over the past 50 years, the name of the region of Papua has been amended several times from the Netherlands New Guinea Irian Barat (West Irian), Irian Jaya (Irian Victorious or Prosperous), and in 2002 the name of Papua was taken; followed a year later by dividing the province of Papua and West Papua. In 2014, the population was 4.4 million; 3.5 million in the province of Papua and West Papua 864,000. While in 1961 the indigenous proportion of the population was close to 100 percent, the current distribution is about 50/50 due to the influx of migrants from other parts of the country.
For centuries, the name of the indigenous people of Papua has been and still Papuans. The designation of individual clans, however, is not so clear, at least when viewing historical documents. Surprisingly, most of the clan names listed in Encyclopaedia van ch-Indië 1917 do not correspond to those used today. Two clans inhabiting the southern slopes of the central highlands, for example, are listed as Pesechem Tapiro and, while there is no mention of the Amungme and Kamoro; Asmat and no further east. This can be partly explained by the fact that most surveys and expeditions in the 19th century ships were based with occasional enterprises in the Internal near coastal areas. This excludes clearly Dani of the Baliem valley in 1917 records.
As more than 250 different languages are spoken in Papua region, one wonders how these surveyors and researchers of ancient only communicate with the various clans and collect a variety of data, such as Malay lingua franca had probably reached but some of the clans. And in the case of the Asmat, simply visualize the slow approach of the research vessel, carefully probe the depths for submerged obstacles, at a hidden estuary a dozen war canoes appear with painted warriors fierce paddling standing up and singing aggressively. Reason enough to swing round the bar and find a tribe more user friendly and accessible.
On the Amungme, although not mentioned in the encyclopedia 1917, the first contact with European explorers already in 1912. The next meeting was with the expedition Carstensz 1936, when geologist Jean Jacque Dozy discovered the mountain 'copper' Ertsberg. Catholic missionaries followed in the early 50s, the conversion of the majority of the Amungme.
This product globally: economic development measured in terms of GDP growth and the traditional lifestyles of human beings are not really compatible. In other words, we are witnessing a clash of modernization and traditional cultural practices. The modernization bit is the exploitation of natural resources of a region, a very destructive process. In other words, its water, forests, minerals and fossil fuels become basic ingredients to create value-added downstream industries, often in another region. Traditional cultural practices are those that respect and want to preserve nature. The Amungme, for example, are struggling to maintain harmony between the three elements of life :. Humanity, the natural environment, and the spirit of the ancestors
The conflict is then exacerbated when people are all but excluded from sharing the benefits of modernization. This now seems to have happened in the case of the Amungme and Kamoro. Planning and preparation of mining huge copper and gold deposits - first on Ertsberg, and when the site was sold on Grasberg where mining operations are now concentrated - was apparently made without consulting the tribes . And the by-product of mining is that the Amungme seen their sacred mountain lost its top and tobacco fields and hunting grounds damaged, while the Kamoro had their polluted rivers, some 200,000 tonnes of waste are dumped there every day! And educational and health institutions promised do not materialize as promised.
The lack of transparency in the land acquisition process continued for a long time. Kamoro and Amungme leaders report that community members have understood only in 1995 that they had conceded all ancestral land in the Timika region (almost 1m hectares) to the government to accommodate the company's Freeport city, Kuala Kencana; the town of Timika; and transmigration settlements.
This is pretty typical for the extractive industries operating in indigenous areas and contributed to the view that these companies are mainly interested in maximizing their profits. To some extent that may be true; the interests of short-term shareholders being the driving force. In addition, the interests of the government offset this bias for the reason that a goose that lays golden eggs had better not be repudiated.
From 1992 to 2013, under the 1991 labor contract, the Company paid to the Government of Indonesia USD9.4 billion in corporate tax, $ 3 billion in other taxes 1 5 billion in royalties and $ 1.3 billion in dividends, for a of USD15.2 billion. Impressive figures and a very welcome bolster for the Indonesian economy.
Most sites dealing operations of Freeport Indonesia shout against the damage done to the tribes, the ancestral lands and the environment. It should be stressed that the clans are not exactly the easiest and most willing partners and cooperation in the negotiations to reach a mutually acceptable strategy to overcome problems.
The Amungme and Kamoro are just two of at least 252 ethnic Papuans, each with its own language, traditions and culture. inter-tribal conflicts adds to the confusion and misunderstanding. This fragmentation is very probably due to the uncompromising terrain of their homeland - steep inaccessible mountains, deep valleys and coastal marshes - which limited perspectives, and communication confined to other clan members. The previous agreements are often canceled at a later meeting. And lack of a unified tribal voice makes the scope and acceptance of group goals of all development, but impossible.
2010 annual report shows that the Freeport company was USD4.2 billion in operating income on revenues of USD6.4 billion, and since 1996 the company affected USD602.2m a partnership fund set up for the Amungme and Kamoro people the Amungme and development Organization of Kamoro people (LPMAK).
Freeport has obviously tried. But there could be another 200 years of mining in Grasberg to come, it would be wise to try harder and make serious efforts to include indigenous peoples.
LPMAK mission is the development and management of institutions to empower indigenous people. The basic ingredients seem to be in place, but the results are not really satisfactory. Why? Insufficient amount or the players, Papuans and Freeport, lack of skills and organizational structure to generate improvements? What improvements are needed? And where the region should be heading? Unfortunately unanswered questions. These are the Papuans must be answered, and Freeport should be more accommodating.