The annual Holland Festival in Long Beach has permanently moved to Labor Day Weekend and will be celebrated this year on Sunday, September 4th, 2022. For many Southern California Indos, Memorial Day weekend in May was synonymous with the Holland Festival. The Holland Festival is an annual event celebrated at the P.O.A. Gemmrig Park in…
The Indo Project asked its followers on social media, “How did your mother or oma instill Indo culture in you?” TIP is pleased to share some of its followers’ responses below. Look for the Good in People Look for the good in people, my mom said. ~ Nicky Thornton Guerrero Always Have Enough Food I learned…
by Astrid Berg, PhD During childhood, I had little connection to my Indonesian roots. I rarely heard Maleis (Malay) or Javaans (Javanese) spoken. I only had a slight relationship to Indo/Indische customs and culture. Both my parents appeared European. My mother is Dutch, and the Indonesian influences were subtle in my Indo father. I was…
The following is a written adaptation of a monologue performed by Ingrid Dümpel on International Women’s Day at Nia Domo (a community center) in Boekel, Netherlands. “I felt like a bird with too little flying experience being thrown out of the nest! And in my husband’s world, I remained the spring chicken, because he was…
by Sjoekje Sas(a)bone, LCSW, EMHA Click here for a word from the author. At eighteen years old, my father was a P.O.W. KNIL soldier during WWII Japanese occupation (approximately 3.5 years). At nineteen, he witnessed a civilian diagonally sliced (shoulder to waist) with a samurai sword by a Japanese soldier who lost aim during this…
Lost History of the Depokkers; A Review of the Book ‘The Christian Slaves of Depok: A Colonial Tale Unravels’ by Dr. Kathryn Pentecost Overview The Christian Slaves of Depok: A Colonial Tale Unravels (2021) by Dr Nonja Peters is a highly readable and thoroughly researched book which details the little-known history of a group of colonial…
Maria and Holland International Market With the opening of its doors, Holland International Market, Inc. started a new era of Dutch culture and specialty goods in Bellflower, California. The former local Dutch store, Holland American International Specialities closed for good in June 2014. It was the premier distributor of fine European and domestic specialty gourmet…
A Cultural Awakening By Barbara (Babs) Coert My sister and I are as different as two people can be. Not only do we live in different states, we are also very different in how we express and connect to our Indo culture. I’m more social in my connection. Maybe holding on to the ways of…
By Ronny Geenen (IndoWorld) Roots in the Dutch East Indies My youngest sister Peggy Geenen was born in Padang, in the former Dutch East Indies, during World War ll in 1943. Over 50 years later, in 1996, she, her friend Jaap, and six others decided to take a trip through the islands Sumatra and Java,…
A Young Indo Woman Displays Courage, Cunning, and Hope By Sally Brandle The author notes that Iris passed away early December 2021, just short of her 98th birthday before this article was published. Iris, the little girl on the left, and her brothers are the descendants of an Indo maternal grandmother, a French countess paternal…