Native Indonesians

Native Indonesians, also known as Pribumi (first on the soil), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, Indian Indonesians and Indo-Europeans (Eurasians). The term pribumi was popularized after Indonesian independence as a respectful replacement for the Dutch colonial term inlander (normally translated as "native" and seen as derogatory). It derives from Sanskrit terms pri (before) and bhumi (earth). Before independence the term bumiputra (Malay: son of the soil) was more commonly used as an equivalent term to pribumi. Following independence, the term was normally used to distinguish indigenous Indonesians from citizens of foreign descent (especially Chinese Indonesians). Common usage distinguished between pribumi and non-pribumi. Although the term is sometimes translated as "indigenous", it has a broader meaning than that associated with Indigenous peoples. The term WNI keturunan asing (WNI = "Indonesian citizen", keturunan asing = foreign descent), sometimes just WNI keturunan or even WNI, has also been used to designate non-pribumi Indonesians. In practice, usage of the term is fluid. Pribumi is seldom used to refer to Indonesians of Melanesian descent, such as Moluccans and Papuans, although it does not exclude them. Indonesians of Arab descent sometimes refer to themselves as pribumi. Indonesians with some exogenous ancestry who show no obvious signs of identification with that ancestry (such as former President Abdurrahman Wahid who is said to have had Chinese ancestry) are seldom called non-pribumi. The term bumiputra is sometimes used in Indonesia with the same meaning as pribumi, but is more commonly used in Malaysia, where it has a slightly different meaning. The term putra daerah ("son of the region") refers to a person who is indigenous to a specific locality or region. In 1998, the Indonesian government of President B. J.