Dreams Made Small: Humiliation and Education in a Dani Modernity Jenny Munro A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The Australian National University December 2009 **This electronic version has been edited to reduce digital size and is not the same as the printed version or the full electronic version with images** This thesis is the original work of the author except where otherwise acknowledged. Jenny Munro Department of Anthropology Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University i Abstract Indigenous youth from the Baliem Valley area of Papua, Indonesia aspire to be part of ‘progress’ ( kemajuan ) in their isolated region but are constrained by colonial conditions that favour migrant Indonesians. In this thesis, indigenous Dani students leave the tense social and political setting of highlands Papua in order, they say, to broaden their horizons in North Sulawesi, a relatively prosperous, peaceful province four days west of Papua by passenger ship. Based on 16 months of fieldwork conducted in 2005-2006 and 2009, this thesis explores Dani efforts to gain university degrees and obtain ‘modern’ skills and capabilities in a tangled web of racial stigma, prejudice, institutionalized corruption, and intense relationships with other Papuan highlanders. It follows Dani graduates back to the Baliem Valley to see what results they create from a university degree. This exploration of the personal histories and life chances of stigmatized individuals sheds light on Papuan nationalism, the everyday production and negotiation of racial hierarchies, and how affect, in this case humiliation, fuels the formation of a particular vision of identity and the future. ii Acknowledgements This thesis is the product of my own education abroad, and it has been sponsored by many people in diverse places. I owe my biggest debt of gratitude to my family in Canada, especially my parents, Peg Shelley and Keith Munro. During fieldwork in Indonesia my caring relatives worried on my behalf about avian flu, earthquakes, typhoid, imprisonment, and a host of other unlikely dangers so that I could enjoy myself. Only once did they call the Canadian embassy in Jakarta to have me tracked down. In Indonesia, I owe tremendous thanks to my Dani friends and informants, especially Amina, Welison, Olvy, Welem, Herman, Lao, Domi, Ika, Lan, Nerina, Isak, Lince, Darmon, Apas, and Via in North Sulawesi. In Wouma, Misi, Pugima, and Hom Hom, I am grateful to everyone who accepted me into their homes and shared their thoughts and sweet potatoes with me, especially Bapa Siko, Marike, and Bapa Yohanis. In Manado, I had the good fortune to make friends with Maureen Roble from New Jersey, who found her long lost cousins in Davao, the Philippines. Maureen was a great companion on an exploration of the best and worst of North Sulawesi charm and prejudice. She also gracefully handled the privilege of having a typhoid- and dengue-infected friend stuck on her couch for two weeks in 2005. Dr Lucky Sondakh and Pangky Pangemanan in Manado arranged my sponsorship by Sam Ratulangi University and were highly professional and helpful. My work was also supported by funding from the Department of Anthropology, RSPAS, and by the ANU’s International Education office. My supervisors Prof Kathryn Robinson and Dr Chris Ballard provided thoughtful, compassionate direction and helpful advice throughout my PhD. For better or for worse, they let me make this thesis my own. I also benefited from advice from Dr Andrew McWilliam, Dr Andy Kipnis, Dr Patrick Guinness, and Prof Terence Hull. Stephen Meatheringham, Fay Castles, and Pen Judd have amiably gotten me out of many administrative and technical tangles. I would like to thank my thesis examiners for their extremely helpful and thoughtful comments; their enthusiasm has renewed mine. My ‘multi-sited’ research project pales in comparison to this ‘multi-sited’ writing project. In each place where I worked on this thesis, I had support from family and friends. In Canberra, I had a cohort of friends who started their PhDs iii around the same time and epitomized the life of an anthropology student – absorbed in our own tasks and responsibilities, scattered around the globe during fieldwork, sharing an email or a coffee or a chat in our department halls when fulfilling our other human needs for sustenance and bathroom-breaks. I want to wish my friendly colleagues well: Sinwen Lau, Mar Khin, Lintje Pellu, Angie Bexley, Aileen Pangutalan, and Mike Cookson. In Jayapura, Wamena and Bali, Nelly Itlay, Nata Lagowan, and Mama Viki helped care for my son so I had time to work, as did my aunt Sherry Shelley in Nanaimo, Canada. David and Bernadette Haluk were a great source of support and friendship in Dubbo, Australia. Traci Smith has been a very good friend in Canberra, Goulburn, and Bali. No one knows more about the all-consuming effort of a PhD than my husband, Herman Lagowan, and son, Oliver, who are extremely glad that this is the last page of my thesis. I want to thank them both for accompanying me on this journey, and for not allowing this pursuit to consume me. This work owes much to the inspiration and enthusiasm of my friend and colleague Dr Leslie Butt, who, like it or not, is responsible for pointing out this path. Any path that leads to Wamena is a good path, I think. iv This thesis is dedicated to Papuans and others who do the work of imagining how things might be different. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................... vi List of Tables ...................................................................................................... ix List of Maps ........................................................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 ‘Problematized’ ................................................................................................... 1 Research Setting: Among the Dani in North Sulawesi ..................................... 9 A ‘ Bule Sendiri’ (Lone White Foreigner) ..................................................... 15 Racialized Affiliations ................................................................................. 18 “Presence Builds Trust” .............................................................................. 20 Terminology ................................................................................................... 26 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................ 28 CHAPTER 1: Discourses of Diminishment in the Baliem Valley ................... 32 Constructions of the Papuan ......................................................................... 33 ‘Uplifting’ in the Baliem Valley ........................................................................ 37 The Development Era: ................................................................................... 40 Indonesianizing the ‘Penis-Gourd’ People ..................................................... 40 Becoming Indonesian in School ................................................................. 45 Developing Good Quality ‘Human Resources’ ........................................... 47 Migrants and Diminishment in the Baliem Valley ........................................ 53 An Indonesian Gaze? .................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 2: Experiences of Progress in the Baliem Valley ......................... 58 Influencing the Future: Dani Discourses on Formal Education ...................... 61 Controlling Efficacy ..................................................................................... 62 Colonisation and Decolonisation: Education as a Way Forward ................ 64 Embracing Progress ...................................................................................... 66 Viktor and Nelly: Showing Goodness in Wouma ........................................ 66 Keeping Impropriety out of Sight ................................................................ 68 A Daily Struggle to Get Ahead .................................................................... 71 A Big Man’s Shame .................................................................................... 74 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER 3: “Where’s the city!?” : Newcomers in North Sulawesi .............. 80 vi Host Communities ......................................................................................... 81 ‘Wamena People’ in North Sulawesi .............................................................. 86 Dormitory Living ......................................................................................... 90 Sponsorship ............................................................................................... 94 A Spiritual Place ......................................................................................... 98 “Wherever we go, we garden” .................................................................... 99 CHAPTER 4: Orang