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

52 Richard ChauvelWallace’s assumption of the superiority of some races over others, butretains Wallace’s conclusion about the outcome of colonization, in thiscase by the non-Papuan Indonesians. In Bonay’s opinion, Papuan extinctionwill be the natural outcome of this colonization, for the Papuans arebeing inundated by the tidal wave of Malay (Indonesian) migration. 89Herman Wayoi was even more blunt in his assessment of the process:It was as if the Indonesian government sought only to “dominate” (menguasai)the territory, then planned to exterminate the ethnic Melanesiansand replace them with ethnic Malays from Indonesia. Transmigration“proved” this impression; transporting thousands from outside to settlein the fertile valleys of the land of Papua. (Alua 2002a: 64)Benny Giay records similar sentiments expressed by a delegate fromNabire at the Musyawarah Besar Papua 2000 (MUBES, Papuan MassConsultation) of February 2000, who said:Indonesians have never given Papuans a proper place. Because indeedthey are Indonesians and we are Papuans. We are murdered, enslavedand colonized by Indonesians. In another 10 years time Papuans willbe finished, murdered by the Indonesian military. Because of that it isbetter that we just become independent. (Giay 2000: 15)Much of the Papuan resentment of Indonesian governance and theIndonesian presence is grounded in notions of fundamental differencesbetween the two groups. It is compounded by the resentment felt at thetreatment of Papuans. Papuan theologian Benny Giay cited a fellow minister,Mrs. Agu Iwanggin, who gave the difference between Papuans andIndonesians a God-ordained quality. When in August 1998 Indonesia senta parliamentary delegation to investigate why people wanted a Free Papua,she told the delegation the following: At the root of the issue is God,because God created people to be different. Papuans are different fromJavanese, and different from other people, too. God gave Papua to Papuansas a home, so they could eat sago and sweet potatoes there. God gave themthe penis gourd (koteka) and loincloth (cawat) for clothes. God gave themcurly hair and black skin. Papuans are Papuans. They can never be turnedinto Javanese or Sumatrans, or vice versa. By contrast, the Javanese weregiven Java. Tahu (soya bean curd) and tempe (soya bean cake) is their food.Their skin is light and their hair straight (Giay 2001).Like his fellow minister, Benny Giay asserts that Papuans cannot be