West Papua (province)

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West Papua Papua Barat
Province of Indonesia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Cintaku negeriku (Indonesian) (My love my country)
Location of West Papua province
Coordinates (Manokwari): 0°52′S 134°5′E / 0.867°S 134.083°E / -0.867; 134.083Coordinates: 0°52′S 134°5′E / 0.867°S 134.083°E / -0.867; 134.083
Founded	2003
Capital	Manokwari
Largest city	Sorong
Government
• Body	Government of Papua Barat province
• Governor	Dominggus Mandacan
• Vice Governor	[id]
Area
• Total	102,946.15 km2 (39,747.73 sq mi)
Area rank	5th in Indonesia
Highest elevation (Mount Arfak)	2,955 m (9,695 ft)
Population  (2020 Census)[1]
• Total	1,134,068
• Density	11/km2 (29/sq mi)
	[2]
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	51% West Papuan tribes (including Arfak, Biak-Numfor, Ayfat, Baham, Yapen[disambiguation needed], Mooi, Tehit, Wandamen, Irahutu, Kokoda, Inanwatan) 15% Javanese 5.3% Buginese 4.4% Ambonese 4.1% Butonese 2.3% Makassar 17.9% other
• Religion	62.9% Christianity —54.2% Protestantism — 8.7% Catholicism 36.7% Islam 0.19% Hinduism 0.19% Buddhism
• Languages	Indonesian Papuan Malay (lingua franca) and various local languages
Time zone	UTC+09 (Indonesia Eastern Time)
HDI	0.647 (Medium)
HDI rank	33rd in Indonesia (2019)
Website	papuabaratprov.go.id

West Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat), formerly Irian Jaya Barat or Irian Barat, is a province of Indonesia. It covers the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea, Bird's Head Peninsula and Bomberai Peninsula, along with nearby islands. The province is bordered to the north by the Pacific Ocean, to the west by the Halmahera Sea and the Ceram Sea, to the south by the Banda Sea, and to the east by the province of Papua and the Cenderawasih Bay. Manokwari is the province's capital, while Sorong is its largest city. West Papua is the second-least populous province in Indonesia, with a population of 1,134,068 at the 2020 Census.^[3]

After the Japanese surrender, the Dutch remained in New Guinea until 1962 when they transferred the control of the region to Indonesian government as a part of the New York Agreement. West Papua was legally created as a province in 1999, but it was not inaugurated until 2003. Consisting of twelve regencies and one city, the province enjoys a special autonomous status as granted by Indonesian legislation.

West Papua is well known for its Raja Ampat Islands, which is said by some diving operators to contain the richest marine biodiversity in the world.^[4] West Papua has a medium Human Development Index, which is the second lowest among Indonesia's 34 provinces.^[5] Without consulting the population, the Indonesian government has launched the building of ambitious yet much-challenged infrastructure including the trans-Papua highway, airports, and seaports ripping through Southeast Asia's and Oceania's last large chunks of tropical rainforests and threatening still-intact native cultures.^[6] According to Bank Indonesia, West Papua recorded an economic growth rate of 7.7% during 2018, which is higher than the national economic growth.^[7]

History[]

Etymology[]

The name of Papua comes the word Papa-Ua, names possibly given by the Sultanate of Tidore to the deep lands of the island or literal translation:"not having father" which could also mean: "neither united nor unified" because at that time no king then ruled the island unlike the rest of the Moluccas^{[citation needed]}. The term 'Papua' first appeared in a Malay dictionary made by William Marsden in 1812. Sollewijn Gelpke, a Dutch colonial official conducted a study of the origin of the word 'Papua'. In the Portuguese and Spanish archives the word 'Papua' is a term for residents who inhabit the Raja Ampat Islands and coastal areas of the Bird's Head Peninsula.

Pre-colonial era[]

Ramandey wrote that in the 1st century the influence of Hinduism and India had spread throughout the archipelago at that time and was not only confined to Java and Sumatra, but also to a region called "Ujung Samudranta" which means “edge of the ocean islands”.^{[citation needed]}

In the 13th century, a Chinese traveler named Chau Yu Kua mentioned an area called Tung-ki, the Chinese name for Janggi which may possibly refer to New Guinea, or to part of the Moluccas or even to Africa.^[8]

During the era of the Majapahit empire (1293–1520), the Nagarakretagama written by Mpu Prapanca mentioned the Western New Guinea region around Onin Peninsula and the surrounding islands.^[9]

From at least the 15th century (or even earlier), Southeast Asian Muslim merchants and Papuans interacted for trade.^[10] From Sultanates located in the Moluccas, Muslim merchants developed exclusive trading ties with the West Papuans by the 17th century.^[10]

Colonial era[]

In 1511, António de Abreu, a Portuguese sailor, referred to New Guinea as "Os Papuas" or also llha de Papo. Don Jorge de Menetes, a Spanish sailor also had stopped in Papua a few years later (1526–1527), he still used the name Papua. He himself knew the Papuan name in the diary of Antonio Figafetta, the clerk of the Magellan voyage that surrounded the world by the name of Papua. This Papuan name was known to Figafetta when he stopped at Tidore Island.^{[citation needed]}

Next, in 1528, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, a Spanish marine-fleet leader named the island of Papua Isla de Oro or Island of Gold which means the Golden Island. He is also the only sailor who managed to plant his anchor on the north coast of New Guinea. With the mention of Isla Del Oro, there were not a few European sailors who came in droves to find gold on the golden island.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 June 1545, Ortiz de Retez, a Spanish explorer, left the port at Tidore, an island in the East Indies and sailed to reach the northern coast of the island of New Guinea, where he traveled along the mouth of the Mamberamo River. He seized ownership of the land for the King of Spain.^[11] in the process of naming the island with the name known today. He called it Nueva Guinea because of the resemblance of local residents to people on the coast of Guinea in West Africa.^[12]

Under Tidore hegemony there was three main local kingdoms mainly centering around Onin Peninsula. Atiati, Fatagar, and Rumbati lead by Bauw dynasty. In 1878 there was a war between Rumbati on one side and Fatagar and Atiati on the other side. Atiati and Fatagar moved their capitals to Ega islands. After some time there was a conflict between Atiati and Fatagar, as a result Atiati moved its capital to the mainland on the coast just across Ega island which come to be known as Atiati in modern time. Meanwhile, Fatagar moved its capital to a place called Merapi, located on the eastern side of Fakfak town in modern time. ^[13]

Other kingdoms around the area, were formerly under the dominion of Rumbati kingdom but achieved kingdom status when the Netherlands achieved hegemony of the area in 1898, these includes: Patipi kingdom centered in Patipi Bay in Fakfak, Sekar kingdom in Kokas lead by Rumagesan dynasty, Wertuar kingdom centered in Sisir lead by Heremba dynasty, Arguni kingdom centered in Arguni islands in Kaimana. ^[13] Other kingdoms in the area include Namatota Kingdom, and Sran Kingdom. ^[14]

Modern era[]

During the Indonesian National Awakening period several Indonesian nationalists were interned in the Boven-Digoel detention camp in modern day Papua province, mostly from the failed 1926 communist uprising. This began the long interaction and formation of local Indonesian nationalist movement in Western New Guinea. Following its independence declaration from the Netherlands in 1945, Indonesia claimed all of the territory of the former Dutch East Indies, including Western New Guinea. Local figures like Silas Papare created PKII In 1946 centered in Serui to begin preparation for revolution war against the Netherlands. To counter this Netherlands formed the Papuan Council. ^[15]

In 1947 Malino Conference the formation of United States of Indonesia was considered but because of pressure from local Dutch politicians hoping to create a West New Guinea country for fleeing Indo-Eurasians, they decided against including West New Guinea in United States of Indonesia. This is contrary to the local Papuan delegates in the event, Frans Kaisepo who argued for the inclusion of West Papua with Indonesia. This is also the first time ‘Irian’ is proposed to describe the territory as suggested by Kaisepo. Kaisepo was then rejected to becoming Dutch New Guinea representatives during 1949 Round-Table Conference which resulted in United States of Indonesia independence and postponement of the Western new Guinea status negotiation to the next year. ^[16]

However by 1950s Republic of Indonesia Government dissolved United States of Indonesia and many of the constituent merged to form United Republic of Indonesia. This angered the Dutch because it destroyed their influence in many of the formed republics constituent of BFO and the dissolving of Dutch-Indonesian Union. As a result, the region was still retained by the Dutch, which caused increasing tension of Netherlands with Indonesia.^{[citation needed]}

By December 1957, Sukarno frustrated with the lack of progress for Western New Guinea negotiation, decided to nationalise around 246 Dutch companies dominating Indonesian economy. By early 1960s Indonesia also began to accept increasing amounts of Soviet-bloc military aid. This leads to increasingly aggressive stance by Indonesia. In April 1961, Netherlands announced the formation of a Nieuw Guinea Raad, intending to create an independent Papuan state. Indonesia declared intention of military confrontation by Formation of Tri Komando Rakjat (TRIKORA) speech in Yogyakarta, on 19 December 1961. Indonesia then began to direct military incursions into the half-island, which he referred to as West Irian. By the end of 1962, 3,000 Indonesian soldiers were present throughout West Irian/West Papua. Although most of these military incursion managed to make contact with local Indonesian nationalists most were unsuccessful in taking control and were captured by Dutch authority.^{[citation needed]}

United States fearing more Indonesian shift toward the Soviet block, formulated a plan to resolve the Western New Guinea dispute. Indonesian delegation include several Indonesian nationalists from West Papua Who managed to flee and made contact during earlier incursions, such as: Marthen Indey and Silas Papare. It was agreed through the New York Agreement in 1962 that the administration of Western New Guinea would be temporarily transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia and that by 1969 the United Nations should oversee a referendum of the Papuan people, in which they would be given two options: to remain part of Indonesia or to become an independent nation. This vote was referred to as the Act of Free Choice.^[17] However, the vote was reportedly conducted by consensus of government-selected delegates, numbering slightly over 1,000, which represent the elite Of Papuan society, mostly Papuan tribal elders and local kings such as Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan kings of Sekar, and the few local Papuans luckily to receive education during the earlier period of Dutch East Indies.^[a] The referendum was recognised by the international community and the region became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (renamed Papua in 1999). The result of the compromised vote was rejected by West Papuan nationalists, who are mostly from the newer generation of Dutch New Guinea educated elites, who established the Free Papua Movement (OPM) which have roots in the earlier Dutch-formed Papuan Council. The independence movement for West Papua has continued, primarily through peaceful protest and international pressure, but also guerrilla warfare against the Indonesian administration.^[21]

The province of West Papua was separated from the western portion of the province of Papua in February 2003, initially under the name of West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat). In November 2004, an Indonesian court agreed that the split violated Papua's autonomy laws. However, the court ruled that because the new province had already been established, it should remain separate from Papua. The ruling also prohibited the creation of another proposed province, Central Irian Jaya, as that division had not yet been formalised. The split is in line with the general trend of provincial splits that is occurring in all parts of Indonesia in the post-Suharto era.^{[citation needed]}

The name of the province was changed to Papua Barat in 2007. The new name applies from that date, but a plenary session of the provincial legislative council is required to legalise the change of name, and the government needs to issue an implementing regulation.^[22] Since April 18, 2007 the government has issued the implementing regulation. ^[23]

Geography[]

This provincial area includes the Bird's Head Peninsula and Bomberai Peninsula, along with nearby islands. In the north, the province is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, the west is bordered by North Maluku province and Maluku province, the eastern part is bordered by Cenderawasih Bay, south with the Ceram Sea and southeast bordering Papua province. The boundary of West Papua is almost the same as the Afdeling boundary ("part") West Nieuw-Guinea ("West New Guinea") in the Dutch East Indies. The province is divided into several districts and cities.

West Papua is located between 0–4 degrees South Latitude and 124–132 degrees East Longitude, just below the equator with an altitude of 0–100 m (0–328 ft) above sea level. The area of West Papua is 126,093 km² (48,685 sq mi).^[24]

The climate in West Papua also tends to be the same as the climate in the Papua Province, which is tropical with rainfall varying in each region.

The land condition in West Papua is almost the same as the Papua Province where the land surface is in the form of cliffs and slopes. The types of soil in West Papua are latosol, resina, red and yellow medeteren, podsol, red yellow podsolic, gray red podsolic, litosol, alluvia, gray hydromorph.

The mountains in West Papua include the Arfak Mountains (2,940 m (9,646 ft)) in Arfak Mountains Regency, the Fak-Fak Mountains in Fak-Fak Regency, Mount Fudi (1,280 m (4,199 ft)) in Fak-Fak Regency, Kumafa Mountains in Fak-Fak Regency, Mount Kwoko (3,000 m (9,843 ft)) in Sorong Regency, Tamarau Mountains, in Sorong Regency, Mount Togwomeri (2,680 m (8,793 ft)) in Manokwari Regency, Mount Wasada (1,070 m (3,510 ft)) in Manokwari Regency, Mount Wiwi (1,130 m (3,707 ft)) in Manokwari Regency.^[25]

Lakes in West Papua include Lake Ayamaru in Maybrat Regency, Anggi Giji Lake in Manokwari Regency, Anggi Gita Lake in Manokwari Regency, Lake Yamur in Manokwari Regency, Lake Yawasi in Sorong Regency.

The province is rich in karst areas.^[26] Many of these areas remain unexplored from a speleological point of view. Among the most important caves explored, there are the Lomo Longmot e Lomo Iono Besar (−360 e −315 meter deep), second and fourth cave for depth of Indonesia.^{[citation needed]} This cave was explored in the 1990s by a French speleology expedition team in the Lina Mountains region, Irameba Village, Anggi District, Manokwari Regency.^{[citation needed]} Recently the karst system of the Aouk-Kladuk river has been explored. At present, it is the largest underground river explored on the planet.^{[citation needed]}

Administrative divisions[]

In 2000, the areas now forming (since 2003) West Papua province consisted of three regencies (kabupaten) – Manokwari, Sorong and Fakfak. By 2010 the province was administratively divided into ten regencies (kabupaten) and one autonomous city (kota), which together were subdivided into 155 districts (kecamatan) at the 2010 Census.^[27] Two new regencies have since been created in 2013 – South Manokwari Regency (Manokwari Selatan) and Arfak Mountains Regency (Pegunungan Arfak) – from districts which were formerly parts of the Manokwari Regency, while four further districts of Manokwari Regency were added to Tambrauw Regency.

All the existing regencies and the city are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census. The number of districts has since been increased to 218, comprising 1,986 villages in 2019.^[28]

Name	Area (km2)	Population Census 2010	Population Census 2020[29]	Capital	Number of Districts	Number of Villages	HDI[30] 2018 estimate
Fakfak Regency	14,320.00	66,828	85,197	Fakfak	17	149	0.670 (Medium)
Kaimana Regency	16,241.84	46,249	62,256	Kaimana	7	86	0.637 (Medium)
Teluk Wondama Regency (Wondama Bay)	3,950.53	26,321	41,644	Rasiei	13	76	0.589 (Low)
Teluk Bintuni Regency (Bintuni Bay)	20,840.83	52,422	87,083	Bintuni	24	117	0.631 (Medium)
Manokwari Regency	3,186.28	145,285	192,663	Manokwari	9	173	0.712 (High)
Sorong Selatan Regency (South Sorong)	6,594.31	37,900	52,469	Teminabuan	15	123	0.610 (Medium)
Sorong Regency	6,544.23	70,619	118,679		30	252	0.643 (Medium)
Raja Ampat Regency	8,034.44	42,507	64,141	Waisai	24	121	0.628 (Medium)
Tambrauw Regency[31]	11,529.18	6,144	28,379	Fef	29	218	0.520 (Low)
Maybrat Regency	5,461.69	33,081	42,991		24	260	0.582 (Low)
Manokwari Selatan Regency (South Manokwari)	2,812.44	18,564	35,949	Boundij-Ransiki	6	57	0.588 (Low)
Pegunungan Arfak Regency (Arfak Mountains)	2,773.74	23,877	38,207		10	166	0.553 (Low)
Sorong City	656.64	190,625	284,410	Sorong	10	41	0.774 (High)

On 25 October 2013 the Indonesian People's Representative Council (Indonesia's parliament) began reviewing draft laws on the establishment of 57 prospective regencies/cities (and 8 new provinces).^[32] This included a new province of Southwest Papua to be created out of the existing West Papua province, together with eight new regencies and one city to be formed within the existing West Papua Province – Malamoy and Maibratsau (both taken from Sorong Regency), North Raja Ampat and South Raja Ampat (both from Raja Ampat Regency), Raja Maskona (from Teluk Bintuni Regency), Okas (from Fakfak Regency), West Manokwari (from Manokwari Regency) and Imeo (from South Sorong Regency), while the new city is Manokwari (from Manokwari Regency). These projected changes have not yet (by 2021) been implemented.

Economy[]

This province has tremendous potential, both agriculture, mining, forest products and tourism. Pearls and seaweed are produced in Raja Ampat Regency while the only traditional weaving industry called Timor fabric is produced in South Sorong Regency. Fragrant nutmeg syrup can be obtained in Fak-Fak Regency as well as various other potentials. Besides that nature tourism is also one of the mainstays of West Papua, such as the Cenderawasih Bay National Park located in Teluk Wondama Regency. This National Park stretches from the east of the Kwatisore Peninsula to the north of Rumberpon Island with a coastline of 500 km, the land area reaches 68,200 ha, sea area 1,385,300 ha with details of 80,000 ha of coral reefs and 12,400 ha of ocean.^[33]

Demographics[]

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1971	192,146	—
1980	283,493	+47.5%
1990	385,509	+36.0%
2000	571,107	+48.1%
2005	643,012	+12.6%
2010	760,422	+18.3%
2015	868,819	+14.3%
2020	1,134,068	+30.5%
Source: Statistics Indonesia 2021. West Papua was part of Papua Province until 2004

Ethnic groups[]

51.5% of the total population in West Papua are the native Papuan people. They are several tribes in West Papua. The tribes that inhabit West Papua Province are the Arfak, Doreri, Kuri, Simuri, Irarutu, Sebyar, Moscona, Mairasi, Kambouw, Onim, Sekar, Maibrat, Tehit, Imeko, Tehit, Imeko, Moi, Tipin, Maya, Biak, Anggi, Arguni, Asmat, Awiu, Batanta, Biak, Bintuni, Dani, Demta, Genyem, Guai, Hattam, Jakui, Kapauku, Kiman, Mairasi, Manikion, Mapia, Marindeanim, Mimika, Moni, Muyu, Numfor, Salawati, Uhundun, and Waigeo.^[34]

When viewed from cultural characteristics, livelihoods and patterns of life, indigenous Papuans can be divided into two major groups, namely mountainous Papua or inland, highlands and lowland and coastal Papua. The belief pattern of traditional Papuan religions unites and absorbs all aspects of life, they have an integral worldview that is closely related to one another between material and spiritual worlds, which are secular and sacred and both function together.

The remaining population are mostly immigrants from other parts of Indonesia, such as the Javanese, Buginese, Makassarese, Minahasan, Torajan, Butonese, and Moluccans^[35]

Religion[]

The population of West Papua Province embraces different religions. Data in 2006 showed that the largest percentage of religious believers were Protestant Christians (50.70%), then Islam (41.27%), Catholic Christians (7.70%), Hinduism (0.12%), Buddhism (0.08%), and Confucianism (0.01%).^{[citation needed]} In the province, the city of Manokwari has come to be known as the "Gospel City", as it is directly inland from Mansinam Island where the first European missionaries settled on 5 February 1855. The date has become a significant local Christian holiday known as "Gospel Day", celebrated annually across West Papua and Papua.^[36]

Language[]

Indonesian is the official language in the Papua Barat province, just like other provinces in Indonesia. All road signs and documents released by the provincial government are written in Indonesian. However, Papuan Malay is used as the lingua franca of the province, both as a trade language and in inter-ethnic communication. Papuan Malay is considered to be similar to Ambonese Malay and Manado Malay language, and is mutually intelligible with Indonesian though it has been highly influenced by local languages. Nevertheless, its usage is currently diminishing as people that are more fluent in Standard Indonesian are increasing.^[37]

The number of local languages used by the native peoples of the Papua Barat province reaches 263 consisting of 5 Austronesian languages and 210 Papuan languages.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

Regional languages in the Papua Barat province are threatened with extinction, because there are fewer and fewer users. At least 10 regional languages spread across 14 major tribes in the province are threatened with extinction, if not immediately documented and preserved. The threat of extinction is due to economic, educational and political problems. The indigenous Papuans who transact on the market will use Indonesian, because the buyers or sellers are migrants or they speak a different Papuan language. The need for children to use Indonesian daily and the lack of education in schools about regional languages largely contributes to their disuse and extinction.^[38]

Culture[]

Like the Papua province to the east, the Papua Barat province is inhabited by different tribes.

Traditional houses[]

An exhibition house called Rumah Kaki Seribu (Thousand Legs House) was recently built to exhibit musical instruments, traditional clothing, and handicrafts from the Papua Barat province. The architecture of this building is inspired from that of the region around Manokwari. This traditional house is a stilt house with many pillars. The traditional house whose original roof was made of straw or sago leaves and wood as its pillars. The poles that are made are short and some are high, the pillars are useful for protecting themselves from enemies and the threat of people with evil intentions or black magic.^[39]

Clothing[]

The traditional clothes in the West Papua region are named Serui. Not much different from traditional clothing in Papua, the form of clothing is almost the same for both men and women. They wear clothes and lower body coverings in the same shape. They also wear ornaments on the chest and head in the form of necklaces, bracelets, ornaments of birds of paradise on the other parts of the head. Equipment worn by men at weddings usually have the groom holding a shield such as an arrow or tombah to fulfill the Papuan custom.^[39]

Another West Papuan traditional clothing is called Ewer. This garment is purely made from natural ingredients, namely dried straw. With the progress and influence of modernization, these traditional clothes were then equipped with cloth for their superiors. The following is a picture of the traditional Ewer clothing typical of West Papuans. At present, natural materials such as straw or dry fiber are only used as skirts for women. The skirt is made by taking plant fibers and arranging them using a rope at the top. This skirt is made with two layers, the inner layer is knee-length, and the outer layer is shorter. To strengthen skirt ties, belts made of bark are used in such a way. Usually the carving motif is not complicated, namely the gingham with a geometric arrangement.^[40]

As for the shirt tops, they use baju kurung made of velvet fabric with knotted tufts on the edges of the arms, neck or waist. This article is derived from outside culture and is usually only used for West Papuans who live around the city of Manokwari. Apart from clothes and skirts, West Papuan traditional clothing for women is also equipped with a variety of accessories such as bracelets, necklaces and headgear. Bracelets and necklaces are usually made from hard grains which are arranged using a piece of yarn, while the head cover is made of cassowary feathers.

For men, the West Papuan traditional clothing worn in ancient times is very different from the traditional clothes worn and introduced today. In the past, men in general only used tassel skirts, the way and materials made were the same as those worn by women. The use of tassel skirts by men is not equipped with a boss so they will only be bare-chested. Today, custom Ewer clothing for men is made of velvet fabric with a more polite model. Knee-length shorts complete with a cloth covering dangling on the front are used as subordinates, while for superiors are used vest shirts made with fabric. Each edge of a piece of men's ewer shirt, both for pants, vests, and cloth covers is usually decorated with bright colored fabric borders. In addition, the indigenous men of West Papua also wear several other accessories to support their appearance. Necklaces and headgear, and war equipment in the form of shields, spears, chopsticks and arrows are some of what usually must be present.

Traditional dance[]

As West Papua consist of many tribes, there are very many traditional dances on each tribe. The most common traditional dance is the war dance. Where this dance has a meaning heroism Papua.Karena community dance shows the soul of someone who valiantly. Then it is usually danced by men with traditional custom clothing and war equipment. A brief history, taken from the stories of the ancients that often occurred between the Sentani tribes and other tribes. Then the ancestors made this dance with the aim of encouraging the Papuan warriors. And over time, war has been eliminated, but this dance is still cultivated. Now, this dance is only symbolic to respect only the ancestors who have been desperately protecting the Papua region. Usually this dance is danced by seven or more people. The music used in this dance is shells, tifa and drum. The dancing was quite energetic and featured some war movement, including archery, jump, peep enemies, and others.^[41]

Yospan dance is another dance originating from West Papua, this dance is an amalgamation of two traditional dances namely Yosim dances originating from the bay of Sairei (Serul, Waropen) and Pancar dances originating from Biak, Numfor and Manokwari. The beginning of this dance movement is that around the 1960s there was a conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia. At that time, many Russian MIG planes flew in the sky precisely above the Biak airport, at which time Frans Kaisepo carried out aerobatic movements so that the dance moves were full of enthusiasm, dynamism, interest and also the agility of the feet. This movement is carried out by walking while dancing accompanied by musical accompaniments who play Papuan songs using ukulele instruments, guitars, tifa and bass. These dance moves are pancar, gale-gale, jef, triple hoe and so on, usually dances this is done by two groups. And now this dance is being introduced all over the world, among young people who also know a lot and can do this dance.^[42]

Another dance is the Suanggi dance which also comes from West Papua. This dance is a very thick form of expression in the Papuan community, this suanggi dance tells or tells the story of a husband who was killed by his wife and the husband was a victim of angi-angi (jejadian). In general, these traditional Papuan dances depict local people, and this dance makes fatigue disappear into a burning spirit. Those are some traditional dances originating from West Papua, these dances are still preserved by local people and there are also many events that have elements of this traditional dance. Papuans will never forget this dance culture, if you visit West Papua you will definitely see one of the dances above.^[43]

Weapons[]

The bow and arrow is one of the main weapons typical of the tribes in Papua. These traditional weapons of bows and arrows are used for hunting and fighting. The bow is made of bamboo or wood, while the bowstring is made of rattan. The arrows are made of bamboo, wood, or kangaroo bones. Because of bow and arrow materials made from nature, special expertise is needed to use these traditional weapons. Spears are one of the traditional tribal weapons in Papua and West Papua. Traditional tribal spears in Papua are made from natural materials such as wood and stone. Each tribe has a different form of spear, including those with one spear and two spears.^[44]

In addition to bows, arrows and spears, indigenous tribes in Papua have traditional daggers made of cassowary bones or bamboo. This knife can be made from the bones of a cassowary or bamboo foot with a tapered tip, while the handle is decorated with cassowary feathers. Traditional weapons from Papua and West Papua made from the bones of cassowary birds are used as a tool in hunting and extracting forest products.

Stone axes are traditional tribal traditional weapons in Papua and West Papua. This stone ax is made of natural stone which is smashed and formed by the eyes of an ax, given a woven frame from a twist of wood fiber and forest orchids, used for cutting, picking and scraping.^[45]

Transport[]

In the West Papua Province, the largest airport is Dominique Edward Osok Airport, located in Sorong. In addition, there are also Fakfak Airport, Rendani Airport in Manokwari and Utarom Airport in Kaimana. Major flights to the West Papua area from Jakarta, Surabaya and Makassar are usually via the airport in Sorong or Biak, then continue with smaller aircraft.

Tourism[]

In Doreri Bay there are three small islands: Mansinan Island, Lemon Island and Raimuti Island. These islands have a collection of coral reefs. It is estimated that this place has more than 20 former World War II wrecks.^{[citation needed]} But what can be seen clearly is that there are around 6 ships such as Pasir Putih Wreck, a type of Navy patrol boat with a length of 12–22 meters. Pillbox Wreck, a type of commercial cargo carrier carrying around 9–16 meters of ammunition, Cross Wreck is a kind of patrol boat, Mupi Wreck and Shinwa Maru, a cargo ship.^[46]

The Cendrawasih Bay National Park have a unique geological structure and very important oceanographic history. This marine national park has extensive coral reefs of the highest quality in the world. Cendrawasih Bay National Park is in five regions and two provinces, namely Teluk Wondana Regency and Manokwari Regency in West Papua Province and Nabire Regency, Yapen Island Regency and Waropen Regency in Papua Province. Local communities living around national parks use marine resources as a source of life. Cendrawasih Bay National Park is a bay surrounded by several islands, including Biak Island, Yapen Island, and the mainland New Guinea. Administratively, the area is in two Regency, namely Teluk Wondama Regency, West Papua Province and Nabire Regency, Papua Province.^[47]

Raja Ampat is an archipelago that is administratively located in the Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua Province. This island is a destination for divers who are interested in the underwater scenery. Raja Ampat Islands is one of the 10 best waters for diving in the whole world, so it has the potential to be a tourist location, especially diving tours. In this place it is also home to 75% of the world's coral species, in the village of Saindarek, when the tides are lowest, we can see coral reefs without diving. Some unique species that can be found while diving in Raja Ampat are several types of pygmy seahorses, wobbegongs, and Manta rays.^[48]

Sawinggrai Tourism Village is a village located in Meos Mansar Subdistrict, Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua. It is one of the place in the province to see Bird of Paradise which is still maintained today. Sawinggrai Village Tourism Sites are currently inhabited by around 36 families and some of them have the expertise to make handicrafts typical of sculpture. There are four species of Bird of Paradise that are preserved here, namely the Red bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea Rubra), Magnificent bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus Magnificus), Lesser bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea Minor) and Greater bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea Apoda). One of the four species, the Red bird of paradise, is a typical icon of Sawinggrai Village.^[49]

See also[]

• Districts of West Papua
• List of rivers of West Papua
• Papua Conflict

Notes[]

References[]

Bibliography

• 1989, 2003 Monbiot, George. Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey through the forbidden lands of West Papua. London. Michael Joseph, Green Books. ISBN 1903998271

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Papua (province).

• Official website