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

Constructing Papuan Nationalism 41sons why Papuans suffered discrimination was because the name “Papua”was derogatory, and for this reason he wanted it changed to “Irian.” 68A third formative influence was the educational administrativereforms of J. P. K. van Eechoud, who was the Dutch Resident of NewGuinea from 1944 to 1950. As has just been noted, in the period immediatelyafter liberation from the Japanese, there was a strong anti-Dutchtenor in Papuan opinion. According to Bonay, van Eechoud recognizedthe Papuan resentment and immediately established schools to trainPapuans as officials, police, soldiers, nurses, and skilled tradesmen. VanEechoud also established a Papuan military force, the “Papoea Bataljon.”The extent to which van Eechoud won Papuan support can be gauged bythe title he was given—“bapak Papua,” father of the Papuans (Bonay1984: 45–46). Markus Kaisiepo would later recall a 1945 discussion withvan Eechoud at the school he had just established to train Papuans as officials.Van Eechoud told the students that they had to study diligently,because they were the new Papuans for a new New Guinea. Said Kaisiepo,“This is what I have been tying to do ever since. Not only me; all of us.” 69Van Eechoud’s influence still resonated with his students eleven years afterhe ceased to be the Resident. In October 1961, during the New GuineaCouncil debates about the raising of the Morning Star flag, one of theCouncil members proposed that, if the Morning Star flag were raised, aflower should be placed on van Eechoud’s grave, as he was the one whohad planned all that we were now about to achieve. 70PART II – EthnicityIn the first section of the study it has been argued that Papuan nationalismis about history and has itself been shaped by history. The presentsection will explore how relations between Papuans and Indonesians, aswell as relations among Papuans themselves, have influenced the formationof Papuan identity. The study will argue that there is a paradox aboutPapuan identity. Very clear distinctions are made between Papuans andIndonesians, yet Papuans themselves are divided among more than 300ethno-linguistic groups.Papuan-Indonesian Relations Before 1963There has been no one pattern of relations between Papuans andIndonesians. On one end of the continuum, some of the Papuan communitieson the western coastal areas and the off shore islands had extensive