Moi Language: from Language Policy to Language Revitalization?

Konferensi Linguistik Tahunan Atma Jaya 18

MOI LANGUAGE: FROM LANGUAGE POLICY TO LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION?

Imelda Indonesian Institute of Sciences [email protected]

ABSTRACT Moi is a language spoken in the Sorong region, West Papua Province. Focusing on Moi language speakers in Sorong Regency, the researcher questions about the issue of Moi language revitalization which is initiated by the Sorong Regency Government through the Decree of the Sorong Regent No.434 / Kep.83 / I / 2019 concerning the inauguration and determination of the Moi Kelim language as a common language surrounds Sorong Regency Government. The question of this paper is whether the policy is sufficient to answer the problem of language shift among the Moi ethnic group in Sorong Regency? The the question was answered through field research in mid-2019 (April, May, June) in Sorong Regency. Data in the form of interviews with political elites of Sorong Regional Government and literature about Moi people obtained from the field were processed to explain (1) the problem of Moi language shifting, (2) some issues that developed before the policy was established and (3) the Moi language policy itself. Finally, it discusses (4) whether the policy can address the issue of Moi language shift. Besides, I will discuss the issue further on the issue of revitalizing language with three aspects of Language Policy and Planning (LPP), i.e.: (1) the authority, (2) participation modes in LPP, and (3) goals oriented LPP (Lo Bianco, 2018). The the biggest issue that causes language shift is long term migration into the Moi territory from the colonial era to the new order. In another hand, Moi people themselves are adaptive with the population change and maintain good relation with migrants (Malak & Likewati, 2011). This, then, affects their linguistic aspect since Moi people are capable to speak Papuan-Malay, Indonesian, and Javanese. The issue of language shifts is then answered by establishing Decree of the Sorong Regent No.434 / Kep.83 / I / 2019 language policy. Sorong Regency government obligate to use Moi language, once a week, within the Sorong Regency Government offices. The Sorong government's response, according to the researchers, is very diplomatic and symbolic because the policy seems does not the language shift issue. This is because the issue of language shifting occurs among Moi people, but the policy targets local government officials who are relatively plural in terms of ethnicity since the position of civil servants is occupied by migrants, rather than Moi people themselves. Keywords: Moi language, language shift, language policy and planning, language revitalization

INTRODUCTION Post the establishment of Law 21/2001, the Special Autonomy (Otsus) took effect in Papua. Based on the regulation, "the Provincial government is obliged to foster, develop, and preserve the diversity of regional languages and literature in order to maintain and strengthen the identity of the Papuan people"1 (Law 21/2001, Article 58, paragraph 1). The regulation motivates the local government to launch regional regulations relating to the local community (read: language) as the local identity. Sorong Regency (Kabsor) has issued (1) Local Regulation 10/2017 concerning the Recognition and Protection of Moi Indigenous Peoples in Sorong Regency and (2) Regent Decree 434/2019 concerning the Inauguration and Establishment of the Use of Moi Kelim Language as a Common Language surround Government and Community of Sorong regency as an effort to revitalize the Moi language. The issue is whether the language policy is sufficient to answer the language shift problem among Moi speakers?

METHODOLOGY This research is based on field data which is conducted in mid-2019 (April, May, and June) in Sorong Regency. There are three kinds of data collections: (1) the interview data which is taken from regional political elites of Sorong regency, (2) regulations and (2) the books about the Moi ethnic groups

1 “Pemerintah Provinsi berkewajiban membina, mengembangkan, dan melestarikan keragaman bahasa dan sastra daerah guna mempertahankan dan memantapkan jati diri orang Papua” (UU 21/2001, Pasal 58, ayat 1)

207 Unika Atma Jaya, 16-18 September 2020

ANALYSIS The Moi Language Shift The population of Sorong Regency is 86,994 people (BPS, 2019: 31). Meanwhile, Malak and Likewati (2011), based on a 2005 survey by KPU Sorong Regency, describe that the amount of Moi people is 5,469 people. Thus, in the context of Sorong regency, the Moi people are a minority group. The question is why are they a minority in terms of numbers?

Picture 1. Map of Sorong Regency Source: Sorong Regency Regional Planning (2011-2031)

Historically, the inhabitants of Sorong Regency could not be separated from the Dutch government, especially when the Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea Petroleum Maatschappij (NNGPM) was operating. Hidayati (2019) states that in 1935, the Dutch oil mining of Sorong brought a lot of workers from various parts of Indonesia and foreign workers from the Netherlands. Besides, in 1977-19782 there were the transmigration programs which have invited people from Java. Based on interviews data with migrants, it is found that Moi people are very welcome to the newcomers. The friendliness and openness of them were confirmed when the researcher visited Klasaman Village at Kilo 12. At that time, she met a 40-years Moi man who spoke Javanese fluently. He taught, the researcher was Javanese. This finding is also supported by Likewati & Malak (2011: 27) who explain that the Moi people have gentle, polite, and not-violent characteristics. Malak and Likewati (2011: 27) further argue that the Moi people today are the result of mixed marriages between Moi people and migrants. This, according to them, can be proven by their physical and cultural characteristics. Physically, the Moi ethnic groups are different from other Papuans (Malak & Likewati, 2011: 27-28). Meanwhile, from a cultural perspective, they are divided into two, namely (1) indigenous people called neulig or landlords, and immigrants who occupy coastal areas and form clans of a new Moi tribe (Malak & Likewati, 2011: 28). Prior to the Regent Policy The Regent Sorong Decree of 434/Kep.8/I/ 2019 concerning the Inauguration and Stipulation of the Use of Moi Kelim Language as a Common Language in the Government and Community Environment in Kabsor is the first language policy launched by the regional government. This decree is motivated by the the conceren about the decreasing number of Moi language speakers. In the other words, government should provide protection to the language and literature of the Moi ethnic groups. Moi Language Policy The Moi language policy is based on (1) Law 21/2001 of Special Autonomy for Papua Province, and (2) Sorong Regency Regulation 10/2017 of the Recognition and Protection of Moi People in Sorong Regency. The policy is motivated by the consideration of the decreasing number of Moi speakers and their literature. As the answer to the recent issue, local government have launched Sorong Regent Decree 434/Kep.83/I/2019 of the Inauguration and Determination of the Use of Moi Kelim Language as a

2 Based on an interview with Javanese inhabitants in Klasaman village, Sorong city.

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Common Language in Government and Community Environments. The policy issued in Aimas, on January 11, 2019.

There are four decisions, as follows: 1. Moi language and literature of Kelim subtribe is used as a common language among the Governmental officers and Sorong regency communities. 2. Thursday is designated as a special day to use Moi language surround Sorong Regency office and community. 3. The other dialect of Moi Language will be used locally and it will be included in the local curriculum 4. The regional language curriculum for the Moi Kelim sub-tribe and other dialects of the Moi subtribe in the administrative area of Sorong Regency will be carried out by the Sorong Regency Education and Culture Office. (source: Decree of the Regent of Sorong 434/Kep.83/I/2019)

The essence of the above decision is the declaration of Thursday as Moi day. On that day, all the government officers are obliged to serve in Moi language. The regent of Sorong, Johny Kamuru, in an interview, explained that Moi day Moi applies to all workers of the Sorong district office. He also admits that although it is still a suggestion and does not have a strong legal basis, he is very optimistic that he can revive the Moi language even though he also realizes that most of the population is more fluent in Indonesian and Javanese. To equip the policy, they publish two small books called Buku Saku Percakapan Bahasa Moi Sehari-Hari ‘Everyday Moi Language Pocket Book’ (Malak et al., 2019a and Malak et al., 2019b).

Gambar 2. Buku Saku Bahasa Moi untuk Pemda Kabsor Sumber: data Lapangan, 2019

As a follow-up to the Decree of the Regent of Sorong Number 434/Kep.83 / I / 2019, a Circular Letter Number 434/263 of 2019, concerning the Use of Moi Language in the Scope of the Sorong Regency Government in Aimas, was issued on February 22, 2019. The letter is to emphasis the Moi Day policy among government officers.

CONCLUSION: From Policy to language revitalization? Revitalizing language is not only fosters the use of language, but also giving lives to all aspects of human life, including family, friends, community, and the environment that support the existence of the speakers (Hinton, Huss, & Roche, 2018: xxii). Lo Bianco (2018) further explained the three aspects of language revitalisation, i.e., (1) the authority, (2) the participation modes in LPP, and (3) the LPP goals oriented. The first aspect, sovereignty, is the authority of political agents to strengthen the legal status of the language. The second is a form of public participation through deliberative text, discourse, action and process. The third is the language target. The last points about the goal of increasing the number of speakers which is more or less related to linguists works. What happened to the Moi language policy, in my opinion, has covered the three things above. However, the goal of the policy does not match, since because it points on civil servants who were not Moi ethnic groups. The government's response towards Moi language shift is too diplomatic and

209 Unika Atma Jaya, 16-18 September 2020 symbolic. Thus, the language policy and its various supporting tools must be reconsidered carefully, because authority without participation will not produce the right goal.

REFERENCES Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS). (2019). Kabupaten Sorong dalam angka. Kabupaten Sorong: BPS Kabupaten Sorong. Hidayati, I. (2019). Sejarah mobilitas penduduk kota Sorong—Papua Barat. Di dapat dari http://kependudukan.lipi.go.id/id/kajian-kependudukan/migrasi/632-sejarah-mobilitas-penduduk-ke-kota- sorong-papua-barat. Lo Bianco, J. (2018). Reinvigorating language policy and planning for intergenerational language revitalization. in L. Hinton, L. Huss & G. Roche (eds.). The Routledge handbook of language revitalization, (pp. 36-48). New York: Routledge. Malak, S. & Likewati, W. O. (2011). Etnografi Suku Moi. Bogor: Penerbit Buku Ilmiah Populer. Malak, S., Osok, K., Safisa, P. K., Kalasuat, K., Salamala, L., Kalami, S., Lobat, S., Osok, B., Kalami, T., Windesi, J. E., Likewati, W. O. (2019). Buku saku percakapan bahasa Moi sehari-hari 1. Sorong: Pemda Kabupaten Sorong. Malak, S., Osok, K., Safisa, P. K., Kalasuat, K., Salamala, L., Kalami, S., Lobat, S., Osok, B., Kalami, T., Windesi, J. E., Likewati, W. O. (2019b). Buku saku percakapan bahasa Moi sehari-hari 2. Sorong: Pemda Kabupaten Sorong. Regulations Undang-Undang Nomor 21 Tahun 2001 tentang Otonomi Khusus bagi Provinsi Papua [Law 21/2001 of Special Autonomy for Papua Province] Undang-Undang Nomor 10 tahun 2017 tentang Pengakuan dan Perlindungan Masyarakat Adat Suku Moi [Law 10/2017 of Recognition and Protection of the Indigenous Peoples of the Moi Tribe] Keputusan Bupati Sorong Nomor 434/Kep.83/I/Tahun 2019 tentang Peresmian dan Penetapan Penggunaan Bahasa Moi Kelim sebagai Bahasa Umum di Lingkungan Pemerintahan Dan Kemasyarakatan di Kabupaten Sorong [Decree of the Regent of Sorong 434/Kep.83/I/2019 of the Inauguration and Stipulation of the Use of Moi Kelim Language as a Common Language in Government and Community Environments in Sorong Regency] Surat Edaran Nomor 434/263 Tahun 2019, tentang Penggunaan Bahasa Moi di Lingkup Pemerintah Kabupaten Sorong [Letter 434/263 year 2019 of the Use of Moi in the Scope of the Sorong Regency Government]

CURRICULUM VITAE Complete Name : Imelda Institution : Indonesian Institute of Sciences Education : Master of Linguistics/Humanism Research Interests : language policy, language revitalisation, language and identity

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