West Papuans given Aboriginal passports
Jun 5, 2013 • West Papua Freedom Flotilla – June 1, 2013 – A historical ceremony was held outside the Victorian Trades Hall... Read More
Indigenous Peoples of the World
Papuan
Papuan is a cover term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands, speakers of the so-called Papuan languages. There are well over one thousand indigenous languages throughout the island region.
Even though “New Guinea” has been divided into two separate jurisdictions–the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of West Papua–all Papuan People are related ethnically and culturally.
West Papua became the twenty-sixth province of Indonesia in 1969 after the so-called “Act of Free Choice”, sponsored by the UN, saw the transfer of official administration from The Netherlands, the colonial power, to Indonesia. The province was in 1973 re-named Irian Jaya, “Victorious Irian”, by the Indonesian President, General Soeharto. The indigenous movement rejects this name and identify themselves as West Papuan. Resistance to Indonesia had begun in 1962 when temporary authority was first given to Jakarta, and continues to the present.
Over the twenty six years that Indonesia has held official control of West Papua, the indigenous population has endured one of the twentieth century’s most repressive and unjust systems of colonial occupation. An on-going war has been fought against a popularly supported indigenous movement opposed to Jakarta’s rule, and against members of the civilian population who stand in the way of Indonesian “development”.
Under the Indonesian government’s Transmigration program, the indigenous West Papuans are being reduced to a minority population due to an annual influx of over 10,000 families of sponsored migrants from Java and Sulawesi and an unknown number of “spontaneous” migrants. The widespread appropriation of land for new settlements, forestry concessions, mining projects and farming has led to numerous large-scale conflicts between the Indonesian military and dispossessed tribespeople, particularly in the late 1970s, 1984, and again in 1990-92 and 1994-95.
Indonesia does not regard the West Papuan people (or other communities) as indigenous and subordinates adat (traditional) law to the national interest. This denies a fundamental feature of West Papuan life and identity, viz relationship with the land, leaves the West Papuan people fundamentally defenceless in the face of development and transmigration policies, and absolves Indonesia of any obligations under international instruments and mechanisms.
Papua New Guinea was also established in the 1960s, when Australia moved toward establishing self-government and a House of Assembly and building institutions to train an “educated elite” to serve the country.
Before European settlement, there were no towns in New Guinea. Rather, there were thousands of villages and hamlets connected by narrow paths, customs, and networks of marriage and trade partners.
Indigenous Peoples in West Papua
Archive
Papua New Guinea takes a regional lead in supporting a free West Papua
Mar 17, 2013 • Melanesian support for a free West Papua has always been high. Travel throughout Papua New Guinea you will often... Read More
What Kind of Solidarity for West Papua?
Jan 16, 2013 • The following discussion paper is a response to Martin Pelcher’s 2012 article ‘Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West... Read More
A Chronology of PT Minersave’s (Freeport’s) Entry into Intan Jaya Regency, West Papua
Dec 10, 2012 • This article from KOMISI, a group of students from Intan Jaya in West Papua (in co-operation with the Suara... Read More
Indonesian security forces engineering conditions to justify eliminating Papuan free expression
Oct 17, 2012 • Indonesia’s counter-terrorism squad, Densus 88, has been accused of perpetrating a massive fraud that aims to dismantle the peaceful,... Read More
Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West Papua
Jul 24, 2012 • The complex and volatile situation in West Papua raises questions about the role of international advocacy The months of... Read More
Papua Merdeka!
Jul 14, 2012 • This humble and inspiring short film was created to help raise awareness among Canadians about the human rights abuses... Read More
Videos reveal extent of latest Indonesian army rampage in West Papua
Jun 10, 2012 • “We didn’t burn people’s houses. It’s impossible. We’re soldiers, we don’t do that.” Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ali Hamdan... Read More
Thousands demonstrate in support of “New Guinea Council: First Steps” conference in Netherlands
Apr 11, 2012 • Article cross-posted from West Papua Media Alerts APR 11 – Demonstrations were held in Jayapura on April 5 in... Read More
Canada’s Rush For Gold
Feb 4, 2012 • Canada may be one of the world’s largest gold mining nations, but both its overseas and domestic mining activities... Read More
Massive Indonesian offensive displaces thousands in Paniai as helicopters attack and raze villages
Dec 13, 2011 • Indonesian police and military forces have reportedly razed 26 villages and forcibly evacuated 130 more in a coordinated attack... Read More
West Papua: Freedom protesters challenge ‘blind eye’ of the West
Aug 8, 2011 • Last week marked the 48th anniversary of the West Papuan struggle for independence from Indonesia. To mark the occasion,... Read More
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well written and i have shared and will put it, with accreditation into my blog....
My name is Steve Vasseur and I support the aboriginal people and would gladly join them. Corporations and bankers own our governments outright and if they told them that nuclear...
I am so proud of Imazighen people as a woman from East Africa. We must fight against becoming Arabised. We must always fight for our identity. Tuaregs do not get...
Can't wait to see it....
important notice --rodney liddell--photographer, searching robert kupano north solomons radio bougainville 1980-82.Family from Kanga Beach Buin He was my guide searching for war relics to photograph.74 photos published in book...
It definitely wasn't my intent to disparage Real News or anything like that. I really just wanted to outline the 'media crisis' in the hope that everyone in the list...
Real News, which came in last in your infographic, is evidently delivering what its readers want. Otherwise, they wouldn't be donating hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to keep...
Given the results of our research, a more in-depth examination is definitely in order....
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