West Papuan Painter - Lucky Kaikatui
by Charles Roring
From the porch to the living room and the kitchen, a lot of paintings depicting the beauty of Papua’s nature and culture decorate the walls. Nearly no more rooms left for him to put new paintings that he creates every week.
Lucky Kaikatui is a prolific painter. Ironically, art lovers in Indonesia do not recognize him. He lives in
Manokwari, a small town in the northern coast of West Papua far from and unnoticed by Indonesian mass media.
The character of this painter is very strong. This can be seen from the lines that he brushes on canvas. They are strong and full of meanings. His schoolmates have called him a brilliant illustrator since he was in the first grade of elementary school of SD Negeri I Manokwari. When the
Dutch were still in Manokwari, this school was called Klim en Daal. His first drawing, entitled “Pendekar Si Kapak Hilang” (The warrior of the missing axe), was snatched
Title: Tete Suanggi
Size: 120 cm x 94 cm
Tete means grandfather whereas suanggi means satanic human-like create.
away by his friends.
In junior high, Lucky’s paintings decorated the library room of his school. After completing his study in junior high, Lucky moved to Jayapura to carry on to high school. Again, in that city, he attracted people’s attention with his paintings. In 1985, he participated in a painting competition of West Papua province for high school and general levels. For high school level he was the best whereas for the general one he won the second winner. His natural talent draw the attention of the officials from Irian Jaya’s Department of Education and Culture. As the result in 1986, although he was still in High School, he could organize three painting exhibitions in Jayapura. In every exhibition, he displayed at least 30 paintings. The young Lucky Kaikatui finished his high school study in 1987. He tried to enroll in ISI (Indonesian Institute of Art) in Yogyakarta, a city in Central Java Indonesia. Unfortunately he could not realize his ambition because his parents did not have enough money to support his study in Java island.
Realizing his family economic condition, Lucky then returned to Manokwari and joined an entrance test for becoming a civil servant. He passed the test and was received as a civil servant in Manokwari regency. At the time he was sent to a remote post in Anggi, a small village in the highlands of Arfak mountains. The climate of Anggi is very cold. The village is surrounded by “virgin” forest and two lakes. It is isolated from outside world. There is no asphalt road connecting Anggi to the capital town, Manokwari. He had to work in that post and was not allowed to go to the town. The limitation did not discourage him from working for the villagers with his whole heart. According to Lucky, besides working for these villagers, he got the chance to experience in full the natural beauty of Papuan’s culture and nature in their purest condition. They would become abundant inspirational resources for his later works.
Title: Penetrating Isolation for
a Drop of Life
Size: 128 cm x 161 cm
Although he had been working as a civil servant, he never gave up his ambition to study in higher institution. Patiently he saved his salary for that purpose.
After working for three years and never returning to Manokwari, suddenly he fell ill with Malaria and had to go to Manokwari. While suffering, Lucky decided to leave for the town. He had to walk through the Arfak mountains with its tropical rainforest for three days. Lucky was accompanied by some Arfakkers who were also going to Manokwari. Later he poured these three days walking experiences on canvas. One of them is “Penetrating isolation for a drop of life.” This painting describes the natural challenge which the Papuan have to face when they want to go to town only for buying their daily basic needs such as salt, sugar, and cooking oil. Besides there is no asphalt road, there are a lot of small and big rivers between Anggi in Arfak mountains and Manokwari. The villagers must walk on the falling trees to cross big rivers.
Back in town he went to the regent of Manokwari, Mr. Drs. Esau Sesa, to report about the villagers’ problems in the form of a painting. The regent accept it and was impressed by his work saying, “a very talented painter like you should be given a chance to further your study and develop your works as an appreciation for Papuan art and culture.” Within a short time after the meeting, he got the regent’s permission to continue his study in Java island. This time his leaving for Java was a tour of duty financed by the local government.
Title: Balada Cendrawasih III
Size: 195 cm x 158
Oil on Canvas
Based on the directions from local government officials, he was told to take cinematography as his study program in Institute Kesenian Jakarta – IKJ (Jakarta’s Institute of Fine Art). It was against his will actually. So, although he was registered as student of cinematography, he could always be seen in the painting department. It was not surprising that finally the painting department of IKJ received him on semester IV as its student.
During his study in IKJ, Lucky and his schoolmates got opportunities to carry out comparative study in ISI Jogja, his dreamed school when he was still in high school. From Jogja, he continued to Ubud, Bali. There, he studied for one month under the supervision of Prof. Srihadi. In Bali, Lucky studied the works of Anthony Blanco, Arie Smith, Eisnel, and I Nyoman Made Lempar.
He had been going around in Java and Bali for eight years when suddenly he was called to return to West Papua. His mother was ill waiting for him to accompany her in her last moments.
Upon returning to Manokwari, Lucky and his friends set up PUMA – Perupa Manokwari (Artists of Manokwari). It is an association of Manokwari’s artists. The organization is established to promote Papuan culture to outer world.
He also passes on his painting skills to other young Papuans who are interested in painting and want to become artists. Now he is teaching them at his home. Some of them are Yabal Marbuan, Alberth Marbuan, Alberth Warijo, Carlos, Septinus, and Mesakh. Some are still studying at junior and high schools whereas the others are drop-outs. He hopes that these young Papuans, with other senior artists, can fight together to preserve Papuan cultural identity which is now facing degradation due to modernization, and globalization.
Title Hidup atau Mati
(Alive or Death)
Size: 90 cm x 150 cm
” this painting depicts a tense moment between Cassowary and the hunter. Lucky’s grandfather was an experienced and famous Cassowary hunter in their village. According to his grandfather’s story, if the spear missed its target, the hunter may die stabbed by its three sharp claws.
There is also another painting entitled Doreri Bay Manokwari. The background of the painting is Arfak mountains. The traditional sail of the boat is made of woven pandanus leafs, the same material for making Papuan mat. Now, there are not any sail that use the leaves. Most of the boats now are driven by plastic sheet sail or outboard engines. For most Papuans, Mansinam island of Manokwari is a familiar name in their ears. The preaching of gospel in Papua was started in this island. Every year, on fifth February, tens of thousands of West Papuans gather in Mansinam island to commemorate the landing of Otto and Geisler, two Europeans who were the first evangelists to spread the Christianity in Papua.
In the world of Indonesian fine art, he is not recognized. Lucky Kaikatui lives in a small town Manokwari far from the coverage of Indonesian mass media which are mostly located in Java. His painting exhibitions both in Manokwari and Jayapura do not get enough publicity. That’s why art communities never heard of him.
This condition does not discourage him. He keeps on painting. New paintings are created every week. To minimize the cost, he makes the canvas by himself. He had mastered the techniques when he was still an IKJ’s student.
His wife, Rahab, always supports him. The Kaikatuis live in a small house at 88, Brawijaya street, Jati, Manokwari, West Papua. His phone number is (62) (986) 213466. Lucky Kaikatui
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Child of the Jungle
Extract from Child of the Jungle by Sabine Kuegler
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Kemanakah Anak Negeri Cenderawasih akan Berlayar?
Oleh : Vitalis Goo
Foto korban kekejaman militer Indonesia (TNI)
Dari tahun ke tahun secara beruntun terjadi pelanggaran berat HAM di tanah Papua oleh aparatus negara khususnya TNI/POLRI sebagai back bone bangsa Indonesia yang diwakilkan oleh para penguasa untuk menjaga keutuhan atau integritas Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Sehingga setiap putera/puteri Papua yang menonjolkan dirinya untuk memperjuangkan nasib dan jati diri masyarakat Papua menjadi wewenang TNI/POLRI atas mandat para penguasa untuk dimusnahkan dari atas muka bumi, karena anggapan bangsa Indonesia bahwa mereka itu adalah teroris dan separatis yang berusaha memisahkan diri dari NKRI. Sehingga berdasarkan anggapan ini banyak masyarakat Papua (yang tak bersalah) yang menjadi korban karena mereka (TNI/POLRI) tak dapat menemukan jejak TPN/OPM, maka emosinya dilampiaskan kepada masyarakat yang tidak tahu apa-apa (masyarakat awam).
Berbagai fenomena sosial-politik berkembang semakin pesat di Tanah Papua bersamaan dengan perkembangan dan kemajuan di bidang “Tripple T” (Tecnhology, Transportation, dan Telecommunication). Perkembangan “Tripple T” menyadarkan manusia Papua bergerak memperjuangkan harga diri dan martabatnya yang berusaha dilenyapkan di atas tanahnya guna mewujudkan kebebasan yang sebebas-bebasnya bagi tanah dan manusia Papua sendiri. Karena penderitaan yang sangat mendalam di alami oleh masyarakat Papua atas tekanan, intimidasi, dan penyiksaan yang terus menerus dilakukan oleh bangsa Indonesia.
Bumi Negeri Cenderawasih yang kaya akan kandungan alamnya kini terkulai habis ditelan berlalunya waktu. Dari masa ke masa bumi yang alami terkikis habis oleh tangan-tangan pembawa kehancuran. Pohon-pohon sumber kesejukkan ditumbangkan di sana-sini, penghuni hutan kesana-kemari meratapi rumah mereka yang dirusakkan. Itu ─ kah melestarikan lingkungan?
Pola pembangunan yang dicanangkan pemerintah pusat pada masa regim Soeharto ─ salah satunya adalah dengan berporosnya program transmigrasi dari Jawa ke Tanah Papua dengan maksud agar mewujudkan pemerataan jumlah penduduk Jawa yang teramat padat dan maksud lainnya adalah agar secara evolusioner menguasai dan memusnahkan suku bangsa Papua dari tanahnya sendiri. Proses pengiriman transmigrasi ini tentunya membuka suatu lahan baru, sehingga mengakibatkan kerusakan alam serta habitat yang tinggal disekitarnya. Lalu setelah suku bangsa Papua dimusnahkan siapakah yang akan menikmati kekayaan alam Tanah Papua? Proses pemusnahan rakyat Papua memang nyata terjadi di Tanah Papua hingga saat ini baik secara langsung maupun tak langsung dengan berbagai cara yang telah dicanangkan oleh pemerintah pusat ─ yang berusaha menghilangkan jati diri suku bangsa Papua bahkan sampai menghilangkan nyawa mereka. Membujuk orang Papua untuk masuk dan menganut agama Islam ─ berjanji untuk memberikan gadis melayu dan mobil yang mewah sebagai imbalannya.
Derita demi derita tumbuh dan berkembang mengiringi zaman perkembangan dunia ─ memaksa manusia Papua untuk menjadi dirinya sama seperti orang lain dalam waktu yang sangat cepat. Maka dalam keadaan seperti ini, kehidupan manusia Papua layak burung kasuari yang dipaksa terbang menyusuri samudera raya. Kehidupan yang begitu tertekan, perasaan ketakutan pun tak dapat dielakan. Keadaan ketakutan ini membawa mereka kepada kehidupan yang mengambang, sehingga menciptakan perpecahan yang sengit intra-suku bangsa Papua sendiri. Hal ini merupakan suatu bentuk keleluasaan yang dengan sengaja diciptakan oleh pemerintah pusat agar dengan sangat mudahnya mereka menerobos masuk seakan-akan menjadi The Best Arbitration ( wasit bijaksana ).
Penderitaan kehidupan manusia Papua di atas tanahnya sendiri seolah sebuah benda yang terapung di atas samudera raya ─ yang tak tahu ke arah mana ia akan bergerak, karena ia bukan sebuah mesin yang digerakkan oleh manusia yang budiman. Padahal manusia Papua hanya menginginkan suatu kehidupan yang layak seperti manusia serta bergerak bebas mempersiapkan hari esok yang cerah.
Pelanggaran berat HAM secara beruntun terjadi sejak wilayah Papua terintegrasikan dengan Indonesia dan saat itu pula perjuangan kemerdekaan Papua Barat bergulir atas ketidakadilan yang dilakukan Indonesia terhadap pelaksanaan “PEPERA” pada tahun 1969 yang ditandai dengan intimidasi, penyiksaan dan penafsiran sepihak sehingga dinilai cacat hukum oleh masyarakat Papua, penetapan New York Agreement, 15 November 1962 yang menjadi dasar pengalihan kekuasaan dari Nederlands Nieuw Guinea (Pemerintah Belanda) kepada Indonesia dilaksanakan tanpa keterlibatan aktif dari bangsa Papua dalam perundingan, kemerdekaan Papua yang diberikan oleh Pemerintah Belanda pada tanggal 1 Desember 1961 dengan : (1) mengangkat 50 % anggota Nieuw Guinea Raad dari kalangan Papua; (2) mengibarkan Bendera Bintang Kejora disamping Bendera Belanda; (3) mensosialisasikan lagu kebangsaan “Hai, Tanahku Papua”. Selain itu juga protes masyarakat tidak pernah ditanggapi serius oleh Pemerintah sehingga Rakyat Papua merasa bahwa martabat dan jatidirinya sebagai manusia tidak pernah diindahkan dan mereka tidak pernah merasa bahwa dihargai dan dijamin hak-haknya sebagai warganegara Indonesia sepenuhnya. Lebih lagi atas tindakan TNI / POLRI yang ditandai dengan arogansi dan pembantaian terhadap rakyat Papua yang tak bersalah.
Sejuta dukacita hidup bersama masyarakat Papua; penindasan demi penindasan; diskriminasi demi diskriminasi; tekanan demi tekanan terjadi secara beruntun dari tahun ke tahun. Setiap jeritan tangisnya tertimbun ditelan tanah-tanah penambangan, terkulai arus sungai yang membawa berjuta-juta ton kayu illegal lodgging, terhipnotis dengan kepentingan politik bangsa Indonesia di tanah Papua, terlena di bawah cantik parasnya gadis-gadis melayu, terpanah dengan ilmu dan ajaran-ajaran yang menyesatkan jiwa banyak orang Papua. Sehingga semua hal ini mengakibatkan lumpuhnya perjuangan masyarakat Papua Barat untuk mewujudkan impiannya, yakni “Merdeka”.
Setiap Rakyat Papua tentunya memiliki suatu keinginan untuk memerdekakan diri dari pangkuan NKRI, namun apa boleh buat orang Papua telah termaktub di dalam hingar-bingar Indonesianisasi. Lalu siapa lagi yang akan memperjuangkannya, kalau bukan orang Papua sendiri? Jangan pernah kita bermimpi bahwa orang lain akan memperjuangkan itu, karena secara logisnya kita bukan mereka dan mereka bukan kita. Kita sebagai Rakyat Papua Barat Barat memang sangat diferensial dengan suku bangsa lainnya di Indonesia maupun maupun Negara-negara lainnya di dunia.
Melihat realita yang terjadi pada masyarakat Papua dewasa ini ternyata banyak orang Papua belum sampai memahami perjuangan sejati : perjuangan yang berlandaskan pada upaya memperjuangkan kepentingan umum masyarakat Papua; perjuangan yang tidak bersifat kondisional; perjuangan yang tidak memperjuangkan deferensial. Karena kita belum pernah mengalami dan merasakan sendiri betapa sakitnya penindasan, ketidakadilan, penganiayaan, dan intimidasi yang telah dan sedang dialami oleh sebagian besar Rakyat Bangsa Papua.
Berpangkal dari sini kita mestinya membangun suatu basis yang kuat di setiap daerah di seluruh pelosok Tanah Papua yang ruang lingkup pergerakannya berada di bawah naungan suatu lembaga yang independent. Paling tidak lembaga ini bergerak di segala bidang dan punya garis koordinasi yang jelas antara bidang yang satu dengan yang lainnya, bukan berjalan masing-masing sesuai apa yang dikehendakinya, serta punya suatu komitmen yang tepat pada sasarannya untuk mengimbangi dan mengalahkan proses Indonesianisasi. Sehingga dari sinilah tercipta perjuangan yang terorganisir dari setiap organ yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan Tanah Papua Barat. Berpijak dari sini pula kita sebagai Rakyat Bangsa Papua Barat berkewajiban untuk mendukung setiap pergerakan apapun yang berjuang melawan semua itu dan tidak boleh menjadi sembilu bagi mereka.
Semenjak propinsi Papua dimekarkan menjadi dua propinsi, propinsi Papua sendiri dan propinsi Irian Jaya Barat(IJB) yang stasusnya kurang jelas, kemudian disusul dengan isu pemekaran Irian Jaya Tengah(IJT). Kesempatan untuk memperjuangkan multi—kebebasan orang Papua semakin sirna. Malah membuka lahan bisnis baru bagi orang lain. Menambah populasi warga Papua yang tersesat dalam sistem pemerintahan. Melalui Sistem pemerintahan ini sengaja disebarluaskan di Tanah Papua untuk mengelabui perkembangan dan kebebasan Rakyat Papua di segala bidang. Karena pemerintah pusat beranggapan bahwa Papua adalah daerah yang sangat sulit dikuasai, sehingga prospek pemerintah ke depan, pemekaran propinsi Papua lebih bermanfaat dan menguntungkan untuk menjangkau pelosok Papua yang sampai sekarang masih terisolir. Semakin luas daerah yang dikuasai semakin banyak pula masyarakat Papua yang terkekang oleh sistem pemerintahan Indonesia yang memiliki sejuta harapan untuk kepentingan negara semata. Proposisi ini dengan sendirinya menghanyutkan impian mereka (suku bangsa Papua) untuk menggapaikan kebebasan individu dalam segala daya dan upaya masyarakat Papua akibat intervensi pemerintah pusat dalam mengambil dan menetapkan kebijakannya melalui para birokrat yang ada di Papua dan kompromi-komprominya yang tidak selalu menguntungkan masyarakat Papua.
Terdapat pula beberapa hal yang menjadi stagnasi kebebasan masyarakat Papua, pertama, meningkatnya Daerah Operasi Militer (DOM), membuat warga Papua hidup dalam dunia ketakutan. Sehingga hal ini membawa mereka kepada dunia kehati-hatian dalam memaksimalkan aktivitas kesehariannya. Kedua, ketimpangan distribusi income yang terjadi di Papua ternayata dipelihara dengan mengorbankan dan melantarkan Rakyat Papua yang berujung pada kebencian, frustrasi, dan sikap pasrah, bahkan hal itu menjadi halangan untuk berusaha dengan sebebas-bebasnya mewujudkan cita-citanya. Ketiga, maraknya aksi suap-menyuap di tubuh birokrat. Hal ini tentunya menguntungkan bagi mereka yang punya modal (kapitalis). Unemployment dan pengangguran generasi mudah Papua semakin meningkat dari tahun ke tahun. Kebebasan dan kesempatan untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan relatif sangat rendah. Keempat, fenomena urbanisasi yang tak terelakan. Urbanisasi yang berlangsung pasca pemekaran wilayah-wilayah di Papua, baik kabupaten maupun propinsi diikuti dengan pengangguran dan rumah-rumah gubuk dipinggiran kota yang merupakan arah menuju rootless (kehampaan) dan keputus-asaan. Sehingga menyusahkan diri mereka di kota, padahal kebebasan individu masyarakat Papua lebih enak di pedesaan yang bersatu dengan alam. Masyarakat Papua yang melakukan perpindahan ke kota terbuai di dalam kehidupan kota yang buruk, misalnya prostitusi, penyalahgunaan alkhohol dan obat-obat terlarang dan pada tingkat tingginya bunuh diri.
Manupulasi Pelaksanaan “PEPERA”
Setelah kemerdekaan Papua Barat 1 Desember 1961 itu ditiadakan dengan permainan politik yang kotor dan busuk, maka proses selanjutnya adalah penentuan nasib sendiri melalui PEPERA tahun 1969. Inilah kesempatan emas kedua kali bagi rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat untuk merdeka yang dimanipulasi oleh piihak Indonesia, Belanda, Amerika, dan PBB. Dengan cara cacat hukum dan moral (teror dan intimidasi), Papua dinyatakan bagian tak terpisahkan dari Indonesia yang akhirnya menjadi propinsi ke-26 di Indonesia. Menurut Indonesia, inilah awal kemenangan Indonesia, sedangkan bagi rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat ini bukan sesuatu yang final. Selanjutnya, sebelum PEPERA, Indonesia memilih 1.025 orang Papua Barat untuk bersuara mendukung integrasi dengan Indonesia. Mereka diberi hadiah radio tens dan diajak berkeliling Jawa dan Bali dengan menginap di hotel-hotel dan pelayanan wanita-wanita penghibur (pelacur). 1
Melihat kembali penentuan pendapat rakyat yang telah dilakukan pada tahun 1969 di tiga tempat, yakni : Merauke, Puncak Jaya dan Paniai itupun hanya dilakukan oleh beberapa orang saja, lalu pendapat masyarakat Papua yang lainnya dikemanakan? Inilah suatu pertanyaan besar yang patut dikembalikan kepada Indonesia. Karena penentuan nasib suatu kelompok masyarakat sangat tergantung pada pemberian suara murni dari masyarakat, entah mau berintegrasi dengan suatu negara atau berdiri sendiri membentuk suatu negara baru yang merdeka. Selepas pelaksanaan PEPERA itupun dapat saja dimanipulasi oleh pemerintah Indonesia, karena masyarakat Papua pada saat itu ditekan dan diberi janji-janji yang muluk.
Dampak Globalisasi bagi Suku-Bangsa Papua
Perkembangan dunia internasional di dalam segala aspek kehidupan masyarakat selalu saja menciptakan suatu sistematika kehihidupan baru. Sistematika atau tatanan kehidupan baru masyarakat internasional ini berkembang dengan pesatnya ketika isu globalisasi dimunculkan di kancah politik internasional oleh negara-negara kapitalisme barat dalam upaya mengekspansi kekuatan nasionalnya (national power).
Penyebarluasan power pada perang dunia pertama dan kedua telah terjadi dengan power dalam arti high politics (kekuatan militer dan keamanan), dimana dari masing-masing negara yang bertikai diselesaikan dengan jalan perang militer untuk menggapaikan tujuan ideologisnya. Kemudian di era perang dingin persaingan power berubah ke aspek ekonomi yang berlangsung antara Blok Barat (Amerika) dengan paham liberalisme dan Blok Timur (Uni Soviet) dengan paham sosialisme, kedua kekuatan ini, masing-masing menyebarluaskan pengaruhnya ke berbagai negara di penjuru dunia yang merupakan potensi ekspansi kedua negara power tersebut. Dan perang dingin ini berakhir semenjak runtuhnya tembok Berlin, simbol kebekuan perang dingin pada tahun 1989. Kemudian pasca-perang dingin telah mengalihkan persaingan yang bernuansa militer ke arah persaingan kepentingan ekonomi di antara negara-negara di dunia ini. Hal ini terlihat jelas bahwa negara-negara memfokuskan dirinya untuk memperbaiki stabilitas ekonomi mereka pada dasawarsa 1980-an dan 1990-an, dimana Amerika sebagai negara hegemoni berasumsi menjamin terpeliharanya perekonomian global yang liberal atas dasar keunggulan teknologi, kedudukannya sebagai pasar global raksasa yang bisa menampung barang-barang import dari negara lain, terutama negara-negara dunia ketiga.
Di samping itu juga Amerika menjalankan berbagai usaha untuk mempengaruhi ke setiap negara yang dianggap berpotensi untuk menjadi sekutunya dengan memberikan bantuan ekonomi dan perlindungan militer. Semua proses ini berjalan lancar dengan pesatnya perkembangan di bidang “Tripple T” (Technology, Telecommunication, and Transportations) yang berusaha dan telah menghapuskan batas-batas tradisional suatu negara, sehingga perkembangan Tripple T menjadikan skala dunia lebih kecil dalam berbagai aspek seperti politik, ekonomi, dan sosial budaya.
Lalu bagaimana dengan aspek-aspek kehidupan Suku-Bangsa Papua atas hadirnya globalisasi?.
Melihat pola kehidupan Suku-Bangsa Papua pada masa lalu yang sangat terikat dengan lingkungan alam, kekerabatan sosial yang sangat kokoh, dan adanya kepercayaan dan keyakinan tentang Allah sebagai Sang Pencipta, sebelum kedatangan bangsa luar ke wilayah Papua. Hal ini dapat dibuktikan melalui keharmonisan hidup bermasyarakat dan pandangan religius yang sangat ketat. Namun setelah masuknya pengaruh-pengaruh dari bangsa luar maka segala ajaran, kepercayaan, dan simbol-simbol jatidiri bangsa Papua mulai terbawa hanyut derasnya arus globalisasi. Karena orang Papua tidak lagi terisolasi seperti sediakala dan tidak lagi hidup secara terpisah-pisah, sehingga dengan mudahnya mengubah segala tatanan kehidupan Suku-Bangsa Papua. Orang Papua sepertinya hidup pada persimpangan jalan, dimana segala arus perubahan itu dapat merusak seluruh aspek kehidupan Suku-Bangsa Papua, sehingga meninggalkan dampak-dampak negatif dan positif bagi Suku-Bangsa Papua.
Wilayah Papua merupakan salah satu kawasan sentral atau pusat penyebaran penduduk dari sekian banyak daerah di Indonesia, seperti Sumatera, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, dan daerah lainnya. Penyebaran atau mobilisasi penduduk terutama penduduk dari pulau Jawa yang jumlah penduduknya teramat sangat padat dibanding daerah-daerah lainnya. Bergegas setelah Papua diintegrasikan ke dalam Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI), maka pemerintah Indonesia pun mulai memainkan peranan sosio-politik dalam upaya mempengaruhi penduduk wilayah setempat menuju konsep nasionalisme yang telah dicanangkan sebelumnya oleh para pendiri bangsa Indonesia. Dimana dalam hal ini pemerintah Indonesia menetapkan program penyebaran transmigrasi ke seluruh daerah berpotensial yang diklaimnya sebagai NKRI, yakni dari Sabang sampai Merauke yang nyatanya progam transmigrasi dijalankan sejak tahun 1964 silam.
Papua sebagai wilayah yang dicap tanda merah oleh bangsa Indonesia sebagai wilayah yang mengembangkan separatisme yang berupaya memisahkan diri dari NKRI yang ditandai oleh sekelompok OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka), maka pemerintah pusat menetapkan program Daerah Operasi Militer di Papua dan mengirimkan militer-meliternya ke Papua dalam upaya membasmih kelompok-kelompok OPM tersebut. Namun sampai di lapangan apa yang terjadi? Yang terjadi adalah bukan pemusnahan terhadap para TPN/OPM, melainkan yang menjadi korban pelampiasan nafsu para militer adalah masyarakat yang tak tahu apa-apa.
Papua…, Etnis Melanesia Yang Dilupakan
Dalam lembaran sejarah dunia internasional dicatat bahwa suatu kelompok etnis merupakan aktor dalam politik internasional, karena etnis bukanlah fenomena baru dan bukan pula aktor baru. Semenjak kelompok etnis di Eropa Selatan dan Balkan (seperti orang Bulgaria, Yunani, Rumania, Serbia, dan Turki) yang telah memperoleh kemerdekaan dari kerajaan Ottoman pada abad ke-19 dan ke-20. Perang Dunia I yang dicetuskan melalui suatu insiden etnis dan diakhiri dengan pengumuman negara-negara pemenang bahwa mereka menyetujui prinsip kebebasan untuk menentukan nasib bangsa sendiri. Setelah Perang Dunia II berakhir terjadi pembagian sub-kontinen India menjadi India dan Pakistan setelah India memperoleh kemerdekaannya dari Inggris, pertikaian antara Palestina dan Israel, usaha propinsi Katanga untuk melepaskan diri dari Kongo (yang sekarang dikenal dengan nama Zaire), pertikaian dua kelompok etnis di Syprus, yaitu orang-orang Syprus keturunan Yunani dan orang-orang Syprus keturunan Turki, terpisahnya Bangladesh dari Pakistan.
Pemberian Otsus bagi Papua
Alasan Integritas Wilayah Papua ke Dalam NKRI
Long March Parade
By: Vitalis Goo
The students and people of West Papua from whole Java and Bali held cortege in Yogyakarta, Central Java . It’s begun from UGM circle to Alun-alun, Yogyakarta . About eight all of the people and students gathering at the UGM circle. Crowded of the Papuan had decorated the conditions of Yogyakarta City. Throughout the route of cortege that explained far, it's about five kilo meters, they sing the traditional song, and they done many
attractions like Yospan (Papua dance), Waita (War Dance from Paniai), and another attractions. The cortege to celebrated independence of West Papua followed by 200,s People of Papua and Prodem (Pro-Democracy) of Indonesia . Until arrived in Alun-alun, the mass continued with Waita. And after that they had orations one by one from each movements of Free West Papua, such AMP, TPNP, Front PEPERA, and other Organizations. The main Issue they voted was Review PEPERA 1969. Refer back determination of opinion of people (PEPERA) that happened in 1969 which had been conducted in three places, namely: Merauke, Puncak Jaya, and the Paniai invited an enragement of Papuan because they feel alien to Indonesia . Gift of that opinion even only done by some people of Papua who selected by Indonesian, then the other opinion of Papua where it is placed? This is a big question which must be returned to Indonesia . Because determination of chance a group society very depended from pure poll of that society group, even knows will integrate with state or wish self-supporting form a new state independence. From the execution of “PEPERA” which had manipulated by Indonesia , officially joint forces with Indonesia , because society of Papua at that moment depressed and given promises which overacting. Monday, March 3, 2008
Trans Papua Highway
ARTICULATION THEORY; MIGRATION; MULTI-SITED ETHNOGRAPHY; MODERNITY
Pre-Colonial Routes
Many anthropologists, linguists, and travel writers have emphasized the isolation of Papuans in general (reviewed in Kirksey 2000; see for example Matthiessen 1987 [1962]: xiv; Connolly & Anderson 1987: 14; Mead 1968 [1930]: 4; D'Alberts 1880: 2) and the Mee in specific (Steltenpool 1969: iii; Pospisil 1965: 2-3). Papua is the Indonesian-occupied half of the island of New Guinea that was officially known as Irian Jaya before its name was changed in October 2001. Leopold Pospisil was the first anthropologist to conduct field research among the Mee in the 1950s. While eating lunch with Kirksey at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in Chicago he described how he had unsuccessfully attempted to contact the Oge Bage Mee. The word Mee, which means ‘people’ in several mutually unintelligible Papuan languages, is a general ethnic grouping consisting of several sub-tribes, or ‘bage,’ who live in the Bird’s Neck region of Papua. These groups are also known as the Kapauku or Ekari peoples. According to Pospisil, at the time of his fieldwork the Oge Bage Mee had been isolated even from neighboring Papuan groups. He suggested that Kirksey may have ‘discovered’ the Oge Bage Mee in 1998/1999 when he conducted fieldwork shortly after the completion of the segment of the Trans-Papua Highway through their territory.
There is a competing tradition among Melanesian anthropologists that emphasizes the dynamic and interconnected nature of Papuan societies (Strathern and Sturzenhofecker 1994; Haenen and Pouwer 1989). Lately it has become theoretically fashionable to think about non-local locals, but several of the classic New Guinea ethnographies exemplify this tradition. Malinowski's foundational ethnographic study, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, focuses on a people whose lifestyle is intimately bound with travel and trade (1932 [1922]:1). While Margaret Mead's study of the Manus characterized her subjects as 'untouched' and 'isolated on [a] small Pacific island' (1968 [1930]:4) her later work describes the Mountain Arapesh as 'an importing culture' who traditionally derived cultural concepts and material goods from outsiders (1938). In the words of Peter Worsley: 'Europeans often underestimate the facility with which news and ideas, and even material objects, can be passed on even in [New Guinea] societies lacking modern techniques of communication' (1957:50).
Evidence of pre-colonial migrations and exchanges destabilize the framing of ‘first contacts.’ Reading against the grain of ethnographic accounts of the Mee, one can trace their pre-colonial travels. Despite terrain that made travel difficult, an elaborate network of communication among different Mee groups existed prior to European arrival. For example, the Kamu valley is a swampy basin dotted with numerous small lakes, which is at an elevation of 1,500 meters above sea level. Steep mountains, with sharp ridges and numerous limestone cliffs rising to over 3,000 meters, surround the alluvial plain (Pospisil 1972). Travel to surrounding regions can be made through lofty mountain passes: three connections exist between the Tigi Lake region and the Kamu Valley; one line of communication leads directly to the Paniai Lake region over the high and rugged Ogijaajdimi Pass; and two equally difficult connections exist between the valley and Oge Bage Mee territory to the northwest, and a steep passage to the west connects the Kamu Valley with the Mapia region (Pospisil 1972).
Long distance migrations took place in New Guinea well before the establishment of the first permanent European outposts in the 1890s (Strathern and Sturzenhofecker 1994; Haenen and Pouwer 1989). In the Bird's Head region, which borders the western edge of Mee territory, migrations that took place as early as the 16th Century can be viewed as a result of people fleeing slave raiding vessels along the coast (Miedema 1994:124). Contemporary Mee tell stories about their ancestors originating from the east and these stories possibly map on to a relatively recent historical migration.
Highland Mee conducted expeditions, involving over a week and a half of walking, to salt wells in the neighboring territory of the Moni prior to European arrival (Pospisil 1972). When Europeans first encountered the Mee in 1935 they found an elaborate trade network between coastal and highland groups (Giay 1995; Pospisil 1972). The Mee exchanged palm wood, palm wood bows, stone axes, stone knives, and net bags with coastal people who provided them with cowrie shells, glass bead necklaces, steel axes, and machetes (Pospisil 1972). Before the arrival of Europeans the Mee were already participating in pre-Columbian global exchange networks. The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is originally from South America and it arrived in Mee territory, via a chain of coastal and either Indonesian or Pacific traders, before the establishment of the first permanent European outposts on the island (Scaglion and Soto 1994).
Before colonial encounters some Mee groups were—and still are—mobile within their own immediate environments. For example, the contemporary Oge Bage Mee live a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In contrast to highland Mee groups who primarily rely on intensive agriculture, the Oge Bage Mee employ extensive horticultural techniques that depend on having a fallow cycle of greater than 10 years. Oge Bage Mee villages are moved once the soil in a particular locale is exhausted to allow the forest to regenerate. Many Oge Bage Mee families also employ a series of homesteads in the jungle to serve as temporary bases as they supplement their horticultural yields by hunting pigs, marsupials, birds, and bats as well as gathering forest products such as insects, grubs, fruits, ferns, and mushrooms.
Rooted Subjects
Contested framings of local homebodies on the one hand and indigenous travelers on the other hand, speak to wider normative debates within anthropology about the constitution of good ethnographic subjects. The ideals and methodological conventions of the dominant anthropological research paradigm have prescribed that ethnography be conducted in a single isolated site (reviewed in Marcus 1995). New normative standards are being constructed for ethnography that emphasize going beyond the boundaries of traditional village ethnography to frame ethnographic subjects as multi-sited phenomena (Marcus 1995; Clifford 1997) and to destabilize the distinction between the field and home (Amit 2000). In response to this trend Englund and Leach have recently argued for renewed support of localised fieldwork (2000). However, Gupta maintains that it is not justified to assume 'that "the local" is its own universe, a geographically circumscribed space where meanings are made, where the most important social interactions occur, where economic and affective life is lived, and where social structures are reproduced' (2000:240).
In our present study of the Mee we hope to contribute to this debate by providing ethnographic and historical evidence of indigenous subjects that are in motion. We, like our interlocutors, have been mobile during the course of our research: in the words of Marcus we have 'followed the people' (1995:106). Ethnographic field sites have been viewed as being increasingly authentic if they are located far away from the researchers usual home (Amit 2000: 2). Gupta and Ferguson argue that this has resulted in the construction of a 'hierarchy of purity of field sites' (1997: 13). Some of our field sites could be viewed as 'pure' within this tradition, but we have not limited ourselves to observations that were made in a geographically-bounded local context.
In 1998/1999 S. Eben Kirksey studied the Oge Bage Mee: he made several extended trips along the Trans-Papuan Highway with Oge Bage Mee interlocutors, lived for a total of three months in a village that he calls Misty Ridge, visited Mee homes in the urban centers of Nabire and Jayapura, traveled between Nabire and Jayapura via ocean ship and airplane with Mee interlocutors, and attended courses for 4 months along with several Mee students at Bird of Paradise University. Kirksey taught a university level anthropology course to several Mee students in 2000. In 2001 he tape recorded oral history interviews with Paniai Bage Mee living in the highland town of Enarotali and met with leaders of the OPM (Organasi Papua Merdeka or Organization of Papuan Freedom) in an Edage Bage Mee village.
Kiki van Bilsen has been conducting oral history research, from 1999 to the present, among Dutch Franciscan missionaries who worked with the Mee. In 2000 van Bilsen conducted research among two highland Mee groups: the Kamu Bage Mee who live along the Trans-Papua Highway in a densely populated and intensely cultivated valley and the Debei Bage Mee who live at a distance from mission airstrips and the road in a forested environment.
The academic authority of the ethnographer has stemmed from his (and less frequently her) ability to travel to such distant locations and describe local phenomena (Clifford 1997). Locals with the ability to travel or maintain international correspondence have the potential to undermine this authority. For example, recently in Anthropology News a group of Papuans accused an anthropologist of breaching their intellectual property rights and of publishing materials without their approval (Dariawo, et. al. 1999). Members of the transnational Mee diaspora and Mee scholars who currently live in Papua are our colleagues, friends, advisors, and critics of our work. Mee living in America, Italy, and Papua maintain regular e-mail contact with Kirksey. He has meet Mee scholars at two separate international conferences: one in the USA and one in Germany.
Film production companies, newspaper editors, interested friends, professional anthropologists, and even some Mee have encouraged us to view our fieldwork--particularly that among the Oge Bage Mee and the Debei Bage Mee--as ‘first contacts’ enabled by the Trans-Papua Highway. The secondary literature reviewed above and our ethno-historical interviews with the Mee suggest that this framing of our research erases a long history of trade, migration, communication, colonial contact, and religious conversion. The few primary historical documents that are relevant to this question support the idea that the Mee were engaged with agents of globalisation before 1979, when construction began on the Trans Papua Highway. In 1939 an expedition led by a Dutch colonial named Harzen explored Oge Bage Mee territory in the Siriwo River valley. This expedition was followed up by a police patrol to the same region in 1940. Ambtenaar R. Neher, a Dutch Adjunct Administrator, traveled the Siriwo Valley in 1957 (Footnote 1).
The travel opportunities open to the Mee dramatically increased following the establishment of the Dutch highland outpost of Enarotali in 1938. By 1940 an airplane flew on a weekly route from Enarotali to coastal cities (Giay 1995). When the Japanese invaded Enarotali during the Second World War, many Mee porters and guides fled east with the Dutch to a remote hideout in the mountains. Most of the Dutch were eventually airlifted to Australia and some Mee accompanied them. When the Dutch returned to Enarotali after the war they set up theological and primary schools. Some Mee were sent to coastal cities for further training and to occupy positions as civil servants. In 1962 Indonesia assumed control of Papua and opportunities for Mee to study and work in western Indonesia were opened. In addition to the asphalt airfield in Enarotali, a series of 14 other grass landing strips have been constructed in Mee villages (Petocz and Raspado 1989). Most of these landing strips are serviced irregularly by missionary airplanes but some of the larger strips have regular service by private airlines. Many of the missionaries started up small-scale agricultural enterprises, such as coffee cultivation, that depended on these landing strips before the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway.
There are still no functioning landing strips in Oge Bage Mee territory. Nonetheless, before the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway, Oge Bage Mee traveled via canoe or by foot to urban environments where they sought employment and education. For example, the man who hosted Kirksey during his 1998/1999 fieldwork had traveled down the Siriwo River by canoe in the late 1950s. In Nabire he secured a job as a deck hand on a regional shipping line. As part of his job he had regularly traveled to each of the Papuan coastal cities and made several trips across the border to what is now the independent country of Papua New Guinea.
The Trans-Papua Highway
In 1979 construction was begun on the Trans-Papua Highway, an ambitious project to build a road linking some of the major urban centers of Papua (Antara 1997). By the late 1980s the first stage of the road leaving the coastal town of Nabire was complete: a 40 kilometers dirt track had been constructed to a government-sponsored transmigration site called Topo bordering Mee land. The remainder of the road through Mee territory, connecting Nabire with the highland town of Enarotali, was gradually completed by the mid-1990s. Sections of the road leading to the transmigration site are now sealed with asphalt, but the majority of the Trans-Papua Highway is dirt. Logging companies extracted timber from the region and unofficial transmigrants set up trade stores, operated restaurants, and prospected for gold.
The transmigration program, which was funded by the World Bank, brought landless peasants from over-populated islands in western Indonesia to what were perceived as uninhabited lands in eastern provinces. The transmigrants were initially given free equipment, seeds and one-way tickets to new homesteads in freshly cleared plots of rainforest. But, the rainforest soils proved to be largely unsuitable for farming and the transmigrants were left to scramble for other means of supporting themselves (Monbiot 1989). Transmigrants living in Topo, as well as unofficial transmigrants from throughout Indonesia, had a wealth of opportunities opened to them by the Trans Papuan Highway.
In the mid-1990s vans, jeeps, and trucks left the market of Nabire every day, transporting goods and people to Enarotali and the villages along the road. A series of landslides and washed out bridges effectively made sections of the road impassible to everything except for foot traffic since late 1997. Today in many places the road is a muddy track that is rapidly being taken over by the jungle, but new plans to improve the road are being developed by the provincial government of Papua.
Transmigrants have been directly employed by road construction, logging, and road maintenance crews. The Trans-Papua Highway has also given transmigrants the opportunity to participate in the informal sector. Many have served as drivers of trucks, taxis, and motorbikes that travelers can charter to destinations along the road. Others have settled into more sedentary enterprises. For example, in Moanemani, which is mid-way between Nabire and Enarotali in the Kamu Valley, there are six kiosks run by Indonesian transmigrants. These tiny cube-shaped buildings are made of wood, have aluminum roofs and front windows that are covered with wire mesh. Transactions are made through small holes in the mesh windows. Goods in the kiosks are relatively uniform and include sacks of rice, canned meat and beans, tinned fish, soy sauce, kecap, tobacco, napkins, soft drinks, matches, and batteries.
In the late-1990s gold was discovered in Oge Bage Mee land along the route of the Trans Papua Highway. A gold rush ensued. Tent cities were rapidly put up along the side of the road with kiosks, restaurants (warungs), makeshift karaoke bars, and brothels. Most prospectors use simple equipment such as shovels and woks to search for the gold, but some have pressure hoses that they power with diesel generators. Some Mee have tried their hand at panning for gold but they have had little success.
For the Wahgi of Papua New Guinea’s highlands, modern roads are considered to be the same as paths that the Wahgi themselves have been building and maintaining since before their first colonial encounters (O'Hanlon n.d.). Symbolically, roads are kinship networks that link geographically separated patrilineal Wahgi groups (O'Hanlon 1989). Affinal relations are viewed as roads. Our interviews with Mee interlocutors were conducted in Indonesian and, therefore, we have focused on how roads are portrayed in this new idiom. While novel concepts are being employed to talk about the Trans-Papua Highway, the Mee, like the Wahgi, do not think of the advent of modern roads as marking a radical break with their past. Before the advent of the Trans-Papua Highway the Mee were mobile agents who were engaged in a complicated network of exchanges with their neighbors. Through a series of middle men the Mee participated in the global traffic of ideas and commerce. The road has facilitated indigenous migrations and communications that had already been taking place.
Articulations
Polanyi characterises modernisation as a 'great transformation' involving 'an almost incessant series of open wars [that] accompanied the march of industrial civilisation into the domains of outworn cultures or primitive peoples' (1957 [1944]: 6). Historically there has been a tension within Occidental discourses about modernity: some theorists view modernity as involving a process of rupture while others maintain that it also involves continuity with the past (Habermas 1987:5, 58). In the eloquent prose of Joel Robbins: ‘Making a fetish of continuity strikes me as at least as dangerous as going whole hog for the modern meta-narrative of rupture’ (2000:242). In bringing this debate to bear on evidence from the New Guinea Highlands it is apparent that a 'traditional' baseline does not precede the arrival of 'outside' influences: change does not take place on a before/after axis (Clifford 1997:154; O'Hanlon 1993).
Contemporary Mee have hybrid worldviews that explode the dichotomies of rupture/continuity, before/after contact, invented/authentic culture, and modern/traditional identity. Articulation theory can serve as a model to allow us to move beyond these dichotomies and understand the diversity of Mee responses to the Trans-Papua Highway.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'articulation' in the terms of both anatomy and linguistics: 'The action or process of jointing; the state of being jointed; mode of jointing or junction…The utterance of the distinct elements of speech; articulate voice' (OED On-Line 2001). Stuart Hall, building on the work of Ernesto Laclau (1979), applied this concept to more abstract phenomena: 'a theory of articulation is both a way of understanding how ideological elements come, under certain conditions, to cohere together within a discourse, and a way of asking how they do or do not become articulated, at specific conjunctures, to certain political subjects' (1986: 53). When applied to indigenous societies, articulation theory models the dialectic between local cultural traditions and violent disruptions by foreign elements (Clifford 2001: 479). In this section we will use the Trans-Papua Highway as a site where there are articulations between Mee tradition and three elements: global capitalism, the church, and the Indonesian nation-state.
On 6 April 2001, Kirksey attended the 39h Anniversary Celebration of the Protestant Church of Irian Jaya (GKII or Gereja Kemah Injil Irian Jaya) in a large auditorium in Nabire that was filled with over one thousand people, the majority of whom were Mee. Purple streamers hung from the ceiling and two live banana trees framed the stage. Each of the articulated elements that we are discussing in this paper were embodied in this event. The legitimacy of this church function depended on the presence of Indonesian officialdom. The District Head (Bupati) of Nabire, who is Mee, gave a keynote speech during the celebration that was followed by a dialogue with pre-selected members of the audience. A Papuan man named Jack Ikomou told the District Head that he had been showing evangelical films to primitive tribes (suku terasing) who lived along the Trans-Papuan Highway. Ikomou was probably referring to the Oge Bage Mee. He said that his efforts had been hampered by the poor condition of the road. Ikomou formally requested that the District Head provide new funding for the maintenance of the road. A roar of applause greeted the suggestion.
Once the clamor had settled down the District Head replied that his office was indeed planning to jointly fund the maintenance along with the District Head of Paniai, who is also Mee and is based in Enarotali. The auditorium exploded with clapping. The funding that Nabire's District Head referred to is from his District's budget and of relatively small scale. There have been much larger infusions of trans-national capital directed to the Trans-Papua Highway. In 1994 the Asian Development Bank approved a 150 million USD loan for the Trans-Papua Highway (Xinhua 1994). Four South Korean companies signed a contract with the Indonesian government in August 2000 to make 1.7 billion USD worth of improvements to a segment of the Trans-Papua Highway in exchange for logging rights to a swath of forest on either side of the road (Jakarta Post 2000).
For Mee living in Nabire, or beyond in other urban regions of Papua, the Trans-Papua Highway is an important route for Mee to maintain a connection with their roots (cf. Clifford 1997; O’Hanlon n.d.). The articulation, facilitated by the District Head of Nabire, between traditional roots and transnational capital is welcomed by these members of the Mee diaspora. For the Mee who live in rural areas, and who are considered by urban Mee to embody tradition, this articulation is nuanced and in many cases openly contested.
The Edage Bage Mee (People Inside of the Fence) choose to live in areas that are distant from the road and other development projects. This traditionalist group originated in 1950 when Zakheus Pakage returned to his home from abroad, and began preaching a radical reinterpretation of Christianity in Mee cosmological terminology (Giay 1995). The Edage Bage are the followers of Zakheus’s teachings and they formed villages that were deliberately isolated from other Mee (Giay 1995). The Auye Bage Mee, who see themselves as ethnically distinct from most other Mee groups, similarly rejected plans to build a bridge that would connect one of their villages with the road in the Siriwo Valley. The Auye fear that Indonesians and other foreigners would migrate to their land via the road and bring about destructive changes.
In the official transmigration site of Topo the rainforest has been clear cut. The Mee see the gold mining camps along the road as teeming with unofficial transmigrants who cut down trees, muddy the streams, engage in violent fights among themselves, litter the landscape with trash, and harbour deadly tropical diseases. A diverse collection of foreign agents and institutions have benefited from the road: banks, civil administrators, military troops, researchers, petty merchants, corporate contractors, transmigrants, gold prospectors, bus drivers and miscellaneous middle-men. Many Mee landowners, who had been the exclusive and uncontested owners of the resources that are being exploited by these agents, do not feel like the road has been an equitable project. The Indonesian government did not purchase the land that was used to build the road from the Mee. Nor did the timber companies directly pay the Mee for trees that were taken from their land.
Official laws are on the books recognizing indigenous land tenure in Indonesia, but in practice the Indonesian government rarely compensates Papuans for their land. In some cases the government has required evidence to back up indigenous land claims that have nothing to do with traditional systems of land tenure. One man in the Kamu Valley told van Bilsen that written evidence is required to demonstrate land tenure along the Trans-Papua Highway. Among the Mee land tenure depends on abstract kinship rules, not on written contracts.
The same man in the Kamu Valley told van Bilsen: 'It’s easier walking on the road, but I have to walk much further now to get my wood.' Mee requests for compensation from the construction and logging crews have largely been treated as irrelevant and unsubstantiated. For example, on Christmas Eve of 1998 members of the village where Kirksey was conducting research requested rice & ramen noodles from a road maintenance crew that had been working near the village. The road construction crew became angry at the request and reported them to the local Indonesian-appointed Village Head (Kepala Desa).
Other Mee polities in rural areas are excited about the articulation between transnational capitalism and tradition that is embodied in the Trans-Papua Highway: they would like to see the road restored to a functioning condition that would allow for vehicles to once again travel its length. To accomplish this goal some Mee are employing supernatural means to encourage road maintenance. In January of 1999 a renowned shaman (kamu tai mee) traveled to the site of a major landslide in Oge Bage Mee territory where road maintenance was taking place. A pig was sacrificed and a festival was staged to facilitate the work.
The material abundance promised by discourses of modernity has been reworked into Mee cosmology. For example, some Oge Bage Mee hope that the road will enable them to build a new city on their land. The new city would herald the return of Kugi Pasai, a supernatural hero from the island of Biak who the Mee have appropriated as their own. According to my Oge Bage Mee interlocutors this supernatural being traveled through Siriwo several thousand years ago creating all of the food and material wealth in the world as he went. Kugi Pasai fled to America after the ancestors (Orang Tua) became angry with him. Once a city has been built on Oge Bage Mee land Kugi Pasai will return and bring a wide variety of material goods.
The construction of the Trans-Papua Highway led to a direct infusion of cash into the Mee rural economy when some men were offered opportunities by companies engaged in surveying, road construction, logging, and road maintenance. However, Mee were usually offered the lowest paying jobs available: they were hired as guides, cooks, porters, and manual laborers. Transmigrants, and in a few cases foreign expiates, were given the high paying jobs.
The road has also allowed some Mee groups to have ‘economic growth’ in ways that are unrelated to participating in the global economy. They have been able to elaborate traditional subsistence strategies in new unpredicted ways (Kirksey 2000). Clearing canopy trees from new garden plots is a difficult and time-consuming task. Selective logging along the road by timber companies following the construction of the road has made the process of establishing new gardens easier. In Oge Bage Mee territory the gap in the rainforest that was created by the road has produced a microclimate that is particularly favorable to populations of edible grasshoppers, katydids, and preying mantids. These insects previously had only been collected in fallow gardens, but currently Oge Bage Mee women and children collect them in vast numbers during leisurely strolls down the road. Hunters feel safer when they shoot birds, wild pigs, marsupials, and rodents from the road, compared to stalking animals in the forest where dangers--such as snakes and spirits--abound. The increased mobility that has come about with the road has also facilitated local nomadic migrations as Mee visit their distant garden patches and hunt game.
Lower transportation costs following the construction of the road led some Mee entrepreneurs to expand cultivation of cash crops such as peanuts, corn, and coffee for sale in regional markets. This showed the prospect of being a sustainable economic enterprise. Following the series of major landslides and washed out bridges in 1997/1998 the road was effectively closed to all but foot traffic since the Indonesian government did not have sufficient funds to repair it. After the close of the road the only options available to those who had grown cash crops for sale were to carry their produce by foot to regional markets or, if they were close to a landing strip, pay expensive airfreight charges. Many of these cash crops rotted. Mee farmers who have grown cash crops in the past would like to see the road re-opened. Thus, at the local level trans-national capitalism is driving traditional rituals. These farmers are encouraging the shamen to perform rites that will bring back a functioning road.
The proceedings at the Anniversary Celebration of the Protestant Church clearly illustrate the articulation of Christianity with the Trans-Papua Highway. When Jack Ikomou told the District Head that the road was an integral part of his evangelizing efforts he mobilised the full force of the 1,000 Christians in the room in support of funding for the road. Ikomou articulated this government modernisation program with the theological quest for salvation. In addition to asking for the maintenance on the road to resume he requested funding to distribute bibles in the Mee language to the 'primitive tribes' (suku terasing) living along the road.
Ikomou's use of the phrase 'primitive tribes' hints at an underlying dichotomous structure in his discourse on modernity: he seems to distinguish primitive heathens from enlightened moderns. Interestingly, each of the Mee living along the Trans-Papuan Highway who discussed religion with us identified themselves as Christian. Under the Indonesian national ideology of Pancasila it is a requirement that citizens belong to one of five world religions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism. ‘Modern’ Mee living in rural areas have a discourse on modernity that makes a sharp distinction between a world based on tradition (adat) and the modern world that followed the coming of Religion (Agama) and the State (Pemerintah).
Christianity, which is an important marker of modern identity in Papua, began spreading to Mee communities from the highland outpost of Enarotali in the late 1940s (Giay 1995). Mee who have adopted the discourse of Indonesian modernity view adat, which can generally be defined as customary tradition (cf. Pemberton 1994), as a backwards primitive mentality that should be eliminated through spiritual progress. For the Oge Bage Mee the Indonesian word adat is frequently used in a more restricted sense to denote ‘sorcery,’ a practice that persists even though villagers believe that it is strictly forbidden both by Religion and National Law. Thus, the Mee who are not ‘modern’ are--in some contexts--stigmatized and viewed as being dangerous.
The Edage Bage Mee maintain that they follow the true Papuan form of Christianity. They have rejected all foreign versions of Christianity as taught by Indonesian and European missionaries. Along with this resistance to evangelization the Edage Bage Mee have refused to take part in the articulated project of modernization by prohibiting the possession of foreign material culture and ignoring National Law (Giay 1995). In other contexts, foreign Christian missionaries have appropriated local practice into their doctrine. In the village of Diyai, for example, missionaries participate with the Mee when they sacrifice mice, rats, pigs or chicken to local spirit beings. All of these animals are eaten by the Mee, but most missionaries will only eat the meat if it is pork or chicken.
The articulation between the Indonesian nation-state and the Trans-Papua Highway sits uneasily with many Papuans. During the church anniversary celebration the District Head of Nabire did not give details about his negotiations with Indonesian officials about the funding for the road. Presumably the District Head articulated the connections between the Trans-Papua Highway and Indonesia's overall Five-Year Development Plans (Repelita). According to the Indonesian Directorate General of Highways in the Ministry of Public Works a key goal for the construction of new roads in the context of Repelita is the 'maintenance of dynamic and healthy national stability' (Diwiryo 1992: 6).
For Indonesians 'Irian Jaya,' which is the politically charged name that was given to the territory by Soeharto in 1972 and only recently abandoned officially, is an integral component of the unitary nation-state. Stability in this context signifies control of the territory. In general Mee and other Papuans view the Indonesian occupation of their land as illegitimate and look to freedom fighters to provide them with an alternate, stable, system. Some Mee also think of their territory as having some of the same characteristics of a nation, and stability for them is to maintain the boundaries of this territory.
In the terms of the Indonesians the goal of the Trans-Papuan Highway promoting ‘national stability’ seems to have backfired. The road has allowed the Mee and other Papuans to coordinate independence activities aimed at gaining freedom from Indonesia. In the words of one Kamu Bage Mee man ‘the road will bring Freedom (Merdeka).’ In the eyes of many Indonesians the road has become the symbolic domain of the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or Organization for Papuan Freedom): Kirksey was repeatedly warned by Indonesians living along the road near Nabire to not travel further down the road because of the danger of being taken hostage. In the neighboring independent country of Papua New Guinea there are similar fears about roads. Urbanites in Port Moresby do not want the Highlands Highway to have a direct link to their city because it would allow wild highlanders to descend and wreak havoc (Strathern and Stewart 2000).
Despite Indonesian fears about OPM marauders using the Trans-Papua Highway to descend from the highlands, the OPM have not been controlling the road since it was closed to vehicles in 1997/1998. The only major OPM base in Mee territory is near Enarotali, which is now several weeks walk from Nabire. The myth of the road as the domain of the OPM may stem from an inability on the part of Indonesians to distinguish OPM troops from ordinary Papuan citizens. In Papua there is a saying that anyone with curly hair is a member of the OPM. In some cases this has lead to the killing of innocent Mee. For example, during the sugarcane incident (peristiwa tebu), which took place before the construction of the road, a group of ordinary Oge Bage Mee villagers were killed when an Indonesian military patrol traveling up the Siriwo River failed to find any OPM troops (Kirksey 2000).
The Mee view the Trans-Papuan Highway as being directly related to State authority. In Indonesian they call it the ‘State Road’ (Jalan Pemerintah). Outside of permanent government outposts the State is viewed by contemporary Mee as a cultural phenomenon-a collection of little-understood rules and norms prescribed by National Law (Hukum Nasional)-rather than an established governing bureaucracy. Even after the completion of the road in mid-1990s the only ‘administrators’ who are currently stationed in Oge Bage Mee, Edage Bage Mee, and Debei Bage Mee territory are local people who have become government-appointed Tribal Heads (Kepala Suku), Village Heads (Kepala Desa), and Village Secretaries (Sekretaris Desa). In the absence of permanent administrators National Law has been enforced sporadically, and brutally, by TNI (Tentara Nasional Indonesia or the National Military of Indonesia) patrols.
During some specific confrontations the OPM have managed to maintain control of the road. In 1982 during the Madi incident there was a standoff between the OPM and TNI along a freshly constructed segment of the road in between Enarotali and the nearby village of Madi. The OPM, who were armed primarily with bows and arrows, hid in the grass along the road and silently picked off troops as they marched by. In a narrow pass at Red Mountain (Gunung Merah) the OPM were able to hold the solders at bay for several days. TNI eventually were able to storm Madi village, bypassing the road by traveling through a swamp with canoes.
In other cases the Trans-Papua Highway has more readily served the needs of TNI. In the early 1990s Thadius Yogi, a Mee man who is the regional commander of the OPM, arranged to buy some guns from a dealer at a site along the Trans-Papua Highway called Cabang Dua. Before the deal was concluded Yogi was ambushed by Indonesian military troops, who used the road for a swift approach and killed several of his top men.
During several incidents the road has played a neutral role, being exploited by both TNI and the Mee equally. In November of 1999 a military operation was launched against Mee in a gold mining camp along the road. Initially the road facilitated the military operation by allowing TNI to transport troops from Nabire in trucks. But after the operation started Mee leaders in Satgas Papua immediately traveled by road to Nabire where they went to the offices of the regional assembly (DPRD) and demanded a stop to the human rights violations that were taking place (v. d. Broek 2000).
For Mee the idea of ‘national stability’ as it is applied to the road goes beyond military confrontations. In August of 1998 Kansus Uweia, who was the Indonesian-appointed Tribal Head of the Oge Bage Mee, attempted to register all of the gold prospectors on the land of his people. The prospectors have compromised the stability of the Mee ‘nation’ by cutting down trees, polluting rivers, and generally disregarding Mee land claims. Kansus planned to charge prospectors a licensing fee and issue them a permit. When Kansus entered the main camp of several hundred gold miners and announced his plan the miners banded together. The miners offered Kansus a small amount of gold in exchange for unconditional license to mine the land. Furious, Kansus returned to the city where he attempted to enlist the support of the Indonesian authorities and military to drive the prospectors from Oge Bage Mee land. The Indonesian officials refused to acknowledge the problem.
Oge Bage Mee view the lack of State control of gold prospectors in their territory as a politically calculated move to further rob them of their land. In the absence of support from Indonesian administrators Oge Bage Mee have attempted to replicate the functions of the State. Mee have built tollbooths along the road to collect levies from the passing traffic. Calculated violence is used against those who refuse to pay the toll.
Discussion
Contemporary Mee ethno-historiography has a streak in it that idealizes the past. Many Mee who identify themselves as modern have elaborated critiques about processes of degeneration that were initiated by modernization. A group of prominent Mee church leaders in the Paniai region of the highlands told Kirksey that their land had been paradisiacal before the arrival of the Dutch and Indonesians. Food was plentiful at this time and the only human diseases were tropical ulcers, itchy skin diseases, and headaches. The rainforest was healthy and game animals abounded.
According to many Mee the Trans-Papua Highway is promoting degeneration: deaths from malaria and unknown diseases have skyrocketed since the construction of the road. Logging and noise from vehicles and machinery are thought to have caused the animals to flee deep into the forest. In this article we have discussed several polities that have resisted the elements articulated with Trans-Papua Highway: the Edega Bage Mee have chosen to reject global capitalism, Mee in rural areas are already Christian and do not need evangelizing missionaries, and Papuans in general oppose advances of the Indonesian nation state. Yet, these different elements have not yet joined together to form a cohesive coalition against the road.
In the words of James Clifford ‘Articulation theory cannot account for everything. Pushed to the extremes it can take you to a point where every cultural form, every structure or restructuration, every connection and disconnection, has a radical contingency as if, at any moment, anything were possible.[P]ossible connections and disconnections are constrained at any historical moment’ (2001:481). We close this article with a question that could be answered with future research or action: What contingencies would allow for the articulation of the different groups opposing the Trans-Papua Highway?
.JPG)
