THE ASSIMILATION OF TIONGHOA IN PALOPO CITY (1917 - 1966)

Many stereotypes related to Tionghoa people have been around for a long time, such as their being exclusive and unsociable. Worsened off by the native and non-native issues, at the same time create a fission between the Tionghoa and the locals. Nevertheless, the Tionghoa in Palopo managed to blend in with the local community. This paper departs from the considerable concern to write about ethnic assimilation in Palopo City. The assimilation between Tionghoa and the locals in Palopo can hopefully serve a meaningful lesson for the religious moderation. Taking all those into account, this paper aims to find out the assimilation process of Tionghoa in Palopo, South Sulawesi Province. The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is nothing to bargain. However, it would all mean nothing as the minority and majority groups of ethnics prevail in which migrants and native do not integrate. The data of this paper were collected through literature and field methods. The results showed that the myth of I La Galigo served as much of the base of Tionghoa’s interaction with the locals. There emerged a new frame of thinking on the part of the Tionghoa migrants that their identities basically had the same cultural and historical roots as those of the locals’. The Luwu Embassy welcomed the arrival of Tionghoa migrants by preparing a shelter house, a Tionghoa school and other facilities. These migrants chose to make a living in Palopo City and had marriages with locals. They adapted local languages and customs. In the end, they had descendants whose parts of their Tionghoa identities left were their physical features and faith. Their language and culture have become both integrated with those of the local community.