of Indonesian Tribes

After the Youth Pledge in 28 October 1928, many tribes considered themselves as “Indonesians”, since they had the same vision and mission of being independent from colonialism, and they feel the kinship towards each other. This is also explained in a phrase “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” found in Sutasoma book, written by Mpu Prapanca in 12th Century AD. “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” means although we are different, we are in unity. This phrase is used as a national motto of Indonesia.

In ancient time, most of Indonesian tribes embrace their ancestral cults, which mainly based on animism and dinamism. The trading process, colonialism, marriages, and missionaries spreaded new religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianism. That is why we can find some tribes have their major religions.