Kamoro culture back from brink of extinction<\/p>\n
By Gus Kairupan<\/p>\n
TIMIKA, Irian Jaya (JP): Possibly, probably, maybe, perhaps
\nand more such words and sentences that indicate anything but
\nsolid certainty. If you were to read an account on Irian Jaya's
\nbackground, say, as a foreword to a more detailed essay on that
\npart of the island of New Guinea, you would notice that it rather
\nteems with such words: probably 200 languages; some 1,800 species
\nof insects; perhaps most are barely unknown; maybe this, possibly
\nthat.<\/p>\n
Will Irian Jaya ever be fully revealed? Of course, but your
\nguess is just as good as anyone else's as to when this will
\noccur.<\/p>\n
A lot is already known about Indonesia's easternmost province,
\nbut there is vastly more that is not, and it covers practically
\nevery aspect of the place: flora, fauna, customs, people, their
\nlanguages. Did you know that as recently as 1987 two
\nnever-before-known groups of people emerged out of isolation? Who
\nis to say that these are the last ethnic groups in Irian Jaya to
\nstep out of the jungle?<\/p>\n
Yet New Guinea has not escaped the notice of the world
\noutside. There exist accounts from the distant past of some of
\nthe products of the island such as seafood, medicinal bark,
\nplumes of the birds of paradise and other things, which made
\ntheir way to other parts of Indonesia as well as China and even
\nFrance.<\/p>\n
But apart from a vague \"from the far east\", those on the
\nreceiving end could not be expected to have a clear picture of
\nproducts' place of origin. Trade has been going on for quite a
\nlong time, as did some mixing between native Irianese and ethnic
\ngroups from other parts of Indonesia. But, by and large, the
\nisland remained an enigma for quite a long time.<\/p>\n
Gradually, however, the shrouds of mystery began to lift, not
\nleast because of the voyages from Western countries -- Portugal
\nin particular -- that started about halfway through the second
\nmillennium. The purpose of these voyages in Indonesia is well
\nknown: the Spice Islands. New Guinea then became a more concrete
\nentity to these seafarers from Portugal (and later, the English,
\nSpanish and Dutch), but though it loomed large in the region,
\nattention was focused on a handful of minuscule spice producing
\nislands, among others Ambon and Banda, located a stone's throw
\nwest of Irian.<\/p>\n
Sightings and landings were made by Portuguese and Spanish
\nseafarers during the third decade of the 16th century, Dutchman
\nJan Carstensz sighted the snow-covered mountain range that runs
\nthrough central Irian in 1632, and in 1770 Captain Cook's landing
\nparty at the Asmat territory \"was sent packing with volleys of
\narrows\".<\/p>\n
There was contact, but apart from the mingling in coastal
\nareas with peoples from other islands, there seemed not to have
\nbeen any deliberate move to occupy New Guinea. Attempts by the
\nBritish and Dutch during the late 18th and early 19th century to
\nestablish a more permanent presence met with failure, but the
\nturn of the century saw the beginning of just such a presence
\ntaking shape in the area.<\/p>\n
At that time there were three Western powers sharing the
\nisland, the Netherlands, Britain and Germany, so colonial
\npoliticking would certainly be a major consideration, more than
\nwhatever the island could offer for international markets.<\/p>\n
Kamoro<\/p>\n
Today numbering about 16,000, the Kamoro tribe occupies a
\nportion of an area located more or less in the middle of Irian
\nJaya's southern coastal area, stretching about 300 km from Etna
\nBay eastwards to the Otokwa river. The river runs some 40 km east
\nof the port of Amamapare, the exit point of copper, gold and
\nsilver concentrate mined by PT Freeport Indonesia Company. The
\narea occupied by the Kamoro belongs to a larger group known as
\nthe Mimika.<\/p>\n
The tribe has had contacts with the outside world as far back
\nas the 17th century but until missionaries arrived in the 19th
\ncentury, these were far and few between. The missions were, at
\nleast during that era, the only established presence in New
\nGuinea. Administrative order (i.e. the tools of Dutch, British
\nand German colonial rule) came about during the first years of
\nthe 20th century, and helped intensify proselytizing activities.<\/p>\n
Some benefits may have resulted from time these activities,
\nbut they also brought about a far more serious consequence: the
\nloss of many features of Kamoro culture and traditions, among
\nothers those connected with rites of passage.<\/p>\n
Longhouses, the traditional living quarters of the Kamoro,
\nwere destroyed and they were made to live in houses for
\nindividual families.<\/p>\n
Another highly developed talent of the Kamoro is wood carving,
\nbut this art, too, began to languish because of the bans imposed
\nby missionaries, and later by government regulations after Irian
\nJaya became part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
For much more than half a century, Kamoro art, culture and
\ntraditions teetered on the brink of extinction. But times change,
\nand so did attitudes on the part of the missionaries and
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates in the area which
\nincludes the traditional area of the Kamoro, claims that reviving
\nthe culture of the native tribes in the contract of work area is
\npart of the company's social development program.<\/p>\n
The company, a target of much criticism regarding its
\nenvironment practices and relations with local communities, also
\nclaims it has to rely for its workforce on the tribes whose
\nhomeland lies in the company's area of operations.<\/p>\n
In fact, the company has reaped benefits from the knowledge of
\nthe Kamoro. When the environmental department was at a loss about
\nhow to stem subsiding of dikes and berms in the experimental
\nponds, it was the Kamoro who came up with the idea of using sago
\ntree trunks instead.<\/p>\n
But more than any other activity, it is artistic expression
\nthat helps restore or rediscover one's cultural identity. Lately,
\nthere has been a wave of efforts to revive many aspects of native
\nIndonesian artistic expressions, most prominent of which would be
\nthe series of recordings produced by the Masyarakat Seni
\nPertunjukan Indonesia (Indonesian Society for the Performing
\nArts) of the myriad variety of musical styles in this country.
\nAssistance for this project came from the Smithsonian Institution
\nand the Ford Foundation, whilst for the revival of Kamoro arts.<\/p>\n
PT Freeport Indonesia showed their interest in the project by
\norganizing the first Kamoro Arts & Culture Festival, that ran
\nrecently at the village of Hitipau, some 30 kilometers southwest
\nof the town of Timika. Participants came from all 42 Kamoro
\nvillages in the area. A dance festival, canoe races and an art
\nauction were the major programs of the festival.<\/p>\n
Canoes play an important part in the lives of the Kamoro whose
\nvillages are near either a river or the sea. The canoe has been
\nand probably still is the most important mode of transport for
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Like the Asmat tribe, the Kamoro certainly do not suffer from
\na lack of creativity and imagination. At this stage the Asmat and
\nKamoro appear to be the only tribes that stand out as carvers,
\nwith the former enjoying wider appreciation around the globe
\nsince more than thirty years. But after this first Festival it
\nwill be only a matter of time for the art of the Kamoro to
\nachieve equal prominence in as well as outside Indonesia.<\/p>",
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