Tracing your family history in the Dutch East Indies means navigating archives that span centuries and continents. Here you’ll find resources to help you research your roots — from colonial records and military files to church registries and DNA tools.
A primary obstacle for many researchers is the language barrier — most historical records are written in archaic Dutch, which can make the search feel daunting. To help overcome this, The Indo Project has partnered with the Indische Genealogical Society (IGV) to assist English speakers in navigating these complex archives. Our ongoing webinar series, offers live tutorials on how to find and retrieve specific ancestral information. 🔗 Register for an upcoming session, or watch back the recordings below.
Reclaiming the Enigmatic: A Response to ‘Discover Your Roots’ For many in the diaspora, the question “Do you know what ‘Indo’ really means?” remains difficult to answer. Decades of migration and “generational silence” have rendered the Indo identity enigmatic. A recent call to action by The Indo Project challenges the current generation to move beyond…
by Arthur Fickel, president of the IGV About The Indische Genealogical Society (IGV) was established in 1988 by individuals seeking information about their ancestors who once lived in the Dutch East Indies. They found the existing resources to be grossly inadequate and faced challenges in accessing genealogical sources from both the former Dutch East Indies…
By Willem-Jan Brederode Do you know what ‘Indo’ really means? Do you comprehend what you actually are from an ethno-historical perspective? I am going to be bold and state that most of us do not know our entire story, and therefore may feel incomplete in terms of our cultural identity. And that is absolutely understandable;…
In this fourth episode, Gerald engages in a conversation with two guests: Jane Vogel Mantiri and Christiaan Verbeek. Join us as he delves into their fascinating tales of heritage, uncovering the threads that connect them to their past and shape their present. Get ready to explore the depths of their ancestry and unearth the stories…
By Bianca Dias-Halpert, Washington, USA Several years ago I received a big envelope with old family photos from a tante (aunt) in Holland. She had been researching our family geneology and heard that I was interested. I never knew this tante until we met in 2005. All the children in this picture are first…
As told by Carol Norwood of Pennsylvania, USA The photo from the home page slideshow is of Carol Norwood’s mother named Cita at the age of 2 in January of 1930. They were walking with their baboe (nanny) with mother and baby. Carol’s German grandfather worked for a Dutch company by the name of Senembah…
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. …
As told by Friedje van Gils of New Mexico, USA In the late 1950’s the Van Gils family arrived in the USA starting off in Akron, Ohio and eventually spreading out all over the country. They arrived with a group of friends and family. There was a “Dutch Club of Akron” made up mostly…
