East Indies Philippine independence. The East Indies may also include the former French-occupied Indochina, former British territories Brunei and Singapore and former Portuguese East Timor. It does not, however, include the former Dutch New Guinea western New Guinea (West Papua), which is geographically considered to be part of Melanesia. The inhabitants of the East Indies are almost never called East Indians, distinguishing them both from inhabitants of the Caribbean (which is also called the West Indies) and from the indigenous peoples of the Americas who are often called "American Indians." In colonial times they were just "natives". However, the peoples of the
Dutch East Indies European fabrics was considered too hot to wear in tropical climate. Thus, the light clothing of thin kebaya fabrics and the comfortable and easy to wear batik sarong are considered quite suitable for everyday clothing in hot and humid climate of the East Indies. Later on in the history of the Dutch East Indies, as a new wave of Europeans were brought into the colony, many adopted the Indonesian styles, many even went so far as to wear traditional Javanese kebaya at home. Batik was also a big influence for the Dutch. The technique was so fascinating to them that