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

Constructing Papuan Nationalism 43The presence in Papua of so many Indonesian servants of the Dutchstate had opposite effects on Indonesians and on Papuans. For theIndonesians, the experience contributed to their nationalist sense thatPapua was part of Indonesia, while for most Papuans it contributed to asense of difference. The former governor of Netherlands New Guinea, Janvan Baal, observed that the educated Javanese, Makassarese, andAmbonese deployed as officials throughout the Indies were impressed bythe sheer size of the colonial state and came to think of themselves asbelonging to it. Their national awareness as Indonesians developed fromthis experience. Similarly, the Indonesians who participated in the developmentof Papua, particularly the Moluccans, thought of Papua as part oftheir country. However, van Baal observed, this experience was not sharedby Papuans, for there were virtually no Papuans who participated in thedevelopment of Indonesia outside Papua. To the Papuans, the Indonesiansworking in Papua were not compatriots, but foreigners who were colonizingthem and their land. Most irritating of all, these foreigners were occupyingthe positions that the Papuans wanted,though, according to Van Baal, no one foresawthe tragic consequences this would have for thePapua – Indonesia conflict (van Baal 1989:166–67; also Rutherford 2003: 180). BenedictAnderson makes a similar observation, sayingthat Indonesians “more or less sincerely regarded”Papuans as “brothers and sisters,” but these sentimentswere not reciprocated by Papuans. Heattributes the difference primarily to the influenceof administrative tools such as the census and the accompanyingcolonial logo-maps. However, elsewhere he makes observations similar tovan Baal’s, noting that the Javanese, Sundanese, Ambonese, and otherfuture Indonesians who served as the “subordinate cadres” for theNetherlands Indies state and corporate bureaucracies in the late nineteenthand twentieth centuries became accustomed to the idea that the entireNetherlands Indies was the “stage” on which they developed their bureaucraticcareers. Sundanese officials, for example, held positions throughoutthe Indies, not merely in West Java (Anderson 1991: 53, 132, 140, 177).As we have observed, this was not the case for Papuans.Papuans did not become colonial officials in their own land until afterthe Pacific War, when Papua’s administration was separated from that ofThe presence in Papuaof so many Indonesianservants of the Dutchstate had opposite effectson Indonesians andon Papuans