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Religious and Colonial Influences

religions vary broadly. Besides the established religions, religious practices include localized forms of animism, including certain ritual behaviors, reverence for the natural world and for ancestors, and believing that elements of the natural world are imbued with a spiritual essence. That encompasses hundreds of variations on a basic theme. Consider that animism forms a foundational set of beliefs across the country, and that animism has deep roots. Though outsiders had been coming to Indonesia for millennia, the region expe rienced European colonialism primarily through the Portuguese and the Dutch from the 16th through the 20th centuries. The Portuguese came in search of spices, so they focused primarily on Eastern Indonesia, an area rich in nutmeg, mace, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and other important spices (Figure 12.3). They established both trading posts and missions across the region, but their in fluence dwindled by the end of the 16th century due to Dutch competition and local resistance. In their search for both territory and natural resources the Dutch eventually controlled most of what is now known as Indonesia, beginning with the development of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company in the 16th century. The company was dissolved in the 19th century, and the Dutch officially took over the colonial administration of the archipelago. Resistance was strong in many areas, while some areas were only partly colonized. Dutch interests in Indonesia were primarily financial—rather than religious or military—and they profited

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FIGURE 12.3 Spices from the island of Maluku.