By Richard Krebber – First published in Dutch in the April–May 2026 issue of INDAH magazine. Guna-guna (old spelling goena-goena) is often seen as a magical means of inspiring love or causing harm to someone. To others, it is pure superstition. Parapsychologist Richard Krebber explains what it is and how it works. Who doesn’t remember…
Welcome back to Echoes of the Archipelago, the podcast series by The Indo Project, exploring stories of Indo heritage, identity, memory, and lived experience across generations. In this deeply personal episode, host Jeff Keasberry speaks with Carolyn Hogenraad about caring for aging parents and navigating the emotional realities of dementia within an Indo-American family. Carolyn…
Welcome to Echoes of the Archipelago. In this 6th episode, we explore how Indonesia remembers the turbulent years of 1945 to 1949 — a time of war, revolution, and the struggle for independence. From history books to popular culture, what stories are told, and what is forgotten? We are joined by Arnoud Arps, a scholar…
Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other names for the figure include De Sint (“The Saint”), De Goede Sint (“The Good Saint”), and De Goedheiligman (“The Good Holy Man”) in Dutch. The feast of Sinterklaas celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December. The…
When the Dutch government eventually granted independence to their former colony, the Dutch (Netherland) East Indies in 1949, a large community of some 200,000 Indos were forced to find a new homeland. They were the offspring (descendants) of former Dutch and other European settlers, who often intermarried with women of Indonesian or other mixed ancestry. …
An Editorial on the Introduction to Over de grens by Inez Hollander, Ph.D. Director Emeritus for The Indo Project and Author of Silence Voices/Verstilde stemmen en verzwegen levens I apologize to you, dear reader. I was going to read the recently published decolonization research anthology Over de grens: Nederlands extreme geweld in de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog,…
The Back Story In light of the upcoming REVOLUSI exhibit at the Rijksmuseum which deals with the independence struggle of Indonesia, one of the Indonesian curators, Bonnie Triyana, publicly announced that the word “bersiap” should be (and was going to be) omitted from the exhibit. He argued that the term, when used by Dutch people,…
The Indo Project will be present at this year’s Holland Festival for the 10th time. Last year was TIP’s 10th anniversary, which was celebrated with a successful rebranding. You are invited to come check out TIP’s new booth, new merchandise, and fun activities. By Jeff Keasberry Once again, the Dutch and Indo-Dutch community of greater…
by TIP volunteer Sylvie Waxman Definition Cultural identity is the identity of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality, or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. (Wikipedia) The following are short descriptions for…
My name is Jennifer Ripassa. Born in Southern California, I’m true SoCal Indo. My parents are Dutch-Indonesian; both born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and came to this country with their parents, looking for a brighter future. I remember Oma Monod, born in Amsterdam, telling me about a letter she received from President John F. Kennedy giving…