Govt set to phase Asmat people into modern age

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.