ABSTRACT
On January 23, 2000, about 30,000 ethnic Gorontalo from all over the Indonesian archipelago gathered at the local stadium in Gorontalo City. They were there to celebrate “Hari Patriotik, 23 Januari 1942.” Patriot Day commemorates local hero Nani Wartabone and the anti-colonial rebellion he led that ousted the Dutch from the region. On that fateful day in January, Wartabone famously declared Gorontalo “free from colonialism” (Niode and Mohi 2003: 38).
