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Research

The Nias Heritage Museum not only collects and preserves the cultural heritage of Nias, but also conducts research. Because many visiting scholars base themselves at the museum it has become something of a hub for Nias related scientific research.  Over the years the museum have assisted and facilitated numerous research projects.

Research by the Museum

In the early days of the  Nias Heritage Foundations  a lot of knowledge about Nias was gathered from the personal notes and research done by Pastor Johannes since his arrival in 1971. Pastor Johannes also had access to a lot of writings by his predecessors on Nias. German missionaries took careful notes and wrote many letters and articles about life on the island. Over the years Pastor Johannes learned the local Nias language and worked together with many people to record information about cultural practises on the island. Today Pastor Johannes is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of Nias culture and history. His research has been published in several languages in books, magazines and scientific journals both in Indonesia and overseas. His research has resulted in 18 books and numerous articles about Nias culture and history.

Local staff at the Museum Pusaka Nias have also been involved in research and publications. Museum Director Nataluhi Duha in particular has collaborated in the writing of many articles and books. In 2005 he published a book the about the background of Nias Traditional Houses and indigenous villages , called “OMO NIHA – Land boat on the swaying island”.

Other research by both foreign and local scholars has been published by the Museum. Learn more about our published books here.

Many foreign academics have conducted research on Nias. Many of them also cooperate with the museum in various ways. The Museum aims to support Nias related research in any way it can. Some successful cooperation's include;

Traditional Architecture

Prof. Viaro Alain and Arlette M. Ziegler from Switzerland have traveled extensively on Nias since 1977 in order to conduct research about Nias architecture and culture. Their work has resulted in many academic articles in several languages, book chapters and the book “Traditional architecture of Nias Island” which was published in 1993. Prof Viaro also compiled the most complete bibliography of Nias related research, available here.

Dr. Erich Lehner , Dr. Ulrike Herbig  and Dr. Petra Gruber of T.U. University- Austria also conducted research about Nias traditional architecture resulting in the book “Traditional Architecture and art on Nias, Indonesia”.

Archaeological Excavations

In 1999 the museum also facilitated the first archaeological excavation on Nias in collaboration with the University of Airlangga University in Surabaya. The excavations took place in Tögindrawa cave, near Gunungsitoli and looked for signs of human habitation. In 2005 there were additional joint excavations by the Archaeological Institute of Medan, the French Archaeological Research Centre together with the Research Center for Archaeology in Jakarta. This study found evidence that the cave has been inhabited by early humans starting 12,000 years ago.

Dating of megalith stones

Prof. Dr. Bonatz from the Wilhelm Humbold University in Berlin, Germany and Yves Battais from France collaborated with the museum in research about determining the age of various megaliths on Nias.

The peopling of Nias and dispersal of clans.

What molecular genetics can tell us.

Initiated by P. Johannes M. Hämmerle in 2001, Prof. Dr. Ingo Kennerknecht from the Institute of Human Genetics, Westfälische Wilhelms - Universität Münster, Germany conducted extensive population genetics, clinical genetics, and epidemiological research on Nias in the years 2002, 2003, 2011, and 2014. It is undisputed that Nias is unique in terms of culture, language and architecture. But what contribution can genetics make? He tried to provide an answer from the perspective of recently evolved molecular genetic methods (DNA studies). A permit was applied for and was granted by (1) the Nias Government, through Nias Health Office, Nias Heritage Foundation (YPN) represented by the Bupati Nias Binahati Baeha, SH and Dr. Idaman Zega (then Head of Health of Nias Regency) and by (2) the ethics committee from the University of Münster, Germany (protocol no. 3XKenn1, 13 October 2003). The villages visited for this study were also informed in detail in advance. In 2002 and 2003 P. Johannes and Prof. Ingo Kennerknecht went through all over Nias, taking more than 900 blood samples. At that time this represents around 0.06 percent of the total Nias population of 684,704 (Nias Dalam Angka 2001 [Statistical Yearbook of Nias 2001]).

As the paternal lines are the subject of oral tradition, we started from the «Y-chromosome perspective». Notably, the Y-chromosome is only inherited from father to son, making it a perfect candidate for genealogical studies in a patrilineal society. Such studies haven´t been done so far on Nias. But fortunately there were sufficient comparative data available from all over Island- and Mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia to hint at where the Niassian men might come from. In this All-Asian Y-chromosome documentation, 15 sublineages had been already characterized in accordance. Thus, they could serve as an ideal control when we started our work on Nias  [1 - 3].

The first surprise

Whereas all the controls consist of the complete set of these 15 sublineages, the Nias samples show only two very closely related sublineages! A third slightly different sublineage should be mentioned but this is still closely linked to one of the two others. In other words, the Nias people are descendants of hardly more than two stemfathers! Such an extreme paternal bottleneck is otherwise only known from isolated Oceanian populations or remote valleys in Papua New Guinea. But these have at best hardly more than 3.000 inhabitants [1].

The second surprise

There is a strong north-south differentiation on Nias. In the north only one of the two sublineages is present. In the south are both sublineages but the other one is the most frequent. Interestingly, the genetic borderland can be placed in the founder area Sifalagö Gomo from where – according to oral tradition - one group spread to the north, another to the south.

The third surprise

Is even greater. There is an extremely reduced genetic diversity on Nias, unique in islands of Southeast Asia: On the Y-chromosome – as on all other chromosomes there are regions of high variability. This is used e.g., for paternity testing allowing to individualize a chromosome. In contrast to all controls from outside, this generally observed variability is extremely reduced through all over Nias. This tells us that the bottleneck event must have happened not that long ago, as there was no time to accumulate much varieties (mutations) over the generations. It can be calculated (molecular clock) that this has happened around 800/900 years BP [1].

The fourth surprise

In all samples studied, there are no genetic markers of an ancestral population. This documents that the small group of immigrants replaced the ancestral population and supports the oral tradition and old reports.

Johann William Thomas (1879) and Heinrich Sundermann (1884) who were among the first missionaries on Nias, were also told of the existence of a variety of ethnic groups. Their informants identify themselves as immigrants, i.e., ono Niha. They were obviously highly motivated when recapitulating their own (Niha) genealogies but less so in recalling details of their predecessors. The ono Niha say that they are the real humans in contrast to an earlier population, the ono Mbela, said to live in trees (ba hogu geu) and be less developed. Other races are said to live in caves (tögi) with their ancestor Lature Danö (or Latura Danö), in rivers (idanö) with their ancestor Tuhangaröfa (or Cuhanaröfa), in gorges (awuwukha) with their ancestor Nadaoya or to have been drowned by a tsunami [e.g., on Sim[al]uk Island a lost village square is named nibunu asi (“killed by the sea”)].

The indigenous Nias oral traditions say that ono Niha (ono = child, Niha = human) reach back 30 to 40 generations and in particular with the dispersal of clans over the island from the founder village in the area of Sifalgö Gomo. With an average generation length of 25 years, the arrival of the elite can be estimated around 800/900 years BP.

The fifth surprise

The two genetic markers studied on Nias show in an All-Asian comparison the strongest link with Taiwan and the Philippines and suggest that Nias was directly populated from this region by maritime populations. In detail, such an extremely high frequency as on Nias is not found in the surrounding populations, e.g., Sumatra (17.5 per cent), but is very common among Taiwanese aboriginals (89.6 per cent) and frequent in the Karo Batak (a subpopulation of Sumatra) (45.5 per cent), Philippines (41.0 per cent); Malaysian (30.8 per cent), Trobriand Islands (28.3 per cent), Javanese (27.3 per cent), Nusa Tengara (22.6 per cent), and Balinese (18.1 per cent) [1].

One important remark regarding “The fifth surprise” in order to avoid any misunderstanding:

Whenever one speaks of a migration of peoples and a colonization, one must keep the timeline in mind. All of humanity comes from Africa. They migrated out perhaps > 200,000 years ago, but that doesn't make us all “Africans”. The local population groups were only named much later in “historical” times. Australia, for example, was colonized 47,000 years ago but only in 1803 the name was given by a British. The later founding fathers of Nias were also part of the worldwide migration of peoples. They probably came from Taiwan via the Philippines to the vicinity of Nias many ten thousand years ago, before some of them finally immigrated 800 years ago. They expanded into today's population, replacing the ancestral population (mentioned several times in the oral tradition). Generally speaking, they are Austronesians in terms of population genetics, but not Taiwanese or Philippines, as these terms were only coined in our historical period.

The impact on public health

These population genetic characteristics should have an impact on the prevalence of genetic diseases. Further investigations were therefore carried out with a focus on inborn errors that are either unique on Nias (endemic, i.e. evolved on Nias), or that are rather rare/or on the other hand much more frequent as compared to other populations outside of Nias.

To help you better understand these considerations, here are a few comments:

The reason for this approach was the so called “bottleneck effect”, which is described by an hourglass consisting of two interconnected glass flasks. The upper glass shows the population from origin, i.e. the settlers from outside before entering Nias. In between lies the bottleneck that enabled only a very small “founding population” to reach Nias [800 years ago]. The glass below shows the massive population expansion of this founding population over the last 800 years.

• Two further terms have to be introduced:

(1) The summary of all genetic variations (not harmful), mutations (potentially harmful), etc. found in a given population make up the “gene pool”.

• (2) The individuals within a population who are carrying a variation/mutation are called “carriers”

The respective number of carriers of certain mutation in the founder population have a direct effect on the expanding population. As soon as the bottleneck has been overcome and the population has spread massively, several scenarios are conceivable:

If the prevalence of a given mutation is the same outside of Nias and on Nias (e.g. the cognitive deficit “face blindness”[4]) then one can conclude that it has been the same in the founder population.

If carriers for a given mutation are more frequent on Nias than outside, then the carriers in the group of the founder population should have been more frequent.

Consequently, if carriers for a given mutation are less frequent on Nias than outside, then the carriers in the group of the founder population should have been less frequent.

Or, if it is found only on Nias, than then it has its origin on the island (i.e. endemic) and didn’t come through the founder population [5].

Without systematic search, we are aware of some frequent disorders on Nias, which are easy to diagnose under conditions of field research. Three examples:

Albinism

Albinism is well known throughout populations around the world. However, in populations with highly pigmented skin, it attracts special attention. It is characterized by the absence of pigments in hair, skin, and eyes, and does not vary with race or age. This is the type found on Nias where people with this defect are called bela with a prevalence of 1 in 3,200 that is 6 times higher than the worldwide average of 1 in 20,000 [6].

As the event of a population bottleneck on Nias was shown to be very recent (600 to 800 years BP), it can be assumed that (almost) all probands with albinism should have the same founder mutation. And indeed, we could show that all probands in north and south Nias share the same mutation. Thus, although clinical genetic studies will further add to the understanding of the genetic history of Nias. Mutation screening throughout (Island) Southeast and East Asia particularly might help to trace the potential homelands of the contemporary Niassians.

Gout

Gout affects people in many ethnic groups and geographical areas. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the high prevalence in many populations. It is common knowledge on Nias that this disease is widespread throughout the island and especially in certain clans in the south of Nias. Gout, a disease in which urate crystals are deposited in joints. The acute gout attack describes the acute inflammation of a joint. Eventually resulting in severe tophaceous gout with joint destruction. Our genetic studies show that it is linked with the X-chromosome, and almost only men are impaired, whereas women are unimpaired carriers [7].

Diabetes mellitus

Based on routine laboratory blood serum analysis we observed a very high prevalence of hyperglycemia in 14 % of the population of Nias, compared to 1.5% in the population of the neighboring island of Sumatra. Accompanied by other specific laboratory findings this suggest that the Nias population may be disproportionally affected by prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus. By contrast, laboratory parameters potentially indicative of other polygenic disorders such as total plasma cholesterol, electrolytes, creatinine, urea, and uric acid were comparable between the inhabitants of Nias and Sumatra islands [8].

 

Conclusions

The recent Niassian people arrived on the island around 800 years ago and replaced the ancestral Austronesian population. There are no strict genetic links with the neighboring islands except with the Karo Batak on Sumatra. It can be speculated that they are apparently part of a migration of people out of Taiwan via the Philippines and Malaysia. Any connection to India and to Nagaland can be excluded genetically. This was previously stated by Schnittger (1939) and Denninger (1874) on the basis of “[…] similarities between their megalith cultures [which] are so striking and numerous that there can be no doubt of their relations.” For an overview of the meagalites on northern Nias see [9].

The molecular genetic data collected on Nias may not only provide additional information on early migration of modern humans and on peopling of the island and dispersal of clans but also to community health. The description and mutation mapping of endemic disease mutations is one point. The other point is that even the 'neutral' polymorphisms may in the future be of value for an individual health prognosis. Although more than 99% of human DNA sequences are identical across the populations, variations in DNA sequence probably have a major impact on how humans respond - individually and/or by their ethnic background - to diseases; environmental insults such as bacteria, viruses, toxins, and chemicals; and drugs and other therapies.

 

Resulting publications

[1] van Oven M, Hämmerle JM, van Schoor M, Kushnik G, Pennekamp P, Zega I, Lao O, Brown L, Kennerknecht I, Kayser M (2011) Unexpected island effects at an extreme: reduced Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA diversity in Nias. Molec Biol Evol 28: 1349-1361

[2] Kennerknecht I (2009) The genetics of Nias – concepts and first data. In Gruber P, Herbig U (eds.) Traditional Architecture and Art on Nias, Indonesia. IVA-ICR Vienna, p54-61.

[3] Kennerknecht I, Hämmerle JM, Blench RM (2012) The peopling of Nias, from the perspective of oral literature and molecular genetic data. In Crossing Borders. Selected Papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, vol. 2, ed. M.L. Tjoa-Bonatz, A. Reinecke and D. Bonatz. Singapore: NUS Press, 2012, pp. 3‒15.

[4] Kennerknecht I, Edwards SD, Van Belle G, Wang-Elze Z, Wang H, Hämmerle JM, Durak Aras B, Thomas C, Christian Thomas Ch. (2021a). Prevalence of hereditary prosopagnosia – a worldwide survey“.[Electronic ed., Münster: Universität Münster]. DOI: 10.17879/37069549382

[5] Budde BS, Mizumoto S, Kogawa R, Becker C, Altmüller J, Thiele H, Rüschendorf F, Toliat MR, Kaleschke G, Hämmerle JM, Höhne W, Sugahara K, Nürnberg P, Kennerknecht I (2015) Skeletal dysplasia in a consanguineous clan from the island of Nias/Indonesia is caused by a novel mutation in B3GAT3. Hum Genet: 134 (7):  691-704

[6] Kennerknecht I, Zühlke Ch, Hämmerle JM (2021). Extreme founder effect associated with oculocutaneous albinism type 1 (OCA1) on the island of Nias/Indonesia. [Electronic ed., Münster: Universität Münster]. DOI: 10.17879/18049589776

[7] Kennerknecht I, Hämmerle MJ (2024). X-linked recessive gout on the island of Nias/Indonesia. Preliminary results in the context of population genetics field research. [Electronic ed., Münster: Universität Münster]. DOI 10.17879/47958564523

[8] Kennerknecht I, Hämmerle JM, Manfred M, Jerzy-Roch Nofer J. (2024). Extreme founder effect associated with hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia on the island of Nias/Indonesia. Atherosclerosis plus 57: 26-29 DOI 10.1016/j.athplu.2024.07.002

[9] Battais Y, Kennerknecht I (2023). The sculpted word. [Electronic ed., Münster: Universität Münster]. DOI: 10.17879/33029506056

Facilitating research

Over the years many Indonesian and International master and doctoral students have visited the Museum. Our helpful and knowledgeable staff is always willing to assist anyone interested in Nias. The Museum is well equipped to help academics with their research and practical arrangements. Some academics visit for a day, others have been staying at the museum for weeks and even months.  

Please contact us if you plan to conduct research on Nias to discuss how we can assist you.

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