Govt set to phase Asmat people into modern age

By Prapti Widinugraheni

MERAUKE, Irian Jaya (JP): The government has resolved to phase various indigenous peoples like the Asmat tribe in Irian Jaya into the modern age without endangering their existence, a senior official of the Ministry of Education and Culture says.

Director General for Culture Edy Sedyawati said the cultural values of these indigenous groups, will not be exploited for the sake of tourism but will instead be developed to meet the standards of a more modern lifestyle.

The most important aspect in the case of indigenous people is their well-being, she said. "Tourism is second on the list".

Indonesia boasts several hundreds of indigenous peoples, many of whom have barely been touched by modern civilization and still live in a stone age.

Interviewed after the boisterous opening of the Asmat Cultural Festival in the remote Agats subdistrict, Merauke regency, on Monday, Edy explained that the government is seeking ways to provide more facilities and infrastructures to boost the development of indigenous people.

The government, she assured, will preserve their art and culture in museums and cultural centers.

"The modern lifestyle the government aims at is one which encourages the development of human resources, including the peoples' welfare, physical and spiritual health and security."

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro after opening the festival blamed anthropologists for generating controversy over the fate of the indigenous people by defending their primitive lifestyles.

"Anthropologists want to make these peoples into museums... but they often forget that our major goal is to improve the welfare of all Indonesians because we can't look back in time," he said.

Wardiman pointed out that some cultural aspects of the Asmat tribe "can be put aside", such as their custom to live unclothed, but others, such as their sculpturing traditions, should be preserved.

Yearly event

Aside from Edy, Wardiman during the brief trip to Irian Jaya was also accompanied by Director General for Elementary and Middle Education Z.A. Achmady and Wardiman's aide Harsja W. Bachtiar.

The Asmat Cultural Festival is a yearly event during which people of the Asmat tribe present their carving, dancing, music and handicraft-making culture. It also includes a carving contest and an auction of the products.

"People everywhere always adapt with their environment," Edy said about cultural changes. "But they must do so without losing their identity."

"Changes must come from within. There is nothing wrong with changes ... culture is not something permanent," she added.

The government is currently trying to provide equal opportunity for all Indonesians to change, meaning that in some cases the government has to be "more persuasive" than in others, she said.

Such persuasion, she said, is meant to motivate people so in the end they do things for themselves.

This, she said, does not conflict with the indigenous peoples' initial identities because their identities are always subject to change. "What they should never lose is their sense of pride in being Indonesian".

School

During the visit to Agats, Wardiman also launched a new senior high school established by the Asmat Progress and Development Foundation (YKPA).

Wardiman considered the school "a good example of society's bottom-up participation in education".

"We would like to see education penetrate into the most unreachable places we can think of, but it would take too long if people waited until the government lent a hand," he said. "Society must help itself," he said.

YKPA Chairman Kharis Suhud said the foundation, which was established in 1987, focuses its activities on education, health, preservation of Asmat culture and developing both the economy and tourism in the region.

YKPA's local activities, as well as the services of a Catholic missionary group led by Bishop Alphonse Sowada, are based in the Agats subdistrict, making it the most developed area among the other Asmat subdistricts: Atsj, Sawa-Erma and Kamur.

Agats is also the capital of the Asmat region which covers the south-central coast of Irian Jaya.

Kharis, who was formerly chairman of the House of Representatives, admitted YKPA still has a long way to go before it could evenly distribute its activities to the entire Asmat region.

He cited the lack of transportation, communication and funding as the main factors hampering development programs for the Asmat people.