26-3 Melanesia: The Future of Tradition

The Denial of Traditional Land Rights in West Papua

Wellem Korwam's dismembered body was found wrapped piece by piece in plastic bags and floating in a river in the Wasior area of West Papua in September 2001. One of the tragic consequences of the denial of basic human rights, including rights over traditional land, to the indigenous Papuan communities of this Indonesian province is the casual and often sadistic killing that accompanies the…

More than a Matter of Distance: Refugees in Papua New Guinea

Since 1962, military actions and policies implemented by the Indonesian state to secure Irian Jaya as part of the Republic have impelled many West Papuans to flee eastward into Papua New Guinea seeking political asylum. The flight of approximately 9,500 Muyu West Papuans into Papua New Guinea in 1984 and 1985 was also influenced not only by military violence and surveillance but also by feelings…

Melanesia: The Future of Tradition

Western Melanesia, comprising New Guinea, Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), New Caledonia, and the Solomon Islands, has long been one of the most ethnographically investigated regions of the Fourth World. Although the coastal areas have been the sites of contact with European and other Pacific Island cultures since well before the 20th century, many peoples of the rugged and remote interiors,…

Ceremony as Resistance

New Caledonia is a French colony in the Western Pacific, today labeled Territoire d’Outre Mer (TOM). The indigenous Melanesian inhabitants, who call themselves Kanak, number about 85,000 (approximately half the total population) and speak 28 austronesian languages. Both oral and written sources indicate that close relations between far-flung societies or groups of people are a fact of…

Bougainville: Beyond Survival

Located 1,000 kilometers east of the mainland national capital of Port Moresby, Bougainville is the most remote of Papua New Guinea's 19 provinces. It consists of two large islands, Bougainville (8,646 square kilometers) and Buka (598 square kilometers), separated by a narrow passage, as well as many smaller islands. Its 9,438 square kilometers constitute about two percent of Papua New Guinea's…

Anthropology and Colonial Violence in West Papua

West Papua has been described as "an earthly paradise for anthropological research" where indigenous societies are "untouched by Western culture." (de Bruijn, 1959) Colonialism has often been considered a force that can corrupt indigenous societies. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that early anthropologists who thought of themselves as the first to touch a "virgin" Papuan culture experienced…

<i>Kastom</i> as Development: Opening the Na'hai Kaljaral Senta

On October 24, 1998, a new cultural center opened in Leunari Bay, in the Na'hai-speaking area of south Malakula, Vanuatu. Called simply the Na'hai Kaljaral Senta in Bislama, it is the first language-based cultural center to exist in Vanuatu. The building resembles a typical local house, albeit on a much larger scale, with a cement floor, woven bamboo walls, and a pandanus roof. In front of the…

Public Health, Personal Beliefs: Battling HIV in Papua New Guinea

According to the Papua New Guinea National AIDS Council Secretariat and the Department of Health, there were a total of 4,075 HIV cases in Papua New Guinea as of July 2001. This number may seem small compared to those reported for many African and Asian nations; however, it is widely acknowledged that the number of reported cases is just an indication of the much greater number of cases that go…

Litigating Ok Tedi (Again)

Several years ago the corporate consultants Control Risks Group published a report entitled No Hiding Place. (Bray, 1997) Noting the success of non-governmental organizations in challenging the conduct of corporate giants like Shell, Texaco, and Freeport-McMoRan, the report urged transnational corporations to become more proactive in response to criticism. Yet several mining companies have found…