Genetic research on Nias Island and published findings.

(Die Forschung und ihre publizierten Ergebnisse zur Genetik von Nias)

1. Apology.

Genetic research on Nias Island has been ongoing between the two parties since 2001:

1. Dr. med. Ingo Kennerknecht; and

2. Johannes M. Hämmerle OFM Cap as Founder and Director of the Nias Heritage Museum (MPN). From 2013 to 2023 Chairman of the Nias Heritage Foundation (YPN).

However, there was an oversight on the part of MPN. Despite all the research and cooperation between the two parties, MPN never published the progress and results of Genetic research on the Museum’s website. We now apologize profusely to Prof. Ingo and to the visitors of the MPN website.

2. Preface – Cogito: ergo sum.

This is a well-known phrase from the French philosopher Rene Descartes. He said: Cogito: ergo sum. Meaning: My power to think proves my existence. But philosophers are not satisfied with this statement. They always continue thinking by asking again: “Why?” In Latin: Cur. Why do I live? Countless questions arise about human existence on this earth.

Now, at the age of 83, I would like to also ask: “Why”?

Why was I born in the Black Forest mountains when World War II was still raging? Why did I become a Catholic priest in the Order of St. Francis in the Capuchin Province of Germany? Why was I sent as a missionary to Indonesia with over 16,000 islands? Why was I assigned to the small island of Nias and have lived there for 53 years now? Why have I walked in hundreds of villages, met thousands of Nias people and speak their language fluently? Why have I diligently researched Nias culture and published dozens of books in various languages? Why did I meet in Nias with architect Alain Viaro from Geneva, Switzerland, who later drew the 4th pavilion of the Nias Heritage Museum? Why was I able to conduct the first archaeological excavations on Nias in 1998? Why was I able to confirm the Nias oral tradition that some Nias ancestors were “aekhu tou ba narö danö”, meaning people who lived in caves with Hoa Binh culture? Why 12,000 years b.p. (before present) there were already inhabitants in the Tögi Ndrawa cave? Why can I explain that Ono mBela is not a fairy tale, but the name of a tribe that used to live on trees? Why after the Earthquake in 2005 was the Nias Heritage Museum able to rehabilitate l/300 traditional houses? Why was traditional Nias music investigated, written in a book and performed through the MPN studio? Why traditional Nias medicine was investigated and the book is still useful. Why have over 40 books in various languages been published through the YPN Publishing Agency? Why? Cur? – The questions could go on for a long time.

I’ll keep it short. In the end I am still left with a question: CUR?

Why are the results of the many scientific studies in the field of genetics conducted on Nias Island by Professor Dr. med. Ingo Kennerknecht have never been published by the Nias Heritage Museum or posted on the website? Why?

In 2001 I met Professor Dr. Ingo Kennerknecht from the Humangenetik Institut in the city of Münster in Germany? At that time a long and deep cooperation began, which lasted until 2024. But why hasn’t this MPN ever published that? Cur?

So now we must apologize profusely to Prof. Ingo and to the visitors of the MPN Website for our negligence.

3. Scientific research on Genetics on Nias Island.

The essence of the word Genetic is Gene[1]. From that comes the word Genealogy. And Christians on Nias have long known Genesis, the name of the first part of the Old Testament which tells the story of the world. The tribes of Nias are also very fond of Genealogy, the origin of their ancestors. And MPN has for a long time examined and published the Genealogies of the Nias tribes. So we on Nias must naturally be open to Genetic Research, which Professor Dr. Ingo Kennerknecht has been doing.

The Big Indonesian Dictionary explains:

Gene, an element of plasma cells that controls the transmission and characteristics of offspring.

Genealogy, 1. The lineage of humans in blood family relationships. 2. The line of growth of animals.

And for Christians, the word Genesis is well known from the Bible. It is the first part of the Old Testament that tells the story of the world, the beginning of something.

So the word Genetics is easier for us to understand. MPN publishes here all the Scientific Theses that Professor Dr. Ingo Kennerknecht has published so far in Germany. Hopefully Prof. Ingo’s writings will also enrich our interviews and discussions in Indonesia about Nias.

[1] Big Indonesian Dictionary. Ministry of Education and Culture. Balai Pustaka. Cet. 2.

Jkt: Balai Pustaka, 1989