Koentjaraningrat The nuclear family and loose kin relations of the Bgu of West Irian In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 133 (1977), no: 2/3, Leiden, 195-226 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:45:37PM via free access KOENTJARANINGRAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY AND "LOOSE" KIN RELATIONS OF THE OF BGU WEST IRIAN' 1. THE ENVIRONMENT AND ORIGIN OF THE BGU The Bgu, who are officially called Bonggo on maps, are sago gathering people who occupy the beach and the marshy coastal strip of the Northern Coastal District of West Irian, near the mouth of the Wiruwai River, approximately 120 kilometers west of Jayapura. The Northern Coastal District is mainly a marshy area crossed by numerous smdl rivers arising 20 to 30 kilometers inland in the Iner and Siduarsi Hills, and a number of larger rivers such as the Tor, Biri, Wiruwai, Toarim and others, which have their springs in the higher Gautier, Karamor and Bonggo Mountains, some 60 to 80 kilometers further back in the interior. Along the coast a sandy beach of 100 to 500 meters wide is wvered alternately with coconut groves, casuarina, waru, buton and sengon trees, whereas the marshy area is covered rnainly with mangroves and sago palms. Further inland dense tropical forests with a great many agathis trees cover the area aii the way back to the mountains. For most of the Northern District the average annual rainfali is as high as 80 to 100 inches. This high rainfd comes mainly during one-third of the year and thus suggests high rainfall intensity. The heavy surf dong the beach, which can become very violent when the western winds blow during the rainy season, especidy from January through April, occasionally cuts away parts of the beach, and opens up * The data included in this article were collected dunng field work carried out by a team of four staff members of the University of Indonesia and the Cenderawasih University of West Irian dunng the summer vacations of 1963 and 1964. The four members of the team are: Mr. Muljono (geographer), Mr. Djokokentjono (linguist), Mr. Parsudi Suparlan and myself (Anthro- pologists). This research was financed jointly by the Coordinator of West Irian Affairs, the Ministry of Research of the Republic of Indonesia, and the University of Indonesia, whereas local facilities were provided by Cenderawasih University. Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:45:37PM via free access 196 KOENT JARANINGRAT the othenvise protected mangrove forests behind it. At these open places the high tides enter the forest. The majority of the recent population of the Northern Coastd District, totding more than 4,500 people, lives in 24 villages, al1 of which constitute neat rows of houses dong the beach between Cape Tarfia and the district town of Sarmi. Sorne of the villages are quite small, consisting of not more than 50 people, although villages with populations of over 800 people also exist. Formerly these villages were situated in the middle of the swamps near the sago palms, but since 1920 the Dutch government has forced them one by me to move to the sandy coastal strip for reasons of health and better control. Most of the population of the beach villages, and alm the Bgu, have migrated from the hilly or mountainous areas near the headwaters of the strem. Many did so hequarters of a century ago and some even before that, many one or two generations ago, and some only during recent years. This dom-river movement is a continuing proces, and many of the more recent arrivals stili maintain recurring contact with the inland population. In 1954 for instance, a band of people called the Borto, who came from the Upper Tor area, emerged at the mouth of the Wimwai. The Bgu of Tromta village granted them land and sago forests, which they had to pay back by means of a certain amount of the sago starch collected. In 1961 the Baso, a band of 56 men, women and chiìdren who originated from the headwaters of the Wiruwai, also reached the Bgu territory, to be followed a year later by the Aéro, another band of 86 individuals, alm from the Upper ~iruw&area. The Baso and the Aéro were both granted land and sago palms by the Bgu, and estabiished themselves in two smal1 villages upstream, approximately 10 kilometers from the coast. Both villages are subordinated to the Bgu and have to pay tribute to the Bgu in the form of sago deliveries. Another band which emerged at the mouth of the Biri River in 1964, during the time that I conducted my research among the Bgu, was a notoriously aggressive one, the Warès. Although their actual settlements in that year were stili some 20 kilometers upriver, they started to disturb the area of the Bgu. In August 1964 they ransacked an Aéro garden and fled, kidnapping an Aéro girl. The populations of the Northern Coastal District generaily have one feature in common - extremely smdl autonomous communities, each of which speaks a different language. Especialiy in the interior small bands of semi-nomads, rarely exceeding 85 individuals, migrate along Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:45:37PM via free access THE NUCLEAR FAMILY OF THE BGU OF WEST IRIAN 197 the river vaileys. The harsh environment, scarcity of food and diseases cause low birth rates and high infant mortality. In addition, wars between bands increase the deathm rate. Small size is als0 a general characteristic of the downstrem communities. The reason for the constant smail size of the village com- munities along the beach, however, is a different one from that cov&ing the bands in the interior. The people in the beach viilage communities tend to migrate to the towns and the city of Jayapura, a process that has been going on since the end of World War 11. The war did indeed reduce the population to a serious degree, and dthough there was a rise during the post-war years, 20 years later in 1961 the population was still about 5 % below its pre-war size (see Table I). During the last 10 years there seems to have been an increase in the size of the bands in the interior. Table 11, taken from an article on economic progress in the area (Van Dooren 1962), illustrates this process. Towards the end of Dutch colonial dein West Irian in 1961 many male members of the interior bands started to leave their bands for work outside, mainly in the Dutch forest products companies. When West Irian became Indonesian territory in 1963 and the Dutch com- panies left the interior, they seemed to have returned to their bands. Despite the fact that most of the groups living upstream dong the rivers had already settled down in villages and practiced some gardening, their principal means of subsistence remained hunting and gathering. Therefore, when their gardens began to decline and their sago trees were felied, they broke up and established a new settlement somewhere further down the river. TABLE I The Population of the Northern Coastal District Male Female Year Total Urban -16 years +l6 years -16 years +l6 years migrants Sources 1940 figures: Report Van den Berg (1940) 1955 figures: Vademecum (1956: p. 20) 1961, 1964 figures: Typed report at .the District Office of Betaf Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:45:37PM via free access 198 KOENTJARANINGRAT This generd process of downstrem migration of the peoples living dong the Tor River Valley such as the Foya, Mandar, Bonerif, Biyu, Daranto, Segar, Bora-Bora, Waf, and others, has been studied by the anthropologist G. Oosterwal (1961). The course of the migrations closely followed the river vdeys shown on the map. TABLE I1 The Population of the Upper Tor Area Male Femaie Year Total -16 years + 16 years -16 years -i-16 years 1955 171 284 160 215 830 1961 327 439 268 295 1329 Source: Van Dooren (1962) Several of the coastal villages are inhabited by migrants from the offshore isiands rather than from the interior villages. People fmm islands like Wakdé, Masimasi, Janrna, Pdéna, Jarsun, and Anus have been forced to move to the shore since 1922 when the islands were leased to Germans and Dutchmen for coconut plantations. Th& diversity in origin has produced a wrresponding diversity in language dong the north coast of West Irian. The people who had come from particular localities in the interior or from the isiands settled in clusters of villages, each constituting a separate linguistic community characterized by strong endogamous tendencies. There are very adequate descriptions of some of the upstream populations (Oosterwal 1959, 1961, 1963; Van der Leeden 1955, 1956). The cmstal' population, however, remains undescribed except for brief reports by former Dutch civil servants and several other writers (Van den Berg 1940; Van der Leeden 1953, 1954, 1961; Van Dooren 1962) who deal mainly with the economic situation in the area. 2. THE BGU The Bgu (on maps officidy cded the Bonggo), occupy a cluster of four of the aforementioned 24 villages of the Northern Coastal District, i.e. Tromta, Old Armopa, Armopa, and Trawasi. The total population of the four viüages was 481 individuals in 1963 as is shown'in Table I11 belw. Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:45:37PM via free access THE NUCLEAR FAMILY OF THE BGU OF WEST IRIAN 199 TABLE 111 The Total Number of the Bgu Maie Female Village Totai Migrated -16 years + 16 years -16 years + 16 years to city Tromta 47 53 40 52 192 107 Old Armopa 9 7 10 8 34 - Armopa 31 48 20 60 159 37 Trawasi 20 25 21' 30 96 1 O - - Source: My own census in 1963 Before the war Old Armopa and Armopa constituted one large village of about 536 individuals, and was the seat of the Northern Coastal District with a district office, a police station and a number of Chinese shops (Van den Berg 1940: pp.