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CHAPTER 2 Herawati Sudoyo

The Genetics of Indonesian Melanesia

Introduction
In the last chapter of The Malay Archipelago (1869), Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
concluded that there were two different races inhabiting the archipelago the Malays
and the Papuans: “The Malays, occupying almost exclusively the larger western half of
it, and the Papuans, whose headquarters are New Guinea and several of the adjacent
islands. Between these in locality are found tribes who are also intermediate in their chief
characteristics and it is sometimes a nice point to determine whether they belong to one
or the other race, or have been formed by a mixture of the two.”
Reference to the Malays and the Papuans as two different races has become politically
sensitive nowadays. Population genetics expert Cavalli-Sforza (2000) has given strong
evidence that dividing human into “races” is fallacious. Biologically, there is only one
modern human race Homo sapiens. Therefore, the terms “Malay race” or “Papuan race”,
and any reference to groups of humans as races is avoided. Instead, the terms population,
peoples, or group may be used, depending on context.
However, Wallace was not completely wrong in his attempt to divide the human
population of the archipelago into two groups, based on the geographical distribution
as was done with its flora and fauna. The phenotypes of people in the eastern part of
Indonesia are indeed distinct from those in the west. As noted by Wallace, Papuans who
inhabit islands in the eastern part of the archipelago (Alor, New Guinea, Papua), do have
a distinctive appearance, for example their skin color that is “deep sooty-brown or black.
The hair is very peculiar, being harsh, dry, and frizzy; growing in little tufts or curls…” These
characteristics distinguish them from people in the western part of the archipelago, who,
as Wallace said, had a skin color that was “light reddish brown, with more or less of an
olive tinge… The hair is equally constant, being invariably straight, and of a rather coarse
texture.” Meanwhile, Wallace described the physical stature of Papuans as bigger than the
Malays, even similar to or larger than the Europeans. “The legs are long and thin, and the
hands and feet larger than in the Malays. The face is somewhat elongated, the forehead

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