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Book and Media Reviews Book and Media Reviews The Contemporary Pacic, Volume 25, Number 1, 189–215 © 2013 by University of Hawai‘i Press 189 192 the contemporary pacific • 25:1 (2013) tion Day lapsed for almost a decade. these memories to be commemorated. Japanese commemorations—such as As he profoundly notes, the process peace memorials, bone-collecting mis- of making history is “as much about sions, cremation rituals, and pilgrim- forgetting as it is about remembering” ages—became far more popular and (160). profitable in terms of tourism. How- Cultures of Commemoration is ever, the American Memorial Park was itself a commemorative act. It honors eventually created in the 1990s, and it the centrality and diversity of Cha- manifested American loyalty and lib- morro experience, agency, and mem- eration. As in Guam, there were also ory; moreover, it honors the ances- critiques of the commemoration; for tral bonds of Chamorros across the example, Taotao I Redondo, a peace archipelago. Overall, Camacho shows activist group, drew attention on Tin- how commemorations have the power ian to the harmful efforts of war and to shape cultural beliefs and collec- nuclearism. Comparing and contrast- tive memory and, at the same time, ing how differently Chamorros expe- how culture has the power to fashion rienced, remember, and commemorate commemorations to reflect historical the war in Guam and in the Northern and ideological shifts. Considering the Marianas illuminates how profoundly further militarizing of Guam and the divergent experiences of Japanese and Northern Marianas as a result of the American colonialisms has shaped our cold war between the US and China, severed culture. this book teaches us an important The last major chapter, “On the lesson at this pivotal moment in our Margins of Memory and History,” history: if we conscientiously shape speaks to the suppressed, controver- our public memories and histories of sial, and painful memories of war the past, then we will be better able to in the Marianas, such as Chamorro determine our future. collaborations with Japan’s colonial craig santos perez police force and the presence of sexual University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa slavery. Chamorro police officers were recruited to enforce Japanese laws *** in the Marianas; sadly, some officers enjoyed tormenting and punishing The Testimony Project: Papua, edited their fellow Chamorros, thus caus- by Charles E Farhadian. Jayapura: ing intracultural tension that still Deiyai Press, 2007. isbn 978-979- resonates today. Camacho also takes 96077-6-8; xvii + 179 pages, black- readers into the painful memories of and-white photos. Paper, us$14.99. military sexual slavery in Guam and the lives of Chamorro women who The straightforward prose used constantly faced sexual violence. Such by Charles Farhadian stands as an memories from the war are often example to all anthropologists who suppressed because they cause shame, strive to make their source material anger, fear, and trauma. By invoking available to people beyond restricted these painful memories, Camacho academic audiences. Transcripts of creates a public space in his work for extended interviews with twelve book and media reviews 193 Papuan leaders contain stories about Papua, reminding them that we all their religious faith, abuse by Indone- were working together, that we all sian security forces, and their resulting have the same commitments” (109). political struggles. These compelling Benny Giay recounts how his narratives depict indigenous intellectu- imagination was captured by the als who were forced to grapple with teachings of foreign missionaries, knotty moral problems while stuck in even as he worked to understand situations not of their own choosing. the cosmologies of his own people. Testimony is a genre that is ripe for After advanced theological train- contemporary scholarly analysis in the ing in Manila, where he was trans- Pacific, and this volume is a welcome formed by encounters with liberation reminder of the role individual theology, Giay earned a doctorate experiences can play in revealing in anthropology from Amsterdam. contemporary realities. Returning to West Papua, after reject- Some of the accounts in this book ing lucrative career opportunities are by many of my own Papuan elsewhere, he became swept up in mentors and interlocutors. Intimate the human rights movement. When a biographic details, personal parables pastor was shot dead by Indonesian that were news to me, reveal intense soldiers at the pulpit on Christmas experiences that shaped the moral life Day, Giay began pushing the leader- of these men and women who were ship of his church to take a stand. struggling to live under a military Gradually he began to leverage his occupation. position in the church to oppose Octovianus Mote describes vio- human rights abuses and to advocate lence he witnessed while he was a for a peaceful solution to broader high school student in West Papua’s political problems. capitol of Jayapura, from 1978 to Amidst Giay’s account of politi- 1981. “During those years,” Mote cal struggles, he also relates some recounts, “the military killed a lot of of his personal struggles—offering people in the gardens—like hunting intimate details about the relationship wildlife. They would put the bodies between politics and the contingencies in a large rice bag, with the feet of the of daily life. His first wife, Rukiah, victim showing” (104). After seeing died in August 1999—just as he was these incidents as a teenager, Mote about to join an international team came “under conviction” in a process in investigating alleged crimes against the anthropologist Susan Harding has humanity by the Indonesian govern- described in The Book of Jerry Falwell ment. The sudden onset of illness, an as crossing “through a membrane inconclusive diagnosis, and the timing into belief” (2000, 59). Mote became of her death led many to conclude that determined to help resolve long- Rukiah had been poisoned by govern- standing political problems through ment agents. “I was not at home when tactical engagements with powerful Rukiah died,” Giay shares. “And institutions as an adult. “I tried to that was very difficult for me” (32). be a bridge between the government, After Rukiah’s death, he temporarily churches, and parliament in West withdrew from human rights advocacy 194 the contemporary pacific • 25:1 (2013) and political organizing to take care Testimony Project, Jouwe reports of his two daughters. Giay has since being approached by Indonesian returned to this work and has stepped government agents who invited him to forward to lead the KINGMI church, return to his homeland. Initially Jouwe a Protestant denomination with tens rejected these overtures, reasoning: of thousands of indigenous Papuan “Everybody would say, ‘See he accepts members. Indonesian rule. We don’t accept it. The Testimony Project also con- If you come to Indonesia everything tains colorful stories and surprising will collapse, because they will think tales. Nicolaas Jouwe, Papua’s self- you’ve given up to the enemy’” styled president-in-exile, recounts (172–173). Since the publication of that the deal to transfer West Papua The Testimony Project in 2007, Jouwe to Indonesia was sealed during an has abandoned his long-standing intimate encounter between John political commitments. He visited F Kennedy and Indonesia’s first West Papua in 2009 and has since president, Sukarno. Citing personal taken up residence in Indonesia’s friends in the US State Department capitol of Jakarta. as sources, Jouwe reports: “In Janu- The Testimony Project is a rare ary 1961 Sukarno went to the US collection of stories from a part of the to see Kennedy, who was sick at the world where field research is diffi- time. He had something wrong with cult. Indonesia has effectively banned his back. Sukarno brought some visits by independent researchers, Javanese oils to massage his back. journalists, and human rights advo- he went to Kennedy with the oil and cates. Certainly, this collection has gave him a back massage. After the shortcomings. Many names of people massage, Sukarno went out. A little and places are misspelled. Printing later Kennedy came out. As they sat raw interview transcripts resulted in together, Kennedy asked Sukarno, wandering narratives, with plot lines ‘Mr. President, what can I do for you?’ that are often difficult to follow. Still, Sukarno said, ‘Mr. President, that is a these revealing firsthand accounts are good question. I fought my entire life an invaluable resource. The Testi­ for one thing: West Papua. I want to mony Project is a must-have for any get West Papua.’ Kennedy said to him, Southeast Asian or Melanesian library ‘It can be arranged.’ On that day, the collection. future of New Guinea was decided” eben kirksey (162). City University of New York Alongside this almost risqué Graduate Center account of rumored presidential liaisons, Jouwe describes many other *** adventures in the realms of diplomacy in the 1960s. If he was a national hero in the political imagination of West Papua at this earlier moment in history, lately he has become a more ambivalent figure. In The .
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