Spear

One of the traditional weapon in Papua is the spear. This weapon is usually used by the indigenous people in Papua to hunt animals for food. There are also different kinds of spears in Papua, spears with one edge and two edges. Every tribes in Papua also have a different kinds of spear, but the similarity is, all of them do not use iron as the edge of their spear. Instead they use stone and wood as the materials of their spear.

Bow and Arrow

Bows and Arrows are one of the traditional weapon in Papua. When we think about the weapon of the tribes in Papua, we usually think of a bow and arrow. It is indeed one of the typical weapon in Papua. The Papuan tribes usually use this weapon as their main weapon in hunting animal. However, they also use this weapon in war.

The Papuan tribes usually use materials from the nature to craft this weapon. They usually use a bamboo or wood as the main material for the arch. While for the rope of the bow, they use rattan. For the arrow, they usually use bamboo, wood, or the bones of kangaroo.

Stone Axe

Stone axe is an ancient weapon that human have been using since the dawn of the stone age. For the Papuan tribes, stone axe is one of their traditional weapon in Papua. Although it sounds pretty simple, but the stone axe of the Papuan tribes is quite complicated. The edge of the stone axe is usually oval and framed with weavings from wood fiber and orchid. They usually use the stone axe for cutting and gouging.

Dagger

Papua also have a dagger as one of their traditional weapon. However, the Papuan dagger is different and unique, because it is made of Cassowary bird or a Bamboo. The bones that are being used for this dagger is usually the leg bone of the cassowary. Not only that, the feather of the cassowary bird is also used for the handle of the dagger as one of the ornaments in the dagger.

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Tree Bark Painting

The tree bark painting came from the indigenous people who live around the Sentani lake. Therefore, it is one of the treasured indigenous handcraft from Papua. The tree bark painting is created by using tree bark as the canvas. They usually paint cultural symbols such as human, animals, and so on.  They use the tree bark from Khombouw tree to create beautiful indigenous handcraft from Papua.

When creating this painting, they process the tree bark before they use it for the painting by compacting it. The process of making this painting usually takes around a week. After it is completed, the tree bark painting could be sold at a fairly high price, around 50.000 IDR to 500.000 idr. The price is usually adjusted with the difficulty of the making process. Hence, the indigenous people can make the tree bark paintings as one of their main source of income.

Noken

One of their heritage is a unique hand knitted bag called Noken. The materials being used in Noken manufacture is mostly tree roots or tree barks. Then, the Mamas (the nickname for Papuans women) will knit the fibers in to a bag form.

Noken’s uniqueness does not stop there; the most unique character of the Noken is its way of using it. Noken is not draped over the shoulder or being carried by hand, but it’s being draped on the head. In December 4th 2012, Noken has been acknowledged by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage.”

Traditional Wood Carving

When we think of indigenous handcraft from Papua, we usually think about traditional wood crafting. Traditional wood craft is one of the most well known indigenous handcraft from Papua and the most famous traditional wood crafting is from the Asmat tribe. Asmat traditional woodcraft usually have a uniquely distinctive and more difficult pattern. Hence, this wood crafts are sought by many tourists and art collectors.

The Asmat tribe usually make traditional woodcraft, by using stone axes, animal teeth, and also sharpened clam-shells. For the smoothing process, the Asmat tribe usually uses hog teeth, fish teeth, and oyster shells. Because of the difficulty in the making process, the traditional woodcraft is usually sold at a very high price and are highly valued. During the UNESCO Convention of 2003, the traditional woodcraft from Papua has been categorized as an “intangible cultural heritage.”

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Head of the national park Ben G. Saroy here on Friday urged the people living in the coastal areas of the national park to continue to preserve the habitat of these turtles.

Of the six species of sea turtles living in the TNTC area, the largest population inhabits Wairundi Island located in the northeast of Manokwari South district, West Papua province.

The office is undertaking efforts to make this island a nesting habitat. Sea turtles are also easily found in the waters around Kumbur Island and Umar Bay in Nabire district, Papua province, as well as in Auri Island, Teluk Wondama district, West Papua province.

“The largest population is living in Wairundi. We hope the community and all parties participate in preserving this natural wealth,” Saroy emphasized.

He pointed out that the poaching of mother turtles and their eggs continues unabated in this region.

“People who have been preserving the turtles feel a sense of dismay, and they are very angry,” he affirmed.

TNTC is representative of the coral reef ecosystems, beaches, mangroves, and tropical forests on Papua Island.

It is the largest marine national park in Indonesia comprising 0.9 percent land and coastal areas, 3.8 percent mainland islands, 5.5 percent coral reefs, and 89.8 percent ocean waters.(*)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/100435/cendrawasih-bay-national-park-center-preserves-six-turtle-species

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Unlike their neighbors the Asmat tribe, Kamoro art is perhaps lesser-known, yet actually rich with a peaceful style and form.

As quoted by the Foundation for Kamoro Carvers, “the intricacies in their carvings show a much deeper relationship with the cosmos, their current world and the past”.

Today, Kamoro’s artistry is increasingly valued with the revival of their wooden carvings.

Although no ancient Kamoro art exists today for carvers to look at or study, a deluge of newer forms have been created by its people in the present: Eastern and Western styles of shields, forms of ancestral figures, sago bowls, paddles with an open shield on the other end, and many others. Often, carvers are known to cut a hidden joke into their wooden carvings, reflecting the Kamoro’s sense of humor.

Even though a Kamoro museum has not been established, an annual exhibition and art sale organized by the Foundation for Kamoro Carvers is held in Jakarta to display this Papuan tribe’s unusual talent, as well as to provide carvers and female plaiters with financial support.

This year, the sale will be held on Nov. 19-20 at the American Club in South Jakarta.

Admission is free. The event will also welcome a group of seven carvers who will sing, dance, drum and carve. The carved pieces start at Rp 250,000 (US$19).

source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2016/11/16/papuan-kamoro-art-set-for-exhibition-in-jakarta.html

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Women in rural areas of Papua have discovered a new way to improve their livelihoods as well as preserve the environment.

The year 2013 was a turning point for women in Pigapu village, Mimika, West Papua, when the Sekolah Lapang Pesisir (coastal field school) came to their village.

The school is an empowerment project initiated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Indonesia Forest and Climate Support program and NGO Blue Forests.

The project aims to teach local residents to utilize and cultivate mangrove leaves and fruits for various purposes. Mimika district harbors at least 250 hectares of mangroves, the third biggest after Papua’s Asmat and Merauke.

Like most of the local women, the idea of producing snacks and tea had never struck Berlinda Mawane before.

She has spent almost 45 years collecting and selling karaka (mangrove crabs) for a living. It never occurred to her to process the mangrove plants and turn them into profit as she thought it would take more time and energy to do so.

However, it has become harder to find crabs due to overexploitation and Berlinda has no other choice but to look at other options to make a living.

That’s why Berlinda decided to join the school, even though she at first refused an offer from Sebastian Mapareao, 56, to join the empowerment program. One of the programs teaches locals how to produce food and beverages from mangrove plants.

After several months, Berlinda managed to increase her income by making around 12 packs of acantus tea and eight packs of bruguiera mangrove cakes.

The tea is sold for Rp 25,000 (US$1.90) per pack.

Aside from the economic benefits, the beverage is good for people’s health, as indicated by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).

The agency has declared that the mangrove plant contains saponins, polyphenols, alkaloids, flavonoids and amino acids, and is believed to be effective as an anti-inflammatory medicine, sputum growth inhibitor and blood purifier. The leaves can also be used to treat rheumatism, neuralgia, hepatitis, liver inflammation, liver cancer and ulcers.

By selling foods and beverages made from mangrove plants, the women of Pigapu can earn more, thus improving their livelihoods while preserving the environment.

— Photo by JP/Seto Wardhana

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/21/cups-tea-sea.html

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Spearheaded by the Diocese of Agats-Asmat, the festival, which is being held at the Yos Sudarso Field in Asmat District from October 7 to 12 this year, marks the 31st anniversary of the event.

Asmat District Head Elisa Kambu said the Asmat Cultural Festival is a great initiative by the Diocese of Agats-Asmat. “This is the moment to continue to admire the work of the Supreme God, and the local government will continue to support and maintain it,” Kambu said.

The highlight of this years festival is the cultural expressions of Papuas renowned Asmat tribe, which has been represented by 207 engraver artists and 102 traditional dancers. The festival has also been enlivened by 60 weavers and 88 rowers who are part of the rowing race along the Syirets river.

The bishop of the Diocese of Agats-Asmat, Mgr Aloysius Murwito, said the Asmat tribes culture should be preserved through such festivals. The festival, which has been an annual event since 1981, appreciates the various art forms of the Asmat people, their traditional dance — an expression of what they feel and think — and their way of life, which defines the tribes identity, Murwito said.

The Asmat Cultural Festival is packed with thousands of invited guests and international tourists who have a keen interest in anthropology, tribal art and the culture of Papua.

One of the main features of the festival is the communitys signature wood carving. The Asmat people are known for their unique ability in carving wood into beautiful works of art without the use of drawings or sketches. For them, these wood carvings are linked with the spirit world. Tribal warfare and ancestor worship are as important to them as showcasing their daily life and history.

The festival gives hundreds of artisans and performers the opportunity to showcase their skills in weaving, boating, and numerous traditional song and dance performances, which with the colorful costumes and the painted faces, are an amazing sight.

The festival closes with an display of Asmat artworks, which can be bought in an open auction.

In 2011, the UNESCO recognized Asmat District, located in the southern part of Papua facing the Arafura sea, as a world heritage site. Prior to this, way back in 1961, the region had attracted international attention when Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared here whilst on an expedition, never to be seen or heard of again.

Besides the Asmat Cultural Festival, the Museum of Asmat Culture and Progress in the Asmat district town of Agats can also preserve the cultural values that will constitute the identity of the Asmat people, and also help them accept new things through a learning process.

Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia Mgr Antonio Guido Filipazzi inaugurated the Museum of Asmat Culture and Progress in Agats on Monday.

“As a representative of the Holy See, I would like to say that the Catholic Church is not only present in Asmat district, but one thing the Asmat people need to know is that the local artworks, in the forms of carvings, have also been present at the Ethnographic Museum in Vatican,” Filipazzi remarked.

He noted that in every culture there is found truth, goodness, and artistic values that must continue to be preserved.

Thus, he added that the Asmat population is able to respond to new things, while maintaining their culture, and therefore the museum will be called the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress.

The Asmat Museum was designed as a place in which the Asmat could look at their past and present, and partake of the environment of their culture, and form relationships with the housed artefacts.

The purpose of the museum is to prevent the Asmat from losing their identity.

Its most important contribution, however, is to expand and evolve the consciousness of the Asmat concerning the value of their past and their art.

Thus, the museum not only preserves the old, but revived carvings. In addition, it is a place of learning, where educational and recreational films and slides are viewed.

Made up of 193 ethnic groups that speak 193 different dialects, the population of Papua cannot be compared with any other region in Indonesia in terms of cultural diversity.

In other parts of Indonesia, modernization has resulted in profound changes in many aspects of the peoples life but in Papua much of the traditional social structures, tribal customs and arts of the Asmat, Ka Moro, Dani, and Sentani have endured.

Besides, the source of various local wisdom for humanity and better environmental management can be found among the tribes of Aitinyo, Arfak, Asmat, Agast, Ayamaru, Mandacan, Biak, Arni, Sentani, and others.

Ancient rituals are still performed for important social events in which each province and district has its own cultural festivals and shows for visitors and tourists to have the opportunity to glimpse the many visual and performing arts of Papua.

No wonder various efforts have been made to maintain and preserve the cultural diversity in Papua.
(T.O001/INE/KR-BSR)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/107181/asmat-cultural-festival-a-great-initiative

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