Indigenous Peoples in the Border Areas of Indonesia
Herry Yogaswara (P2K-LIPI, Jakarta)
This paper will described several issues related to existence of indigenous peoples (masyarakat adat) in some borderlands in Indonesia, such as West Papua, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. The central issues on indigenous peoples are how their relation with the state, in term of recognizing their ancestral rights and self determination their citizenry. In Indonesia, the 1945’s constitution and its amendment are recognizing existence of indigenous peoples, using terminology masyarakat hukum adat (customary law society). However, there has no law and regulation granted their title of ownership on ancestral domain (hak-hak ulayat). It makes different between indigenous and non-indigenous people in Indonesia, although both groups are belong to Indonesian Population.
In border areas, many indigenous peoples sharing same roots, culture and traditions. The borderline become an imaginary line by product of colonial legacy. However, different states put different treatment for indigenous peoples existence. For examples, in the State of Sarawak, the native title is subject to granted for indigenous peoples. However, in Indonesia has no implemented yet. In this kind of situation, do indigenous peoples have rights to choose their citizenship for shake of their welfare?
