Tuesday, July 05, 2005

What is The Dutch East Indies Heritage Project ?


The purpose of this project is to provide information for anyone who has roots in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Primarily for the English-speaking world, my hope is to make this part of history more alive for the younger generations in particular.

After 300 years of Dutch rule in the archipel of Indonesia, 1600's - late 1940's, the former Dutch East Indies produced and shaped a system of economics, trade, language, culture and a social strata that leaves a colorful and complex legacy never to be repeated. People of various blood lines, mixed and not mixed, emerged as a result of war and commercial trade; Chinese, Malay, German, Indonesian, Dutch, Armanian, Arab, African to name a few.

There are many other sites available about the history, culture, geneology and mililtary events. Most of the documentation is in the Dutch language and there are some academic papers in English.

Since the project is in progress, data regarding history, culture, military, transmigration, etc. will be sorted out. People are welcome to contribute comments, stories, photos and insights.

2 comments:

Bianca said...

Hope this project reaches an audience.

Anonymous said...

Loved reading your entries. Well, of course I am from the D.E.I. as well, was born in Batavia 1942. In 1869 my great grandfather sailed to Indie and when he died he left his autobiography behind. A wonderful source of knowledge about life in the tempo doeloe in Indie. I was the last one of 4 generations to be born there. You have some interesting stuff there and I am sure you will achieve a nice reference site for all those next generations who can't read Dutch anymore.
I will return from time to time to see what's new here. Meanwhile I wish you good luck with the progress of your blog.
Regards, Marguerite.