Papuan Society in Search of Its Identity Between Dutch and Indonesian Domination
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chapter 10 Papuan Society in Search of Its Identity between Dutch and Indonesian Domination No region of modern Indonesia experienced in the second half of the twenti- eth century such intense and dramatic changes as the western part of the great island of New Guinea, successively known under the names of Dutch New Guinea, then the Indonesian province Irian Jaya and finally the two Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. The Japanese occupied the few towns of the north coast in April and May 1942. They landed at the central post in the western mountains of the Paniai region (Wissel Lakes) in May 1943 and moved along the south-western coast to the Mimika river basin. The central town of the south-eastern coast, Merauke, was bombed on 30 December 1943 but never occupied. In many inland territories of this region, the Catholic and Protestant missions could continue the simple education that had started in the colonial period. Shortage of food, caused by the end of Dutch power, was in the south- ern region repaired by new initiatives of the teachers from Kai. The missionar- ies praised Filippus Ulukyanan for the development of new agricultural lands that expelled the ‘phantom of fever’.1 In 1944 the region around the Bay of Jayapura became an important centre for the American troops in their war against the Japanese. The airstrip of Sentani and the harbour of Jayapura (then called Hollandia) were enlarged, while many facilities for the troops were built, that were left after the war. The American troops left Hollandia on 15 January 1946 and Dutch administration resumed authority. In December 1949 the Dutch recognised the independence of Indonesia, but during the deliberations Papua was excluded from Indonesian territory. In the 1950s the Dutch colonial administration tried to repair the long period of neglect in these remains of the vast colony of the former Dutch East Indies. Education, transporta- tion, the beginning of mining were given priority. The Dutch language replaced Malay-Indonesian as the new lingua franca for Papua. There was a sharp increase in subsidies for mission personnel in the field of education and medical care, but Protestant and Catholic missionary work did not regain the central position in the building of a modern Papua society that it had during the period 1920–1940 through its schools and teachers in newly constructed villages. 1 Boelaars 1995:36–37. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi 10.1163/9789004285422_011 324 chapter 10 The Indonesian Republic never accepted the separation of West Papua from its territory. From the mid-1950s on this issue more and more turned into a con- flict between Indonesia and the Netherlands. The Protestant and Catholic churches in Indonesia sided now with the Indonesian government and pleaded for an end to ‘the last colonial delusion’, while the missionary organisations in West Papua sided with the Dutch policy of an accelerated development of the Papua population in order to facilitate a free choice of the Papua population in some ‘near future’. As in 1949, when the fate of West Papua was decided in bilat- eral negotiations between Dutch and Indonesian politicians, during the 1958– 1962 negotiations no Papuans were directly involved. As a result of international bargaining, with the usa strongly supporting the Indonesian viewpoint (con- sidering colonialism as outdated and mostly for fear that Indonesian President Sukarno would turn to Communist friends) the Dutch handed over the last part of the Dutch East Indies to a United Nations committee on 1 October 1962. This was in fact a transfer to the Indonesian army and civil administration. There were some military actions from the Indonesian side to reach this result. On 15 January 1962 three motor torpedo boats had departed from Aru islands to drop some troops on the south coast of Papua. One of the boats was hit by a Dutch frigate and sunk. 52 troops were taken prisoner and three men died, among them Admiral Jos Soedarso who had been known since then as a great hero in the fight for the integration of Papua into Indonesia. Soedarso (b. 1925) was a Catholic and has become, besides Benny Moerdani, the best known Catholic of the Indonesian armed forces. He has streets named after him in all major towns of Indonesia and the large island Kimaam (previously called Frederik Hendrik island, also Dolok) appears now on the Indonesian maps as Pulau Yos Sudarso. With few exceptions, all of the 15,500 Dutch civilians left West Papua in September 1962. Among these few exceptions were the missionaries. They had to learn Indonesian and to deal with the new administration. Most important, many new teachers were sent from Java. They helped to adjust the educational system to the new political reality. The new teachers arrived sometimes in large groups. In April 1963 a group of 34 Javanese teachers, all Catholics, arrived from Java in Merauke. The missionaries had hoped for teachers from Kai or Minahasa, but were happy with the Javanese as well. In October 1964 a new group of 71 Catholic teachers arrived from Java. During a period of very bad economic conditions in Java the work conditions in Papua, seen as quite rich, still were very favourable.2 2 Sint Agatha, msc Archives, inv 141A, no 195, J. Sneekes msc to Dutch superior, Merauke 2 May 1963. Another letter by Sneekes, Merauke 17 October 1964 ibid. inv 141A no 218..