OLIVE-SKINNED INDONESIAN TRIBE HAS PIERCING BLUE EYES, BUT WHY?

Around the 16th century, Princess Wa Ode Kambaraguna, the daughter of King Siompu II, was wed to a Portuguese sailor named Pitter. The couple had numerous children, of which La Ode Raindabula stood out for being tall, fair-skinned, and belonging to the first generation of Indonesian people to have blue eyes. His fifth/sixth-generation descendants probably inherited some European physical traits. However, the science behind the Buton tribe’s blue eyes goes a long way further. A recent study suggested that Waardenburg Syndrome could be blamed for it.

December 14, 2022 | 12:13 am