Constructing Papuan Nationalism: History, Ethnicity ... - ScholarSpace

22 Richard Chauvelof PARNA, protested that Papua was not a commodity, adding, “Thisland is of and for the Papuans.” 29 Nicholaas Jouwe, another leading memberof the New Guinea Council, recalled years later that he had objectedto Luns’s initiative on the grounds that the New Guinea Council had notbeen consulted nor, he thought, had the members of the South PacificCommission, particularly Australia and New Zealand. Jouwe consideredthat Papua’s future should be secured in association with its neighbors inthe Pacific, rather than with the UN. 30It was with this sense of resentment, along with an awareness of theneed to assert the Papuan preference for self-determination, that thenationalists took initiatives that resulted in the flag raising of December 1.Shortly after Luns’s proposal to the UN, four of the leading Papuan membersof the New Guinea Council—Nicholaas Jouwe, E. J. Bonay,Nicholaas Tanggahma, and F. Torey—called a meeting to consider the situation.31 In response to this effort, on October19, 1961, a group of some 72 people gathered ata meeting in Hollandia, now Jayapura. The delegateswere drawn from most regions of the territory,they included both Christians and Muslims,and all but one of them were Papuans. Theyelected 17 people to form a Komite NasionalPapua (Papuan National Committee), which immediately issued aManifest Politik (Political Manifesto). The Manifest asked that theNetherlands New Guinea be renamed West Papua, and it called for theimmediate use of Papuan national symbols alongside the Dutch ones. Thedocument, which was addressed to the New Guinea Council and the governmentof the Netherlands, stated in part:The Manifest asked thatthe Netherlands NewGuinea be renamedWest PapuaOn the basis of the desire of our people for independence, we urgethrough the mediation of the Komite Nasional and our popular representativebody, the New Guinea Council, that the governments ofNetherlands New Guinea and the Netherlands take action to ensurethat, as of November 1,our flag be flown beside the Netherlands flag;our national anthem, Hai Tanahku Papua, be sung along withthe Wilhelmus;the name of our land become West Papua;the name of our people become Papuan.