INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS OF SOME TRIBES IN INDONESIA


Introduction
Indonesia is the archipelago country that has many islands. This makes Indonesia rich of the diversity. There are many tribes that live in Indonesia. There are Javanese, Sundanese, Batak, Bugis, Balinese, and so on. Each tribe has the characteristics itself. One of the differences is culture. Every tribe has culture that is still depending until now, for example, Javanese has culture such as politeness and speak slowly to old people. Javanese language is also slow, it differ to Batak language. Batak language is hard.
Culture is the creation of human; it can be in the material, language, and ideas. There are many definitions of the culture. The behaviorist stated culture is something which is shared and can be observed. The functionalist defined culture as an attempt at making sense out of social behaviors, such as language, gestures, customs or habits, and foods. The other definition of culture is not a material phenomenon; it is a dynamic inter-relationship between meaning, experience, and reality. According to Edward Hall (1959), culture is the sum total of a way of life of a people (Gail,1985:12).
When we use the term "culture" it is important to bear in mind that culturally attributed social interaction processes are themselves the result of socially constructed processes. They are part of an individual-collective dialectic with multiple potential meanings, which are emergent and in constant reformulation from a wide variety of social and cultural perspectives. Much of the recent research in intercultural communication has been directed towards the study of these systems of culturally related meanings.

The differences of many tribes in Indonesia can be positive and negative. Indonesia become the rich country of the cultures, it is one of the positive effect from many provinces and tribes in Indonesia. The negative effects of the differences of culture are culture shock, feeling afraid to other tribes, even conflict. To prevent these problems, it is important to learn and understand other cultures. Understanding is the positive reactions to and interactions with people from different cultures.  Porter and Samovar stated about intercultural communication:
Intercultural communication is fairly easy when it is “cognitive” or based on what we know, but experiential communication is nearly impossible because it is based on what we feel…(Gail,1985:11).
Intercultural communication competence (ICC) is an area of study that is becoming more relevant in the increasingly multicultural communities that we live in. The term, intercultural identity, is employed as a counterpoint to, and as an extension of, cultural identity, and as a concept that represents the phenomenon of identity adaptation and transformation beyond the perimeters of the conventional, categorical conception of cultural identity. The intercultural communication competence can make good intercultural relations between tribes in Indonesia.
Intercultural Relation
An intercultural relation is a relatively new formal field of social science studies. It deals with the ability to get along with others, especially those from a different cultural background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_relations
Some of the main topics of study are:

The Bennett scale, also called the DMIS (for Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity), was developed by Dr. Milton Bennett. The framework describes the different ways in which people can react to cultural differences. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_Model_of_Intercultural_Sensitivity_%28DMIS%29

Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

  1. Denial of Difference
    • Individuals experience their own culture as the only “real” one. Other cultures are either not noticed at all or are understood in an undifferentiated, simplistic manner. People at this position are generally uninterested in cultural difference, but when confronted with difference their seemingly benign acceptance may change to aggressive attempts to avoid or eliminate it.
  2. Defense against Difference
    • One’s own culture is experienced as the most “evolved” or best way to live. This position is characterized by dualistic us/them thinking and frequently accompanied by overt negative stereotyping. People at this position are more openly threatened by cultural difference and more likely to be acting aggressively against it. A variation at this position is seen in reversal where one’s own culture is devalued and another culture is romanticized as superior.
  3. Minimization of Difference
    • The experience of similarity outweighs the experience of difference. People recognize superficial cultural differences in food, customs, etc, but they emphasize human similarity in physical structure, psychological needs, and/or assumed adherence to universal values. People at this position are likely to assume that they are no longer ethnocentric, and they tend to overestimate their tolerance while underestimating the effect (e.g. “privilege”) of their own culture.
  4. Acceptance of difference
    • One’s own culture is experienced as one of a number of equally complex worldviews. People at this position accept the existence of culturally different ways of organizing human existence, although they do not necessarily like or agree with every way. They can identify how culture affects a wide range of human experience and they have a framework for organizing observations of cultural difference.
  5. Adaptation to Difference
    • Individuals are able to expand their own worldviews to accurately understand other cultures and behave in a variety of culturally appropriate ways. Effective use of empathy, or frame of reference shifting, to understand and be understood across cultural boundaries.
  6. Integration of Difference
    • One’s experience of self is expanded to include the movement in and out of different cultural worldviews. People at this position have a definition of self that is “marginal” (not central) to any particular culture, allowing this individual to shift rather smoothly from one cultural worldview to another.
Conclusion
Intercultural relations must be developed to increase the conflict between tribes in Indonesia. It is interesting to learn about cultures because we can respect and tolerance to other people that has cultural differences.
References
Robinson, Gail L Nemetz. 1985. Crosscultural Understanding. California: Pergamon Press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_Model_of_Intercultural_Sensitivity_%28DMIS%29
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-intercultural-relations/most-read-articles/
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1251/2738

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