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UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Value differences and processes of value commensuration in Raja Ampat, West Papua
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6v93z2wj
Author
Parker, Ian Nicholas
Publication Date
2021
Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO
Value differences and processes of value commensuration in Raja Ampat, West Papua
A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Anthropology
with a Specialization in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research
by
Ian Nicholas Parker
Committee in charge:
Professor Joe Hankins, Chair
Professor Rupert Stasch, Co-Chair
Professor Guillermo Algaze
Professor Jonathan Friedman
Professor Richard Norris
2021
Copyright
Ian Nicholas Parker, 2021
All rights reserved
iii
The Dissertation of Ian Nicholas Parker is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for
publication in microfilm and electronically.
University of California San Diego
2021
iv
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Professor Marcel Hénaff, and to all West Papuans who
seek better futures.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DISSERTATION APPROVAL .......iii
DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. v
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE.............................................................................................................. vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... ix
VITA ............................................................................................................................................................ xii
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ...................................................................................................xiii
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................... 1
TOPICS AND THEMES ................................................................................................................................. 9
FIELDWORK AND METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 16
WAIGEO ISLANDS WEST PAPUAN COMMUNITIES .................................................................................. 22
CHAPTER OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 34
......................................................................... 38
THE ISLANDS OF RAJA AMPAT AT THE CROSSROADS OF CURRENTS, A JUNCTURE OF WORLDS ............. 41
MYTH AS MAP: COSMOGONIC ORIGINS OF RAIDING PEOPLES.................................................................. 48
RECALLING THE PAST TO CHART THE FUTURE ........................................................................................ 59
RIPPLES OF VALUES, WAVES OF CHANGE ................................................................................................ 63
Chapter 2. Mixtures of conservation practice in Raja Ampat ..................................................................... 71
MARINE CONSERVATION IN NORTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA ................................................................... 74
MANAGEMENT, MORALITY AND IMPROVISATION ................................................................................... 82
NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION IN RAJA AMPAT REFLECTS CHANGING SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL
CONDITIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 84
CHURCH SASI AS EMBODIED CHRISTIAN PRACTICE ................................................................................ 90
SASI MON: MEDIATING THE HUMAN AND NONHUMAN ......................................................................... 103
MOSAICS OF PROTECTION ...................................................................................................................... 110
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CONSERVATION ............................................................................................. 121
SIMILARITY OR DISSONANCE OF CONSERVATION REGIMES .................................................................. 132
Chapter 3. Ecotourism on Waigeo and hopes for future wellbeing ........................................................... 141
MISPLACED HOPES ................................................................................................................................ 141
MILLENARIAN ECHOES IN AN ECO-TOURISM MARKETPLACE ................................................................ 148
RAJA AMPAT AS ECOTOURIST EXEMPLAR ............................................................................................. 156
CONSOCIALITY IN HOMESTAYS: CREATING A SHARED SPACETIME ....................................................... 169
CONVERSATIONS WITH ECOTOURISTS ................................................................................................... 170
INNOVATION AND CHANGE IN THE VILLAGE HOMESTAY ECONOMY ..................................................... 176
GETTING ORGANIZED: A MEETING OF THE RAJA AMPAT HOMESTAY ASSOCIATION ........................... 181
Chapter 4. Reflective voyage: a conservation film tour ............................................................................ 192
THE KALABIA CONSERVATION TOUR .................................................................................................... 194
SYNOPSIS OF THE FILM .......................................................................................................................... 197
vi
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AS A ROUTE TO SELF-REGARD FOR WEST PAPUANS ........................... 204
INTERDISCURSIVITY AND TRANSLATION: CREATING A POLITY OF CARE .............................................. 207
A STORYLINE OF THE FILM AND CONCERT TOUR ................................................................................. 214
CHRONOTOPES OF LOVE AND SELF-REGARD ......................................................................................... 228
OUT OF FRAME, OUT OF VIEW ................................................................................................................ 231
THE GUADIANS OF RAJA AMPAT TOUR AS A METASEMIOTIC AND METAPRAGMATIC JOURNEY .......... 235
Chapter 5. Cannibal witches, environmental mix-ups: doubts about others in Raja Ampat ..................... 240
WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY REFLECT AN ETHICS OF CAUTION IN RAJA AMPAT ................................. 246
TRANSGRESSIVE BEINGS ....................................................................................................................... 248
WITCHES SIGNIFY THE LIMITS OF INTERPERSONAL ETHICS IN RAJA AMPAT ........................................ 252
DEALING WITH SORCERERS AND NATURE SPIRITS ................................................................................ 255
INSTANCES OF ETHICAL OR MORAL BREAKDOWN IN RAJA AMPAT ...................................................... 260
UPSET FEELINGS OVER TOURISM FEES ON WAYAG ISLANDS ................................................................ 267
CAPTIVE SPEEDBOATS IN WARSAMBIN ................................................................................................. 270
RESOURCE EXTRACTION AND DISPOSSESSION ON WAIGEO ISLAND..................................................... 272
RUMORS OF USING RADIO TRANSMITTERS TO STEAL BIRDS FROM KALITOKO ..................................... 277
NATURE AS A MEDIATING AGENT FOR INTER-CLAN DISPUTES IN MAYALIBIT BAY ............................ 282
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS REFLECT DOUBTS PEOPLE HAVE ABOUT OTHERS .................................. 286
Conclusion: Crosscurrents of values in Raja Ampat ................................................................................. 290
PROSPECTS FOR VALUE COMMENSURATION ON WAIGEO ISLAND ........................................................ 295
TRANSLATING VALUES INTO A SECOND FIRST LANGUAGE ................................................................. 297
Appendix 1. Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human Research Protections ................................... 310
Appendix 2. Valuable marine and terrestrial species ................................................................................ 312
OTHER VALUABLE MARINE SPECIES COMMONLY SPOKEN OF IN RAJA AMPAT .................................... 316
VALUED TERRESTRIAL PLANTS AND ANIMALS IN RAJA AMPAT ........................................................... 319
Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 321
vii
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE
FIGURE 1. TOURISM MAP OF THE RAJA AMPAT ISLANDS. SOURCE: BASUDAR ........................................ 21
FIGURE 2 BRIDEPRICE EXCHANGES, AMBEL WEDDING, WARIMAK, 2015.................................................. 25
FIGURE 3 BUSH HOUSES OF DAWA FAMILY BEHIND WARIMAK, WAIGEO, 2014 ....................................... 28
FIGURE 4 PREPARED SAGO FLOUR, GO VILLAGE IN MAYALIBIT BAY, 2014 ............................................. 30
FIGURE 5 MAIN OCEANOGRAPHIC CURRENTS DURING THE MONSOONS IN EASTERN INDONESIA. SOURCE:
MANGUBHAI ET AL. 2012 .................................................................................................................... 43
FIGURE 6 KARST ISLETS NEAR MISOOL, 2014 ............................................................................................ 44
FIGURE 7 OUTRIGGER CANOE, WAIGEO ISLAND, 2014............................................................................... 48
FIGURE 8 THE FOUR RAJADOMS OF RAJA AMPAT. ADAPTED FROM MANSOBEN (1995) .......................... 55
FIGURE 9 SHRINE OF KALIRAJA, 2015 ........................................................................................................ 56
FIGURE 10 CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE. SOURCE: CTI, 2015 .................................................................. 76
FIGURE 11 MAP OF THE BIRDS HEAD SEASCAPE SHOWING THE LOCATION OF MAJOR TOWNS, ISLANDS,
AND MARINE PROTECTED AREA (MPA) BOUNDARIES. SOURCE: MANGUBHAI ET AL. 2012 .............. 77
FIGURE 12 MARINE PROTECTED AREAS IN RAJA AMPAT, ADAPTED FROM GRANTHAM 2013 ................. 78
FIGURE 13 PREPARING TO SELL FISH AT WAISAI MARKET, SAPORKREN, AUG 2015 ................................. 80
FIGURE 14 CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL STAFF, SORONG WEST PAPUA, 2015 .................................. 82
FIGURE 15 DR. DEDI ADHURI MARKS CLAN FISHING AREAS AT GO VILLAGE, MAYALIBIT BAY, 2014 .... 83
FIGURE 16 LAND-BASED SASI FOR COCONUTS, KRI ISLAND, 2012 ............................................................ 85
FIGURE 17 OFFERINGS TO THE SEA AT A SASI RITUAL, MISOOL 2013. SOURCE: TNC .............................. 87
FIGURE 18 HIGHLY PRIZED PALOLO WORMS (PALOLA VIRIDIS) ON AYAU, 2014 ....................................... 90
FIGURE 19 SIGN OF CHURCH SASI NEAR ARBOREK VILLAGE ..................................................................... 93
FIGURE 20 COLLECTING SURVEY RESPONSES ABOUT SASI, ARBOREK ISLAND, 2012 ................................ 94
FIGURE 21 ELVIS MARINO, RUTUM ISLAND, AYAU ATOLL, NOVEMBER 2014 ......................................... 97
FIGURE 22 YELLU VILLAGE, OFF MISOOL ISLAND, DEC 2014 ................................................................... 98
FIGURE 23 NEW GKI CHURCH BUILT WITH ECO-TOURISM REVENUE, YENBUBA VILLAGE, MANSUAR
ISLAND, 2014 ..................................................................................................................................... 100
FIGURE 24 SIGN INDICATING SASI MON ZONE NEAR WARSAMBIN VILLAGE, MAYALIBIT BAY, 2012 .... 106
FIGURE 25 NADUS NOK AT KAKIT MON SITE, MAYALIBIT BAY, WAIGEO SEPT 2015 ........................... 109
FIGURE 26 MAYALIBIT BAY MPA ZONE, WAIGEO ISLAND. SOURCE: RAJA AMPAT REGENCY ............ 111
FIGURE 27 DAMPIER STRAITS MPA ZONE. SOURCE: RAJA AMPAT REGENCY ........................................ 111
FIGURE 28 PERFORMING ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS, WARKABU POST, MAYALIBIT BAY, 2012 .......... 113
FIGURE 29 FISHING FOR BAIT, SAPORKREN VILLAGE, WAIGEO, 2012 ..................................................... 116
FIGURE 30 SASI SIGN, DEER VILLAGE, KOFIAU ISLAND 2014 ................................................................... 117
FIGURE 31 IMAM SOLTIF WITH AUTHOR, FAFANLAP VILLAGE, MISOOL, DEC 2014 ................................ 118
FIGURE 32 YOHANES GORAM GAMAN AND ABRAHAM GAMAN, SORONG, 2012 .................................... 121
FIGURE 33 KRIS THEBU OVERSEEING A NEW CONSERVATION AGREEMENT IN 2018............................... 124
FIGURE 34 REUBEN SAUYAI, 2012 ............................................................................................................ 127
FIGURE 35 YEHESKIEL DAWA, WARIMAK VILLAGE, 2015 ....................................................................... 130
FIGURE 36 CHURCH SERVICE, SAPORKREN VILLAGE, WAIGEO, 2015 ...................................................... 138
FIGURE 37 YOSIAS MAMBRASAR TALKS ABOUT MANARMAKERI, WAIGEO 2014 .................................... 153
FIGURE 38 WAYAG ISLANDS, RAJA AMPAT. SOURCE: TNC PHOTO......................................................... 156
FIGURE 39 KORANU FYAK HOMESTAY, KRI ISLAND, 2014 ...................................................................... 161
FIGURE 40 KRI SHORELINE WITH HOMESTAYS IN BACKGROUND, 2015 ................................................... 164
FIGURE 41 WARIMPUREM HOMESTAY, AUGUST 2014 .............................................................................. 165
FIGURE 42 ENGGELINA DIMARA MANDOSIR, OWNER OF WARIMPUREM HOMESTAY, 2014 ................... 167
FIGURE 43 DIVERS ARE BRIEFED BY LOCAL DIVEMASTERS, KRI ISLAND, 2014 ....................................... 175
FIGURE 44 MAMBETRON HOMESTAY, KRI ISLAND, AUG 2014 ................................................................ 178
FIGURE 45 BETEO MEN CONSTRUCT A NEW HOMESTAY, KRI ISLAND, 2012 ............................................ 179
viii
FIGURE 46 HOMESTAY OWNERS DISCUSS GENDER, LABOR AND VALUES, SEPT 2014 .............................. 183
FIGURE 47 RAJA AMPAT HOMESTAY ASSN MEMBERS COMPARE ONLINE REVIEWS ................................ 184
FIGURE 48 KALABIA EDUCATION SHIP DURING THE GUARDIANS TOUR, AYAU ATOLL ........................... 194
FIGURE 49 POSTER ADVERTISING AN EVENING FILM SCREENING OF GUARDIANS OF RAJA AMPAT ........ 199
FIGURE 50 ARTIST EDO KONDOLOGIT IN HAT WITH VILLAGE WELCOME COMMITTEE, SOLOL, SALAWATI
........................................................................................................................................................... 205
FIGURE 51 GUARDIANS OF RAJA AMPAT FILM TOUR ROUTE, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2014. SOURCE:
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. .................................................................................................................. 214
FIGURE 52 KALABIA TEAM WITH SCHOOL CHILDREN, SELPELE VILLAGE, WAIGEO ................................ 218
FIGURE 53 PARTICIPANTS DANCE FOLLOWING AN EVENING FILM SCREENING AND CONVERSATION,
ARBOREK ISLAND ............................................................................................................................. 229
FIGURE 54 TWO TREES SIGNAL BEWARE OF DEMONS (INDO: AWAS SETAN) IN THE FOREST BEHIND
SAPORKREN, 2014 ............................................................................................................................. 248
FIGURE 55 SUANGGI LEAF (CORDYLINE FRUTICOSA), HARAPAN JAYA VILLAGE MISOOL, 2014 ............... 257
FIGURE 56 PAPUAN BLACKSNAKE (PSEUDECHIS PAPUANUS) AT KAKIT CREEK, WAIGEO, SEPT 2015 ..... 259
FIGURE 57 SAPORKREN PARISHIONERS PRAY FOR A RESOLUTION TO THE URAI CONFLICT, 2014 ........... 264
FIGURE 58 ILLEGAL LOGGING CAMP BEHIND KALITOKO VILLAGE, MAYALIBIT BAY, 2015 .................. 273
FIGURE 59 WARSAMBIN VILLAGE, MAYALIBIT BAY, WAIGEO 2012 ...................................................... 285
FIGURE 60 SEA TURTLE NEAR MANSUAR ISLAND, 2015 ........................................................................... 295
FIGURE 61 WOLTER GAMAN, CONSERVATIONIST AND MAYA INTERMEDIARY, WARIMAK 2015 .......... 298
FIGURE 62 SALMAN WIYAI, MAYALIBIT BAY MARINE PATROL, 2014 ................................................... 299
FIGURE 63 RIA AND BERTHA, MARINE CONSERVATIONISTS WITH RARE AND RAJA AMPATS MPA TEAM
........................................................................................................................................................... 300
FIGURE 64 ARTISANAL FISHERIES SURVEY TEAM, ARBOREK ISLAND, AUGUST 2012 ............................. 311
TABLE 1. COMPARISON OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN RAJA AMPAT ............................................ 136
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis emerged from conversations and travel with many people. I am incredibly
grateful for the support, advice, criticism and encouragement of mentors, advisers and friends. In
particular, I would like to thank co-chairs Rupert Stasch and Joe Hankins for their willingness to
support this project. I am particularly grateful for the guidance of Guillermo Algaze, Jonathan
Friedman, Richard Norris and Stuart Sandin. Marcel Hénaff provided important insights into
recognition, and his friendship will be sorely missed. At UCSD, Joel Robbins, David Pedersen,
Shirley Strum, Octavio Aburto, Mikael Fauvelle and Jordan Haug also greatly helped the
development of this project. I also am indebted to Dedi Adhuri, Hamid Toha, Tony Rudyansjah,
Laura Arnold, Bert Remijsen and Gene Ammarell for critical support during my fieldwork in
West Papua. Anna Tsing, Nils Bubandt and Danilyn Rutherford have provided important
feedback. Additionally, I want to thank Robert Brightman, Marko Zivkovic and Paul Silverstein
at Reed College, Karl Jackson, Bill Wise and Fred Brown at Johns Hopkins, SAIS, Paul Taylor
at the Smithsonian Institution and Nina Bhatt with the World Bank.
There are many friends and collaborators in Raja Ampat that I want to recognize, whose
perspectives and openness to my presence in their lives has provided the core material for this
project, including: Gress Sauyai, Reuben Sauyai, Paulus Sauyai, Shinta Baransano, Raja Tahir
Arfan, Bob Tanamal, Azhar Hamid Arfan, Franz Membilong, Mohammid Yunus Soltif, Yohanes
Goram, Abraham Gaman, Kris Thebu, Yudas Sauyai, Yusak Dawa, Bram Goram, Elias
Mambrasar, Luther Mambrasar, Lefinus Dimara, Yosias Mambrasar, Heret Sauyai, Enggelina
Dimara, Noldi Sauyai, Denis Sauyai, Rano Raweyae, Onis Sauyai, Isak Ansan, Yeskel Dawa,
Yakob Mambrasar, Wolter Gaman, Orogenes Burdam, Salmon Burdam, Ali Gaman, Markus
Fiay, Amos Lapon, Samuel Morin, Freddy Mambraku, Martin Makusi, Nellie Makusi, Yusuf
x
Sumbaha, Yohan Berotabui, Rosita Mambrasar, Anache Goram, Drophinus Dailom, Reiki Nok
and Yusuf Rumbiak.
Several members of conservation staff, particularly from Conservation International in
Sorong, and Yayasan Kalabia have been instrumental to this project. I want to thank Angela
Beer, Sally Kailola, Dwi Aryo Tjipto Handoso, Karel Wawafma, Valen, Om John Muhajir, Berto
Rahawarin, Salman Wiyai, Mety Mongdong, Nico Rombau, Edo Konologit, Helen Newman,
Chris Fox, Mark Erdmann and Dominic Elson. Special thanks to Shawn Heinrich and John
Weller for their generosity for allowing me to accompany them on the Kalabia conservation tour
in 2014, Fitry Pakiding, Helen Fox, Dian Oktaviani and Paulus Boli for their insights into Raja
I also want to thank several visitors to homestays I met
between 2012-2015, especially: Florian Bickel and Johanna Zanon, Melissa Monthe, Jesse
Waddell, David Lloyd, Aron Timar, Alan Reyes, Natalie Gazit, Philipp Wacha, Nicholas Taric,
Irena Sterk, Alina Orrico, Esther Bermesjo, James Richardson, Sara Dachos, Gabriella
Fredriksson, Graham Usher, Eric Vogel, Jeff Bowman, Sarah Purkey, David Rasmussen and
Pierre Brandt.
I am grateful to grant organizations and institutions that funded this project, including:
Fulbright-Hays, National Science Foundation IGERT program, UCSD Friends of the
International Center, Waitt Foundation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Center for Marine
Biodiversity and Conservation, The United States Indonesia Society, and UC San Diego
Department of Anthropology.
Finally, I want to thank my wife Priscila and our daughter Ariel, as well as the Parker
family, for their dedication, patience, encouragement and love on this journey. Thanks to you all.
xi
Chapter 2, in part, contains material published in
In Johannes
M. Luetz and Patrick D. Nunn eds., Beyond Belief: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches
to Climate-Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands, Springer Nature, Pp. 267-285. Springer
Nature Switzerland AG. The dissertation author was the primary investigator and author of this
paper.
xii
VITA
EDUCATION
2003 BA in Anthropology, Reed College
2007 MA in International Relations, Johns Hopkins University,
School of Advanced International Studies
2012 MA in Anthropology, University of California San Diego
2021 PhD in Anthropology with a Specialization in Interdisciplinary Environmental
Research, University of California San Diego
GRANTS
2011-13 National Science Foundation IGERT Fellowship
2012 Waitt Foundation Fellowship
2012 Scripps Institution of Oceanography Summer Research Grant
2014-15 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant
2014 UCSD Friends of the International Center Scholarship
2014 United States Indonesia Society Sumitro Fellowship
2014 F.G. Bailey Research Fellowship
2016 Haydu Prize on the interaction of culture, behavior and human values
PUBLICATIONS
In Johannes M. Luetz and Patrick D. Nunn eds.,
Beyond Belief: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches to Climate-Change
Adaptation in the Pacific Islands, Springer Nature, Pp. 267-285. Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
WORK
2008-2016 Consultant, World Bank and Millennium Challenge Corporation
2011-2016 Teaching Assistant, University of California San Diego
2015 Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego
2017- Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State
xiii
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
Value differences and processes of value commensuration in Raja Ampat, West Papua
Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology
with a Specialization in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research
by
Ian Nicholas Parker
University of California San Diego, 2021
Professor Joe Hankins, Chair
Professor Rupert Stasch, Co-Chair
This dissertation is an ethnographic study of how environmental conservation and
ecotourism are contexts for how people sort out what is at stake in living among the Raja Ampat
ough examining ways that people seek to protect
areas and things inhabiting the surrounding land and seascape, I evaluate situations where people
identify what is valuable to them, how those values influence ethical actions, as well as
consequences of acting unethically toward the environment or other people.
The study highlights efforts of to figure out how to balance the
protection of coral reefs and forest zones while also seeking improved livelihoods. It presents
accounts of environmental conservation practices and ecotourism around Waigeo Island the
xiv
largest and northernmost island of the Raja Ampat area because it is the center of tourism
activity and migration of Indonesians to the region. Waigeo has also become a zone of conflicts
between locals and outsiders over access to and control of natural resources in coastal West
ts
have identified options, developed strategies and negotiated conflicts within and across
boundaries of social difference as they seek to chart a better life.
The study focuses on instances where environmental values overlap and diverge to probe
the possibility that different forms of care may be analogous, congruent, or at least recognizable
by people with different reasons for protecting nature. I document situations when people were
forced to reconcile apparently incommensurable practices. I evaluate to what extent marine
protected areas are symmetrical with ritual harvest prohibitions known as sasi. I assess to what
extent closed fishing grounds reflect Indonesian Evangelical Protestant Church ideals of a moral
community, or whether they can be considered alongside non-Christian understanding of forest
spirit realms where one is at risk of being eaten by witches or destroyed by amoral nature
entities. By focusing on marine conservation and tourism interactions in coastal West Papua, I
document the capacity of people to adapt, transpose or otherwise incorporate different
environmental norms into their lives.
1
Introduction
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It’s always our self we find in the sea.” – e.e. Cummings
This dissertation is an ethnographic study of how environmental conservation and
ecotourism are contexts in which societies of
Province communicate values about protecting the natural world and living ethically with others.
Through examining ways that seek to care for important species and
places, I describe encounters where people from different societies identify what is valuable to
them. I document instances where environmental values influence ethical actions, as well as
cases of misunderstanding toward the environment or other people. I report s hopes and
suspicions of others of rival families, ethnic groups, with tourists, conservationists, and
Indonesian migrants and how a few West Papuan communities living on and near Waigeo
Island in Raja Ampat attempt to reconcile different notions of doing the right thing related to
human-environment relations in a time of rapid socio-economic change.
There are high stakes for doing the right or wrong thing for societies living in coastal
West Papua. Following the creation of large zones of marine protection in the late 2000s, the
archipelago, have become a major destination for nature-oriented tourism. Visitors from Europe,
the Americas and across Asia have come
biodiversity in a presumably remote natural setting. Tourists come to swim with manta rays, seek
out nudibranchs on coral walls, watch the Red bird-of-paradise summersault in the morning light
or take self-portraits atop iconic karst walls of Wayag Island. Charismatic species and landscapes
2
continue to attract interest in this far eastern fringe of Indonesia after reading articles or viewing
documentary films about conservation initiatives or tourist brochures.
and forests while also seeking improved livelihoods. I present instances where people I met
struggle to sort out why strangers are coming to their place, to identify who is friend or foe, who
to align with and when to take a stand when others challenge the social norms of appropriate
conduct towards communally-managed natural resources or nonhuman places of meaning,
danger or remembrance. I also incorporate accounts from local villagers with perspectives I
encountered among extralocal visitors who stay at village homestays, and Indonesian staff of
environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) who have implemented conservation
programs in Raja Ampat since the early 2000s.
The dissertation focuses on ethnographic accounts of environmental conservation
practices and ecotourism around Waigeo Island the largest and northernmost island of the area
because it is a setting for conflicts between locals and outsiders over the access and control of
have identified options, developed strategies and negotiated conflicts among kin and strangers
for pursuing a better life. What began as a study of fishing and conservation practices in 2012
practices, because the link between protecting nature and promoting its value has become an
environmental care, I seek to understand the ways West Papuans are translating ethical norms
from other societies into an idiom that is meaningful to incorporate into their day to day lives.
3
Part of my rationale for focusing on environmental practices is that these topics speak to
a long-standing debate in anthropology about small-
resources. Anthropologists since the 1970s have documented various practices of species and
place-specific restrictions among different societies in maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania. For
instance, in the late 1970s, Dutch ethnologist Alex van der Leeden identified instances where
ers in Samate village on Salawati Island (across from Waigeo) protected sea
Muslim leadership (van der Leeden 1980). In other places, people have enacted culturally salient
resource prohibitions for valuable plants, such as coconut palms, langsat fruit (Lansium
parasiticum), merbau trees (Intsia bijuga) or sago palm (Metroxylon sagu).
There are several different types of environmental management in coastal West Papua,
each with its own rules, norms and practices. In the predominantly Beteo-speaking Ayau atoll
north of Waigeo, fishermen initiated seasonal harvest taboos in conjunction with the Papuan
Evangelical Christian Church to ensure sufficient food stocks of sea turtles for Christmas feasts.
Among the Ambel-
nonhuman others called mon are treated with caution. Only certain persons with the authority
and capacity for communicating with mon entities can
natural zones beyond the village are considered realms of cannibal witches who detach their
heads at night on hunts for human victims.
Some forms of resource management have been practiced for generations while others
are more recent adaptations to curb exploitative fishing practices, or a mechanism to shift
towards a market-oriented tourism economy. These adaptations have been documented among
sea-oriented societies elsewhere in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu (Cinner and
4
Aswani 2007). In some cases, what appear to be longstanding practices of resource taboo are in
fact recently introduced hybrid systems that emerged through engagement with government
officials or environmental organizations at workshops in far-away cities.
Raja Ampat at first glance seems off grid. Yet it is a region connected for centuries to
trade and social exchange. Traders, pirates, European voyagers, explorers and sultans have
interacted with resident populations in the Raja Ampat area since the 16th century (Andaya 1993;
Ellen 2003). Waves of settlers from Biak, the Moluccan Islands and other areas have shaped the
id linguistic and social character. Goods and gifts have facilitated marriage
alliances, slave raiding, inter-regional trade networks, global spice monopolies and contests over
access rights. So a focus on values of different kinds is perhaps not alien to the region, but is a
basic feature of living in maritime-oriented societies where people come and go, following tidal
currents or political-economic flows.
The advent of commercial-scale eco-tourism in the late 2000s has increased the
frequency and variety of cross-cultural interaction in coastal West Papua. Interactions with
strangers have forced Papuans living tourist areas to rethink their relations to their surroundings
in increasingly capitalist ways. In other instances, people have re-sacralized reefs or forest areas
by involving church leaders or cultural mediators who advise environmental organizations.
Localized forms of environmental care have become linked to a regional economy where
conservation and tourism have become the engine for economic development and a fulcrum of
local politics. Both tourism and conservation have become a focal point for
fears.
Ensuring the right forms of human-environment relations has become an important topic
by which Beteo and people reflect about how to live ethically among their families and
5
with one another. In Raja Ampat, there are three general types of environmental oversight. A
first type includes spatially-limited marine protected areas (MPAs) or forest zones established
since the early 2000s by international conservation organizations in conjunction with local
mediators and Indonesian government agencies. A second type is generally called sasi, which
refers to forms of ritually-sanctioned and seasonally-closed harvest practices. A third type
involves special forest zones of cultural significance. This final type is associated with clan
ancestors and nonhuman beings, particularly among settlements in libit Bay in
Waigeo and on Misool Island. This genre of conservation is less focused on protecting particular
plant or animal habitats, though that may be an unintentional ecological benefit. Stewardship of
sacred areas reflects the importance of maintaining a separation between human and nonhuman
realms.
Communities throughout Raja Ampat engage in forms of environmental management or
care for different reasons. Rather than chart out all possible variations of conservation, this study
focuses on instances of overlap and divergence to probe the possibility that different types of
environmental protection may be recognized as ethical by people that appear to have very
different values. Specifically, I document events, conflicts and situations when West Papuans
sort out how norms align with sasi practices,
Christian ideals of a moral community, and ongoing kin-mediated relations to nonhuman entities
living in the forest or sea.
This process of ethical commensuration is a dialogue between and among people. My
objective is to evaluate the extent to which West Papuan societies, in their engagement with
outsiders, adapt, inflect or incorporate different ideas about doing good. The broader question I
seek to address is to what extent the value-ideals of different interacting societies or social
6
networks can overlap and harmonize, or not. Relatedly, this ethnographic focus on
marine conservation and tourism practices suggests that peoples are capable of engaging in
ethical relations that extend beyond particular boundaries of language, society and place.
-tourism is important to West Papuan efforts to live up to values
they consider important when dealing with nature. As with new types of marine protected areas,
tourism is a recent arrival
protected areas in the late 2000s, a few men from the Beteo village of Yenbuba built a bungalow
for dive tourists on Kri island across the Dampier Strait from Waigeo. Since then, whole families
have become involved in building and managing over sixty village-
Raja Ampat. These homestays range from a few large resorts that lead dive tours and accept
credit cards to remote palm-roofed shacks built over a coral reef slope far from cell towers, roads
or boat traffic.
Tourism has become an issue that local people increasingly talk about and engage with in
Raja Ampat. It has become a source of aspirations and frustrations, alliances and clan rivalries.
Some view local tourism as providing benefits money, status, community development while
others are more ambivalent about visitors from abroad or the effects of such encounters: trash,
conflicts between communities over land, intergenerational fractures over money and destiny and
jealousy. Village homestays also increasingly compete with expatriate owned dive resorts or
Indonesian-run hotels in Waisai, Raja Ampat Regen.
When I first visited the Raja Ampat area in the summer of 2012, I assumed that
conditions there reflected a gradual trend in maritime Southeast Asia in which hinterland
communities shifted from reciprocal exchange to capitalist accumulation. This seemed to be the
case among the Beteo people living around Waigeo Island. However, after spending time with
7
Papuans involved in promoting homestays and after speaking with tourists staying in local
villages, I came to understand that tourism has become an important vector for hope and shame.
Among the Beteo, hopes for tourism are interlinked with messianic aspirations for the future.
Conversely, for most people, the lack of tourism near their settlements has made them
feel ashamed.
Talking about conservation has also become a way for people in Raja Ampat to
communicate their desire for autonomy, to be left to live on the land and sea as they see fit. The
more entrepreneurial Beteo engage in sasi as God-fearing Christians but also support gear
restrictions to ensure that manta rays return every year to circle and mate at sandy shoals. They
value money for building churches and for paying their childrens school fees but also as a way
to foster a belief in themselves after generations of dispossession. Finally, the tourists who travel
to Raja Ampat desire to immerse themselves in the wild, but their communion with nature and
local Papuans is often a desire to heal broken hearts or a way for them to renew their faith in the
world. To what extent can conceptions of the good incorporate different values, and if so, how?
things will turn
out. During my fieldwork, I witnessed instances in which awkward encounters with visitors led
to disappointment. One could sense such disappointment in frank conversations after fishing
mpoverished villages. It could be heard in
discussions with Beteo families who railed about the lack of understanding by Indonesian
government officials about their vision for community-based conservation. It could be felt as a
widely shared sentiment that West Papuans are often treated as dependents rather than partners.
Additionally, I observed contentious disputes over land rights and resource extraction that
8
pointed to emerging tensions over property, money and status that challenges the image of Raja
Ampat as a placid tropical idyll.
West Papuans are keenly aware that the Indonesian government has promoted
conservation and tourism not only as a means for economic development but also as a bulwark
against calls for greater autonomy from Indonesian New Guinea. Some are finding ways to
counter attempts to subvert their aims. Speaking about human-environment relations struggles
over protection, contests over land, misunderstandings with extra-local institutions has become
a covert grammar for communicating socio-political aims in a place where political violence,
repression and coercion is an ever-present concern.
potential is also a dialogue about the politics of recognition. It entails talk about the limits of
freedom as well as prospects for an imagined for but as yet unrealized future.
West Papua is a paradoxical place. It is represented as a far-flung realm of great natural
wonders and resilient peoples. But it is also a place where generations of West Papuans have
been denied basic rights. The several hundred ethno-linguistic groups that comprise Indonesian
New Guinea have faced a legacy of discrimination, cultural erasure, targeted assassination and
political subjugation. Dutch colonial officials, and later, Indonesian state officials have
systematically squelched West capacity to aspire to live better lives. But people do not
eat politics. Most depend on what they fish, collect, garden or exchange to survive. People living
amidst conservation zones in Raja Ampat have found creative ways to respond to their
dispossession. Many have other ideas about their future. In talking through their hopes and fears
about conservation and tourism, people odifferent
possibilities for better relations with outsiders in which they can more fully participate in the
work of living their lives in their own way.
9
Topics and themes
I emphasize crosscurrents as a theme for ways people in Raja Ampat think about and act
upon their ideas about the right ways to engage with the environment and with other people.
Norms here like intertidal flows are interchangeable. They can mix with other streams but
also can be eddies that move against the main currents. To demonstrate how crosscurrents of
values are present in everyday interactions in Waigeo, I focus on conduct related to protecting
nonhuman things and places and how best to resolve conflicts that arise over land ownership,
tourist projects, corrupt officials, tourist arrivals and other misunderstandings. Through an
examination of West Papuan origin tales, conservation practices and eco-tourism interactions, I
show how West Papuans orient themselves as ethical persons in relation to others in situations
where people have to confront different notions of what is right.
The communities of Raja Ampat strive to live their lives as well as they can in
accordance with their own values. To the Beteo of Saporkren village, what matters is being a
good Christian neighbor and a person able to accumulate wealth, status, exchange partners, and
relations of dependence. To the Maya of Warimak, it entails remembering stories of mabri, the
heroic demigods, placating the mon spirit beings who live along Kakit river or campaigning for
forest access rights, while also providing for their families.
One of the features that makes Raja Ampat an ethnographically rich setting is how it
provides a case study for how intersocial relations are made and severed. Perhaps this is not
unique to coastal West Papua but a common theme among coastal peoples. Seascapes provide a
type of figure-ground reversal for the ethnographic examination of cultural life as in-situ in one
place. To make sense of sea-oriented people is to be necessarily mobile. Alterity is a feature of
10
daily life. People coming and going is also reflected in cosmogonic myth (see Ellen 2003). It is
reflected in ideals of marriage exogamy as well as through island voyaging.
While the human-environment dynamics of Beteo communities of southern Waigeo and
Maya in libit Bay form a core research focus, I also describe their engagements with
tourists from Europe and Indonesia, nongovernmental staff and government officials. By
extending the lens of anthropological investigation to encompass such strangers I argue that
marine management practices and village-based eco-tourism have become a crucible through
which different coexisting communities define their ties to place, their orientations to one
another and their ethical ideas about human social relations.
By accounting for such interactions, I posit that
with their physical surroundings are consequential to how they define what environment and
society are in the first place (Ingold 2000; Atran and Medin 2008; Throop 2010; Descola 2013).
Across Waigeo, despite the relative ease of inter-island travels lives are anchored to
particular villages or specific clan-controlled places. The micro-spatial focus on village-level
living is also a reflection of the granularity of ethnographic fieldwork: whether Saporkren,
Yenbuba, or Warimak village, twined to a family network, with an always partial account of a
society.
A first set of themes I draw from is the anthropological study of the environment. The
relation
discipline in the 19th century. It continues to inform debates about human evolution, the
transmission of cultural practices and struggles of indigenous people to seek recognition for land
rights within multiethnic nation states. Several subfields of anthropology have examined
interactions between environment and culture. These subfields have focused on different issues.
11
For example, while ecological anthropology evaluated the role of human communities in
maintaining a homeostatic equilibrium, political ecology focused on ways control over natural
resources by large-scale exogenous institutional forces negatively affected
to fishing grounds, forest sites and livelihoods.
Beginning with Franz Boas in the early 20th century and extending to many practitioners
today, American cultural anthropology has been skeptical of the notion that cultural practices are
determined by ecological niches, by demonstrating the historically transmitted, non-contingent
features of social forms. This tradition views societies as internally consistent but still capable of
change. They are influenced by contact with other groups and different environmental
conditions, yet are not bound by them. The emergence of a distinctively ecological approach to
human-environment relations is reflected in ethnographic accounts of Shoshone Indians by
Julian Steward (1955), the Maring of highland Papua New Guinea by Roy Rapaport (1967) and
Andrew Vayda (1983). Researchers incorporated religion, technology and economy as
influencing factors to
In the 1980s and 1990s a research focus on traditional environmental knowledge systems
coincided with a broader interest in environmental projects, development institutions, non-
governmental organizations and state institutions, particularly as these forces encountered
indigenous populations (Dove 2006; Brosius 1999; Hames 2007).
environment in such accounts encompassed ecological niches and human settlements together
(Milton 1996:115). Several ethnographic accounts evaluated interdependencies between people
and animals, plants and places in ways that shaped their experience and perception of the world
around them in ways that contrasted from a Western conceptual division between human beings
and nonhuman nature (Peace, Connor and Trigger 2012:218).
12
In relation to this literature, I draw from anthropological research focused on customary
stewardship of specific ecological zones by resident communities. These practices involve spatial
and temporal boundaries, acceptable gear and catch restrictions to maintain valued biota in
specific ecological habitats (Hviding 1996; Cinner and Aswani 2007). Researchers have focused
on these practices in part because they are thought to provide counter-evidence against the
tragedy of the commons, the idea that a shared resource such as fish will be exploited without
regulation by a system of private property rights (Hardin 1968; Ostrom 1990, 2008). An
overriding assumption is that well-managed marine zones, in conjunction with strong community
engagement, can prevent over-exploitation (Berkes et al. 2000; Dietz et al. 2003).
Anthropologists, among others, have criticized a tendency to stereotype people living in
places like Raja Ampat as indigenous or in terms of an undifferentiated community where in fact
a diversity of experiences and interests are at play (Lemos and Agrawal 2006; Sillitoe 1998;
Nazarea 2006). Different people in a given locale may in fact compete among one another for
control of forests, reefs and fishing grounds (Adhuri 2013; Thorburn 2000). Some may choose
not to cooperate with conservationists at all, while others may feel a sense of loss if the new
management plans restrict access to formerly open spaces (Lowe 2006). Alternatively, local
oversight of an estuary or coral reef could provide a way for local people to garner support from
powerful agencies to give preference for tourism projects, or other types of recognition that
could help clans to make claims over land and sea territory.
A second major theme of this dissertation concerns conservation and eco-tourism as
ethical domains. Whether or not to use tiger nets, when to harvest lobster, who is allowed to
scoop up Spanish mackerel, where a person can enter a sacred forest or not, what to do about
pirate fishermen, who should benefit from sasi harvests, and whether to support marine spatial
13
planning initiatives are examples of specific instances where West Papuans in Raja Ampat make
ethical choices, often involving people from different places. Eco-tourism across the region is re-
orienting people to view the natural world as a monetized economy of value. It also poses an
ethical dilemma about how to share the proceeds of tourism revenue across kin networks and
villages communities.
On Waigeo island, ethical life is expressed in routine social interactions that perform
specific moral codes. It is demonstrated in obligations a Papuan person has to their immediate
family to provide shelter and food. Ethics is witnessed in expectations of sharing bounty
from the sea and land with others. It means behaving with appropriate shame and humility when
walking and talking in a village profits in tourist
areas, with extracted gains circulated among kin networks as money, food and jobs. Ethics in
Raja Ampat also means concealing desires from others in situations where jealousy or sorcery
accusations are common. It increasingly takes shape as a discourse to advocate for environmental
protection through alliances with strangers, or confronting others when nature is harmed. As a
speech genre, ethical talk is often subjunctive and future-oriented: elders chastise youths who
ought to remember . It is echoed by mothers fretting about
re job prospects, and the future of their communities.
In recent years a distinct sub-field of the anthropology of morality and ethics has
documented ethnographic accounts of religious experience, ethical dilemmas, the search for the
good or the problem of evil.
provides conceptual tools for the study of non-Western resource management because these
practices rely on shared moral practices. To provide just a few examples of recent disputes across
recent ethnographic accounts of cross-cultural moral worlds, anthropologists have debated
14
whether a focus on collective or individual experience is warranted; have argued to what extent
self-conscious action is required for ethics; and have discussed to what extent a focus on
values (Throop and Mattingly 2018). Are moral domains distinct domains of social life or is
-36). It likewise remains
values or across a range of disparate schemas that oscillate between conflicting poles (Robbins
2004; 2013). A final consideration is the comparative scope of different moral orders: are they
commensurable with different schemas of ethical practice or are cultural worlds mutually
incomprehensible or always subject to mistranslation? (Povinelli 2001; Gal 2015).
Ethnographic case studies that take on ethical issues have tended to describe non-Western
ethical traditions as internally consistent unities that are incommensurable with but comparable
to others (ie, Mahmood 2005; Hirschkind 2006; Laidlaw 2013; Zigon 2010). Other researchers
have called attention to the difficulty of separating the ethical presuppositions of anthropologists
from the people with whom they study and work (Fassin 2012:5; see Wagner 1975). This has led
some scholars to pursue research that seeks to alleviate suffering, promote political or social
change or call account to legacies of dispossession to minority groups, indigenous peoples or
others. In this thesis, I emphasize the ways a few apparently different social groups make sense
of their own ethical presuppositions as they encounter other groups.
An alternative development in the anthropology of morality and ethics has called for the
comparative study of non-Western ethical norms. Several ethnographic studies have engaged in
productive discussions about the possibilities and limits of choice, prospects for pluralism and
15
ethics has contributed to ethnographic accounts of practices, ritual activities, reflections on daily
experiences and conflicts between competing values (Das 2012:134; Lambek 2010).
One debate relevant to this study concerns the issue of choice versus moral reproduction.
Some (e.g. Laidlaw 2013) have argued that moral action is only possible in situations where
people are able to make decisions about whether to consciously engage in an ethical activity or
not, rather than automatically reproducing cultural norms. Other studies (e.g. Robbins 2007)
have focused on a productive tension between a morality of freedom and a morality of
-
aware moral reproduction (Cassantini and Hickson 2014:258).
The search for a middle ground of an ethical stance that is between reproduction and
self-conscious intentional activity is mirrored in emerging ethnographic accounts of ethics
across borders. Rather than presume a model of culture in which values are internally consistent
to a historically transmitted set of codes that cannot be subject to external criteria, some scholars
have sought to understand situations where values, ethics or moral codes from one code or
schema say Beteo society could be compared to another the Maya, environmental
organizations or European tourists.
Some may claim that a comparative cross-cultural study of values or ethics is itself
dubious. Mair and Evans (2015) suggest that many anthropologists would probably agree with
the position of Alasdair MacIntyre who argued that ethical practices and traditions are defined by
goods internal to a practice rather than by external criteria or overlapping affinities. They
highlight how Hans-George Gadamer and Bernard Williams also expressed the view that ethical
praxis is inherently incommensurable. Mair and Evans argue that
proclivity to methodological relativism, emerging with Emile Durkheim, has tended to preclude
16
the identification of cross-cultural affinities, which are often taken to be unbridgeable
-purposes whose participants are hopelessly trapped
in their own symThey contrast this relativist
stance to the inverse perspective of political economy that posits that humans everywhere have
similar motivations and drives. Mair and Evans argue that commensurability and
incomm
understand, through an ethnographic appreciation of process, the production of forms of alterity
This dissertation takes up the call to provide ethnographic examples of people struggling
to make sense of ethical affinities and divergences in Raja Ampat, amidst rapid changes to
brought about by increased media exposure following environmental
conservation initiatives in coastal West Papua in the 2000s. I focus on ways people are creating
shared understandings of values, norms and prospects for cooperative governance of natural
resources, as well as the capacity for mutual recognition or extended moral horizons (Povinelli
2001). I draw from these theoretical orientations to make sense of how people in Raja Ampat
talk about alliances and conflicts over resource use, and eco-tourism projects.
Fieldwork and methods
During my fieldwork, pursued across three separate trips to the Raja Ampat area between
summer 2012 and October 2015, totaling one year in Indonesia and ten months in Raja Ampat, I
observed practices and collected information about human and environment interactions, with a
specific focus on conservation practices, beliefs, values about the nonhuman world and
ecotourism. I collected preliminary data on fishing, sea harvesting, collected taxonomies of
important locally named species and piloted a mixed-methods protocol for small-scale fisheries
17
research collection. I also spoke with people about how things have changed how the sardines
and anchovy fisheries collapsed, how the seasonal winds have changed
fears about the destruction of reefs, collusion of Indonesian police officials and gangsters in
illegal hardwood extraction, or the live reef-fish trade on their ability to
feed their families. I visited sacred places, recorded stories about ancestors and learned of
different ways people think about and work to protect culturally meaningful sites. In subsequent
trips I incorporated tourism since it had become a major topic of conversation, activity and
anxiety.
A few questions that guided my research included: To what extent do people desire to
protect plants, animals and special natural sites for their own sake? Is conservation in nonhuman
surroundings motivated by the intrinsic value of protecting nature or something else? Are
positive spillover effects associated with resource protection an unintended effect of West
Papuan cultural practices? Why are West Papuans willing to support environmental initiatives?
How is ecotourism effecting social interactions among West Papuan families and with outsiders?
I will draw on some of the data I collected in the field in this dissertation but much more
will necessarily be left out. An unexpected encounter with falciparum malaria in February 2015
on Waigeo Island and subsequent gallbladder infection and surgery required me to shorten my
fieldwork by several months and return to the United States. I returned to Raja Ampat for a brief
follow-up visit in the fall of 2015, and have maintained correspondence with several informants.
Throughout the period of my doctoral fieldwork, I interacted primarily with Beteo and
Maya informants and families, but also with eco-tourist visitors and conservationists from other
parts of Indonesia. I spent most of my time living among extended family networks of Beteo
people on Waigeo and nearby Islands particularly Gam, Mansuar Besar and Kri Island. I
18
engaged in conversations with around 300 different people and over a dozen key informants, as
well as through group discussions and surveys at over a dozen villages.
The Beteo people speak a dialect of the Biak language, and typically either Papuan Malay
or Standard (Bahasa) Indonesia. Papuan Malay is classified as either a nonstandard dialect of
Indonesian or a separate Malay language, but which is mostly understandable to an Indonesian
speaker, with variations of grammar and vocabulary. The Beteo are connected to Biak and to a
history of raiding related to Moluccan spice trade from the 16th-19th centuries. They are known as
skillful traders, and make their living as fishers and gardeners, laborers, teachers, homestay
operators and, occasionally, administrators. Almost all are Protestant Christians who are
members of the West Papuan Synod of the Evangelical Church (GKI; Indo: Gereja Keristen
Injili di Tanah Papua)
1
. I became close with the Sauyai-Dimara family of Saporkren village,
who provided me a place to stay on several visits and who made introductions to others on my
behalf.
I also worked with Maya (or Ambel) people of Waigeo Island, primarily in Warimak,
Kalitoko
2
and Warsambin villages in libit Bay, as well as key informants in Sorong City. I
made shorter trips to Maya settlements of Wauyai, Manyaifun, and related Matbat villages of
Harapan Jaya and Fafanlap. -speaking peoples of Raja Ampat are considered by many
to be ya languages are not clearly classified, but
include between three and four languages with several dialects, all only spoken in this region
1
In this thesis, I occasionally will italicize words or phrases from Standard Indonesian (abbreviated as
and its rough English translation. Some words, such as sasi, are not translated, and will remain in italics.
the source language, then the associated word or term.
2
Population of Ambel speaking villages visited: Kalitoko: 250 (2014); Warimak: 147 (2014). Besides
Ambel, languages spoken include Standard Indonesian, Papuan Malay and Beser.
19
(see Arnold 2018; Kamholtz 2010; Leeden 1980; Remijsen 2002). I conducted key informant or
life history interviews with forty or so Marsons and group discussions in ten villages. The
Maya make their living primarily through subsistence fishing and gardening, some commercial
trade in sago, shellfish and garden produce in the town of Waisai and Sorong City.
Besides these core research populations, I also spoke with around one hundred eco-
tourists and operators at homestay locations in the Dampier Straits region, particularly on
Waigeo, Gam, Kri and Mansuar islands. I also spoke with around forty Papuan, Indonesian and
non-local staff of conservation organizations and local non-governmental and religious charities
in Sorong, Waisai and Bali with a focus on marine protection, social and economic development
and health issues. I primarily engaged with staff, volunteers and advisers of Conservation
International, World Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Flora and Fauna
International and Yayasan Nazaret Papua.
I conducted two dozen key informant and life history interviews and attended several
workshops and meetings. These meetings took place in Ambel-speaking villages of Warsambin,
Kalitoko, Warimak, Go, and Lopintol (where most speak the Legenyem dialect of Ma,
Beser-speaking localities of Arborek, Kri, Yenbuna, Saporkren, the Raja Ampat sub-district
town center of Waisai, Sorong City on the West Papuan mainland, and conservation posts at
Warkabu in libit Bay on Waigeo and on Gam Island. I gained particular insight from
informants who also work as senior advisers to conservation organizations.
I also participated in a few sea voyages. In July 2012, I spent ten days on Manyaifun
island hosted by an elected official (camat), after rough seas prevented a return to Waisai. I
accompanied officials on several welfare trips to small island villages off the west coast of
Waigeo. From late August to early September 2014, I accompanied a multi-site survey trip to
20
participate in fisheries workshops in
scientists from the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (LIPI) and RARE, a conservation
organization. In November 2014, I participated on a two-week environmental education tour
across Raja Ampat with Yayasan Kalabia, a local NGO funded by several international donors
including the Walton Family Foundation, Conservation International and the Raja Ampat
fisheries department (Dinas perikanan dan kelautan). Throughout my fieldwork, I was fortunate
to link up with Maya and Beteo leaders, especially Kris Thebu, on visits with
conservation staff and to village locations off Waigeo.
Throughout the three periods of fieldwork in Raja Ampat from 2012-2015, I spoke with
people in Standard Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), English and Papuan Malay, after several
months of halting progress in this commonly-spoken regional language. I learned a few phrases
and words in Beser and Ambel during trips to village locations on Waigeo but did not develop
proficiency in either Raja Ampat language. While my fieldwork was sea-oriented and mobile, I
focused much of my time in a small house in the middle of Saporkren village on Waigeo Island.
I also made several trips to Kri Island and nearby Yenbuba village, and Warsambin, Warimak
and Kalitoko villages in the libit Bay area of Waigeo Island. I often traveled with members
of the Sauyai-Dimara family and informants by motorized longboat or by small speedboat when
available. On Waigeo Island I would often join people on public transport as they came and went
to sell market produce, or would hire a car to take me places. In Sorong I travelled by ubiquitous,
affordable yellow shared taxi (angkutan kota.
A basic aim of my research has been to give an initial ethnographic study of
contemporary human social interactions in and around Raja Ampat. My project is based on a
certain viewpoint about the value of anthropology for relaying the different ways people make
21
their lives cohere to observable patterns of meaning, and for how they respond to changing
conditions. My work is particularly a contribution to the anthropological project of appreciating
how in many social contexts, people engage with each other in multiple ways.
Figure 1. Tourism map of the Raja Ampat islands. Source: BASUDAR
22
Waigeo Island’s West Papuan communities
While there are several distinct ethnic communities living among the islands and bays of
Raja Ampat, this dissertation focuses on interactions with settlements
primarily on and near Waigeo Island, the largest of four main islands (see Figure 1
above).
3
(Mansoben 1995; Van der
intermediaries in the exchange of natural resources for precious goods (and people) between
Moluccan Sultans, Biak raiders and people from
their living from fishing, subsistence gardening and selling selected products. The Ambel live in
gather or grow, with some trading of areca nut, sago, veggies, fish and marine animals. The
Beteo are originally from Biak-Numfor to the east, later settling on Waigeo, Batanta, Kofiau and
outer islands in the east following seasonal raids for tribute. Most lived by gardening, trading
salted fish, and working in commercial fisheries based in Sorong. The Beteo are both the most
booming eco-tourism market.
-Beser and Papuan Malay.
language with three dialects spoken on Waigeo, Salawati and Misool Islands. Ambel
-Ambel or Ambel people
(Indo: orang Ambelribed
3
-group that
speaks the
groups of Raja Ampat. However, Mabsoben, Arnold and Remijsen argue they are a separate society. For
purposes of this dissertation, Ambel refer to those people (whether self-
speak Bahasa Ambel, and who live among the seven predominantly Ambel-speaking settlements in
23
dialect of Biak, spoken on Waigeo, Batanta and Kofiau, the coral atoll of Ayau and other satellite
coast as a lingua franca (Klug 2014; Blust 2013: xxiv-xl), which is replacing many local
languages as a primary means of cross-cultural communication.
only
spoken original language among the islands, with around 4000 speakers and five dialects. There
are several other languages spoken in the area by interior-oriented human communities on the
islands of Misool and Salawati (Remijsen 2001a:14). Other languages that are not autochthonous
have become prominent due to language shift among younger speakers, population change, and
the influx of newcomers. The most important of these other languages are the Beser dialect of
-20th
century this has been largely displaced by Beser and Papuan Malay (Leeden 1993:13; cited in
Arnold 2017:16; Kamma 1957:8). Below, I describe a few key features of these communities,
focusing on how settlement patterns, marriage, and economic activities are linked to particular
ways each group conceives of and interacts with the surrounding environment.
Ma’ya
Gam
fun) Giwar, Teluk
Salawati Island (in Samate and Sailolof) and on Misool Island (at Yellu, Lilinta and Waigama).
24
-groups on Waigeo island, and several others
across the region, depending on whom you ask.
4
emphasis on the social importance of the sub-clan or gélet
5
that defines a settlement and connects
several villages together with one or more gélet from other islands. According to two elders on
Wauyai, a village of some 400 mostly Wauyai-
in the forest but now they live by the shore.
At some point these communities became entwined with the Sultanate of Tidore, who
selected representatives among coastal areas for alliance against rivals, particularly in Jailolo and
ollecting taxes or tribute
in irregular cycles in specific geographic areas. Traces of this past are found today in clan names
such as Arfan, Soltif, and Gaman, which had been surnames of raja families, and whose
descendants still play prominent roles in local government politics as elected District Heads
(camat).
have rights to specific geographic areas
marked by natural boundaries such as rivers, swamps, mountains, headlands, straits or bays.
These rights to determine resource use (hak ulayat) specify access and control to specific land
and sea zones held as common-pool resources by each community (Mansoben 1995:255). A
is less a unity of structures and more an agglomeration of one or several
gélet- from
4
Island Waige
and the Laganyan-a on Waigeo and Salawati
are Christian.
5
Gélet
to these kin networks as marga (Indo), or keret (Biak).
25
Salawati, is called pnu
importance of clan-managed territories has not.
The marriage pr
relative exposure to commercial metropoles. For instance, Islamic-oriented villages such as
Fafanlap, Salailof and Beo prefer marriage endogamy with cross-cousin marriage, while other
Ma
or islands abroad (Mansoben 1995: 246-247). Among Christian-
is variation,
particularly among Kawe-eo and Selpele where husbands live
6
Figure 2 Brideprice exchanges, Ambel wedding, Warimak, 2015
Generally, marriage exchanges (mas kawin) include negotiations between a bride and
. Exchanges of gifts between families cement reciprocal obligations along a
6
Mansoben refers to a few accounts that reflect preference for matrilocality: Haenen about the Moi
26
chain of social connections, creating a cycle of debt and future expectations. In most cases,
plateware, cloth, money for a
generator, etc. Rbring these at gifts to the s
parents (Figure 3 above).
7
They bring large porcelain plates (piring gantung) (Figure 3 above),
uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings to cover all the costs. O
-
usually take a few days, which is followed by a delay of weeks or months before the actual
ceremony to allow relatives to arrive.
Ambel (quite possibly a particular Ma’ya group)
family settlements as recently as the 1930s, with each kin network having unique relations to
their nonhuman surrounds.
8
Ambel families stayed in separate houses and would move regularly,
preferring forested areas to the shore or villages. One man from the Dawa clan in Warimak said
gélet, all Ambel families have rights to productively use their territory.
Each territory is marked by geographic features and associated with nonhuman entities who
inhabit specific places. For instance, the Nok clan speak of dragons on Nok mountain. They also
7
Discussion with Andarius Lapon, Kalitoko village, January 29, 2015.
8
Wolter Gaman, Sept 2015, Warimak.
27
have special relations with agents of the forest (mon) along the Kakit river. Along the Manibron
river, the Ansan family can speak with ancestral spirit beings.
9
Ambel households support themselves through fishing, collecting sea products, and trade
in some garden produce or sago. Each village has its own specialization: in Waifoy, women use
scoop nets to collect small shrimp, while men journey out farther to fish for larger catch. In
Lopintol, men and women gather Spanish mackerel by kerosene lamplight during a new moon.
In Kalitoko, women collect small crabs and clams, while men dive for sea cucumber. On Beo,
men lately use traps (bubu) to catch lobster for sale to merchants.
Ambel families will often travel by motorized canoe together to collect marine animals at
finding places (máncari lúl) (Arnold 2017:647). On land, families have garden sites that they
manage for a few years before clearing a new site in the forest. This creates an ecological mosaic
of secondary disturbance but maintains soil fertility. Gardens have eggplant, chilies, fruit trees,
leafy greens, sweet potatoes and corn. There are large sago patches near Kalitoko village and the
village of Go. People travel to Waisai to sell sago and areca nut, along with some produce and
fish, woven sago mats and chickens. Men head to the forest to gather wild plants, hunt pigs, cut
hardwoods or gather medicinal plants. Each Ambel village has specific areas that are off limits
because of associations with spirit beings or malevolent forces. Beyond the village space are
forests and higher up on mountain peaks loom the realm of dragons (kórben) (see Cheesman
1949). Each Ambel clan also has its own lineages of heroic ancestors (mambri), believed to be
capable of breathing fire or causing floods. People say that the giant mambri also founded
settlements and fought in tribal wars.
10
9
Clans also identify with particular geographic features. For instance, the Kein family is from Mt. Babasi
on the other side of the Unya river, whereas the Gaman family is originally from Mt. Tolon. The Wakaf
family says it originated on Mt. Waimila.
10
For instance, the Nok family tells stories of the mambri Beten and his younger brother Walimao.
28
Figure 3 Bush houses of Dawa family behind Warimak, Waigeo, 2014
The Ambel believe there is a world beyond what people can see marked by boundary
stones, shells or rivers that divides human from non-human places Entering into these realms
requires caution, and a guide from the right gélet, or one is vulnerable to being eaten by
cannibalistic witches (kábyo - Ambel, suanggi - Indo.) or bitten by a poisonous animal. Forest
spirits (mútum or mon) must be placated with offerings (kakes) of cigarettes, areca nut, sago and
spoken requests from intermediaries (sadaká) before embarking on any treks into interior parts
of Waigeo (Arnold 2017:648). Ambel informants say that the mon inhabit primary forest, caves,
natural springs or trees. They are generally tolerant but sometimes annoyed with human
meddling, inappropriate talk or if their area is disrespected. While they are generally unseen they
can also manifest as serpents, spiders, birds, crocodile or a wild boar. They are believed to cause
gamú). Areas where they live tend to be especially biodiverse, resource-rich zones. Only
a member of the gélet associated with a mon zone can intercede for outsiders: these relations
29
the nonhuman world.
The Ambel converted to Christianity in the 1930s when an evangelist teacher arrived to
Lainsok. People say that since the gospel arrived (injil masuk), the power of the mambri went
away, the suanggi no longer walked as men during the day, and clans made oaths to support and
defend one another. Christianity brought several transformations, including changes in residence
patterns, clothing, bodily comportment, norms of sociability, work and time reckoning. For
instance, these days most Ambel people live in organized village settlements with a church,
school, and kiosk or two. However, villages tend to be deserted during the day, with most people
out fishing, tending to their gardens or staying in bush houses with their families (Figure 4
above). People still produce sago for sale to Beteo people and at the Waisai markets (Figure 5).
Illegal logging has become a source of significant concern in Ambel communities, though some
families are happy to sell valuable hardwoods to outsiders. Some Ambel are working with
environmental groups such as Flora and Fauna International (FFI) to improve agricultural
practices, and to support eco-tourism given the boom elsewhere.
Most informants said that the Ambel people
but with the same values, the same ideals and the same character: quiet and reserved, preferring
.
be suspicious of others, guarding the secrets of the mon places. These characteristics contrast
with the Beteo who are much more assertive or with entrepreneurial Bugis or Manadonese
traders who dominate the shops of Waisai. Yet the Ambel are proud of their stewardship of the
land. Similar to other West Papuans, many dream of stronger ties to Westerners, greater respect
30
for their land rights and political independence. I will discuss current efforts of Ambel to protect
forests in Chapter Five.
Figure 4
Beteo
The Beteo are the most numerous ethnolinguistic group in Raja Ampat. Most Beteo
differentiate themselves from Biak people as one of several sub-groups or as a separate society.
11
They have lived here since at least the 18th century (Ploeg 2002:79; Huitzinga 1998), perhaps as
early at the 15th (see Kamma 1948:365). Beteo families arrived on large canoes (karures)
westward across the north coast of the Birds Head Peninsula and established coconut reserves
on outer islands near Waigeo. Widely known as sea pirates, (bajak laut) or enforcers of Tidore,
11
There are around twelve Biak sub-groups, of which the Beteo, Usbah, Wardo, Sopen and Souek are
associated with Raja Ampat. Wardo families live in east and north of Waigeo, and on Numfor; Usba live
in north Waigeo; Beteo predominate in southern Waigeo, Kofiau and near Misool. Other classifications of
the Biak differentiate Biak-Numfor, Biak Superiori, Biak Doreri, Biak Karon, and then Biak Raja Ampat.
There are also related dialects: Beser (Beteo dialect), Biak Wardo and Biak Usba. Yakoneas Wanme,
Saporkren, Sept. 2, 2015; discussion with Simon Antonius Yapen. Jan 3, 2015, Kalitoko village,
.
31
they later became important traders, employees of commercial fishing companies, and more
recently, pioneers of village-based marine tourism. Some say that the Beteo first arrived at
Island in Kabui Bay.
12
A Biak clan (keretves its name
divided between original inhabitants or free people (manseren), newcomers under the authority
of clan (keret) elders of a community, and slaves (Indo: budak; Biak: women, or manfanwan).
Leaders emerged based on their achievements rather than due to family lineages. One key
called
manibob. This is a situation where two people from different places engage in delayed exchange:
one person sells certain valuable goods to another but does not demand full payment. He later
calls in the debt in a time of need: a drought, a time of war, or perhaps to assist with building a
homestay resort.
The reciprocal nature of these interactions encourages relatives of both sides to marry.
Those who benefit from these interactions enhance their prestige, which in turn raises the renown
of their families. Within a family, the keret would be made of family groupings (sim), associated
with a clan house (rumsom) big enough to store war canoes, and up to four generations of
relatives. Since the mid 20th century, most Biak families build houses for their immediate
relatives, clustered in houses and places associated with their clan. This is still a key pattern of
Beteo residence: for instance, in Saporkren village, the Dimara, Sauyai and Mambrasar live in
large family compounds with their wives, children and other relatives.
12
Onis Sauyai, Saporken, Sept 1, 2015.
32
In most Biak villages, wives lived with their husbands and children in family clusters
called mnu. Each mnu settlement has certain territories with clear natural boundaries such as
hills, mountains, rivers, headlands, large trees or other natural borders. A mnu territory
encompasses cultivated and uncultivated land: forest reserves (karmggu), fallow gardens (yapur
or maures), the sago stands (serdan) and new garden plots (yaf) are part of this human-
environment mosaic. As compared with other Melanesian societies in Asia-Pacific including the
Solomon Islands (see Hviding 1996), clan-managed zones extend from land to sea. A Biak mnu
extends outward past a shoreline to include marked fishing sites, bays and lagoons (bosen
raswan). Boundaries are marked by a headland or a prominent geographic feature, such as a
rock, creek, reef or inlet. Such concepts provide a blueprint for how the Beteo perceive land and
; a freshwater spring located on the Mambrasar
;
Throughout Raja Ampat, the first arrivals to a place tend to be have greater rights over
land and sea resources than those who come afterward. Similarly, in each mnu, the family that
first developed a garden site, coconut grove, or built a house can claim rights to compensation
for use of forest products, hunting, gardening, fishing or collecting marine animals. If a person
wants to open a garden in a location that is property of another, then he or she must request
permission from the owner. Through marriage alliance, the passage of time and collective
recognition of prior claims, use rights can eventually become ownership claims. These issues
have become more important as encroaching tourism developments have led to several inter-
village conflicts over who really owns what. In the past disputes would be resolved by a village
counsel (kainkain karkara mnu (Biak) or dewan kampung (Indo)) that discussed key issues with
settlement leaders.
33
At the core of Biak social relations is the connection between cross-siblings. The
intimacy of this bond is reflected in a traditional initiation ceremony called war k’bor. During
event marks the intimacy and estrangement between them, reconciled in future generations
through gifts and exchanges (Rutherford 1998:267). Sisters transform perishable resources into
more lasting forms of value in the form of offspring that gain fame and reputation as civil
servants working in cities, or travelers who bring goods from abroad back home.
On Waigeo, Beteo marriage begins with engagement and negotiation of bride price
payments with family members (peminangan: Indo; fakfuken:
marriage, bride price (ararem) tends to include precious goods from elsewhere, in turn becoming
vessels for foreign-acquired wealth which they later turn into value in the form of offspring who
amberkeret) contribute to the
marriage gifts (pakian nikah): cash, clothing, plates, outboard motors, cookware.
13
There is
typically a church gathering followed by a large reception marked by competitive gift exchanges
accompanied by processions, line dancing (yospan) and joking.
These descriptions provide a general overview of three communities living on Waigeo
Isl
territorial family kin groups as key to managing land and sea resources and as a basic social unit
rajas or hierarchical social
strata, they still recognize people with lineages to the raja clans. While today most are Christian
or Muslim, many still regard the origin stories as true. Likewise, the Ambel people no longer live
13
Typically, thirty piring gantung (large, ancient plates) are given to the family bought in Sorong at
special shops or heirlooms. One plate costs between IDR 80,000 or up to several million IDR for older
versions. Other family members bring other gifts plate sets, ceremonial food, textiles, housewares,
furniture.
34
in the forests but maintain strong connections to nonhuman forces of the interior. While most
village life becomes stifling (compare Stasch 2013). The Beteo are no longer pirates but still
foreign lands where they bringing back goods, brides or ideas from elsewhere (Rutherford 2003,
2012). Beteo women in turn play a key role in channeling the resources gathered by sea-oriented
men into durable forms of value at home nurturing future generations or by managing tourism
homestays.
It is important to note that these groups are not isolated from one another but are linked
together through trade, marriage and common interests. The settlement of Waisai town by
Indonesians from other islands has led each group to reflect on who they are, and who they want
to be. This has forced a gradual change in thinking about the unit of society here: from kin group
to clan networks, ethnic group to a composite society that must contend with an influx of non-
Melanesian populations to their shores.
Chapter Overview
Chapter One
It provides an overview of Papuan and Austronesian-speaking societies living across the islands.
Throughout the chapter, I argue that society in Raja Ampat has been shaped by encounter with
others, and that such layers of encounter provide a basis for ethical interactions that entail sorting
out different sets of values. I reveal how origin stories of the autochthonous people index
the fundamentally relational character of their social lives they map out a social cosmology of
links with different groups from far-away places.
35
In Chapter Two, I summarize trends in environmental protection in Indonesia before
framing the emergence of marine protection efforts in Raja Ampat in the 2000s. I emphasize how
different values motivate different types of space and place-based resource oversight, with
different stakes involved for the people who support them. I then discuss the institution known as
sasi as a type of seasonal harvest prohibition and gear restriction practice observed in several
maritime societies in eastern Indonesia (Zerner 1994; McLeod et al. 2009). Near Waigeo island,
sasi is a genre of locally-inflected conservation. It is
that risks stereotyping indigenous people as ecological stewards by distancing the political-
economic and historical complications that have led to its arrival.
In order to mitigate unintentionally reproducing this type of argument, I highlight two
distinct forms of sasi sasi gereja, a type of
Christian village-based resource protection common in Beteo areas and sasi mon, a set of clan-
beings that must be managed to ensure humans do not tip the balance of nature against them.
Some see village-based forms of governance as key: adapting place-specific seasonal resource
prohibitions to mitigate threats. Together with NGO-initiated protected areas, these types of
conservation are interlinked throughout Raja Ampat. They may have radically different goals but
together may constitute a composite approach to adaptive governance rather than inherently
conflicting set of practices or norms.
In Chapter Three I evaluate how ecotourism is changing Beteo and
everyday interactions with each other, particularly in terms of everyday labor activity and their
appraisal of relations with nonhuman places and species. The increased commodification of
nature has catalyzed disputes between clans and communities over land rights. I begin with a
36
case of misrecognition emergence. In the late 1990s, Beteo villagers from
Kurkapa and Yenbuba thought that Dutch entrepreneur Max Ammer was an avatar of the Biak
culture hero Manarmakeri, believed to be a sign of a time when foreigners and locals will
become one. I review a few key elements of eco-tourism, then describe the emergence of a West
Papuan-initiated homestay tourism market. I then highlight a few conversations with visitors
before discussing how tourism in particular island zones is leading to the development of new
values of money but also of time, civic institutions and democratic participation.
In Chapter Four I focus on values in circulation, through an ethnographic description of a
two-week voyage from November to Dec 2014. -
Pelindung Raja Ampat) to over
a dozen West Papuan villages as a way to encourage greater local participation in environmental
conservation projects. The tour also broadcast a set of specific messages about why biodiversity
is relevant to their lives, the importance of taking care of reefs, managing waste and for
preventing destructive fishing. I contend that the Kalabia conservation tour is an ethnographic
context for showing how human-environment relations are represented, produced and refracted.
Through presenting human-ecological dialogues in circulation, I identify elements of socially
distributed polysemy.
conservation encounters, I evaluate the receptivity of conservationist messages among audiences
who gathered to watch evening screenings of Guardians of Raja Ampat by evaluating talk
from post-show discussions, individual interviews and group interactions.
In Chapter Five, I focus on conflict, misunderstanding and moral transgression that arose
from conservation and tourism initiatives in northern Raja Ampat over a five-year period from
2010-2015. I first identify emic categories of immoral or transgressive forces through an
37
examination of nonhuman entities that reflect anxieties people have about social relations. I
discuss how figures of alterity cannibal witches, sorcerers and ambivalent spirits reveal
uncertainty about prospects for social interaction in a context where strangers are regularly
coming and going. These beings of ambivalent value are associated with specific places. I argue
that the juxtaposition of virtuous human realms from opaque nonhuman domains has
implications for cross-cultural ethical engagements over resources.
I then turn to etic or external instances of moral breakdown. I highlight
misunderstandings about conservation and tourism between different groups to argue that
failures can be productive for an appraisal of values in conflict. I examine a selection of human-
environment conflicts between resident communities and nonlocal actors: a dispute over
compensation from tourist revenues on the uninhabited Wayag islands; the ransom of a
speedboat in exchange for compensation from conservationists on Waigeo; disputes about illegal
logging and mining activities; and rumors of the theft of birds in Kalitoko village.
Across these cases, I show how these misunderstandings are about asymmetrical notions
of proper relations between people and nature. They are situations where different values come
into conflict or do not align smoothly. The resolution of some conflicts indicates how differing
normative concepts of what is correct what ought to happen with nonhuman surrounds can be
In the concluding section, I evaluate the potential for diverse groups to identify
equivalent values about resource protection. Across the dissertation, I describe instances where
conservation and ecotourism have become key domains through which Melanesians are
attempting to chart their own course ahead, at a time of socio-economic and ecological change.
38
Chapter 1. Fluid relations on West Papua
“To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the ships,
with men in them, What stranger miracles are there?” – Walt Whitman
Conversations have a way of taking their own course, particularly among those who
make a living by the sea. During a discussion with Yohanes Gaman in the coastal town of
environmental NGOs and conservation to arrive at a discussion of origins. Yohanes said that
strangers. But they have contemporary resonance: mythic histories provide heroic texts for
imagining better futures.
With his stepfather Henky, a longtime informant of anthropologist Alex van der Leeden
who recorded stories about Raja Ampat in the 1970s, we disentangled a legendary tale about the
emerged from numinous eggs at a forested spot on Waigeo, one of the four main islands in the
Raja Ampat, the islands of the four (Indo: empat) rajas. At one level, it is a story of migration
and ethnogenesis of the island peoples of Raja Ampat, as well as their connections to empires of
trade from Moluccan Sultans and Dutch merchants to marauding raiders. But more broadly,
versions of this epic tale also reveal hopes among West Papuans for rekindled relations with
outsiders on their journey to improved fortunes against a backdrop of ongoing political and
social marginalization.
orward: five brothers
and one sister arose from mysterious eggs, each leaving their home for other islands elsewhere:
39
across the Banda sea, echoing histories of raid and trade in seas at the juncture of Austronesia
and Melanesia (Ellen 2003). But these are not mere echoes: the last of the eggs, now a stone,
remains at a purposely built shrine up the Wawage river at Kaliraja several hours journey into
Some say the place is associated with the grave of Gurabesi, a Biak vassal to the Sultan of
Tidore. The intermingling of other heroes from the Biak islands far to the east of Raja Ampat is
from elsewhere.
Yohanes said that the remaining stone egg will one day break open, signaling the return of
along with their Western brothers, who will remember their Papuan roots. This will herald the
end of the old world, which will be shed like the scabrous skin of Manarmakeri, a messianic
Biak figure who some believe will reveal a new era when foreigners will come to live alongside
the Papuan people.
ions in Raja Ampat
and beyond
-Aru seas are paradigmatically fluid. In coastal West Papua
and many other maritime-oriented places, accounts o
inter-island marriage exchanges, emergent hierarchies, warfare and religious conversion have
contributed to particular geographic, linguistic, material and ideological ways that people relate
to one another in Raja Ampat. Such shifting patterns of interaction have long defined the
40
contours of kinship, mapped spaces of intersubjective belonging and challenged the opposition
of stranger from local.
These historical antecedents have modern resonance. Since 1969, many West Papuans
have suffered from economic deprivation and political subjugation by Indonesian authorities.
Extractive benefits flowed to metropolitan centers while residents received little. In Raja Ampat,
companies extracted nickel on Gag island, logged hardwoods on Waigeo, developed oil palm on
Salawati and depleted anchovy and sardine stocks by the 1990s. Attempts to demand a fair share
from commercial resource activities have been suppressed by police and military forces. Yet
despite such challenges, many West Papuans speak hopefully of a future when they can have
greater local control over reefs and forests. Since the 2000s, several villages have joined forces
with environmental organizations to promote conservation, in part by adapting forms of seasonal
resource prohibitions called sasi
14
to marine protected areas or forest reserves initiated by
international environmental groups or government agencies. Near Waigeo
Beteo communities hope to gain economic benefits from eco-tourism programs. By linking the
story of the sacred eggs to contemporary struggles for recognition, Yohanes highlights how myth
provides a map for the possibility of different re
encounter with others, and that such layers of encounter provide a basis for ethical interactions
that entail sorting out different sets of values. I reveal how origin stories of the autochthonous
they map out a
social cosmology of links with different groups, from far-away places. This other-oriented
14
All italicized words in this thesis refer to concepts or names for approximate English translations from
Standard Indonesian or Papuan Malay, unless otherwise specified in the text.
41
sociality is not unique to Raja Ampat, but is a theme in ethnographic literature across the eastern
half of Indonesia into Papua New Guinea (Stasch 2009, 2014, 2016; Timmer 2000; Slama and
Munro 2015; Rutherford 2003, 2012).
communities is not only heard in old stories told by aging men but is echoed in the present in
contemporary struggles among a new generation to make sense of transmigrant settlers from
Java, conservation scientists and tourists. The recognition of difference across Raja Ampat can
linked to other narratives, such as the arrival of the gospel (injil masuk) near Manokwari in 1855.
It is mirrored in ways Melanesian societies in other parts of Indonesian New Guinea have
interpreted the arrival of charismatic outsiders as messianic figures in the hopes of bringing
about new types of relations whether with other West Papuan groups, long-lost Dutch kin or
people sympathetic to aspirations of a free and independent West Papuan nation.
The islands of Raja Ampat at the crossroads of currents, a juncture of worlds
The Raja Ampat Islands are an archipelago within an archipelago, a region of islands and
15
(Palomares et al. 2007;
McKenna et al., 2002). The major islands are Waigeo, Salawati, Batanta and Misool, along with
many smaller islets of limestone, coral and atolls.
16
Raja Ampat is also a political unit or
Regency (kabupaten), with seventeen subdistricts (kecamatan) and a population of around
15
https://rajaampatkab.bps.go.id/linkTableDinamis/view/id/20, Accessed 20 April 2018.
16
boundary definition of the Raja Ampat islands includes the peripheral islands of Sayang in the north and
Gag, Kofiau and the Bambu Islands to the west, but specifically excludes the Ayu and Asia Islands to the
42
50,000 living in 89 villages and the town of Waisai, with around 9,000 residents.
17
The region
has historically been sparsely populated but is experiencing a rapid influx of arrivals from Java
and Sulawesi island. Outside of Waisai town most people live in villages of several dozen to a
few hundred people, where they speak a Halmahera-West New Guinea language Beser, Ambel,
alongside Papuan Malay (Kamholtz 2014).
The Raja Ampat islands are situated in between maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania at
the meeting point of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
18
It is a zone with a long history of human
settlement and contact. The islands are a biogeographical seascape of very high species diversity
and endemism that arises from oceanographic, climatic and geological factors (Figure 5 below;
see Polhemus 2007).
17
https://rajaampatkab.bps.go.id/linkTableDinamis/view/id/44, Accessed 20 April 2018.
18
moves water from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. There are variations in current flows from ENSO
events and monsoons: from November to March, a northwestern monsoon brings warm sea surface
temperatures, and from May to October, southern winds and swells predominate, with cooler sea
temperatures (Mangubhai et al. 2012:2280).
43
Figure 5 Main oceanographic currents during the monsoons in Eastern Indonesia. Source: Mangubhai et
al. 2012
physical environment includes reef habitats, mangrove fringed coastlines,
serrated karst hills, and deep channels that provide critical habitat to sea turtles, corals, sharks,
manta rays, tropical birds and mammals (Mangubhai et al. 2012; Green and Mous 2008). The
islands off western New Guinea are part of a Papuan microcontinent that broke off from
Gondwana during the Mesozoic era (Hall 1998). Waigeo island the largest island and the main
fieldwork location extends from 125 km east-west and 50 km north-south. The island is
divided in the middle by a deep lagoon known as libit Bay that opens to the south.
19
The
long isolation of these islands from the New Guinea mainland may partially explain the high
19
Waigeo is comprised of tertiary oceanic basaltic rocks overlaid with limestones that forms part of the
East Halmahera-Waigeo Ophiolite terrane (Webb 2002). The ultrabasic and limestone substrates are
reflected in surface nickel deposits, mushroom-shaped karst islets, jagged craggy interior highlands of
Samlor (1000m) and Nok (670m) mountains.
44
number of unique species such as the Waigeo mal-of-paradise and the
relative absence of cassowaries.
Figure 6 Karst islets near Misool, 2014
The ecological mosaics of Raja Ampat are mostly New Guinea lowland forest habitats,
which include sub-montane, upland, lowland and alluvial forests, more clearly defined when
encountering karst or volcanic soils (Takeguchi 2003). The most common forest ecosystem on
Waigeo is lowland forest on acid volcanic and weathered soils characterized by primary forest
species (Webb 2002). Lowland areas along rivers contain mangrove patches, sago swamps and
beach forests.
Human settlement in Raja Ampat is a story of island voyaging and dispersal (Wright et
al. 2013; Donohue and Dehman 2015; Wollstein et al 2010). Genetic and archeological studies
describe how people traveled across the Sunda strait into Sahul (an area that encompasses New
Guinea and Australia) between 32-40,000 years ago 5).
20
Austronesian-speaking groups dispersed from Formosa (now Taiwan) sometime between 4,500-
5,500 years ago (Blust 2013:750), heading south through the Philippines and then across the
20
Researchers have proposed a southern and northern route for early settlement. The northern way to
ninsula through Raja Ampat. Evidence from Gebe, an
island to the west of Waigeo, identified human settlement at 32,000 BP, perhaps earlier (Bellwood
2007:187).
45
islands of Southeast Asia, west and east. Evidence suggests that Austronesian languages have
been spoken in Raja Ampat for at least 3,500 years.
As origin stories reveal, people who call Raja Ampat home are at a crossroads of ocean
currents, trade circuits and politics (Van der Leeden 1989; Kamma 1972:8). Over the last 500
years, regional interactions between island societies from the Moluccan Islands, Aru, the Raja
Ampat, and coastal New Guinea have shaped a socio-political seascape marked by trade,
alliance, and competition over controlling natural resources (Ellen 2003). Beginning in the 16th
century, the search for luxury trade goods, especially gold, spices, Bird-of-paradise feathers,
aromatic tree resins and marine products brought merchants from Java, the Middle East and
Europe to develop commercial links and nascent empires with power brokers from the Moluccan
Islands immediately west of Raja Ampat (Goodman 1998: 421,433,446; see also Andaya
1993:53-
address for eminent local leaders, such as raja (prince) and orang kaya (wealthy person) (Ellen
1986:55).
21
European travelogues also emphasized the importance of commercial transactions to the
formation of regional trading dynasties (Goodman 1998; Ploeg 2002). For instance, Portuguese
explorer Miguel Roxo de Brito wrote of his travels with the Raja of Waigeo in 1581-2, the seas
full of raiding parties on kora-kora war canoes and feuds with a piratical king on Misool. Other
voyagers who passed through the area between included English captain Thomas Forrest, the
naturalists Louis-Claude de Freycinet, Pieter Bleeker and Alfred Russel Wallace, who described
a several month stay on Waigeo in The Malay Archipelago (Palomares et al. 2007).
21
Malay was the official and de facto colonial-era lingua franca across the Dutch East Indies.
46
The search for luxury trade goods gold, plumes, aromatic tree barks and resins, spices,
marine products brought merchants from Java, the Middle East, and Europe to develop
commercial links here. But most of the population originated from other places in what is today
the easternmost provinces of Indonesia. From the 1960s to the present, Raja Ampat has
experienced a demographic shift with the arrival of transmigrants from Java, Madura and
Sulawesi, more heavily populated and economically intensified areas of central or western
Indonesia.
Today, locally
particularly with Biak Island in the east and to the Sultan of Tidore in the west (Heanen 1998;
Kamma 1972:8).
22
The few anthropologists who have conducted research in coastal West Papua
have confirmed the importance of foreign adoption, spatial mobility and intercultural
entanglement as common themes among seaward-oriented groups here, long after the tides of
history have washed away connections to Moluccan Sultans or Dutch Regents (Ploeg 2002:89;
Heanen 1998:338; Rutherford 2009:6).
23
For instance, the circulation of imported textiles known
as kain timur (after their origin from Timor and surrounding islands) as marriage gifts and
porcelain plates from China remain important to societies in the region (Timmer 2011). As
22
Leeden 1987; Remijsen, personal communication).
23
The reach of Austronesian languages to northwestern New Guinea is mirrored in the eastward drift of
cultural values reflected in the origin stories and social stratification associated with people in other areas
of Indonesia rather than New Guinea (compare Barnes 1962; Sahlins 1963). Societies throughout the
region known as Maluku (seascape of islands from northwest New Guinea, the Moluccan Islands, and
Seram and Aru in the Arafura Sea) emphasize the importance of foreign-born rulers, the social
significance of the number four in origin stories, ancestors who interpreted signs from animals or other
material things as possessing supernatural qualities that led to the emergence of distinct clans,
complementary dualisms and patterns of marriage alliance with people from other places.
47
distinct from de
such as textiles for
bridewealth was the norm (Miedema 1998:338).
Similar patterns have been reported among kin-based trade networks in east Seram (Ellen
Friedman 1994:33) associated with a type of relational governance
called sosolot
(Goodman 2006:10). Timo Kaartinen highlights how such pasts have had lasting effects on
appraisal of their place in the world. For instance, among the Bandenese of Kei
desire and
disavowal of kin common among seafarers (Kaartinen 2014:233).
Given such a frame, it is perhaps unsurprising that ethnographic accounts have
emphasized the importance of relations with strangers both within and across social orders
for making sense of social relations in West Papua (Bubandt 2014; Rutherford 2012; Stasch
Van der Leeden posited
present
Van
der Leeden 1987:9). In a related way, Danilyn Rutherford (2003) describes how the maintenance
of long-distance trade networks is central to Biak concepts of identity, achievement and value.
We shall see how these themes are resonant in contemporary engagements with marine
management and tourism.
48
Figure 7 Outrigger canoe, Waigeo Island, 2014
Myth as map: cosmogonic origins of raiding peoples
The myths of the Raja Ampat peoples are moral tales of voyages, and maps. They reveal
moral coordinates that establish hierarchical relations of geographic places with spatial links
emanating outward from places of cultural and historical significance to island communities
elsewhere. For instance, one recurring story charts the origins of the four raja lineages of Raja
Ampat. There are different versions of this foundational myth. Yet a comparison of several
versions highlights similar themes, characters and outcomes that assist with mapping out the
present-
version of the story reported by Leonard Andaya from a 16th century travel record:
Before the arrival of Islam, Ternate and Tidore were constantly at war with one
another. The ruler of Tidore, Sultan Mansur, thus summoned the Sangaji Patani
Sahmardan to ask him whether there was any man in his village or in neighboring
areas who was brave, strong, and able to assist him against the Ternatens.
Sahmardan promised to seek such a person, and so he traveled through the islands
49
and reached Waigeu. At a place called Kabu he met the Kapita Waigeu named
Gurabesi. When Gurabesi was informed of the search and the prospects of the
individual receiving from the Tidore ruler special clothes to mark the occasion of
his new official position, he asked permission to hold the clothes for a few
moments.
He took the clothes, kissed them, and raised them above his head as a sign of
respect for the Sultan Tidore. Gurabesi then summoned his men and traveled to
the Tidore court where they were greeted by the ruler and hosted to a feast in their
honor. Gurabesi offered his services to the ruler and was rewarded with a suit of
daughter, Boki Taebah, for his wife. They later returned to Waigeu to live.
After ten years had passed, the ruler of Tidore began to wonder what had
become of his child. At the time he was dissatisfied with the small size of his
kingdom and the few subjects which he possessed. These two factors encouraged
him to undertake an expedition to the east. He went to Patani, Gebe, and the Raja
Ampat Islands. At Waigeu he again met Gurabesi and they, along with the
Sangaji Patani and the large following which the ruler had gathered at each place,
went to the New Guinea mainland. Wherever the ruler stopped, he selected
individuals to be his officials with titles of sangaji, gimalaha, and so forth. On the
return trip the expedition again stopped at Waigeu, where the ruler made his four
male grandchildren the rulers of Waigeu, Salawati, Waigama, and Misool.
[Andaya 1993:105-106].
In the excerpt above, Gurabesi, a warrior (mambri) from Biak, travels to Tidore island to
the west where he becomes a vassal to the reigning sultan. The Sultan of Tidore gives Gurabesi
special clothing which infuses him with spiritual qualities. Following successful war raids, he
marries the Sul
four boys who become the rulers of Raja Ampat. The fragment above can be linked to two other
narratives one collected by Alex van der Leeden at Samate on Salawati island in the 1970s, and
another I recorded in 2015 at Kaliraja on Waigeo Island. By comparing three variations of the
social world. Below is a fragment of an origin story, told to Alex van der
Gaman family on Salawati Island in the late 1970s:
Once upon a time there was a man by the name of Alyab, who with his wife
Boki Deni lived and kept a garden near the Wawage River and Wauyai in South
50
Waigeo. They had a bem tree in their garden. (Its bark is used for making bark
clothes). The couple worked every day in the garden.
One day Boki Deni went alone to the garden. She found seven eggs lying on
the ground under the bem tree. She told her husband about it. The two of them
went back to the garden to collect the eggs. Alyab then suggested to eat the eggs
but Boki Deni prevented this. The eggs were put on a plate (of old porcelain) and
kept in a room, surrounded by a curtain.
One evening after a week the couple heard a noise coming from the room. One
of the eggs had come out as a human being. One after the other five more eggs
also came out as human beings. Only the seventh egg did not come out in this
way. It became a stone and it still lies on its original place. The place is near the
Wawage River.
The one who turned into a stone told his siblings that it was their destiny to
From his human siblings who had come out of the six other eggs, the first one
was to become Fun Giwar, raja of Waigeo. The second one, Fun Tusan, was
destined to go to Salawati. The third one was Fun Mustari of South Misol. The
fourth one was Fun Kilimuri who was to go to South Seram. The fifth one was
Fun Sem, but it is not known where he went (for he became a spirit). The sixth
one was the only woman, Pin Take.
Pin Take evoked the wrath of her brothers when she became pregnant (without
being married). For this reason Pin Take was expelled, drifting at sea in a bem syu
wak (a porcelain basin or tureen in the shape of a boat). Pin Take drifted by the
Numfor. There she was met by a man [known as Manarmakeri] who took Pin
Take with him to stay in his house. After some time Pin Take gave birth to a son.
He was given the name of Gurabesi.
24
felt sure he still had uncles. He went to the beach and drew a picture of a boat
there will be a boat to pick me up and bri
afterwards there was a boat waiting for him. Gurabesi departed and sailed to
Cassowary he crossed the sea to Waigeo. At Waigeo he met his uncle Fun Giwar
However, Fun Giwar and Mereksopen were about to leave for Tidore. There
was a war going on between Tidore and Ternate, and the sultan of Tidore needed
assistance. Gurabesi, too, wanted to be of service to the sultan, so he joined Fun
Giwar and Mereksopen. On Tidore he requested to be put in a cannon and to be
24
the Cenderawasih Bay), Gurabesi would be of Biak descent. This is incorrect, however, for Pin Take had
left Waigeo in the state of pregnancy. Another story has it that Pin Take broke everything she got in her
51
defense and defeated the enemy in a fight.
For winning the war the sultan of Tidore first offered Gurabesi a reward of
gold and other goods of value, but these were not accepted by Gurabesi. The
sultan then offered his sister Boki Taiba in marriage. Gurabesi accepted this offer.
Van der Leeden writes that the symbolism of Boki Taiba breaking dishes may relate to
breaking the incest taboo, which may have explained why she was sent away. The story provides
an overview of inter-
voyage to Halmahera Island where he became a vassal to the Sultan of Tidore. He points out that
this story, along with two other fragments, sketches out a mythological atlas that connects Biak
to Raja Ampat and Tidore east to west. Additional tales provide coordinates north to south
between Waigeo and Seram.
But this is also a tale of politics: Van der Leeden also interprets the strange birth of the
Rajas from eggs as a sign of legitimation of the political authority of their descendants and
representatives in far-flung coastal communities, reinforced by yearly tribute (see
Van der Leeden 1987:6-8). He argues that the story plots a geographic axis in western Waigeo
Island centered at the secluded shrine at Kaliraja where the last Raja in the form of a large
round stone awaits a time of political rebirth. Both Van der Leeden and Andaya indicate that
the Raja Ampat origin story can be traced beyond maritime Asia to India, where stories of divine
kings born from serpents (or naga) feature prominently (Andaya 1993:108-109).
to the Kaliraja shrine in September 2015. Along with the elected village head of Saporkren and
adat leaders from Wauyai village allowed access and guided us to the
shrine of Kaliraja. The trip departed from Saporkren village, up through Kabui Bay past karst
hills near Wauyai village to the Wawage river. We entered a mangrove forest on a motorized
52
wooden boat to
large whitish stone lays wrapped in cloth (see Figure 9 below)
consider to be the physical embodiment of the last raja. During a downpour one of the elder men
from Wauyai told his version of the story, which I have translated here from Papuan Malay:
This history begins here in Wauyai. Near here were two parents, a husband and
wife. One day there were gardening, preparing and clearing the land. He later
came across seven large eggs. He gathered them, as he did not see the bird who
ght the eggs back to their
house. They were placed inside a crevice like a cave where they remained. The
next day, they heard a human voice inside. One had already hatched and had a
human voice! One by one, others were born, on Tuesday, Wednesday until
Sat
hatch. It is it now here: it is the one who remained. So six eggs hatched, while the
they were seven
people who wanted to meet with their parents; they wanted to come out, but they
were afraid.
They wanted to return to their earlier forms, so that none would be afraid. But
the man and his wife took them and cared for them... Thus the six hatched eggs
became people and they stayed there until they were all adults, when they left to
establish villages. There is one village by the sea, a village of the rajas, over there
in the sea.
25
They all lived there until one day a great argument occurred with the turtle
people. The people gathered them in the wrong way. Someone speared a turtle
without getting permission from the village head. They killed it wrongly, and so a
conflict arose between them. There was a conflict there, and so they spread out.
Some headed to Misool, some went to Salawati, while others went to Seram
The first of the rajas to depart made his home in Maumes. He was known as
and he
had power over libit Bay all the way to Salio [in West Waigeo]. The Raja
Salawati had power in Waiwiyai all the way to Selpele [on Waigeo]. So we are
four tribes among these Waigeo islands, though we have slightly different
histories. And the four keys to the history of Raja Ampat are not here anymore.
They were [originally] from here. It is like that. So they already spread out, they
left and one went to Salawati, there is one in Misool, there is another in Seram
Kilimuri, and also a woman who
There were five young men who left from here with Raja Kilimuri. Raja
Kilimuri left angrily remarking that after leaving:
Island rising, it is no longer visible. I went voyaging far out until I could no longer
25
This village is most likely Manyaifun, a small populated island to the west of Waigeo Island.
53
could no longer return to Waigeo Island. They could no longer return to Waigeo
safely. They would all be killed.
And the six people that I mentioned earlier, these six people who left from
There is a settlement I mentioned k
stayed, before a conflict scattered them all. Pin Take went all the way to Biak, to
the ninth village. Suddenly she heard a voice, just over there. And Pin Take joined
a man there, in a Biak village near the shore. And there she stayed until she gave
birth to a son, Gurabesi.
want to go and find my ances
away! You will see that they live in a place far from here! Do not leave from here.
want him to travel far, far from he
departed, though she told him not to go. He set sail, until he reached a passage
between two mountains. He looked until he saw the island of Peledi where he
believed his kin would be found behind. To Peledi island he came from Biak,
strait on until he spent a night on Mioskun Island. In the morning, he navigated
26
From there he traveled onward until he met with his relatives. He lingered for
Sultan Tidore. He left and became acquainted with the kingdom of Tidore. Sultan
Tidore was feuding with Sultan Jailolo, so after one afternoon, he put his anchor
in the harbor. He docked at the harbor until the morning the Sultan had his deputy
ba
until the Sultan entered into alliance with him.
asks of me. Should I remain besides the Sul
it to set sail. He prepared for war. He put everything needed inside, after hearing
that a war had begun. So off he went. He heard tha
place, but Gurabesi was still waiting on his boat. He heard a voice from the land
disembarked from his ship he sat on a cannon and a cannonball shot him to a
place named Temuran. And there he fought until it was all over.
At the end, Raja Sultan rewarded Gurabesi with a seat at his side, but
He looked over
his possessions until finally Raja Sultan gave his daughter named Boki Taiba.
child. Gurabesi had a great power, but it turns out that she did not.] Gurabesi and
26
According to one informant, this may refer to Gag island.
54
Boki Taiba were married. Later, Gurabesi and Bok Taiba left from Sultan Tidore
Indo: nikmat).
So the history of the islands of Waigeo is a story of four historical keys from
here. All speak of the collective, original history but the keys are mine to hold.
They are here. There are two villages of the Kawe people Saleo and Selpele,
and several associated settlements. They also have histories that are there.
Each of these fragments, despite some notable differences, highlights themes important to
how people from Raja Ampat think of themselves in relation to the wider world (Remijsen
2001:165). Firstly, the emergence of the four kings from eggs on Waigeo provides for a
supernatural link between men and nonhuman beings of either the sky or earth. Many
Austronesian origin stories begin this way, with other-than-human mediating figures providing
individuals with legitimacy and power. Secondly, the hereditary titles for each of the rajadoms of
Waigeo, Salawati, Misool and Waiagama (or Seram Kilimuri) linked to particular geographic
sites. While dispersed across the archipelago, each raja lineage is connected to each another by
marriage ties, anchored by the presence of the remaining stone egg at Kaliraja: a source of
12). As the
recognized by communities and upheld as historical truth.
55
Figure 8 The Four Rajadoms of Raja Ampat. Adapted from Mansoben (1995)
Each of the three narratives charts a geographic map of Raja Ampat by linking the
voyages of the rajas, and later of Gurabesi, to other island communities (Figure 8 above). It is
important that the first account people have of Waigeo is a story of voyagers who wander they
travel to other islands, establishing connections with peoples to the east, south and west. Nancy
Munn (1992:114), reflecting an observation of Richard Parmentier (1987:136) about the
tendency for culturally meaningful places to be spatio-temporally dense, echoed how travelling
(Munn 1992:114; See Parmentier 1987:136). In a similar
56
provides a narrative frame for understanding the shifting tides bringing new forces and people to
Figure 9 Shrine of Kaliraja, 2015
Accounts of prior voyages highlights the importance of these other places to their self-
identification and for marking the contours of ethnic difference between them. Traces echo
across the landscape: Manyaifun the bay of the Ambel
become meeting places for different ethnic groups to trade.
27
Perhaps it is not inconsequential
In the Wauyai account above, Gurabesi, son of the exiled sister Pin Take, is born on Biak
and later travels back through Raja Ampat to meet his relatives before becoming an advisor to
the Sultan of Tidore. Gurabesi returns to Waigeo and later dies there, but his interactions with
foreign leaders gains him status that he then brings back to his people. His travels fit with a
27
Goodman (2006:52) also highlights other key muar sites: Sorong, Dom Island, Saonek near Waigeo
island, and the Masiwang River delta on Seram Island southwest of Raja Ampat.
57
regional narrative in which successful leaders of the Moluccan sosolot exchange networks act as
intermediaries of different places and peoples, in which trade and exchange extended social
networks, bolstered fame and fostered competition (Goodman 2006:60). Gur
metonymic of a historical pattern of raid and trade among island peoples that became a template
for gaining recognition. It indexes a lingering desire of sea-oriented societies in coastal West
Papua to seek out connections with strangers in present times.
These stories are dense with ethical content, but also may reflect actual events that later
became moral tales (Van der Leeden 1989:105-6). In any case, it is notable that characters like
Gurabesi have emerged at different intervals up to the present, often during times of socio-
economic transition. For instance, around 1780 prince (or kaicil) Nuku, a son of Sultan
Jamaluddin of Tidore, began a rebellion against the Sultan of Patani in an alliance with the Raja
of Salawati in to the east (Widjojo 2009). A combined fleet from Ternate, Tidore and the Dutch
important in part because he had been associated with Koreri, a millenarian tale of prosperity and
rejuvenation (Andaya 1993:245-46).
While the rebellion of Prince Nuku is not well known today among most Papuans of Raja
Ampat, the concept of Koreri a time of socio-political renewal remains an essential feature of
the ongoing struggle for political recognition among many in West Papua. In Raja Ampat, heroes
such as Gurabesi are linked to messianic figures, particularly to the Biak Manarmakeri who some
claim is Manarmakeri, the itchy old man, is a pivotal character in 20th century
58
The retelling of these stories is not only a matter of historical recollection. They
communicate features of the social cosmology of Raja Ampat. Tales people tell about their
origins are increasingly important to negotiating present-
over who should be compensated for harvesting langsat fruit (Lansium parasiticum), gather sea
cucumber, or whether a person can build a tourist homestay bungalow. Topogenic narratives that
mark culturally meaningful places (or topoi) intersect with accounts of origins in important ways.
The land and sea regions off Waigeo have become increasingly valued for their market value to
sell as private property to tourism developers, rather than clan-managed zones of land and sea
resource use (compare Fox 2006).
Ancestor stories are also critical to the contemporary appraisal of outsiders: are they
friend or foe? Are they possible allies or enemies? The Wawage story fragments highlight how
foreigners have also been seen as potential saviors. In the 1990s, several dozen Biak people from
the villages of Yenbuba and Yenbekwan across from Gam Island in the Dampier Strait area
thought that a Dutch dive resort owner named Max Ammer was an avatar of the messianic
Manarmakeri.
28
Some people abandoned their affiliation with the Evangelical Church of West
Papua (Gereja Keristen Injili de Tanah Papua, GKI) and their homes and became members of
the Seventh-Day Adventist church (of which Ammer is a member) in a new settlement called
Sawandarek, perhaps in the expectation of major change.
While this did not come to pass, the arrival of foreign divers to Raja Ampat in the past
return, they seek other self-made entrepreneurial exemplars. Moreover, most villages in the same
28
Informants at Sawandarek village, Arborek island, Sawinggrai and Saporkren village recalled this event
while I pursued fieldwork in 2012, 2014-2015. Max Ammer also discussed the situation during an
interview in Aug. 2014.
59
area of this unexpected Koreri revival are at the center of an emerging local ecotourist economy,
where Beteo villagers host European backpackers to dive and snorkel at nearby reefs. In
important ways, the legends of exchange with outsiders continue to chart out the current course
of relations among Papuan communities and new arrivals in Raja Ampat.
Recalling the past to chart the future
There are other ways that the stories people tell are indexes for orienting the present, as
well as to navigate possible futures. One night in July 2012, a few dozen fishermen gathered in
the village of Manyaifun to participate in a survey about fishing practices. I had travelled to the
island on a summer trip to collect information about marine harvest collection and conservation
overfishing sardines in the 1990s, about local sasi protections and the belief that God would
punish transgressions. After cataloging the most common catch trevally, snapper, mackerel, sea
cucumber an old man shifted the discussion to Gurabesi and how the Rajas spent time in the
village here. Other men shared their thoughts. The rest of the night was not so much about fish,
but a lot about legends. One said that Manyaifun reflected the living proof of these tales: the
small settlement is evenly split down the middle between Islamic and Christian inhabitants, with
family connections to Tidore, Tobelo on Halmahera, Sulawesi and Biak.
29
It is a small island, yet
big enough to be its own cosmos.
29
On Manyaifun island, half of the occupants are of Bugis, Butonese and Moluccan Islamic descent
while the other half is more ethnically Beteo and Christian. The village as a whole is of mixed Moluccan
recognize certain customs from Moluccan Muslims. The village (and island) of Saonek for instance is all
Muslim and Beteo-speaking. This is different from the general pattern of these communities, which are
60
The sudden arrival of our host, a district camat
clan, reinforced that this was dangerous talk. He became angry that we were talking about such
things, which he later told me were dangerous because they linked to an ongoing political
movement for West Papuan sovereignty. On the other side of Waigeo, Salman Wiyai a man of
emphasized that the stories of Biak, Raja Ampat and Ternate are all connected. He said that
t a Biak-speaking
village on Ternate Island shows how mythic tales have real legacies.
The Islamic-oriented villages in Raja Ampat are legacies of former trade relations with
islands further ashore such as Tidore and Seram. Today, a subset of Biak speakers known as
Umka live on the small islet of Saonek near Waisai town, where the majority are Muslims.
Beyond these traces, Salman said that to fully understand West Papuan pasts, it is necessary to
return to the world-ending prophecies of Manarmakeri, also known as Mansren Manggundi
himme 1977).
The point is this: origin stories are a form of collective memory of West Papuan
connections to the land and seascapes of Raja Ampat, for making sense of strangers, and a
channel for imagining social relations that extend
other times, places and peoples. They are also a clandestine way to talk about different futures.
like Manarmakeri, signal the shedding of the old world. A new world will arise, a time when
Western kin return to an independent West Papua, full of feasting and commensality. In another
furtive discussion in 2014 at Yayasan Nazaret in Sorong City on the New Guinea mainland,
61
increased social exchange, where foreign wealth will be redistributed to the Papuan people. He
says that this event will herald the a
interweaving of narrative threads such as the tale of Gurabesi and Manarmakeri suggests a social
history of long-term exchanges and interactions among both peoples. One version told by Henky
said that the first people Eve named Aliap
Gaman and his wife Boki Dini Gamso discovered the numinous eggs on day while trekking in
the words. He initially wanted to eat them but she stopped him. They agreed to watch over them
as surrogate parents.
After a few months a first raja named Giwar emerged. He later moved to the village of
30
From the second egg emerged Hun (or Fun) Arfan,
raja of Salawati and Samate. Next came Fun Mustari, the raja of Misool. Raja Kilimuri of Seram
followed. Henky said that a fifth egg is associated with white westerners. Lastly came Pin Take,
she reached the shores of Biak. A man from Numfor encountered Pin Take, joining him to settle
in his natal village. She later gave birth to a son Gurabesi, who returned as an adult to Waigeo
along with many Biak raiders (compare Mansoben 1995:237-239). Similar to other versions of
the story, Henky said that all six ancestors will eventually return to Papua with their white
brothers.
30
On inquiring why the brothers had all departed from Waigeo, Henky said that they had fought over a
turtle on Manyaifun, which the eldest sibling said was prohibited there. This aligns with the account from
Wauyai.
62
recurring pattern of Biak-Beteo characters in their earliest stories about themselves? This seems
an odd type of ethnogenesis. According to Wolter Lapon, an Ambel-speaking man from
the Biak people to Raja Ampat during a period of raiding with Tidore. It also signifies the
kinship ties that bind both peoples to Raja Ampat and to Moluccan Sultans: Gurabesi, the Biak
daughter of the Sultan of Tidore and returned to
g of the Skystone, or in
Ambel: Nuri Kapat Nalo), also marks him as a mambri, a culture hero who connects the earth to
reams.
It is notable that several elderly Beteo informants confirmed the general features of these
stories. In the village of Saporkren on Waigeo island, Om and Yosias Mambrasar agreed that the
r Biak where she raised a son Gurabesi.
They concurred that he fought abroad and returned to live his remaining years on Waigeo,
gesturing eastward to his gravesite. Beteo speakers on Yenbuba, Saporkren, Manyaifun,
nts at Warimak, Kalitoko, and Warsambin all spoke
of Kaliraja as a magical place (tempat keramat) where one can travel to become powerful. To do
decent group (Ambel: gélet or Indo: marga) with ownership claims on the lands there, along
disasters will prevent them from reaching their destination.
63
The issue of who is allowed to provide access to sacred places or to give permission to
collect resources from a specific site will play a prominent role in subsequent discussions about
marine tenure. For now, I seek to highlight that the origin myths not only map out the
coordinates othey reveal themes that have bearing on current
disputes over controlling rights to land and sea. On Waigeo, those who arrived first get to claim
ownership rights for their family and descendants. Knowing the history of settlements, clan
lineages, and the ecology of an area is a precondition to establishing use rights as well as for
requiring compensation from outsiders. We will see how fluid and contentious these
situations can become in Chapter Five.
Ripples of values, waves of change
interpreting how its people are defined through their relations with outsiders. He said that the
Wawage myth is a story whose end has not yet been written. He recalled that the last egg, Apat
Nah, will awake during a time of great need. A few years later, I came to understand that
freedom movements was no accident. To him, stories of the past are connected to Papuan
aspirations for greater autonomy to determine their futures.
As much as I tried to comprehend the complex geography of clan names and origin
stories, Yohanes insisted on talking Papuans political struggles. He spoke of a government in
exile, the creation of new administrative structures, development plans and legal frameworks for
dewan adat), and its
cooperation with international non-governmental environmental groups such as Conservation
International to prevent overfishing or logging. He spoke about how the Evangelical Church of
64
West Papua has linked with NGOs to expand church-overseen marine conservation zones (sasi
gereja) in several locations throughout the islands. He spoke of efforts to treat West Papuans
suffering from HIV at his charity, Yayasan Nazaret.
31
Yohanes interwove a tale that emphasized
a call for Papuan self-regard (harga diri) amidst a legacy of cultural erasure, political
subjugation and economic marginalization. Our discussions about origins and his future hopes
highlighted a search for common ground and common values with others.
ea and back again.
It indexes how a hunting and gathering people became kin with superhuman beings from abroad.
Intermarriage and alliance reoriented their social life seaward, from dispersed family groups to
hierarchically organized lineages under the suzerainty of stranger kings. It highlights the
importance of inter-island connections between Waigeo to societies further afield in Tidore,
Seram and Biak, alongside new relations being forged with unexpected arrivals. While Tidore is
conceived as a place of war, politics and bride-givers, Biak-Numfor is a realm of peace,
supernatural power and bride-receivers (Ploeg 2002:91). In this morally heterogenous seascape,
the Wawage-Gurabesi narrative is a type of charter that marks connections with others from
elsewhere.
Today, people from across Raja Ampat are linking with outside environmentalist
campaigns to support sustainable livelihoods. Several kin networks and villages have also
clashed with people whom they feel have not given them their fair share for profiting from their
lands and waters. There is good reason for hurt feelings: Raja Ampat is represented in tourism
brochures and conservation program websites as an uninhabited and untrammeled island realm; a
refuge for marine megafauna and an idyllic escape for overworked urban denizens. Many West
31
Yohanes sadly passed away in 2016 following a respiratory illness.
65
Papuan residents feel they have been edited out of view, their struggles silenced media portrayals
of a natural paradise.
Representations of Raja Ampat as a biodiverse wilderness tend not to acknowledge the
importan
flourishing, though forms of local regulations to protect marine animals and key habitats. Today,
church conservation (sasi gereja) and clan-management of spirit zones (sasi mon) exist alongside
exogenous marine protected areas associated with international environment groups.
Environmentalist media also portray Papuans either as victims of resource destruction or people
who would benefit from donor-funded environmental projects. Instead, Papuans in Raja Ampat
actively seek to participate in the shared space and time of new market forces and rising political
tides. Several Beteo families have built village-based homestays to attract foreign tourists to dive
at nearby reefs.
Ecotourism and conservation are two areas where people across Raja Ampat are draw insight
from past engagements to forge new links across thresholds of social difference.
Rather than reproduce stereotypic views of Raja Ampat as impoverished Melanesians,
nearly all informants during my fieldwork reiterated their sense that despite ongoing challenges
these islands are a seascape with great potential. They speak hopefully about tourism revenues
-ops and better
gardens but also of hopes for nonhuman animals, plants and beings.
Moreover, people on Waigeo and nearby islands spoke of the importance of healthy reefs
as habitats for marine animals: of the expected return of sardines, sea cucumbers and manta ray
nurseries. They called for a place where the Red bird-of-paradise will be free from the sound of
chainsaws; where the ancestral spirits will be at peace and crocodiles not angry with avaricious
66
over who gets compensated for coconut stand
in places marked off-limits. They gossiped about rascals who use tiger nets, raiders whose bombs
leave craters in the branching coral. They praised others including some outsiders for their
efforts with community patrols in village-managed marine protected zones or to prevent illegal
logging.
family networks are reconfiguring the basic grounds of who they are as a society and who they
would like to become. This is reflected in the emergence of a locally organized Raja Ampat
Homestay Association in 2012, the capture of a speedboat by people of Saleo and Selpele to
-groups (Ambel: gélet) who have rights over the
photogenic Wayag islands, initiatives to prevent the development of a paved ring road through
sacred forests that will scare off birds and accelerate the loss of precious merbau trees (Intsia
bijuga).
What are the prospects for overlapping values across the diverse island communities of
Raja Ampat? What grounds exist for recognizing proportionate notions of appropriate actions for
mutual benefits? To the Ambel, perhaps a basic value that effects everyday choices is a search
for a balance between intimacy and strangeness with other groups and nonhuman beings.
Telling stories about the raja ancestors is a way of making claims about their rights to land and
sea resources, and a call for cultural recognition of their place at the origin and intermediary for
social relations on Waigeo and other islands in Raja Ampat. Among the Beteo, male striving for
achieved status is in tension with Indonesian evangelical Protestant notions of submission,
reflected in part by demands to redistribute worldly gains to kin and community. Young men
67
seek to built and operate a tourist homestay resort, find work in urban metropoles, date a
foreigner, or make a name for themselves as fishermen. This desire for material wealth and
individual renown has accelerated competition between families and villages over money,
beneficiaries, and resources. -
fed children and productive gardens reach their limits when faced with limited economic
opportunity or jealous neighbors.
Evangelical Church of West Papua, in which village life is a metonym for Christian
comportment: humility, sharing, sociability. Indonesian and expatriate staff of conservation
organizations seek to protect biodiversity or enhance career prospects. Some seek to link
ecosystem protection to economic opportunity for West Papuans, through ecosystem-based
management, multilateral development aid, or interactions with Indonesian government officials.
protect it has motivated a search for common ground.
This search for common ground related to conservation is not unique to Northwestern
Papua. Biodiversity conservation and efforts to protect cultural heritage have called attention to
the threat of loss. People living in wild places are increasingly acting on their own behalf. For
instance, discussions about free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) among indigenous peoples
affected by extractive projects and a focus on locally adaptive responses to environmental
changes have challenged long-held views about marginal or so-called underdeveloped peoples
capacity to represent themselves when facing environmental challenges.
68
At larger scales, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCC), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and Convention on
Biological Diversity are regimes that reflect an emerging global consensus about the importance
of protecting valuable ecosystems for the benefit of species, and to safeguard what is left for
future generations. This refrain echoes across the
waters of Waigeo as a justification for mutual cooperation between West Papuans and outsiders
in support of environmentalist efforts, despite very different understandings about what
environment means.
Many see their own futures at stake in campaigns to protect reef habitats and forest
ecosystems. Given these stakes, some West Papuans appear willing to risk mistranslation. They
may go along with environmentalist campaigns about Raja Ampat that sometimes represent them
as indigenous ecological stewards, or powerless locals, as a means to gain attention to ongoing
conflicts and challenges. Challenges include political subjugation, land rights disputes,
competition over tourism revenues and realignments between clans and NGOs.
Notwithstanding such hazards, Raja Ampat residents and international actors have forged
limited alliances to protect reefscapes or forest zones. Yet such linkages may not necessarily
endure. Lasting bonds between locals and outsiders are not assured, especially given the
Perhaps recognition is key. According to Julie Connolly, recognition, as a cognitive and
ld become impossible if
ly highlights how French
philosopher Paul Ricoeur identified how the very possibility of recognizing similar capacities in
of being able to act freely, to be capable of taking
69
course, and mistrust, misunderstanding or failure is sometimes inevitable. But the theory of
though others may have different views or unclear motivations.
32
At a basic level, the possibility
of engaging in ethical life across social boundaries, as between individuals, necessitates
rtant to
acknowledge asymmetries that may arise in the search for mutuality between oneself self and
another, or in efforts to suture ethical grounds among communities such as in Raja Ampat
(Robbins and Rumsey 2008). Nevertheless, the dialectic of recognition reckons that there may be
a moral foundation to politics that is not reducible to self-interest: whether defined as individual
flourishing, the survival of clan, or the reputation of a social group. Put another way, can
-dream of a wider social world be realized?
Raja Ampat is a seascape of dispersed but interlinked peoples connected to a history of
inter-island voyaging and trade, raiding and marriage exchanges. It has been a place of mixtures
of currents, languages, and traditions for millennia: from the first encounters between
Melanesians from Sahul and the Austronesian-speaking arrivals, to the period of Islamic
Sultanates and Christian missionaries, the birth of the Indonesian nation and annexation of West
Papua. In more recent times, conservation and ecotourism have become key domains through
to chart their own course ahead. Retelling origin stories provides people with a framework for
32
For Ricoeur, ceremonial gift exchange arises as a truce at the heart of recognition-misrecognition
70
guiding contemporary interactions. By emphasizing the paradigmatic role of outsiders in
establishing their roots, it suggests hope for future engagements within and across boundaries of
difference.
Subsequent chapters will provide more focus on specific situations to examine to what
extent different groups are able to enter into reciprocal ethical interactions or whether these are
crosscurrents that foreshadow greater turbulence ahead. Chapter Two evaluates types of marine
conservation, and Chapter Three highlights the promise and perils of eco-tourism. Chapter Four
narrates a conservation film tour as an event that south to stitch together island peoples with a
thread of common concern for future generations. Chapter Five identifies how belief in cannibal
witches and sorcery can be linked to doubts people have about one another. I show how alterity
and recognition are paradigmatic to human social relations in Raja Ampat.
71
Chapter 2. Mixtures of conservation practice in Raja Ampat
Under the shade of a large banyan tree near the village of Deer on Kofiau, one of the
main islands of the Raja Ampat archipelago, Elia Ambrau spoke about the
obligation to protect their land and sea. God has long prepared for us to conserve. He pointed
to the ocean. We are its protectors. Together we must safeguard it for the future of our children
and future grandchildren.Elia lamented past failures: the loss of Moluccan ironwood (merbau
or Intsia bijuga) trees in the 1980s to illegal logging; the continued threat of reef bombing to the
coral and fish abundance; the negative effects such destruction has had to the livelihoods
of fishing families here.
Elia spoke how residents of Deer and other Beteo-speaking villages in the area were
hesitant to cooperate with The Nature Conservancy, who arrived with plans to fund community
patrols and workshops on conservation initiatives in 2005. But over time, he said a spirit of
togetherness (kebersamaan) developed between Papuans and non-governmental organizations.
Former shark fishermen joined weekly marine patrols. Others stopped using huge nets.
Conservation groups provided funds for refurbished schools. Working together, people across
Raja Ampat have started to turn the tide. They have witnessed an increasing number of reef fish,
sea cucumber, clams, sharks and sea turtles. The manta rays have returned to sandy shoals near
Arborek.
In recent years, the people of Kofiau have renewed a form of local resource protection
called sasi gereja or supported by the Protestant Christian Church to ensure
bountiful harvests of different marine animals. Farther south across the Halmahera Sea, Imam
Kayidap Soltif of Fafanlap village on Misool Island
72
for their families has supported new fishing regulations. Northward at a community fishery
on Waigeo island, Meity Mongdong of Conservation International
spoke about how marine protected areas will help Spanish Mackerel, shrimp, crabs and sea
cucumber to flourish. She said that West Papuan use rights can be linked to species-focused
protections in order to support biodiversity alongside resilience for who
live in Raja Ampat.
Dwindling numbers of sea cucumbers, sharks and sardines, population expansion, and
weak government enforcement have led West Papuan indigenous communities to identify new
ways to protect their island homes. Several communities have sought to work with and not
always against outside groups. Yet can such apparently different types of environmental
protection be linked? To what extent can religiously-motivated village harvest sanctions be
aligned with marine and forest protections that prioritize biodiversity? Are the values that
undergird conservation regimes in coastal West Papua commensurate or are they necessarily
divergent? What do these practices suggest about ethical responsibilities of people to the
environment?
This chapter describes the emergence of hybrid conservation practices in the Raja Ampat
islands of Indonesian New Guinea in the context of significant socio-economic and ecological
resource management systems with varying stakes for the people who support them. Here, a
patchwork of interlinked regimes of land and sea-based resource governance have contributed to
a composite approach to adaptive governance, rather than an inherently conflicting set of
practices or norms. In particular, I describe West Papuan engagements with an institution known
as sasi, a type of seasonal harvest prohibition and gear restrictions observed in several maritime
73
societies in eastern Indonesia (Zerner 1994; McLeod et al. 2009). I describe how resident Beteo
ed sasi to incorporate Christian ethics and the significance of ancestral
sites of nonhuman spirits. Near Waigeo island, a center point of international conservation
programs and ecotourism, sasi is a genre of locally-inflected conservation. It is also a discourse
concealing the political-economic and historical complications that have led to its observance in
coastal West Papua.
To mitigate the risks of stereotyping West Papuans as indigenous exemplars isolated
from the outside world, I highlight two distinct forms of sasi currently practiced among the
people: sasi gereja, a type of Christian village-based resource protection
common in Beteo areas and sasi mon, a set of clan-mediated rules and regulations common in
Ambel territories associated with ancestors or nonhuman entities. In the past decade, the
practices have become formalized through engagement of West Papuan communities with
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Both types of local conservation practices
have become interlinked with NGO-initiated protected areas throughout Raja Ampat.
While each may have quite different aims, increased engagement with sasi and NGO-
supported environmental protection has catalyzed the emergence of a hybrid framework for
cooperative environmental oversight. Despite frictions and misunderstanding, people across Raja
Ampat seek to extend this patchwork of environmentalisms. The varieties of conservation
practices in coastal West Papua reflect distinct but perhaps commensurable ethical norms and
values. Engagements with valued places highlights how conservation in Raja Ampat is
consequential to people
degradation, the discrimination against West Papuan evangelical movements or economic
74
marginalization. This chapter presents how these institutions emerged, while also emphasizing
how such endeavors are works in progress.
Marine conservation in northwestern New Guinea
The extreme northwestern corner of Indonesian New Guinea is a hub for global marine
biodiversity, as well as a testing ground for interlinking species protection efforts with social
development. Beginning in 2002, international environmental organizations including the World
Wildlife Fund for Nature, (WWF) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Conservation
International (CI) became focused on implementing environmental management projects along
the coasts, bays and islands of Peninsula. A diverse set of donors,
actors and agencies subsequently coordinated the establishment of twelve marine protected areas
(MPAs) across 3.6 million hectares to safeguard the r
from destructive fishing and mining (Mangubhai et al. 2012). The MPAs include a national park
in Cendrawasih Bay, seven reserves in Raja Ampat and another in Kaimana south and eastward
along the New Guinea coast. These protected zones are situated at the geographic and ecological
core of an intergovernmental Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food
Security (Figure 10 below) launched by several countries in the Asia-Pacific region to promote
natural resource management as a means to economic development (Veron et al. 2009; Fidelman
et al. 2012).
The Raja Ampat Islands, at the crossroads of oceans in the center of the Coral Triangle
zone, contain an exceptional diversity of marine species. Marine surveys on coral reefs in Raja
Ampat, Cenderawasih Bay, and the Fak Fak-Kaimana coastline (covering a combined area of
more than 180,000 square kilometers), recorded over 1,635 species of reef fishes and 600 corals,
75
Erdmann 2009). These and other studies identified the region to be a global refuge for manta
rays, dugongs, turtles, whale sharks and mangroves, including the most biodiverse coral reef
habitats on earth. These studies provided evidence in support of international campaigns to
species and habitats.
Non-governmental organizations, donors and researchers soon initiated programs to
protect threatened species through ecosystem-based management, which sought to channel
socio-economic benefits to local communities through their participation in different
conservation efforts. Preliminary studies, socio-economic baseline surveys and other
measurements followed. By 2015 the three international NGOs that initiated marine conservation
agencies,
with mixed results.
33
Environmental management in Raja Ampat focuses on spatial planning, fisheries
regulations and monitoring efforts, protection of threatened species, mitigating threats from
climate change and plans for economic and social development of resident Papuan communities.
Islanders have their own forms of resource management, which sometimes align with but also
remain distinct from the conservation programs identified above.
Amidst these cross-currents, many Papuans in Raja Ampat increasingly viewed
environmental projects as a means for asserting cultural rights to landownership. They also
understood making themselves into and representing themselves as stewards of marine and
terrestrial ecosystems as a means to attract tourism. Yet misunderstandings about environmental
33
established a Technical Management Authority for MPA oversight (UPTD: Unit Pelaksana Teknis
Daerah) within the Department of Marine and Fisheries to develop ways to increase marine patrols and
monitoring efforts. In 2014, a Regional Public Service Agency (BLUD) began to collect funds generated
from tourism access permits (PIN) that travelers paid on arrival by ferry to Waisai town.
33
76
protection have occasionally led to conflicts between local people and international organizations
over ownership and access rights to coastal fishing locations and marine harvest sites (Pollnac et.
al 2001; Christie et al. 2003).
Additionally, conservati
the desires of people who live in the targeted sites. In some instances, what some perceive to be
traditional may be a more recent phenomenon that has arisen due to intervention (or pressure)
from conservation groups. Local fishing practices may also be focused on optimizing harvests
for yearly celebrations rather than being driven by an intrinsic interest in protecting turtles,
sharks or rays (Foale and Manele 2004).
Figure 10 Coral Triangle Initiative. Source: CTI, 2015
77
Figure 11
protected area (MPA) boundaries. Source: Mangubhai et al. 2012
MPAs shown are: 1=Kaimana, 2=Sabuda Tataruga, 3=Southeast Misool, 4=Kofiau and Boo Islands, 5=Dampier
-Asia Islands, 9=Panjang Islands (previously West Waigeo), 10=Abun,
11=Padaido, 12=Cendrawasih Bay.
The sea provides a main source of income and food security to people throughout the
region. This sea-oriented dependency serves as a lifeline against a backdrop of administrative
neglect and marginalization that generally characterizes West teractions with
Indonesian government officials or agencies. For instance, primary and secondary education in
Raja Ampat is poorly funded and insufficient. This reflects a legacy of inadequate investment
peoples. This tracks with disinvestment in
other areas of human development, from access to health clinics, high maternal childhood
mortality rates, insufficient treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis,
persistent malaria and child stunting.
78
Historically, low population density provided a buffer to administrative
coercion or to conflict between groups. Yet increased population density, settlement from
Indonesians from other islands and shifting baselines in fisheries productivity have motivated
increased government intervention (see Palomares et al. 2006:23-24). These days, West Papuans
seek to claim rights to natural resources that they have long utilized, which have become
contested by newcomers. Talk and active engagement about conservation practices has become a
way that people in Raja Ampat articulate their own stakes in a changing, contested zone of
environmental entanglement.
Figure 12 Marine Protected Areas in Raja Ampat, adapted from Grantham 2013
Across Raja Ampat, people interact with the sea in different ways. For instance, Biak-
speaking villagers near Waigeo still fish in wooden outrigger canoes near shore or use handlines,
79
trident spears, or handmade scoop nets. In Waisai and the Sorong city fish market, Bugis and
Butonese fishmongers from islands to the west sell mackerel, snapper, tuna, sea cucumber and
luck with a bagan, a syndicate of fishermen cooperating together on a wooden platform.
There are several distinct fisheries in the region including open water tuna and mackerel
fishing as well as village-based harvesting of marine animals and reef fish (see Figure 13 below).
kerosene lamplight during a n
Araway collect small shrimp for eating or trading. Women in Kalitoko village search for crabs
and clams in muddy mangrove beds, while nearby in Muslim Beo, men trap lobsters in baited
cages.
Several island communities have long-standing methods to promote the survival of
valuable marine species including sea cucumber, anchovy, shark, sea turtle, abalone and sea
snails (Tectus niloticus). The types of conservation practiced today range from the protection of
particular tree or marine species to oversight of primary forest habitats, leaving garden sites
fallow, managing ancestral coconut groves, avoiding burial grounds, restricting access to places
where fish aggregate to spawn, or ensuring that lobsters grow fat enough to eat at Christmas
feasts. West Papuan land and sea-based stewardship also encompasses avoiding no-go areas
where witches dwell, or places inhabited by demonic beings and nonhuman nature entities.
Finally, conservation can also include less formal village-based regulations designed to prohibit
certain nets or harmful fishing gear. Such practices have attempted to reduce risks of
overharvesting by commercial enterprises. But they also communicate values about human-
environment relations as well as expectations of proper conduct.
80
In recent years, several new forms of conservation have emerged in Raja Ampat.
34
Below
sasi gereja and sasi mon
as recent adaptations to social, historical, ecological and economic factors that reflect interaction
with strangers from off-island regions. My primary goal in this chapter is to document the
innovative ways West Papuans near Waigeo island are adjusting conservation to their own needs,
Figure 13 Preparing to sell fish at Waisai market, Saporkren, Aug 2015
The rationale for environmental protection can be seen a few meters offshore along the
reef slope of most villages. On the edge of Yenbuba village on Mansuar Island it is possible to
peer several dozen meters into the blue, past a metropolis of hard and soft corals, wavy sea fans
and huge schools of fish. A few minutes peering along the reef reveals an astonishing array of
34
http://projects.worldbank.org/P127813/coral-reef-rehabilitation-management-program-phase-
iii?lang=en
81
marine vertebrate and invertebrate species snapping shrimp, nudibranchs, clownfish among
anemones, triggerfish, lobster, clams, sea cucumber, polychete worms, moral eels, among the
millions of zooxanthellae and coral polyps that fed on microorganisms passing along the reef
shelf.
A visitor can peer into an aqueous urban realm populated with parrotfish, giant
pufferfish, lobster, giant clams, sea sponges, blue starfish, several anthias, grouper, dottyback of
neon blue, monogrammed monocle bream, banded blue sea krait, spadefish (platax pinnatus),
butterflyfish in large schools, coralfish, bannerfish, angelfish, damselfish in rock crevices, a
bright blue chromis near the waterline, grey tuskfish, green-blue broomtail wrasses, green
parrotfish excreting coral, blennys, gobys, a Moorish idol, clouds of yellow tang, surgeonfish,
rabbitfish, triggerfish and large cowfish.
Several places along the reef appear to have suffered damage. Some areas appear
bombed, with coral lying in pieces in crater-like formations. In some areas, algae, sea stars and
small fish have reclaimed these graveyards to begin a new cycle. Such areas have noticeably less
biodiversity compared with intact coral assemblages. Despite these casualties most reefs in Raja
Ampat remain vibrant. They are a last refuge for many small animals as well as for oceangoing
species such as sea turtles and oceanic manta rays.
With the handover of NGO-funded marine reserves to the Indonesian local government in
2015 many Papuans on Waigeo worry that the new marine protected areas will
administrative support. It is telling that on offshore islands
such as Pam, the village secretary spoke enthusiastically about a locally managed protection
effort (DPL, Daerah Perairan Laut) as a sign of his desire to get involved. During
a discussion with me in December 2014, he expressed hopes that new engagements can help
82
stave off the loss of Napoleon wrasse, mackerel and grouper, and the return of baitfish to sustain
a multilayered trophic ecosystem.
Figure 14 Conservation International staff, Sorong West Papua, 2015
Management, morality and improvisation
The Coral Triangle Initiative is an example of a transnational program designed to
support marine ecosystems through integrated conservation and social development. NGOs and
residents promoted ecological sustainability through monitoring and enforcement of marine
areas, educational training programs and tourism development projects. These efforts highlight
how improving the external environment also entails an internal process that involves a moral
reconfiguration of individuals and collectives to conform to specific ideals about the
83
It is not only a matter of improving surfaces: economic projects and marine conservation
efforts involve an internal process through which people become more rational, accountable
citizens. The enthusiasm for extending marine protected areas by Indonesian officials in Raja
Ampat is linked to West Papua
and crumbling infrastructure (see Agrawal 2005). It is because of such views that marine
conservation projects are seen as a way to incorporate greater administrative oversight (Sievenan
2008). By managing natural resources through spatial control, people can become accounted for
more easily by state officials (Scott 1998:2-8).
Figure 15 Dr. Dedi Adhuri marks clan fishing areas at Go village, Mayalibit Bay, 2014
Environmental projects also tend to involve multiple interests that provide opportunities
for resident communities to engage with outsiders in unexpected ways (Li 2007; Rumsey
2001:20,38). Conservation scientists and government advisers sometimes view indigenous
communities as static and unchanging, or as impediments to the flourishing of biodiversity (see
Brosius 1999; Ferguson 1994). However, anthropologists including Andrew Mathews, Tania Li
and Peter Brosius have highlighted how locals and outsiders with stakes in natural resources
84
occasionally form alliances to protect species or clash over the management plans for a specific
site (Mathews 2008; Brosius 1999; Li 2007). These accounts show how interactions over
conservation are more creative, messy and hopeful than might be expected from a distant
vantage point. Other studies highlight the importance of moral and spiritual relations with
nonhuman nature, as well as ways that interactions with the surrounding environment
change in relation to outside pressures, incentives or forces (Jacka 2010; Berkes 2008:11;
Cruishank 2011).
The issue is not whether or not indigenous people are conservationists,
Jacka 2010:29). Does an ethic of preserving wildness inevitably lead to human conflict?
(Nadasady 2003; West, Igoe and Brockington 2006). Addressing the types of conservation
people represent also avoids the question of whether a certain group is the authentic claimant for
benefits or whether a customary management regime is or is not a model of sustainability.
Instead, the focus would shift to how people communicate particular values, practices and norms
about the environment to others.
Natural resource protection in Raja Ampat reflects changing social-ecological conditions
Throughout the Raja Ampat island zone, different communities have specific rules for
overseeing socially important species of animals and plants harvested by a group for subsistence,
sharing at large gatherings or for trade or sale elsewhere. Governed spaces include village marine
zones and ritually closed zones known as sasi. Particular forms of sasi have emerged in Raja
Ampat since the 1990s and have become intertwined with international efforts to promote
biodiversity conservation in several areas. A unifying feature of this and other types of sea-
oriented control in coastal West Papua is the importance of clan lineages and charismatic
85
individuals (compare McWilliam 2003:12). The issue of who controls access, has the power to
enforce sanctions, and who is willing to recognize structures of authority is an important feature
of these practices.
Sasi is an institution observed in several locations throughout Eastern Indonesia. The
word derives either from a term for oath (Bartels 1977:65; Benda-Beckmann 1994:31) or witness
(saksi) (Pannell 1997:292) indicating that an invocation of protection has been activated in a
specific place for a limited time (Figure 16 below). It can be applied to particular clan-owned
lands and ancestral sites (called sasi mon or sasi adat), as well as to taboo sites overseen by local
Christian churches (sasi gereja). These days, sasi incorporates a set of social-environmental
practices that communicate ethical
surrounds amidst a context of socio-political transformation.
35
Figure 16 Land-based sasi for coconuts, Kri Island, 2012
35
tempat keramat (sacred place), zona
inti (a forbidden zone), daerah yang dilarang (a prohibited area), tempat pamali (hallowed site), kábyo
(Ambel, ghost/malevolent spirit), kabuis (Matlol, spirit) and saum samom (Matlol, protected area).
86
Nils Bubandt (2005) identifies how sasi became a mechanism for promoting governance
as well as evangelization in Eastern Indonesia. Initially connected to sorcery in protecting
gardens in the central Moluccas during colonial period, sasi became a way to
manage natural resources and people (Benda-Beckmann 1994). Officials called kewang
enforced sasi bans in forests and marine spaces by reporting to village heads (or
rajas) (Zerner 1994:1092; Bubandt 2005:198). Sasi later became a vehicle for evangelization by
Catholic and Protestant Moluccans under the moniker of Church sasi (Indo. sasi gereja
which the catechist became a substitute for the kewang and the Christian God replaced the
In this new version, God rather than local spirits would punish transgressions of protected
sites. This shift coincided with a wave of conversion of Indonesian citizens to world religions,
driven in part by a state-required disavowal of indigenous spiritual practices (Haire 1981:66;
Kipp 1993:100). Indonesian government officials consequently viewed sasi as a successful
in line with nationalist
goals of creating a pliant multiculturalism (Li 2007:364).
In Raja Ampat today, sasi typically entails spatial boundaries and temporal restrictions on
harvesting marine animals such as sea cucumbers and sea snails, or taking from coconut groves
(Hviding 1996; Thorburn 2000). For example, a sasi zone may be closed to commercial fishing
activities with the arrival of monsoon winds and opened the following year. On Misool Island,
villagers present large gifts of cash and dried sea animals at special ceremonies held to open and
close the protected areas (Figure 18). Bound coconut leaves, flowers and bamboo or marked
signs signify places where a prohibition on exploitation is in effect (McLeod et al. 2009:665).
87
Figure 17 Offerings to the sea at a sasi ritual, Misool 2013. Source: TNC
The moral economy of sasi incorporates a set of rules for engaging in appropriate ethical
action to protected areas or species. Breaking the rules will lead to sanctions. Besides illness or
sasi violators such as reprimands, monetary fines,
Boli et al. 2014:137). In
villages such as Deer on Kofiau island west of Waigeo, such risks of punishment have proven
relatively effective at ensuring the Church sasi zones remain sacrosanct.
Sasi and other marine conservation practices in the Dampier straight off Waigeo Island
where I spent the majority of my fieldwork are calibrated to different habitats (e.g. mangrove,
reef slope, shoal, open sea) and target species.
36
Some ritually closed zones aim to ensure
adequate supplies of prestige foods such as sea cucumber and commercial top shell for sale
abroad (Tectus niloticus), while other areas are intended for subsistence fishing or gathering.
Most harvest closures follow a seasonal pattern of winds, tides or ceremonial events. Sasi
36
The Dampier Straits is also the zone of a 336,000-hectare marine area (462.4 km²) of powerful current
flows between southern Waigeo and Batanta Islands home to 9,530 people living among 36 villages. The
area is an aggregation site for manta rays, grouper, wrasse, barracuda and several shark species.
88
restrictions incorporate spatial and time-bound closures, but also prohibit the use of compressors,
commercial-scale nets and large vessels while permitting wooden spears, hand nets, paddle
canoes and diving glasses.
A 2014 survey of sasi in the area measured a five-fold increase in sea cucumber species,
along with enthusiasm among residents for expanding protected zones.
Interaction with environmental NGOs led to additional changes: sasi zones became larger,
people protected non-food species such as sharks and manta rays and villages formed mobile
networks to monitor protected zones.
37
Raja Ampat District Regulation Number 27/2008
acknowledged sasi as an integral type of conservation management for food security and tourism
(Boli et al. 2014:137). It seems that hybrid forms of co-management have succeeded. But there is
more to sasi and to human-environment relations in Raja Ampat than the fit between local
forms of species management and recently introduced conservation initiatives.
Among the Ambel of libit Bay on Waigeo Island each kin network (gélet) has its
own forest or sea domain with its own name and social history. Within an Ambel gélet
territorial zones, people hunt wild pigs, gather root crops and edible plants and fish. Certain
places are sacred sites (Indo: pamali) of guardian spirits (Ambel: mútum), malevolent forces
(Ambel: kábyo) and material objects such as imported gongs that are interpreted as physical
indices of ancestral claims over a given territory. A gélet is responsible for managing its
ecological resources,
Sacred sites throughout Mayalibit Bay are associated with a type of conservation called sasi
monconservation adviser Yohanes Gaman said
37
For instance, in the past village sasi areas were on average less than 100 hectares. These days, many are
larger: the Tapor Tamyam sasi area off Yenbuba village has grown to 2,500 ha. Some sasi areas are now
permanently closed.
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ecology, because people never go [there], so there are more animals, more fish there. Forest
For instance, Yohanes told me that if a
person enters Kabui Bay near Kaliraja a place the Maya consider their origin source without
giving adequate respect
The various types of ecological stewardship currently practiced in Raja Ampat from
village-based regulations to sasi could be seen as examples of traditional ecological
knowledge: locally meaningful practices of environmental management maintained through
stories and authority figures and memory (McWilliam 2003:20). Yet as I described above, if they
are tokens of indigenous ecologies, such stewardship is perhaps better conceived as reinventions
or adaptations of socio-ecological knowledge practices rather than examples of practices that are
distinct from larger-scale initiatives overseen by NGOs or state agencies. And just like these
other endeavors, Raja Ampat conservation practices involve political entanglements over land
rights claims, access and control. For example, in the Kei Islands, sea territory is unevenly
distributed: property rights are exclusive to particular kin-groupings (fam) in Dullah Laut village,
but disagreements and political maneuvering show how tenure systems in Kei are everchanging
and highly fractious (Adhuri 2013:190).
In the sections below, I present West Papuan accounts about sasi gereja, and describe key
features of mon practices. In particular, I document individual appraisals of these practices as
they relate to norms of responsibility, punishment and expected behavior. By doing so, I intent to
highlight how conservation practices are examples of engaged ethical activity, but also sources
of doubt and anxiety for people throughout the Raja Ampat islands.
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Figure 18 Highly prized palolo worms (Palola viridis) on Ayau, 2014
Church Sasi as embodied Christian practice
Sometime in the 2000s, marine-oriented Church sasi zones expanded near Waigeo island.
According to Salman Wiyai, a Biak adviser to Conservation International and Yayasan Nazaret
a Sorong-based Christian NGO involved in health and environmental issues sasi gereja
originated on Ambon Island in the Moluccas and spread eastward to the Papuan coast in the
1970s. Salman said that sasi was originally a way to mark off valued fruiting or palm trees (e.g.
lansat, citrus, areca, coconut) or garden sites. Sometime later, it became a means to protect egg-
laying fish at spawning aggregations on Ayau atoll. According Martin Makusi of Yenbeser
village:
Sasi means this: now I have a coconut plantation, and on beaches away from
villages, you can control whoever comes to collect coconut. So they make sasi,
which means that they put a cross there, or they put leaves on tree branches near
the beach [as a sign]. And then people say, oh yeah, you cannot go there. But if
there is no sasi, people can go there to collect, because we have a relationship
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with the owner - maybe our cousins and so we can go and get maybe one, two
or three young coconuts to drink, or to bring home.
Makusi emphasizes the ways sasi used to be associated with specific individuals who are owners
of certain trees or territory.
In extending to the sea over the past decade, these types of seasonal closures broadened
from family-managed to village-level oversight. Wooden signs or other markers such as the
cross Makusi refers to in the quote above continue to identify closed zones. For instance, at the
edge of the reef slope off Mansuar Island and jutting upwards from the sea, a wooden board
signals sasi commitments made by Beteo residents of Arborek village in 2011. The sign conveys
a message that conservation is not only about protecting marine creatures for their own sake, but
is a signal of community virtue.
In Raja Ampat today, Christian sasi has become an index of West Papuan virtue in areas
where people enforce its edicts. To Beteo people of Deer village off Kofiau island, sasi gereja
signals that marine realm is an integral spiritual lives. It refracts
their Christian virtue as well as their shortcomings. Manta rays, nudibranchs, and reef sharks are
spoken of in an idiom of love in which care for species has become a way to communicate the
importance of caring for their homeland. Young men mourn on seeing blast craters of dead
elkhorn coral. They relate the destruction in personal terms: on their reef, at their home. For
people living within the boundaries of the Dampier Straits MPA, sasi not only gives refuge to
protected species, but creates a Christian topography where actions must reflect a commitment to
values of sacrifice, community and charity.
In part, these commitments reflect ongoing efforts among West Papuans to demonstrate
their commitment to Christian values. On Sunday, February 5, 1855, German missionaries Carl
Ottow and Johann Geissler arrived to Mansinam Island near Manokwari. For many Beteo,
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history began that day, heralding the arrival of the gospel to Papua (injil masuk). This was a
social-historical event that provided for an epistemic break from an imagined past of hunting and
gathering towards village life. It meant the end to tribal wars (perang suku), diurnal suanggi and
demi-god heroes. The arrival of Christianity reconfigured basic social norms in which persons
became collective members of a congregation (jemaat) in the Body of Christ versus a more
independent life of hunting and fishing, competitive raiding and suspicion towards those of
different clans.
On Waigeo today, moral responsibility for the land and sea is intimately connected to the
desire to live a model Christian life. Most West Papuans are members of the Evangelical
Christian Church (Gereja Keristen Injili de Tanah Papua, GKI), with some belonging to the
Roman Catholic or Evangelical Tabernacle Church (Gereja Kemah Injil di Indonesia, GKII).
Since the late 1990s, all three churches have promoted inter-faith dialogue to advocate for
improved human rights for the West Papuan people (Aritonang and Steenbrink 2008:377-80). It
is perhaps not surprising that Christian sasi is represented as an endogenous response to
environmental problems: it channels West Papuan norms of human-environment relations,
religiosity, and virtue to others amidst increasing threats from resource degradation, economic
marginalization and denial of Christian charity (compare Das 2012:140).
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Figure 19 Sign of church sasi near Arborek village
It is important to clarify how Christianity became linked to marine conservation programs
in Raja Ampat. In the 2000s, consultants from Jakarta and elsewhere held several workshops in
different villages as part of a World Bank coral reef management initiative (COREMAP) that
sought to promote conservation as a way to bring socio-economic development to marine-
dependent communities in Indonesia. An adviser from the village of Yenbuba recalled how
science teams visited and spoke to residents about the benefits of expanding sasi alongside
marine protected areas to limit fishing activity. People in Yenbuba were initially skeptical: who
would really benefit from such plans? After all, ts small elementary school (sekolah
dasar, SD) had been without a fulltime tutor and school fees were getting higher. Promised funds
People had been promised development before but the results had
often been disappointing.
Over several meetings Beteo-speaking villages near Waigeo island agreed to support the
banning of tiger nets (jaring harimau), curtail shark fishing and to restrict hunting sea turtles.
Residents participated with visiting survey teams who recorded household surveys and collected
fisheries data. They participated in church discussions where pastors supported community
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decrees to promote local regulations with the consent of main landowning clans. West Papuan
churches, particularly the GKI, became involved by linking conservation to a theological claim
that care for the environment provided a vehicle for redemption. Soon afterwards, Conservation
International and The Nature Conservancy began working with Papuan church-affiliated advisors
who encouraged sasi gereja alongside larger-scale marine zoning projects.
At some level, this intervention was
church. The pastor has access to people to say stop. Everyone prays to stop people from
trepang there. At Gethsemani
church in Saporkren village in the summer of 2014, Pastor Anache Goram asked the congregants
to thank Jesus for providing abundant fish and bountiful gardens. She said that threats from
rascals who use chainsaws to cut valuable trees reflected the temptations of greed. She argued
that only a prayerful, God-loving people could keep the covenant for Papua.
Figure 20 Collecting survey responses about sasi, Arborek Island, 2012
Priests, congregants, mothers, tribal advisers, young men and conservation staff
commented how sasi gereja has become a way to act rightly towards nature and among others.
Back on Kofiau, Yunus Mansoben said that his community was afraid to break the rules of
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Church-sanctioned protection. People feared that taking animals from such places would cause
illness to the trespasser and to family relatives: For church sasi, . One cannot
disturb or interfere with it because it is [in] the name of the church. One cannot disturb such a
plac Franz Membilong, pastor of a GKI congregation on Manyaifun island to the west of
Waigo
In a conversation at his church in July 2012, Pastor Membilong told me how people
money as an offering before opening sasi zones. They later return the offerings to the sea in
We are grateful for what God does, for the results that he
Membilong views sasi as an integral practice to his church. To him it is a form of
engaged prayer, but als
Christianity and conservation are interlinked throughout the region, even to its furthest
reach. For instance, at Ayau atoll north of Waigeo and near Palau, two sasi locations protect fish
egg laying locations for grouper and napoleon wrasse, conserve lobster, yellow and white sea
cucumber, top snails and giant clam. Soni Fakdawer said that in August 2014, a priest from
Rutum opened up a nearshore reef sasi zone near Kofot Island to harvest reef
fish, mollusks, sea cucumber, shark and sea turtle. The village congregation closed it again after
a Christmas feast. In Ayau, sasi gereja is also observed on Mamorien, Reni and Miosbekwan
islands. While sea turtles are not as commonly eaten these days, everyone looks forward to the
autumn arrival of the palolo sea worms (Figure 19) (cacing laut, Indo; insonem, Beser, probably
Palola viridis). Since initiating marine conservation zones in 2007 with Conservation
International, the people of Ayau have expanded and sustained their church-designated zones.
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On Rutum Island in November 2014, a marine ranger named Elvis Marino
explained why people continue such practices (see Figure 21 below). The purpose of sasi is
primarily for protection of the marine environment and particularly to ensure that species that
When asked about the difference
between sasi and conservation-sponsored management, he shruggedWell, we all obey the
edicts from the church, whereas conservation is a government thing. Though he recalled
several instances of cooperative interaction, Elvis also noted that people in Ayau were not
entirely
What would happen if someone enters a closed sasi gereja zone? Someone who enters
and violates a sasi place will be subject to punishment from God. The person will become sick or
he will be a victim from nature bitten by a fish, or a tree can fall on them.also said that if a
fisherman come barren. By taking from a place whose abundance
is a sign of divine grace, the -giving fertility.
Only until he confesses to the sasi overseer, Mr. Morino, will his wife be capable of giving birth.
But overall a person must desire to give thanks to God for the bounty in their lives. In Ayau,
[the people] believe in God. Only certain people would take from a sasi place, of bad character,
who think negative things in contrast with the mainstream who desire goodness.
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Figure 21 Elvis Marino, Rutum Island, Ayau atoll, November 2014
Beteo people from Ayau declared a conservation zone along with Indonesian officials
from Javanese cities far to the west. Since closing areas off to large-scale fishing and restricting
activities to occasional harvests, the lagoon has seen greater abundance and diversity of fish
species. In August 2014, grouper gathered to spawn in huge aggregations this was apparently a
sign of something new. Elvis hoped that the fishing catch will increase even more, from five to
eight tons per month. Alongside village regulations (peraturan kampung) and continued
government support, he is hopeful for the futureWe respect sasi because of our faith in
God...[w]e have faith to protect those places because as Christians we value them.He ended our
conservation with a prayer:
Let us unite our shining faith to signify God who bestows many blessings over a
protected place. Because of our faith. Let us awaken: we have the faith so that
God safeguards meaning he gives so many blessings. We use sasi as a means for
a place to be established for a common cause. Whatever species, wherever it is, is
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that which God returns [to us]. Because all of us, all of this, is from God. This is
our commitment.
Southward at Fafanlap village on Misool Island, Balif Wainsaf spoke about his work with
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) where since 2012 he has coordinated monitoring and patrols
throughout a marine protected zone of 366,000 hectares. A former lobster fisherman, Balif
knows the best spots as well as how to spot outsiders. He described sasi zones in front of
Tomolol and Kapacol villages. He said that these are separated into areas controlled and
harvested by men, and another area where women are in charge. The areas encompass
mangroves, seagrass and coral reef habitats. Species protected are similar to those in sasi areas
elsewhere Napoleon wrasse, grouper, lobster, five species of sea cucumber and green snail.
38
Figure 22 Yellu village, off Misool island, Dec 2014
38
Prepared and dried sea cucumber is very valuable. Market prices as of Nov. 2014 varied depending on
the species. For instance, in Ayau prices are: teripang gosok (Actinopyga Mauritania) 750,000 rp/kg;
teripang nenas (Thelenota ananas) 500,000 rp/kg; susu (Holothuria (Microthele) fuscogilva)
500,000rp/kg; kongkong (Pearsonothuria graeffei) 350,000 rp/kg; bitnik (Bohadschia vitiensis) 150,000
rp/kg. In comparison, lobster (Panulirus Sp.) fetches 120,000 rp/kg; green snail, 150,000rp/kg and sea
snails are worth appx. 40,000 rp/kg.
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Bailif said Fafanlap opens sasi is twice a year for a week at a time. Opening ceremonies
follow monsoon cycles. Most areas are opened to harvest in later November or early December,
after making offerings (timai) of flowers, live fish and prayers. Gifts are left by the shore while
people fish with spears or scoop nets and collect marine animals by hand while navigating
barefoot along the reef.
When asked about the differences between village regulations and church sasi, Ali
Oherenan of Misoolsaid that church sasi is considered to be the
most effective. This is because people are afraid to enter closed sasi gereja zones: if someone
transgresses, they will be cursed by God or publicly shamed in some way. A person must pay a
fine (denda) to the village in recompense for their sin. Such fears have led some to recommend
reducing the number of church sasi areas. They do not want to be cursed. People shared similar
sentiments in many other areas of Raja Ampat, not only in zones encompassed by modern
marine protected area zoning regulations. For instance, in 2004 a sasi zone was established in
mangrove areas near the Tipin-speaking village of Solol on Salawati Island, remote from eco-
tourism or conservationist engagement. World Bank staff had been involved in an initial meeting
but Solol residents have kept it shut ever since, perhaps in part because they consider that several
ancestral beings emerged from the sea nearby. In any case, these areas remain off limits.
On Sawinggrai village on Gam Island northwest of Salawati, an elderly man named Tete
() of the village dock so he
can hand feed schools of small fish. Nearby, a covered wooden hut is covered with moldering
paraphernalia from past meetings with environmental groups, tattered maps of fishing areas and
village locations fading. His son Niko Sauyai spoke of the importance of protecting coral, sharks,
the beach from pollutions and trash. What for? Niko noted We protect things from the sea in the
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hopes that there will be money. This would seem to be an instrumental approach to protection.
But he later adds, but among ourselves we also acknowledge sasi, as good Christians and
stewards.
At the jetty at nearby Yenbeser village, children, mothers and older men typically drop
handlines with four-pronged hooks to snatch yellowstripe scad (Selaroides sp.) that pulse below.
But not on Sundays a day of rest for people and prey. A priest claimed that he can say a prayer
and all the fish will go away if people dare to break this Sunday sasi. These are snapshots of how
several people in Raja Ampat think about the role of sasi not only as a form of resource
protection but also as a type of moral practice.
Figure 23 New GKI church built with eco-tourism revenue, Yenbuba village, Mansuar island, 2014
In parallel to other commentators, Yohanes Gaman said sasi gereja is powerful because
people believe are fearful of punishment (kutuk) from God or forces of nature such as roh-roh or
djin, nature spirits who inhabit big trees, bamboo groves, or underwater locations. He said that
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West Papuans tend to think of the external environment as a place full of moral consequence. A
crocodile, manta ray, reptile, or snake are not just animals, but are considered agents of a morally
uncertain world that will bite, eat attack or harass those who upset a fragile balance.
Saltwater crocodiles killed several young men on Waigeo in 2014-15. In all but one case,
their deaths are believed to have been caused by inappropriate actions with predictably
unfortunate ends. For instance, a man in Saporkren recalled that in 2015, crocodiles attacked four
men in Wauyai, Kalitoko and Araway because had trespassed into sasi gereja zones that were
under protection. In one instance near Kalitoko in
night to dive for sea cucumber. The crocodile watched and waited. People say that crocs do not
strike immediately, but attack after return
visits to the same place. His is a moral tale: the crocodile acted to protect the sacred spaces from
mans greed.
Other informants in several villages said similar things about the role of animals acting as
agents of an enraged Lord or as physical manifestations of angry spirits seeking revenge.
Speaking at a group discussion in the Ambel village of Warimak, people recalled three incidents:
in 2011, a young man was killed and eaten near Araway village; in 2012, another person was
killed near Beo village; in 2014, a man from Biak was eaten by a crocodile near Warimak village
after he had gone searching inside a sasi area. At a fisheries discussion in the nearby settlement
of Go, participants remarked that God would have animals including crocodiles, wild boar, and
certain venomous snakes act to punish greedy people from taking too much without sharing.
Winds and currents could also draw someone off course, or they could drown. To them, sasi is a
divine law (hukum dari Tuhan).
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To protect oneself from future retribution after trespassing into a protected sasi zone, a
person must first apologize to the landowning clans or kin groups who are recognized to have
management responsibility pemilik). Most then pay a fee to the owners or church
congregation of up to 10 million Indonesian Rupiah (appx 700 USD). Others give gifts of food
such as processed sago as compensation.
Taken together, the comments from people on different islands show how sasi gereja
provides for a set of moral prescriptions that ultimately seek to foster a sense of mutual
responsibility and cooperative sharing in the benefits of a bountiful seascape. Those who
transgress are punished not for taking one or two extra animals, but for negating the moral code
of social solidarity that undergirds Christian practice against a backdrop of cultural erasure and
economic uncertainty. Sasi gereja has become a mechanism for West Papuan communities of
Raja Ampat to make their own ethical claims on the landscape in ways that go beyond the
limitations of private property, state ownership or tourist motivations. It is a hybrid amalgam that
broadcasts three interrelated values: a self-consciously West Papuan Evangelical Protestant
identity, a desire for its recognition as a commensurate genre of conservation practice, and the
good that arises from cooperative engagement with outsiders. By believing the good things sasi
gereja provides, Beteo communities demonstrate their piety through renunciation and self-
control. Conservation then is not only about protecting fish but is also a set of practices for
demonstrating goodness. Below, I introduce sasi mon, a different type of resource management
particular to Ambel-
institutionalized as an analogous type of conservation practice alongside MPA zones and sasi
gereja.
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Sasi Mon: mediating the human and nonhuman
Among the Ambel settlements of libit Bay a different type of local conservation
limits building houses, making gardens or fishing in areas where ancestral spirits or agents of the
ere and south in Misool refer to this type of local resource
control as sasi mon. Sasi mon is the converse of modern management its emphasis is not so
much about ensuring biodiverse ecosystems or species survival but is a way to keep potentially
malevolent forces at bay by ensuring that wild places stay wild. Mon places include caves,
natural springs, uninhabited karst islands, inaccessible mountains, riparian zones and areas of
primary rainforest. They also include burial sites of ancient dead, sites of remembered events and
clan origins, as well as places associated with sorcerers and ambivalent nonhuman entities.
39
Mon places are artifacts of -environment
relations as unstable and requiring constant intervention: in words, offerings, safeguarding, and
(when needed) placating. Natural features are often anthropomorphized. The craggy limestone
peaks surrounding libit Bay are considered realms of dragons, certain natural features
speak, have names and histories. Stories recall a past when people spoke with animals, became
kin with sorcerers and lived alongside a short, ancient hominid species (Ambel: man si baber;
Indo: orang gi). Even today in Waifoy, people speak of their kin ties to other-than human beings.
For instance, Bin Kairom is a giant grouper whose mother has a house in the water. The Nok
clan tell stories of Beten and Walimao, heroic titan brothers whose exploits shaped the
surrounding hills.
Sasi Mon sites reveal how the Ambel perceive the landscape throughout M Bay
as a set of coordinates people use to trace their own pasts as well as to seek routes to the future.
39
Discussions with Moritz Kafiar, FFI HQ, Waisai, Waigeo, Jan 2015; Yeheskiel Dawa, Warimak, Sept
2015; Nadus Nok, Wolter Lapon, Warimak/Waisai, Jan 2015, Aug-Sept 2015.
104
This future rests on forestalling the development of a ring road, nickel mining and logging for
ironwood trees. It involves aspirations for forest trekking to view birds-of-paradise or the
construction of homestay bungalows for visiting tourists. It also involves an emerging desire
among . They
also hope for greater partnership with environmentalist groups such as Flora and Fauna
International.
Against this background, the representation of sasi mon by West Papuans as an analogous
type of land and sea-based conservation on Waigeo indicates how, like sasi gereja, it has become
linked to processes of value commensuration and differentiation. Translating sasi as a genre of
conservation relies on recognition by different sides that the modern no-take zone approach can
be put into relation with West Papuan evangelical norms of community or the importance placed
on maintaining a social-spatial separation of human from nonhuman domains.
Yet misunderstandings and flashpoints have challenged easy alignment between goals of
marine protected areas with West Papuan visions of human-nonhuman relations. For instance, in
2014 the mostly Ambel community of Kalitoko evicted a Dutch bird conservationist after rumors
spread that his group, along with mysterious international actors, conspired to put radio
transmitters in th People were also upset that
promised benefits from supporting a large forest reserve had not yielded material benefits. These
examples underscore a general wariness of the Ambel to outsiders.
Despite such ambivalence about strangers here and elsewhere in Raja Ampat, sasi mon is
a vehicle for how people living in libit Bay communicate their views about appropriate
conduct with the environment to others. Mon stories and prohibitions express specific place and
space-based norms of the right way to interact with nonhuman surrounds alongside other
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Most mon areas have names
Wailukum in Waigeo, the caves on Waikor island, Malai Yef, Jakani – all of which reflect
particular events in the past or indicators of a noteworthy being who dwells there.
Mon areas are liminal spaces where humans should tread carefully; they are off-limits
(kabus) without special intermediaries. Offerings (kakes) are essential and permission required
before entering a nonhuman realm. A person must state their intentions honestly or risk disaster.
Harvesting wood, hunting, or food gathering is generally prohibited. Signs such as red clothing,
shells, or dried sea cucumber mark gateways to nonhuman realms. Each Ambel clan has specific
rules that proscribe where people can sit or rest, laugh or even walk. When the Beteo came to
libit Bay to trade with Ambel people for sago near Kalitoko, they warned them not to go to
an and
according to Martin Makusi. Today, young children or infants are not allowed to travel near
certain lagoons or places associated with spirits lest people become ill.
Mon places are also refuge for important species. In the sea, they encompass habitats of
the Indonesian speckled carpetshark (Hemiscyllium freycineti), juvenile blacktip reef sharks,
eels, mangroves and saltwater crocodiles. On land, mon areas include primary stands of New
Guinea lowland forest mosaics with stands of threatened Indonesian eaglewood (Aquilaria Sp.),
Moluccan ironwood (Intsia bijuga, I. palembanica) and sub-montane forest stands on karst peaks
(Webb 2005; Widyatmoko 2017). Indeed, sasi mon areas appear to have positive ecological
spillover effects for certain habitats and species, even if this was not the intended goal. In this
sense it aligns with forms of species and habitat prohibitions such as tapu (Tonga) and fady
(Madagascar) (Colding and Folke 2001; Cinner 2007; Jones et al. 2008).
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At a large gathering at the conservation outpost of Warkabu towards the entry of the Bay
in August 2012, people discussed a declaration of mon areas that occurred a year before in
conjunction with Conservation International, the Raja Ampat government and members of the
cil (dewan adat) (Figure 24). Participants led a ritual procession to the sea
where they left food offerings, and placed tree branches, cigarettes, areca nut, and yellow rice in
secret places. Clan elders chanted special prayers and expressed their desire to safeguard their
lands. elected representative was present as were representatives from the
40
What motivated such an event, and for what
purpose?
Figure 24 Sign indicating sasi mon
One clue is that some Ambel informants consider mon to be a way of creating mutual
benefits (manfaat) between human and nonhuman beings. Before missionaries brought
Christianity to the Bay in the 1930s, Ambel people would play the drums (tifa), dance, make
offerings, any speak with their ancestors. They would give offerings in two sets: for the people of
40
Discussion with Dian Oktaviani and Kris Thebu, August 7, 2012, Warkabu conservation post, Waigeo.
107
the forest and ancestral beings and to those gathered for the feast. Doing so secured a social bond
that they know the person and are protected from any harm that may
occur to them when travelling journey, opening a
garden site, or hunting pigs appeases the spirits and helps to ensure a bountiful harvest.
In part, sasi mon practices are a way of showing peoples embeddedness in an ecological
setting where knowing where to hunt, fish, and gather, and how is reflected in the careful ways
they treat their surroundings. Besides rules for where and how one can travel, they encompass
botanical knowledge for treating illnesses, rules for when and where to cultivate land and the
circumstances when a person can take things from the sea. Ceremonies are performed as a way
of giving thanks to the ancestral spirits for all the prosperity they provide over time, or as a sign
of gratitude for healing someone from illness (Mansoben 1995:228).
As with stories of stranger kings from elsewhere, mon practices show how power is
structurally distant. The mon represent forces from outside or elsewhere. To the Ambel, the mon
are a conceptual category of alterity. Animal spirits, and the moral edicts they represent, must be
incorporated into the social order as recognizable forms of abstract ethical norms into something
meaningful so that people can live well and with conscious awareness of the consequences of
council member Kris Thebu recalled how his great-
grandfather believed strongly in the Great Mother from Kalibiru who is still present in their clan
lands. She implored lease care for this area. It is your life. If it is destroyed you will be
These stories indicate how the landscape can be read as a moral map.
Ambel people believe that nature has power in mon areas a similar way to how Beteo
perceive that God has power in sasi gereja zones. For instance, Kaliraja is a
place on Waigeo Island where people of Raja Ampat say the first rulers emerged from eggs.
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Today, people make pilgrimages there to gain insight and power. They must be guided by a
member of the Gaman clan, have good intentions, and bring offerings of coins, cigarettes,
bracelets or other precious items. Behind Warsambin village, men of the Ansan clan travel to the
Ma
with the natural world. Near the village of Go, there is a special cave associated with spiritual
power.
Mon sites, as protected zones, are not only nature preserves but are anthropomorphized
sites of collective memory. For example, behind Kalitoko village the Dawa and Nok families
speak about a place along the Kakit river which is a repository of stories and a refuge for
nonhuman entities (Figure 25). Kakit contains a set of cultural waypoints. These waypoints
include a large stone anchor of Monsam, what is believed to be the remnants of a giant stone ship
(Ambel: bat ranu) that provided shelter for people and animals during a world destroying flood,
a giant rock that was once a speedboat, Jacoband a stone jetty where spirits dwell. Ambel
informants noted that after the large ship was anchored with a huge string, ancestors descended
to the ground to dig a large well. At first everything tasted salty, but later they reached
freshwater. The people soon settled nearby.
Despite the lifegiving and sustaining properties associated with this place, Kakit is also a
place of warning. In one story, two sisters, Lorena and Dubul, became blind after djin spirits
became angry that they ate a pig hunted from the wrong side of the river (and without
permission). People from Warimak say the sisters remain in large boulders by the river, peering
out from crevices and reminding them to pay proper respects to the forest spirits.
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Figure 25
Kakit is a mon site along the Wenok creek a few several hours walk into the forest behind
Warimak village. You walk along narrow trails down steep slopes and into a thicker and thicker
understory, from secondary growth and old garden sites to older, denser habitat representative of
Vogelkop-Aru Lowland Rain Forest.
41
Nadus Nok, a guide on a 2015 trip, said that this area was
once home to the Wanma people.
Kakit is a place of many birds and animals with sheer walls beneath a large opening in
the forest canopy. One of our companions caught an eel in the river which we ate at our camp
under a large cliff. In the morning, a large Papuan black snake (Pseudechis papuanus)
42
appeared
slithering along the river bank while I sat a foot or two away. Nadus said the snake was a mon
coming to inspect the strangers who had come to his place. He spoke to the snake, telling it that
we meant no harm. He later claimed that because we spoke rightly to the snake spirit, he was
able to go in peace. So the snake slipped off into the water. Later on asking about his
41
https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/aa0128, Accessed 20 June 2018.
42
Discussion with herpetologist Dan Mulleary 16 Sept. 2016.
110
interpretation of the snakeat day, Yeheskiel Dawa said such creatures are common
signs of mon places such like Kakit. He argued that having a Nok clan member intercede likely
saved our lives.
Mosaics of protection
The descriptions of sasi gereja and mon areas highlight how they are two different but
analogous types of culturally-meaningful resource management. People observe prohibitions in
each type of area for different reasons. But in recent years, both have been put into relation with
newly introduced forms of environmental governance. Moreover, neither Church sasi or sasi
mon would have become institutionalized into their present forms in the absence of scientists and
donors who actively promoted environmental programs in Raja Ampat through visits,
workshops, surveys and decrees. Sasi gereja likely would not have developed into its current
form without advocacy from environmentalists. Sasi mon would not have become a justification
for Ambel people to forestall new logging projects. In the absence of external pressure, it is
possible that West Papuans across Raja Ampat would have continued to engage with their
nonhuman surrounds as zones of ancestral spirits or cannibal witches. They would have
continued to recognize different clan terr-go zones, and
perhaps come to terms with encroaching changes to private control of land and sea areas.
111
Figure 26
Figure 27 Dampier Straits MPA zone. Source: Raja Ampat Regency
Standing back and gazing at maps of the region, a composite mosaic of protection
emerges. Figures 26 and 27 above are official government maps of the Mayalibit Bay and the
Dampier Straits MPA zones. Each present differently shaded zones of no-take marine protected
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areas, areas of human use, sasi, tourism area and village-managed areas. They provide a visual
index for how several types of environmental practices have become incorporated into a mosaics
of interlinked conservation areas, each of which reflects specific human-environment values and
goals. six regional marine conservation areas (KKLD, Kawasan
Konservasi Laut Daerah) encompasses a different set of conservation types within a larger
cultural and geospatial grid. Below I zoom in on examples from three marine conservation areas
in the region: libit Bay, Dampier Straits and Misool.
During a group discussion with Indonesian scientists from the Indonesian Academy of
Sciences (LIPI) and RARE a conservation organization at Warsambin bit
Bay in August 2014, Beteo and Ambel villagers discussed how in previous years people would
bomb reefs to gather fish in unclaimed waters. Others would use compressors and long hoses to
gather shells and sea cucumber from the seabed, and large nets to gather anything they could. As
recently as 2012 people from the same village protested the presence of international
conservationists as they believed they would limit their ability to move freely to fish, hunt or
make gardens. In one instance, a few men from the Ansan family in Warsambin took possession
of a patrol boat at the Warkabu post used by CI for weekly monitoring trips.
Warkabu is a conservation outpost sitting across a narrow, turbid strait from Warsambin
village at the foot of a steep karst ridges. Conservation International financed and operated the
station until 2015, when it was transferred to the . For
several years, Warkabu hosted meetings with local fishermen and villagers from across Waigeo.
Tattered maps and banners from past gatherings
walls. It is still a launching area for fishing patrols and hosts visiting research teams.
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In August 2012, I participated at a three-day MPA workshop at Warkabu. Over one
hundred men and women arrived from several nearby villages to discuss biodiversity. The
participants spoke about their daily activities and made lists of catch rates. They discussed
perceived changes to the ecosystems: threats from logging, nickel mining and overfishing. A
Balinese conservation trainer and several West Papuan staff from Conservation International
office in Sorong city led an group activity where Ambel men became interlinked as a web of life
a turtle, the sun, seagrass, a fish (Figure 28). People held string and became entangled together,
erupting in laughter at the joy of this strange choreography.
Figure 28 , 2012
The walls Warkabu are still painted with turtles, islands, lobster, tuna, shark, bird of
paradise a reminder and an aspiration for their efforts, even if they are a bit tattered today. Such
signs parallel a logo for the KKPD libit: Biarkan bertelur penuhi laut
sea Two hands enclose a tuna who is laying eggs a reminder of the human
On one wall, a Papuan man dressed in a traditional grass skirt
calls out in Papuan Malay:
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Mari kitorang jaga kitorang punya daerah sasi supaya ikan ada trus untuk kitorang
punya anak cucu.
Together lets protect our place, our sasi place so that there will be fish for our
children and grandchildren.
The call to protect the bay for sake of their future children is echoed on other walls:
Mari bapa mama kaka dana de, kitorang sauna jaga alam teluk Ma’yalibit dengan baik
demi masa depan anak cucu kita.
Jngat..Ingat! Sabtu dan Minggu kitorang libut balobe supaya lema bebas bertelur dan
jadi tambah benyak.
Mothers and fathers and libit Bay well for
our future generation
Rememberremember! Saturday and Sunday we refrain from taking in order for
mackerel to freely lay eggs so there will be plenty.
While there are still disagreements between some families about the long-term benefits of
working with governmental institutions and NGOs here, many say that attention from outsiders
has generally helped to sooth inter-village rivalries over fishing rights, boundaries, and to ensure
better harvests. Besides workshops with CI at Warkabu, a few Indonesian organizations have
supported cooperative activities, including solar-powered lights, volunteer student mentoring at
-led crafts cooperative.
While many such efforts routinely failed to address underlying socio-economic
disparities, people said that such projects have facilitated trust by working together. For instance,
in Muslim Lopintol village nearby, cooperation to manage local fisheries have led to increases in
the number of Spanish mackerel (Rastrelliger brachysoma, R. kanagunta
economic livelihood. The village official claimed that a Javanese Muslim researcher
lived in Lopintol for a year studying and working to develop new management approaches. He
said that her presence has helped to build mutual understanding.
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On small, round Arborek Island in the middle of the Dampier Straits MPA, Beteo
residents view different types of conservation areas working together to support fishing and
tourism. -take zone
off the village to a manta aggregation site; sasi gereja areas near Mansuar island, village gear
restrictions all of which are encompassed within a much larger Dampier Straits MPA zone. A
group of men and women weaving hats near the village dock said that most folks recognize and
respect the rules of sasi and community patrols (Figure 29). For instance, a conservation post on
Gam island nearby has been critical to the return of reef sharks. NGO funds for fuel oil have
increased marine patrols which have reduced fishing raids from gangsters coming from Sorong
city.
While increasing numbers of tourist visitors have created some tensions over trash,
fishermen reported that they now catch much closer to shore than ten years ago. Funds from
larger sasi harvest revenues have also supported church construction and big holiday feasts. As a
token of cooperation between Beteo residents and other partners, in February 2017 nine Papuans
from villages in the area were recognized as Manta Guardians to protect pregnant females from
harassment by over-eager tourists at a mating and feeding site on a shoal near Arborek village.
43
Such actions are meant to bolster regulations protecting important species throughout the region.
They also reinforce links forged over the past decade.
43
9 Raja Ampat Community Members Trained as Manta Guardians, 12 June 2017,
http://kkpr4.net/en/index.php?page=news&id=11, accessed 11 Nov 2019.
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Figure 29 Fishing for bait, Saporkren village, Waigeo, 2012
Back on Deer village on Kofiau island where this chapter began, Otis Mambrasar spoke
of his work with The Nature Conservancy to protect the Kofiau and Boo MPA zone. Otis said
that Beteo residents participate in conservation activities by supporting sasi and accompanying
local marine patrols. With the introduction of sasi areas in 2011, around 75% of the entire MPA
zone is considered to be a traditional use area that allows for small-scale hand line fishing by
paddle canoe. The remaining 25% is an off-limits no-take zone (Figure 30).
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Figure 30 Sasi sign, Deer village, Kofiau Island 2014
In November, people from Deer village open sasi zones for one week to collect sea
cucumber: mollusks and lobster, which they eat and sell in Sorong
the village by longboat. Otis told me that before The Nature Conservancy and Conservation
International entered Raja Ampat, conservation was limited to land-based sasi for coconuts and
areca palms. The Evangelical Church of West Papua (GKI)
protection so that God protects all the sea resources over Kofiau and Boo, transforming a
biodiversity refuge into a Christian seascape.
South of Kofiau, among a cluster of villages in southeastern Misool, Islamic forms of sasi
overlap with no-take marine protected zones overseen by non-governmental organizations and
Misool Eco Resort, a private enterprise on nearby Batbitim island. On the Islamic village of
Yellu in December 2014, Mohammad Loje, a community coordinator for Misool Eco Resort and
village secretary, noted that people used to catch fish with huge
trawling nets.
44
The influx of commercial activity significantly reduced sardine catch: over time
44
Most residents on Yellu refer to themselves as Matlol, sea-
opposed to the Matbat, who lived in the mountainous interior and who are mostly Christian.
118
it took longer and farther to get anything. Mohammed said that the establishment of Misool Eco
Resort coincided with a reintroduction of sasi practices, which together with the KKLD patrols,
have led to increases in catch and return of sharks, coral cover and other keystone species such as
manta rays.
Almost everyone living in Yellu makes a living from the sea: whether as subsistence
fisherman, working for a nearby work for a pearl farm or as contract staff with the Misool Eco
Resort. While some were initially suspicious of foreign dive operations nearby, the presence of
conservationists, and nearby operations of The Nature Conservancy, seems to have catalyzed
local efforts to prevent destructive reef bombing by outsiders. For instance, Mr. Mohammad
Atabas Loje, a Yellu man who works at the resort, commented that people used to use many nets
and trawls and the fish catch decreased noticeably. The establishment of Misool Eco Resort
coincided with a reintroduction of sasi practices, which together with funds for community
marine patrols, have led to increases in catch and return, protection of, coral cover and an
increase in smaller fish. On the day after my meeting with Mohammed, several people led a sasi
opening ceremony at Yellu.
Figure 31 Imam Soltif with author, Fafanlap village, Misool, Dec 2014
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At nearby Fafanlap village, Imam Kayidap Soltif (above, left) says that he is happy to
have witnessed several changes since The Nature Conservancy began conservation programs in
2007. As the Kapitan Laut of many generations of sea guardians, he says it is a responsibility to
. Putting his hand on his
heart while sitting on his floor dressed in white, Imam Soltif
beings anyway, our human family, we have relationships to one another:
I see the beauty of nature so I thank Allah ... who created me as his servant who
was born in this beautiful place. The sight that I see of the islands that are so
beautiful is visible as well if I am from the sea looking at the mountainous land
that forms its like a saw blade, then [I have] the feeling that ... well, we give
thanks for being here.
Soltif said that sasi and conservation have different time cycles, with sasi occurring for
six to nine months during the season of southern winds. On Misool, sasi begins by making signs
that a place is off-limits (kabuis lid), usually by placing a wooden cross on the ground or
crossing coconut palm fronds. Signs that a sasi zone has been opened for harvest (lent samsom)
include a tree tied with colorful pieces of clothing, along with a diamond shaped leave-wrapped
of sticky rice (ketupat), dried fish, cigarettes and betel nut bundles. When an area is opened it is
permissible for people to collect marine animals such as sea cucumbers, lobsters or clams. Sasi
areas are open for a few days or weeks.
45
In the past people would dive to gather what they could find. The introduction of
compressor hoses extended dives, allowing many to overharvest sea creatures. Reef bombing had
hese activities are not something we want.
We want to go back to the time of abundance like in the past us the people of
45
https://batanme.tumblr.com/post/63817136630/sasi-sebagai-kearifan-lokal-masyarakat-misool
120
southern Misool, if we are aware of ourselves, we [should] prevent it, for our happiness, our
future children and grandchildren. T
But the imam said that despite these feelings there are competing voices in the
community, gossip and jealousy. He added t want mischief that violates He
spoke of the importance of maintaining customs, traditional institutions such as clan-managed
use rights (hak ulayatpeople everywhere. He drew from his position as
hereditary Kapitan Laut (sea captain) of Fafanlap and from Islamic texts as a source of his
environmental ethics:
created by Allah - if we hate it how are we
going to be an enemy with God? We give prayer and thanks without asking for
more, to us to develop for our fleeting lives in this
beautiful for us, everything completely for our lives while we are in this world -
the seas, the lands and everything within s contained within the land,
s contareligion calls us to forbid
destruction, [to] do good, avoid the bad. The message of religion is to be thankful
like this.
46
The moral grounds of protection in contemporary Raja Ampat draw from several sources from
r wrong
action and respect for nonhuman forces. Below I present excerpts from conversations with a few
key informants as indices for how West Papuans identify what one ought to do regarding the
environment and tourism. These conversations took place during formal interviews, while
witnessing church events, on fishing trips and forest walks. People talked about their efforts to
close off village fishing grounds and debated the fairness of marine protected areas. They shared
their fears about transgressing sacred interior zones of the ancestral spirits.
46
Transcription of recorded conservation with Imam Soltif, 2014, with permission from John Weller.
121
Conversations about conservation
I now turn to four West Papuan informants in order to highlight excerpts of conversations
about conservation from recordings between 2012-2015 in order to show the potential overlaps
or incongruities when talking about people and the environment, as well as different perspectives
on the role of outsiders. My point is to indicate how talk about and reflection on the environment
in Raja Ampat is also a dialogue about values. Each person has a different take on what is at
stake when talking about conservation, particularly regarding the motivations and objectives of
cooperation with outsiders, who benefits, and to what end. By presenting a few individual
perspectives, I also seek to highlight how the circulation of narratives about conservation is also
a form of ethical self-formation, through which West Papuans represent themselves in particular
ways to others, whether NGO staff, government officials, or interloping anthropologists. More
concretely, by engaging with talk about environmentalism, each person wrestles with the ethical
implications of conservation practices.
Yohanes Goram Gaman: leader of Yayasan Nazaret, Ma’ya storyteller, and conservation
advisor (he passed away in 2016)
Figure 32 Yohanes Goram Gaman and Abraham Gaman, Sorong, 2012
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Yohanes was born
remarried Henky Gaman, a clan elder and key informant to anthropologist Alex Van der Leeden.
Yohanes had a home in Sorong city, where he led Yayasan Nazaret, a Christian NGO focused on
environmental conservation and health care services. Yohanes worked as an advisor to
Conservation International and was active in the movement for West Papuan independence. He
died after a long illness in 2016.
Yohanes said that customary councils (dewan adat) across Raja Ampat initially
welcomed the arrival of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Yet after a while
captured a speedboat used by Conservation International for patrols, and in 2012, took another
speedboat in Warsambin. These vessels became leverage for Papuans to demand compensation
and recognition before they would be returned. The disputes were resolved by representatives
from council who interceded along with government officials and conservation staff.
Yohanes argued that these days most West Papuans support the goals of conservation. He
added that villagers have seen the results of increased fish, coral cover, mangroves, better yields
of grouper, lobster, sea cucumber and top snails. He said that Papuans have learned of the
importance of protecting ecosystems as a responsibility that humans have to the environment as
well as to each other. He argued that some initially were unclear what benefit would arise from
establishing no-take zones (bank ikan), but that over time, people have come to understand the
importance of protecting nature (melestarikan alam).
I asked Yohanes about his perspective changes brought
about by conservation projects and increased interaction with tourists. He said that in the past
Biak people Oh, you can live there, you can live
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there, you can eat fish or hunt for pigs. But now because of Indonesia, the new rules they say the
land and coral belongs, is owned, by the government.Yohanes lamented the ways the
Indonesian government has claimed the rights to develop land, often by expropriating traditional
lands, or by denying claims to customary ownership. He noted that some younger West Papuans
Even the Papuan
This
No, this is our land because this is owned by the
government.
Towards the end of one discussion Yohanes spoke about his hopes for the future. He
hoped that the people of Raja Ampat do not give away their natural heritage to outsiders and that
people protect (Indo. menjaga) their environment. He said that he envisions this as a three-part
process: in the short-term, it will require close coordination with NGOs and outside experts to
sustain the conservation programs established in the 2000s. In the medium term, he hopes that
the Papuan Customary Council (Dewan Adat Papua) will receive financial support from
international donor
Longer term, he hoped to gain increased support for the Free Papua movement. He said
this only a few days after five students died in Pedalama, Nabire district in Papua after they were
suspected of gathering in support of the West Papuan freedom movement when in fact they were
only preparing for Christmas. saw conservation as a struggle for political recognition,
in which interactions with NGOs coincide with efforts to mobilize people to build a
124
new political order in opposition to the Indonesian state. He viewed efforts to protect reefs or
forests as a process of reclaiming Papuan heritage.
Kris Thebu: head of the Ma’ya Dewan Adat and adviser to Conservation International
Figure 33 Kris Thebu overseeing a new conservation agreement in 2018
Originally from Kabire village on Waigeo Island, Kris Thebu has been an adviser to
environmental organizations and a mediator with the government of Raja Ampat Regency. He
emphasizes the importance of having West Papuans have a say in management of the land and
sea around them, particularly the role of kin networks for controlling access and use of territory.
But he also believes in allying with Western NGOs, scientists and foreigners not only to
promote stewardship, but to bolster West Papuan economic opportunity, and to forge links in
support of long-held dreams for greater political autonomy.
At a conversation at CI, Kris said that Raja Ampat
has immense natural potentialwe are very much in tune with the NGOs in
safeguarding natural resources. He recalled that the adat council desires to manage
natural resources so that they will provide a long-term source of wealth and livelihood. He spoke
125
approvingly about MPAs and no-exist for the benefit of indigenous peoples, and
to ensure the sustainability of fisherieshing restrictions and
[we
must work] with NGOs and the community.
conservation in Raja Ampat is to align the interests of clans with NGOs, especially because at
people remain, continuing this program because of the way we protect nature
Kris spoke of forming an
here for a long time-descended communities. He spoke of unified efforts to
protect forests and sea zones, and of a future when the Biak-
Our aspiration is that we strive to demonstrate that the sea is important for their
livelihoods. Indeed, so that the sea cannot be bombed; it cannot be destroyed; it
cannot be free to exploit. People feel a sense of sadness. Because the sea is good.
Even the land must be maintained so that it can benefit [us] from generation to
The emotional attachment people have to the sea and land is connected to the ways sasi
gereja and mon areas are places associated with strong feelings. Kris highlighted how the values
and beliefs associated with mon respect for non-human spirits, an ethic of responsibility to
ensure species and beings in such zones can flourish is not at odds with the types of underlying
norms that NGOs or scientists engage when speaking about MPAs or no-We are
talking to folks again using the language of conservation conservation is indeed the same as
sacred places. This means that conservation is regulated in similar ways.
Kris later spoke of his concern for the development of a paved ring road that will encircle
the forests of Waigeo. He feared the road will accelerate logging, lead to exploitation of animals,
and the arrival of more non-
126
protect the environment. The coral reefs are a living environment because there are still
kekayaan
it have to talk about [the risks of] dissolution.
Awareness of hazards has motivated Kris and others to seek alliances with outside groups.
He hopes that the government will be as involved as NGOs in financially supporting
f Raja
and the government will not receive money from visiting
tourists. So they have to really be able to maintain this system. This pragmatism extended to his
efforts as an intermediary in disputes over compensation from tourism revenue, and as a leader
respected by West Papuans and conservation scientists. It is also reflected in his work with
church groups. As such, Kris not only
talks about value commensuration, but has become an ethical exemplar whose humility,
optimism and dedication highlight a hopeful path forwards amidst continued uncertainty.
Reuben Sauyai: Beteo homestay entrepreneur based on Kri Island
Reuben Sauyai is a Beteo man from Yenbuba village, and one of the pioneers of village-
based ecotourism on the islands off Waigeo Island. Since 2006, he has built several bungalows
and thatched roof houses for rent to visitors who come to Kri island to explore the reefs and
forests in the Dampier Straits marine protected area, home to over a dozen Beteo-speaking
Protestant Christian settlements. Reuben originally worked as a guide with Papua Diving before
becoming an entrepreneur.
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Figure 34 Reuben Sauyai, 2012
Since 2012 he has also been a leader of a cooperative association of indigenous homestay
owners around Raja Ampat. He is seen as an emerging leader among his kin group, and among
Beteo families. Reuben feels that conservation and tourism must be managed by and for West
Papuans. While he acknowledges the role of conservation NGOs in promoting ecosystem
management and new species protections, he also criticizes such groups for promoting their own
agendas over the needs of local people.
During a conversation in August 2015 at his homestay site on Kri island, I asked Reuben
if he thought conservation foundations helped or hindered Beteo goals. Reuben said he thought
They talk of
protected the sea and forests, he community
must also be conserved.-run tourist homestays have increased
awareness of the value of conservation, but that such values have emerged though discussions
and debates within families. We built a homestay and we realized we had to protect the sea and
128
forest territories
are not arriving, or no one wants to come to a bankrupt place. There will be no benefit.
Reuben contrasted these processes from how Conservation International and The Nature
very far [from ideal]. It is
not good in the sense that they only speak of this or that, but there is no evidence that CI works
to manage trash. The [private] resorts also do not know conservation well.His comments reveal
a self-awareness of the importance of positioning about who speaks for nature. He specifically
referred to blogs, videos, and public events in which conservation groups display their ethical
cred. As a young entrepreneur, Reuben is keen to broadcast an alternative narrative. He is also
self aware of the importance of media to tourism success. He emphasizes the role of websites,
cellphone connections for making bookings as vectors to broadcast tourism opportunities.
I then asked him whether practices such as sasi gereja could be a model for how
homestay owners protect reef and forest areas. Reuben argued that if sasi refers to periodic
closures of fisheries that ultimately support community feasts, it is worth preserving. But he
argues that Papuan-managed homestays are more effective way to promote environmental
protection: e have helped the people to become conservationists. Many people have a
homestay;
we have to assist Raja Ampats own people to manage their own economywithout sasi,
without CI rules, without TNC conservation rules without the rules of the government.
pointed across the water to Mansuar island. He said that around Yenbuba village, no one fishes
near the reef anymore. They all go farther out beyond the marine protected zones ecause they
know the economy will strengthen when our nature is protected
129
sasi is now driven by the government and pushed by conservation agencies.its
authenticity. It has become associated with control and external oversight.
I then asked Reuben what he considered to be key challenges to manage to ensure
ongoing environmental protection. He identified trash as a particular issue both the trash that
has accumulated from visiting tourists to homestays off fragile Kri island, water quality, and
waste from Sorong and Waisai that often washes plastic bottles and packaging onto the sandy
shores. Trash has become a signifier of economic success as well as a source of anxiety.
Revenues from homestays often gets exchanged for packaged snacks, noodles, or other prestige
foods that are associated with cosmopolitanism. So in some sense Beteo homestay owners desire
trash, and to create the conditions for its accumulation, while also disavowing its negative effects
on the ecosystem, as well as its role in destabilizing the image of Kri as a natural paradise.
I
Raja Ampat:
My hope for the next fifty years our children and grandchildren will continue our
efforts by preserving the natural environment as it is now and the nature of Raja
Ampat while still reviving the people of Raja Ampat not reviving people from
the outside but reviving the people of Raja Ampat itself. I hope that our sea will
remain. I am hopeful about our efforts to help the new generation of children to
learn about the nature of Raja Ampat the sea and the forest by fishing with
traditional tools, and building or doing gardening with gardens that do not cause
harm, meaning that the natural environment is still maintained; [so that it is] still
alive. People come and go home and they only take memories but do not fully
appreciate nature. But those of us who are left behind will reap the benefits and
value the future for those who come after us.
In a similar way to Yohanes Gaman, Rebuen views efforts to protect the natural
Indonesian government, and is less sanguine about the role of conservation NGOs. His advocacy
for local eco-tourism as a route to self-reliance and conservation values reflects his view of
130
to Raja Ampat, planting the seeds of a new economy.
Yeheskiel Dawa: Ma’ya storyteller and guide from Warimak village
Figure 35 Yeheskiel Dawa, Warimak village, 2015
Yeheskiel Dawa is an Ambel-speaking man who lives in Warimak along the shores of
and advisor on agricultural extension programs and forest trekking developments. He is also an
ng with nonhuman mon spirits who dwell in the
forest. Yeheskiel is recognized for his botanical and medicinal knowledge of plants, animals and
the history of tribal relations in Waigeo. He recently built a small homestay bungalow near the
shore, where we often spoke.
131
Yeheskiel emphasized the importance of showing respect to nonhuman beings. He said
this is vital to ensure safe passage through the wilds. It is also a means of remembering the past
and to ensure fertility or avoiding hazards (including disease, sorcery and untimely death). He
says Papuans continue to maintain close connections with the places they inhabit. At the same
time, Yeheskiel longs for diversified economic opportunities for his village, particularly when
compared with the wealth of foreign visitors, and the rapid growth of tourism in other parts of
Raja Ampat. He often would ask me for help booking tourists, or whether I could help him
access cell phone credits. His comments speak to a tension between a desire to maintain tradition
while adapting to the future.
During a discussion at his home in Warimak village in 2015, Yeheskiel expressed
sadness about resource extraction near his village. He said that near Wauwiyai the ironwood is
mostly gone. He said that people do not want a paved road through the forest from Kabare to
Warimak. He said that NGOs such as Flora and Fauna can support nature tourism which can help
the forest is still
good and still useful. It is still valuable to have birds. It is still good to have plants, still good to
have hardwood trees.
ancestral zones and mon places, he spoke with shame about their poverty compared with
residents of Waisai town.
spears and traditional tools. We are all half dead, the people who have the right of
land in Ra-dead. We still suffer. Whereas we have a
desire that Americans can still remember us Papuans, so that we may be
rice, but life can still be difficult. From when I was young until now, Pak
132
damaged, but I keep going to the sea. Fortunately, because of our nature we can
collect sago, fish and veggies. For now.
is a
Bay have not benefitted from conservation programs or tourism in the same way as others. They
ng
have gone unrewarded. His comments suggest that others have not adequately valued their role
in protecting nature. His motor is damaged but he can still go to sea.
Similarity or dissonance of conservation regimes
There are clearly different motivations for engaging in conservation across Raja Ampat.
Yohanes sees cooperation between Papuans and outside groups as a way to promote political
autonomy, but is wary of Indonesian government involvement. Kris argues government, adat
pes for future political freedom,
but also for a rejuvenated indigenous governance through the Ma’ya Dewan Adat. Reuben
se from West Papuan
communities, who he claims sasi, without CI
Yeheskiel is proud
that Ambel continue to maintain the forested spaces but says these efforts remain
el all view
ecotourism as a route to better economic circumstances. Their talk also entails a sorting out of
values whether conservation norms are in sync with village-based homestay goals; whether the
133
present form of sasi or a market-oriented focus is best suited to protect reef habitats; how
safeguarding spirit domains is necessary but perhaps not sufficient to survival in Waigeo today
amidst a development and tourist boom.
For conservationists, Raja Ampat represents a model refuge for important marine and
terrestrial species whose habitats should be protected for their own sake. The region is a buffer
against global degradation of tropical ecosystems from anthropogenic change. The stakes are
high to demonstrate success here, at a time when coral bleaching events from higher water
temperatures (in turn caused by higher concentrations of greenhouse gases) threaten global reef
biodiversity and food security. On islands such as Arborek, Beteo children speak about
konservasi at home with their parents following visits by educators who lead environment-
focused workshops. They are aware that there is something special about their homeland. For
many Papuans who live on Waigeo and among its nearby island, sasi gereja has become a
mechanism for enacting Christian virtues of communal harmony while showcasing their
conservation values.
Such practices are modern hybrids: they fuse a particular vision of evangelical Protestant
Christianity associated with West Papuan political autonomy with the arrival of development-
focused environmental groups and expert scientists to produce a bundle of shame, hope and fear.
, sasi mon is a type of spiritual wilderness ethic for respecting places where
nature spirits dwell, as well as a way to map clan-managed territory at a time of increased
competition over resources. What had been clan-based human-environment relations connected
to particular habitats or kin networks have been repackaged as an institutional form analogous to
sasi. In this way, mon beliefs and practices take shape as a commensurate vehicle for
conservation values alongside other genres. The self-conscious representation of Ambel
134
engagements with non-human beings as environmentalism suggests that West Papuans are
actively striving to put their values in relation to the new forms of nature-oriented ethics such as
MPA no-take zones or forest reserves.
Yet the plurality of environmentalisms in Raja Ampat appears unworkable. There are
certainly misunderstandings about the objectives and intended outcomes of spatial protection.
eo and Selpele villages closed the Wayag islands to
tourism because they were upset that visitors did not acknowledge their long-term ownership
claims over the area, and their role in protecting species. The dispute centered around different
views about who could claim to protecting an area, and who should benefit. Kris Thebu, who I
briefly introduced above, played a key role negotiating this conflict. In Chapter five, I focus
more intensively on the dispute over Wayag along with other examples of misunderstanding over
human-environment interaction in the region.
The residents of Raja Ampat likely have several reasons for engaging with outsiders.
Some fear that cooperation may undermine the role of clans in negotiating access and use of land
and relations to ancestral origins. Many think the Indonesian government will use conservation
programs in order to assert greater control over people and territory throughout West Papua. In
other cases, m
have led to conflicts between local people and international organizations over ownership and
access rights. Some conflicts have led to inter-village rivalries that risk violence. Ecological
studies of sasi suggest that seasonal harvest taboos can be effective for protecting certain reef
dwelling or nearshore species, but perhaps less so for marine animals who roam widely.
Interactions over natural resources often lead locally resident communities to improvise
in unexpected ways. Some Biak and Maya villages play the role of indigenous ecological
135
stewards in exchange for homestay visits by ecotourists. Conservationists may seek to present
themselves as sympathetic to the interests of local clans. It is perhaps no coincidence that some
of Conservation Internationalin Raja Ampat are also Maya and Biak clan
elders.
Through talking about and interacting with nature local people as well as environmental
NGOs communicate moral values to each other. Fishing communities point to their stewardship
of closed harvest sites important for religious or landholding rights as signs of their conservation
ethos. To resident populations of Raja Ampat, conservation is valuable in as much as it facilitates
social bonds mediated through land and sea-based forms of stewardship. Conservationists may
begrudgingly support eco-tourism as a means to protect the intrinsic value of an animal or plant
species. Table 1 below compares differences and overlaps between three types of conservation:
marine protected areas, sasi gereja and mon zones. I highlight the actors involved in the
expansion of these resource practices, origins within Eastern Indonesia or from afar, the
approximate dates of their institutionalization and their primary value orientation.
136
Table 1. Comparison of environmental protection in Raja Ampat
Protection type
Marine protected area
(MPA)
Sasi gereja
Mon zones
Key social actor
Environmental NGOs
Beteo
Origin
Exogenous
Hybrid
Endogenous
When introduced?
2004-2010 (7 new Raja
Ampat MPAs)
1970s (land-based);
2004-2010 (sea-based)
Mon (unknown);
Sasi mon in 2010
Value orientation
Intrinsic value of species
protection
Instrumental value for
species
Intrinsic for Christian
morality
Intrinsic value of
nonhuman spirits and
places
Instrumental value to
protect against logging,
overfishing, clan conflicts
Purpose
Biodiversity conservation
Christian ethics; better
catch
Prevent entropy; maintain
balanced human-spirit
relations
Restrictions
Permanently off-limits
no-take area
Season-based or time
specific (6-9 months)
Permanently off limits to
certain activities; limited
foraging and subsistence
use
Value overlaps?
Yes, promotes tourism,
linked to sasi
Sometimes protects
spawning aggregations,
species protection
Yes, supports
biodiversity, ecosystem
services
Mechanism
Government; fines, gear
restrictions
Church and village-level
oversight
Clan oversight
Mode of
enforcement
Marine patrols,
community sanction
Church sanction,
community ostracism,
fear of divine retribution
Belief in causal response
from nature if
disrespected; clans
Cultural benefit
Tourism potential, better
fishing
Community solidarity
Maintains traditional
environmental knowledge
Ecological benefit
Spillover effects; buffer,
return of key species
Protection of reef,
mangrove and lagoon
ecosystems; coconut,
sago and fruit trees
Positive externalities;
protects threatened
habitats
Conflicts
User fee revenues; private
tourism resorts; illegal
fishing
Illegal fishing, reef
bombing, individual
trespassing
Trespassing, illness or
death, sorcery
accusations, illegal
logging
Dispute
mechanism
Government fisheries
office, indigenous science
advisers, customary
counsel
Elected village head,
church leaders
Customary indigenous
counsel, landowning
clans
137
Identifying similar or competing values of nature protection requires us to confront the
role of rules verses practical actions in conservation types. Conservation is a bundle of things one
can and cannot do in a protected zone as well as the specific costs for rule-breaking. Yet as a set
of social relations, conservation entails practices individual actions, improvisations,
negotiations that go deeper: they are forms of ethical subjectivation, modes of embodied
disposition, ways of being in the world.
Moreover, conservation is not only series of representations but a field of practical action.
In some sense, conservation is metapragmaticnot on the content or formal structure
of representations, but on the actions they perform, and within which they are em
2003:181). Webb Keane discusses how Anakalang talk about rules (pata) is of talking
This appears to also be
the case when evaluating talk about sasi and other rule-governed forms of environmental care in
Raja Ampat. Such talk is also an inherently reflexive enterprise shaped by encounter with
strangers. At some level, conservation discourse in coastal West Papua represents a search for
common ground. I will return to the theme of common grounds for conservation discourse in
Chapter Four.
Sasi and modern marine management reflected in MPAs may draw from different moral
foundations but they are both about spatial control of places. For instance, marine protected areas
are designed to safeguard biodiversity for its own sake. As zones to curtail human harm, they
reflect a presumption that animals and plants have intrinsic value: the right to flourish
independent of human actions or desires. Village-based regulations represent instrumental efforts
by West Papuans to demonstrate their capacity as citizen stewards to effectively manage trash.
Church sasi represents efforts to live according to Christian values in which an ever-present and
138
omnipotent deity provides benefits to believers, and punishes those who defy. Mon sites reflect
Ambel peoples conviction that human and nonhuman realms are interanimated. Their
intermingling as an equivalent form of conservation practice recognized as such by conservation
NGOs and the Indonesian state suggests it is also a channel for Ambel people to communicate
values they consider important about nature and human responsibility.
As conservation practices, MPAs and sasi represent ethical systems because they rely on
meaningful symbols, values and practices. They are implemented through performances an
MPA signing ceremonies, a traditional feast with dancing, offerings, a sasi promise enacted by
recognized authority figures (an official, priest, clan leader, NGO partner, etc.) They are also
sites for enacting values with other analogous value systems.
Figure 36 Church service, Saporkren village, Waigeo, 2015
139
Customary marine tenure such as sasi while initially supported by Dutch colonial
officials, Ambonese Protestant pastors and then the Indonesian government has become a way
for communities living in Raja Ampat to highlight their way of doing things. In the case of sasi
gereja, traditional harvest taboos are now interlinked with Christianity, while rooted in spatial
ownership and control of coconut groves and fishing sites.
Sasi has also become a political-economic lever: it supports claims by Biak and Maya
villages for official Indonesian government recognition. It has effectively channeled claims for
increased material support from conservation organizations to Papuan villages keen to adapt new
closure zones. Relatedly, in Mayalibit Bay, sasi mon areas have become important sites for
negotiating access and control of valued patches of primary forest or fish aggregation sites. Talk
about mon entities or places is also another way that people are hashing out contemporary
disputes over clan landownership claims amidst a transformation of land and sea to market-
oriented modes of exchange.
Sandra Pannell suggests that sasi practices are anthropologically relevant not because of
their potential fit with contemporary marine management regimes, but because they express local
understandings about what is sacred, about ownership and about spatial differentiation (Pannell
1997:298). To Nils Bubandt, sasi is a dialectic between local cultural values and outside political
nd unintended
consequences than by clear- (Bubandt 2005:225). They show how local
environmental management is not merely a practical method of ensuring bountiful harvests but is
also a mechanism for ensuring the continuity of values about people and nature, dispute
resolution and territorial control.
140
Marine seascape practices such as sasi, guardianship, and patterns of rotating harvest are
important to making sense changing world. Raja Ampat
encompasses reefs, coasts, karst islands, fish, human villages, places of the ancestral dead,
haunts of cannibal witches, places protected by God and nature spirits. It is also a social and
environmental system in constant flux. Some fisheries have collapsed while certain species of
marine megafauna have returned. Increased population density and in-migration is leading to
more heterogenous community structures, trash accumulation, decreased water quality, and the
search for alternative employment. Nickel mining, road construction, and logging is changing the
terrestrial landscape, with changes to the chemistry of the coastal zones from runoff. T
rise for the moment seems to be mitigating commercial exploitation of reef ecosystems. For now,
sasi and other conservation regimes provide ways to limit resource degradation, as well as an
institutional structure for transmitting cultural values about people and the places they cherish.
Chapter 2, in part, contains material published in Parker, Ian N. (2021
In Johannes
M. Luetz and Patrick D. Nunn, eds. Beyond Belief: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches
to Climate-Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands. Pp.267-285. Springer Nature Switzerland
AG. The dissertation author was the primary investigator and author of this paper.
141
Chapter 3. Ecotourism on Waigeo and hopes for future wellbeing
Misplaced Hopes
He was a prophet of a different kind. Sometime in the mid 1990s, several Beteo villagers
living on Mansuar Island off Waigeo interpreted the arrival of Dutch entrepreneur Max Ammer
as the return of Manarmakeri, heralding the coming of Koreri: a time when foreigners and locals
will become one (Rutherford 2012:13). It was perhaps an understandable misunderstanding: a
stranger had arrived to Raja Ampat, established a residence and lived among local people, built a
successful eco-tourism resort in 1993 and hired several local men. He brought Biak craftsman to
build traditional Biak palm-thatched houses on Yensawai, gave gifts to many families and
introduced several men to diving. He slept on money one said to me in Arborek in 2014. He
recently met with Manarmaker said another on Yenbuba.
This was after earlier effort on Wai island had been burned to the ground while
tourists watched, due to claims of inadequate compensation from members of a land-owning clan
from Arefi village on Batanta Island. Led initially by a religious teacher named Domingus Krey,
several Beteo people from Yenbekwan and Yenbuba village also began to believe that Max
Ammer was an avatar of a Papuan messiah. As Max Ammer and his wife were members of the
Seventh Day Adventist church, those who considered him to be Manarmakeri converted as well.
A group relocated to a new settlement called Sawandarek on the uninhabited south side of
Mansuar (Beser: Cassowary) Island.
Rumors circulated that residents living in other places Dampier
Straits region believed in the millenarian cycle of Koreri. But it had been many decades since the
142
last cargo movement.
47
Not since 1998 had West Papuans dared to the itchy old
man given his associations with West Papua independence and political violence that occurred
when the Morning Star flag was raised at Biak city that July (Rutherford 2003, 2012). In
addition, most Beteo people professed belief in Protestant Christianity since the 1930s. The
Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GKI, Gereja Keristen Injili di Tanah Papua) was not pleased
with these developments.
Residents of newly-built Sawandarek village worshiped on Saturday instead of Sunday,
observed prohibitions against betel nut and smoking and avoided certain foods. Ammer himself
found the spontaneity of such religious fervor ed
48
While some later
reconsidered associating Ammer with a world-breaking myth, the arrival of tourism has already
transformed the lives of people living in Raja Ampat. It has already brought foreigners back to
West Papuan shores as eco-tourists staying at village homestays. Tourism has also ushered an
economic shift from gifts to goods, from communal land to private property. It has differentiated
winners from losers, profit from dispossession.
The promise of eco-tourism in Raja Ampat, as with the promise of Koreri, is not only
about better livelihoods. It is also about a more hopeful future when West Papuans will garner
greater respect for their ways of living as citizens of a more inclusive Indonesian state, or
alternatively, of an independent Melanesian nation (Rutherford 2012). Besides satisfying a
practical need to acquire cash to pay for school fees, zinc roofs and mobile phones
47
Specifically, a few people from the predominantly Beser-speaking villages of Arefi and Yensawai on
Batanta Island.
48
-lang
Source: http://www.florian-sanktjohanser.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Raja-Ampat-SZ.pdf
143
arrival near Waigeo Island highlights ways that West Papuans grapple with competing sets of
values about how to interact with strangers, the costs or benefits of curtailing fishing, and
whether to support different environmental initiatives.
Perhaps the scale of village-based development is not merely a response to economic
demands, but is also a way for Beteo communities to foster the creation of new social relations
within and across their society. Eco-tourism is transforming the physical seascape through
Papuan managed homestay sites, as well as through internal processes that are consequential to
-actualization and social recognition.
This chapter examines how eco-
and values from trade in local products to village-based, nature-oriented tourism. While tourism
has been present in Raja Ampat since 1990s, in the last few years a Papuan-led ecotourism
network has emerged and expanded to the extent that in some areas it has overtaken trade in
local resource products as the primary mode of production for several Beteo villages.
Tourism is a context through which West Papuans are engaging with new ideas and
values about money, time and sociality. Perhaps the spontaneity by which so many men and
women have prioritized tourism as a livelihood indicates its potential as an opportunity for
positive self-regard that contrasts with a legacy of shame and guilt from the past. On the other
hand, the emergence of village-based eco-tourism may represent a survival strategy for West
Papuans amidst the encroachment of private business, foreign capital and pressure to relinquish
control over clan-managed land and seascapes to outsiders.
Residents of Sawandarek eventually acknowledged y the avatar
they were seeking. When I asked people about these events between 2012-2015, people tended to
shrug, or look downward. In Beteo settlements on Mansuar and Kri Islands, people recalled the
144
story with a mixture of shame and amusement, as if it was all a big misunderstanding. Other
nearby residents on Arborek island acknowledged that Max was not the person they were
seeking, but that he had revived feelings of hope that had remained concealed. Yet perhaps his
arrival, as with the long-hoped for return of Manarmakeri, indexes a cultural mechanism for
grappling with socio-economic change. Several West Papuans from nearby settlements work for
Kri Eco Resort. Others maintain steadfast Adventist beliefs. This case of mistaken
identity highlights how making sense of outsiders like Max Ammer risks misunderstanding. It
provides one example for how cross-cultural encounters are subject to hazards of misrecognition.
Encounters with strangers provide an opportunity for reflexive appraisals of who people
are in relation to others. Such interactions may lead to a cultural shift in attitudes, behaviors or
expectations. For instance, while Ammer is no longer viewed in terms of Biak legends, he has
arguably become an exemplar of tourist entrepreneurship a model for a certain type of ethical
self-formation (see Faubion 2011:51-52; Humphrey 1997). Ammer has promoted awareness of
professional standards for diving certification. He has also encouraged West Papuans to expand
no-take zones including sasi. On the other hand, several clan members are upset that nonlocals
have been able to profit from their forests and reefs without providing adequate compensation or
recognition of their stewardship over patches of clan territories.
Near Waigeo island, people and things have become exemplars for the emergence of a
new economy. In addition to perceiving individuals as models of successful tourist
entrepreneurship, new types of physical structures have become prototypes
eco-tourism marketplaceappears to have inspired the
reemergence of traditional Biak houses (Biak: rum) constructed of woven sago palm thatched
145
guest houses resembling a canoe. Such houses represent values about commensality and signify
how Beteo are repositioning themselves as
These West Papuan bungalows have become a standard structure for tourists
who visit Gam, Kri, Arborek and Manyaifun islands. They are visual and spatially distinct
reference points for homestay tourism sites across Raja Ampat when compared to villages, which
tend to be close to but separate from the zones of village tourism activity. Homestays are also
physically and socially distinct from hotels or resorts, due to their proximity to villages and
associated with particular family networks. Alongside pictures of reef and limestone islets,
homestays are metonyms for eco-tourism throughout the archipelago. They package ideals,
values, and desires in a single frame that communicates messages of wildness, pristine,
authenticity. But homestays sites are also value hybrids: they both extend and refract Melanesian
norms of social sharing, but are also spaces of cross-cultural interaction with foreign others,
performative grounds for communicating with and receiving new ideas.
In an important way, the rise of tourism near Waigeo Island is a story of kin networks.
Eco-is a family affair. Young men from the Beteo
Sauyai family built the first homestay bungalows for foreign tourists. The Mambrasar and
Dimara families soon joined the effort. Conflicts around access to dive sites, visitors, and the
distribution of revenue became new flashpoints between families. People quarreled about the
proper ways to respect obligations among families to share wealth, the desire of young Beteo
men to accumulate prestige by accumulating wealth from abroad and converting acquired status
into more durable forms of value through transference to marriageable sisters (and their offspring
in subsequent generations).
146
Besides the intimate ways tourism is shaping inter-clan relations, is environmental
tourism in West Papua a context for the formation of new social relations with strangers from
abroad? In what ways is ecotourism a setting for understanding the effects of interactions
between groups with apparently different values about nature and society?
Tourism has increased in the past decade with the growing
recognition of Raja Ampat as the center of global marine biodiversity, as well as its
representation as a wild refuge in nature documentaries or online magazine articles. Such media
have relayed scientific findings of coral numbers, reef fish and habitats and have fueled a desire
among travelers to visit coastal West Papua to experience immersion in a wild seascape. For
many, a trip to Raja Ampat is not only a chance to see flourishing seascapes is also a journey of
self-transformation.
In order to become a tourist destination, the Raja Ampat area has changed itself by
becoming a metonym of wildness. The regional government administration, tourist enterprises
and conservation organizations have edited out problems with municipal waste in Sorong city,
HIV and tuberculosis crisis, longstanding economic inequality and political
disenfranchisement. Zooming closer in to the specific geographic and social context of Waigeo
Beteo families have constructed homestay bungalows to fit tourist
imaginaries of indigenous life (compare Stasch 2012, 2014). While nearby, these sites are not in
full view of the concrete houses, TVs, generators or material needs of inhabitants. But most
Beteo are aware of these divergent sensibilities and willingly sustain the conceit.
The reasons for doing so are instrumental in order to accumulate money and
relational the curiosity and joy of associating with Westerners. It is perhaps not a coincidence
that many families have relocated to homestay sites. They report them to be more comfortable
147
and open to breezes than concrete; they are less gossipy than the close-packed Indonesian-funded
village agglomerations. As new social arrangements, homestays have also afforded West
Papuans a chance to reconnect with other family members. For instance, at Warimpurem
homestay near Saporkren, Mama Enggelina Dimara oversees three generations of Sauyai with
ebullient laughter and stern control. She and her husband Heret Sauyai have formed their own
clan settlement (mnu), a common social arrangement prior to the construction of government-
sponsored villages which generally shelter parents with consanguineal offspring and not uncles,
aunts, cousins or in-laws.
In this and other ways, eco-tourism near Waigeo island has facilitated a return to previous
ways of living, while also adapting to new forces. It is both an
as a reinvigorated set of material conditions. It is also a set of representations media images,
stereotypes, tropes and possibilities. West Papuans and visitors have been shaped by these
representations. In an important way, eco-tourism in Raja Ampat is also a channel for ethics: it
draws from norms of environmentalism and relies on certain assumptions about conservation and
sustainable use. Tourism also creates conditions in which participants, from Papuan proprietors
to non-local visitors, have experienced a shift in their appraisals of themselves and others,
including their nonhuman surroundings.
By examining how tourists and locals talk and imagine across one
I seek to understand tourism as a set of social relations as well as a set of possibilities for living
in a world. But first I return to the enigma of foreigners being interpreted as messianic saviors
through a re-telling of a Biak millenarian hero, and a case of mistaken identity.
148
Millenarian echoes in an eco-tourism marketplace
At a meeting of Yayasan Nazaret and Flora and Fauna International in Warimak on
Waigeo Island in Jan 2015, people spoke about Manarmakeri, and whether West Papuans still
believed in millenarian tales. According to several participants, the German missionaries Carl
Ottow and Johann Geissler who were active in the 1850-70s presented a vision of Christianity
Koreri. They drew from Biak stories to explain
Christian teachings, including the miraculous birth of Jesus; the fulfillment of prophecy by way
of signs of wonder; the role of miracles in conforming his divinity particularly the sharing of
food, saving others, healing sickness; the importance of voyaging to other places as central to his
ministry; banishment, betrayal and resurrection.
The story of Manarmakeri contains similar elements, including: an immaculate
conception; signs of wonder in which the Morning Star came down to earth; magical acts in
which Manarmakeri creates and shares food, manifests a sailing ship after tracing it in the sand; a
peripatetic ministry after being sent away, and how transformations especially the shedding of
his former self are a precondition for resurrection and redemption in the world to come.
Christianity arrived to Melanesia in several waves between the 16th and 19th centuries. A
striking feature of Christianity in coastal West Papua is its ongoing association with millenarian
revivals:
[I]t is possible that casual visits and information about Christianity since the early
sixteenth century, through trading contacts, led to the emergence or
transformation of local myths. Biak, Raja Ampat and large areas of the
Cenderawasih Bay have myths about a self sacrificing Saviour, who left or died,
but promised to return, when he would establish a kind of a millennium. The Biak
people call this millennium Koreri. This is announced by a forerunner of the
messiah, a prophet, the konor. The messianic figure itself is called in Biak and
Numfor the Manseren Mangundi. The Me of Paniai, South-East of Nabire, have a
similar myth of the return of Koyeidaba, who gave his life to create new life to
help humankind in a concrete way, with new food crops. According to the Me
149
anthropologist and church leader Dr Benny Giay, the Me of Paniai themselves
perceived the close similarities of their religious myths with the Gospel. They
even thought that the missionaries had come from America not to bring the
Me religion.
[Aritonang and Steenbrink 2008:348]
Near the present city of Manokwari, Ottow and Geissler drew from Koreri to explain
Christian ethics, especially the commandments not to kill or steal and to seek intersocial
harmony beyond tribal solidarity. Today, several elderly Beteo informants living on Waigeo
island remember Manarmakeri-for return of a messiah
who will liberate Papuans. One informant said such tales shows how Papuans and Westerners
share a common bond. He that after sailing from Biak to Raja Ampat, Manarmakeri travelled far
to the West to the Netherlands where he lived without want or hunger among Western kin, who,
like Manarmaker, were originally from Papua. He said that one day he would return, bringing
people and valuable things back to New Guinea.
After the inauguration of the Evangelical Christian Church (Gereja Kristen Injili di
Nederlandsch Nieuw-Guinea) in 1956, independent missions across Papua drew from Papuan
millenarian myth-dreams to spread a gospel of hope amidst an increasing political and economic
marginalization of Melanesian communities (Aritonang and Steenbrink 2008:360). This
marginalization accelerated after Indonesia annexed West Papua in a controversial UN-
coordinat
Guinea began promoting human rights and advocated non-violent ways to foster political and
during an evening conservation in Warimak village in February 2015
150
speaks to an intergenerational longing for better futures.
49
Others present nodded and mumbled
in agreement. It is against this background that local tourism has taken center stage.
While Christianity and tourism seem distinct spheres of life, in Raja Ampat making a
living and striving to live a Christian life are congealed. Environmental conservation has become
a domain of Christian practice. This can be seen in the rise of Christian-inflected prohibitions on
harvesting marine and terrestrial products (sasi gereja) and in discussions of how best to
distribute revenues from tourism as a form of Christian charity. In the village of Saporkren on
uthwestern tip the Gethsemani congregation shared their desire to be good Christian
stewards of their communities and reef habitats. Across the region in church sermons, at
meetings over betel nut, or workshops with NGOs eco-tourism has become an issue not only of
money but also of ethics. And like the millenarian cargo movements, it is a context through
which people from very different societies are encountering each other. The zones of tourist
activity have become settings for clashing ideals and unexpected conflicts.
During fieldwork trips to Raja Ampat between July 2012 and September 2015, I became
intrigued by the regularity that Beteo people would bring up stories of Manarmakeri and Koreri.
In some ways, the intensity of hopes for tourism and scale of homestay construction without
much consideration of business plans or the remote locations of some thatched guest houses
suggested something else was at stake. I spoke with several elders who relayed their version of
Manarmakeri stories and compared these accounts to other accounts from homestay tourist
operators. Even to those who disavowed any link between their homestay plans with messianic
hopes, both phenomena draw from the same source: a desire for stronger social relations, better
livelihoods, with less want and greater abundance.
49
1, 2015.
151
In a discussion in Saporkren village on Waigeo Island in October 2014, Yosias
Mambrasar and Luther Mambrasar retold a version of , which I narrate
below.
One day Manarmakeri was making a drink called sagoer, when the Morning
Star (bintang fajar)
50
began gathering sago. Manarmakeri
collecting sago. He then captured Morning Star, who took the form of a human.
The star said he wanted to return to the sky. Manarmakeri responded:
must throw the fruit at a young girl.
Later Manarmakeri saw a beautiful woman named Insorak who was bathing.
He threw a fruit at her, and noticed that milk suddenly flowed from her breasts.
She soon became pregnant as a result of the fruit provided by the morning star.
all the young men form the village to ask who did this to his daughter. Soon
said. He discovered him there. Drums were then played and everyone else left.
Insorak did not love Manarmakeri; he was scabby and not attractive to her. But
after becoming pregnant, the village told her to leave as they were ashamed.
Manarmakeri, Insorak and the young child, (along with some people from the
community), later prepared to leave together. Insorak wanted to leave by boat
They
wanted to leave but there was no boat. Manarmakeri drew a perahu in the sand.
He stomped his foot and then a boat appeared. Later the child cried,
hungry.Insorak told him
his father. His father said, ook inside the room, there is food there. His wife
was surprised (kaget They then entered
the house and ate together. How is this possible, she asked? She still
disbelieved the miracles and her husband.
Manokwari, but Insorak was reluctant to go by sea to that place. The boat headed
elsewhere, to Yenbekaki, near Arefi. From near Kwawi to the island of Salawati,
the boat travelled onward.
Once, they spotted someone on a nearby islet, but
They took some wood from the tree of isolation (pohon cawat) as a token of their
visit to Yenbekaki. In other places, they planted coconuts trees; the groves can
still be seen today as evidence of their path. From Yenbekaki, to Yenbekwan they
sailed to Western Europe, to the country of the Dutch (Negara Belanda) as there
to live in Raja Ampat. Manarmakeri wanted to
disembark to the beach, but Insorak did not. Bring the ship onto land, to beach it.
Before travelling to the Netherlands, they stopped over at Numfor Island. Ayo,
said Manarmakeri to the young child who ing on
50
The Morning Star may either refer to Polaris or to the myt
152
the beach. Manarmakeri thoughWhat can I do to get the child to come aboard
and transformed it into a serpent. For this
reason, there are many snakes in Numfor.
Manarmakeri wanted to clean his scaly (kudis) bad skin, covered with lesions.
He looked at his reflection in the water: all his scabby, weathered skin. Then he
bathed and cleaned, and shed his old crust (
Dia kupas, diganti kulitnya) in the water. His wife was very happy as he
became very handsome. It is said that people shrimp or crabs here,
because like Manarmakeri they change their skins.
51
They then embarked on a
great journey to the Netherlands. But the mother and child stayed on the ship.
When Manarmakeri arrived in the Netherlands he offered gifts of shrimp, crabs or
white cloths. They chose the cloth, which is why they are white today. It is said
that the many ships in the Netherlands are a sign of Manarmakeri, a trace of these
meetings. According to the story, the Dutch are the same as Papuans. They make
sago and have gardens. But after they became white, they forgot their past. They
forgot how to garden and make sago.
I asked the men about what might happen if Manarmakeri returned. They recalled that
Beteo people living in Yenbekwan village had believed that Max Ammer was Manarmaker. Do
you still believe in Manarmaker?Yes, said Yosias Mambrasar. It is our history; many
believe it. Howeis different from these tales.
But such stories clearly echo into the present.
51
In Saporkren people eat lobster and sometimes crabs, but in other places this is taboo. In Arefi on
Batanta, people are prohibited from seeing, eating or killing snakes.
153
Figure 37 Yosias Mambrasar talks about Manarmakeri, Waigeo 2014
Along the shores of nearby Arborek island in October 2014, two women wove colorful
shell-shaped hats made of a local palm for sale to visitors. Near under a
shady tree, the Arborek women waited for the next arrival of homestay visitors. A younger man
sat nearby cutting up strips of palm as bait (umpang) for catching snapper (tengiri:
Scomberomorus spp.) in open fishing zones nearby. A recent transplant from Biak Island sat with
him on a bench near the shore. Both shared with me their views about the story of Max Ammer
as Manarmakeri:
they view that they finally said he was the Lord Jesus already, indeed.
They say that Manarmakeri has returned to this place, to Raja Ampat, to Papua.
So they were told by Adventists, who prayed every Saturday. They were the ones
who said that the Lord had joined him. So they joined him. They were not forced,
but they followed them ... because they themselves were not forced to do it, they
154
were not forced, but they had their own willingness to join because they did not
want them to call him Mr. Max, they called him brother, so look at our brother:
oh that is Jesus! So he was Manarmaker. Like that.
Both men stressed that the people who converted to Seventh-Day Adventism following
these events are no longer ostracized. Few still think of him as the messiah but look to him as a
guide for tourism. Fishing, trading and family visits have resumed between Sawandarek and
other Beteo-dominated villages in the area. In contrast, the dynamics of tourism are more
complex and somewhat less tranquil. They have pitted villages against each other as rival
competitors for visitors. At the same time, while some Papuans do not seem to mind foreign
resort owners, others have become upset that outsiders have benefitted from their reef and
mountain seascapes without employing many locals or without providing adequate
compensation. Jealousy and competing visions about what tourism should be have led to
conflicts within villages and families, as well as between church congregations and private
resorts. People whisper that cannibal witches lurk in the shadows beyond the village, ready to eat
unsuspected victims.
Across the Raja Ampat archipelago, tourism has become a source of great hope but also
of anxiety for the future. The Koreri movement in West Papua from 1939-43 was one of several
uprisings in which Papuans turned to messianic figures promising better futures (Rutherford
2003:24). The contemporary movement for West Papuan sovereignty continues to draw
inspiration from millenarian tales. For instance, the white and blue-striped Morning Star Flag
hails the Manarmakeri mythos: it was the morning star who stole his palm wine leading to the
bestowal of his magical powers as well as his transformation into Manseren Mangundi
(Mansoben 2003; Kamma 1972). Rutherford notes that the power and authority of a 1998
uprising relied on (2003:20), connecting political
155
activism with messianic movements. Drawing from Freud ([1922] 1963, [1938] 1963) she
highlights how the fetish represents an ambivalent site of knowledge of an uncertain and
potentially incommensurate value (Derrida 1986: 211). The allure of foreign things whether
stranger kings, the mana of precious goods, the visiting Western tourist are congealed in a
contradictory mix of desire and disavowal.
Koreri, a vehicle for a particularly West Papuan form of fetishism, permits an analysis of
contradictions while leaving room for the potential of overlapping moral spheres. Among the
Biak and their Beteo relatives, foreigners represent a promise of empowerment, transformation
but also of danger. In a similar way, the Koreri story represents easure
and perfection which Rutherford translates as
We ea (compare Tuzin 1997).
Rutherford argues that Koreri expresses a framework for making sense of Biak social
actions, as well as a vision of the world. It is a particular myth-dream that reveal[s] the validity
of m (Burridge 1970:27,150); it is a model for movement between moral worlds.
ng the
inequalities that divide Biaks from outsiders, the hero provides the measure of value, space and
(Rutherford 2003:159-16.) On the other hand, talk and imagery of Koreri is also risky. It
relies on media that can be misunderstood or misinterpreted, as with the case of Max Ammer
(compare Keane 1997). It also remains a politically charged discourse that clandestinely echoes
dreams for greater autonomy.
As West Papuans have been represented as backward, tribal, and underdeveloped
peoples, millenarian tales and tourist activities reflect counter-narratives to racist tropes or
justifications for continued subjugation. In a parallel way, eco-tourism has become a new myth-
156
dream with great promise and peril for West Papuans. Koreri provides people with a framework
of meaning for dealing with the effects of socio-economic upheaval. Perhaps it was not mistaken
to associate Max Ammer with epic changes after all: even if he was not the right avatar, his
arrival fits within a larger metanarrative in which outsiders bring about major changes to
Melanesian worlds.
Raja Ampat as ecotourist exemplar
From a certain vantage point Raja Ampat conforms to stereotypes of a natural paradise. It
is remote, has a complex assemblage of marine and terrestrial habitats and a relatively low
human population. A commonly-photographed vantage point from the Wayag Island group
northwest of Waigeo Island is representative of the region as a whole
(Figure 39). When people think of Raja Ampat they imagine a remote tropical refuge.
Figure 38 Wayag Islands, Raja Ampat. Source: TNC photo
The photo above frames Raja Ampat as a mostly uninhabited natural realm. Media
including newspaper articles, blog posts, conservation campaign websites, and travel
157
documentaries reinforce the narrative of coastal West Papua as a biodiverse out-of-the-way-
place.
52
Media also tend to represent the human residents of the region as living in synergy with
the natural landscape, situated in timeless artisanal fishing activities, hunting or gardening with
simple technologies such as hand-built wooden outrigger canoes. The flotsam and jetsam of
everyday struggles, particularly of West Papuans against economic and political marginalization,
have been edited out of view. In tourist zones, Papuans have learned to censor themselves. Most
do not speak with outsiders about their hopes for political autonomy, or how tourism is a means
to greater self-reliance and autonomy from the Indonesian state.
From time to time unresolved tensions in places such as Manokwari (the capital city of
s to political violence that splinters illusions of Raja
Ampat as a harmonious natural wonderland. For instance, in August 2019 student protests
against racist remarks in Jayapura led to mass demonstrations in cities across the region, from
Sorong to Wamena.
53
Residents suddenly lost the ability to communicate via internet.
during the protests from an
NGO in Sorong, a regional hub of 200,000 on the Papuan mainland across from Waigeo. He said
that internet had been down for more than a week, and that he had been followed. He shared
pictures and video of mobile brigades of Indonesian paramilitary officers controlling streets
while buildings burned. He said that the Indonesian government had suppressed media coverage
of the protests. Major Indonesian newspapers, including Jakarta Post and Tempo published
supportive opinion editorials But furtive text messages, videos
52
- September 7, 2012:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/travel/sharing-paradise-with-the-barracuda.html?_r=0
53
August 31, 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/an-earthquake-racism-rage-and-
rising-calls-for-freedom-in-papua
158
and images shared among Papuan friends told a different story of violent repression and anti-
democratic control. While visitors seek picturesque seascapes in an out-of-the-way place West
Papuans seek alliances with international partners to pursue political autonomy. Such
contradictions are commonplace in these borderlands of desire.
Environmental organizations and tourist companies have represented Raja Ampat as one
s if iconic images such as of Wayag crop out the
presence of mining, commercial fishing or anti-racist protest, tourism companies and Indonesian
government tourism officials cut out and edit their own representations of the area as a place of
indigenous stewards living harmoniously among wild seascapes. Images of student protest or the
slums of Sorong city are cropped from view. The photographic stereotypy of harmonious nature
or culture in Raja Ampat blur daily negotiations and occasionally fraught relations between
communities where tourism projects are promoted. For instance, staff of Indonesian-based
environmental organizations sometimes view local people in negative terms by pointing to
destructive fishing practices or their ignorance of biodiversity conservation or need for social
development.
Narratives of harmonious partnerships often belie more complex rivalries over who acts
and speaks for the surrounding environment. An example of this is heard in rumors about
foreign-owned dive resorts which emphasize environmental sustainability yet are viewed
somewhat skeptically among Beteo families for not providing tangible benefits to their villages.
Perhaps recognizing the power of internet media for shaping perception of a place, in 2010
people in Waigeo posted on the world wide web a documentary about the negative ecological
159
as corrupt interactions between companies and local government officials.
54
Despite the
dissonance between the most widely circulated representation of Raja Ampat and the finer
grained complexities that residents face, hopes for tourism are still shared among many West
Papuans.
Ecotourism takes different forms across the region. These include luxury dive resorts
such as Misool Eco Resort, the Raja Ampat Diving Lodge and Kri Eco Resort that cater
primarily to European or American guests. Chartered yachts are an alternative for dive-focused
tourism. These experiences contrast to a growing market for dive lodges or budget travel hotels
(penginapan) that cater primarily to Indonesian visitors from metropolitan areas on Java or
Sulawesi Islands. Budget and Asian-oriented tourism has expanded with government support for
Waisai town, increased ferry routes and the opening of an airstrip on Waigeo Island. The last
type of tourism and the focus of this chapter is local-s that draw
adventurous eco-tourists for diving, bird trekking and village immersion.
On my first visit to West Papua in 2012, I was struck by the appearance of new structures
being built for tourists across several villages in the Raja Ampat islands. For instance, in the
Biak-speaking community of Sawinggrai on Gam Island, men had just finished laying hand-
sawed planks of hardwood over a bamboo scaffold of an airy platform house that stretched out
over the water. The house was taller and broader than typical homes clustered farther inland and
away from the beach. This was a different type of place built for a different group of people. Was
this construction boom driven by economic reasons alone or were there other factors that could
slands?
54
http://vimeo.com/14193833: Last accessed 20 November
2018.
160
At a meeting of village leaders to discuss ways of protecting shark species, I was
surprised to learn that those gathered were not only interested in talking about conservation but
also were keen to talk about the Papuan Freedom Movement (OPM, Organisasi Papua
Merdeka OPM here. Freedom is
preparing for a constitutional referendum.
Since that night, it became clearer that in Raja Ampat, conservation, tourism and hopes
for political change have become interlinked. They are a topic of fervent hope for many young
people. Conservation and eco-tourism are an idiom for West to a
more hopeful future. But tourism is also a source of confusion, misunderstanding and potential
loss. During two subsequent research trips to Raja Ampat in 2014 and 2015, I spoke with dozens
of homestay tour operators and visitors, attended workshops of a newly formed Raja Ampat
Homestay Association and documented several conflicts between rival entrepreneurs.
In a quest to chart the rise of homestays among particular families, I learned that the first
homestay was called Ransewor built sometime in 2006 on a small islet in between Yenbuba and
Kri Island by three young Beteo men, one of whom had previously worked with Max Ammer on
Kri Eco Resort. The men later got into an argument and went separate ways. One subsequently
built a guesthouse called Mankur Kodon at the eastern tip of Kri Island. A few years later a set of
small bungalows called Koryanu Fyak arose on Kri Island. It soon became a family affair:
Reuben Sauyai, who had built Ranswor and Koranu Fyak, later worked with his aunt to build a
more substantial house at Yenkoranu and a wooden jetty for boats (Figure 40)
built another guesthouse on Sawinggrai called Nudibranch. family later relocated to
Kri and arranged for weekly deliveries of food and supplies from Waisai.
161
Figure 39 Koranu Fyak homestay, Kri Island, 2014
By 2014, several Beteo families had developed several homestays on islands throughout
the Dampier marine protected zone. Names such as Lumba-lumba, Mambrasar Guest House,
Mambetron, Warimpurem, Kordiris and Dore Atri became currency among travelers for
alternative destinations, each traveler sharing his or her own personal tale of how they came to
visit such places after getting a cell phone number, through social contacts or a colleague at an
environmental group. Some homestays emerged as joint ventures. For example, at Kordiris
homestay on Gam Island, a West Papuan entrepreneur and her Italian husband offered PADI
55
certified dive tours with rental gear and sub-contracted trips to nearby destinations such as the
Pam islands. Some places such as Manyaifun island or hidden bays on Gam island offered
relative solitude. Other places at Raswon near Yenbeser
village offered a room in a small hut next to a family home situated along a village path.
55
https://www.padi.com/
162
Between 2006 and 2014 the local tourism economy diversified from simple bungalows
to a multitiered portfolio of sites coordinated by online booking and customer feedback. Local
homestay owners hired an outside consulting firm based in Jakarta and Singapore, 73 Plc., to
provide quarterly training workshops on business practices and community capacity
development. Many came to see homestay tourism as a central focus. They saw the rise of a
dozen foreign-owned resorts nearby and hoped to benefit from influx of visitors on their own
terms.
56
As an example of the rapid pace of change, in 2012 the homestay of Yenkoranu on Kri
Island consisted of two bunkhouses, a small eating area and dock with an overwater covered
platform where people would string up hammocks. The few travelers who made the journey to
Yenkoranu could be generally characterized as adventurous backpackers with previous
experience venturing to remote locations. By 2014, Yenkoranu had transformed into a resort
with four tile-covered bungalows, a large concrete dining area and separate kitchen, a long
wooden dock jutting past the reef slope and the regular sound of chainsaws and buzzing
longboats shuttling groups of travelers to hidden depths. A more diverse range of tourists have
arrived by ferry, longboat, private yacht or plane. They included retirees, Indonesian and other
Asian visitors, families with young children, scientific divers and government officials.
West Papuan homestays have become local products linked to international value-chains.
The have become commodities disaggregated into discreet units with online customer ratings,
56
As of September 2015, major foreign-owned and operated resorts in the region included: 1) Raja Ampat
Explorers, a Turkish-run resort at
Yenwapnor hamlet; 6) Agusta Eco-resort, an Italian/Indonesian venture on Wai island; 7) Papua Paradise
on Birie Island near Batanta; 8) Raja Ampat Doberi Eco Resort on Urai Island; 9) Marley Dive Resort
near Saporkren on Waigeo Island; 10) Raja Ampat Dive Resort at Waiwo Station; 10) Wai Island Eco
Resort; 11) Misool Eco Resort; 12) Raja Ampat Biodiversity Lodge at Yenbeser Village, Gam Island.
163
diversified by location, services and aesthetics. The rise of a Papuan-managed eco-tourist
marketplace has facilitated the emergence of new exemplars of value represented by
entrepreneurial managers. Gres Sauyai, owner of Yenkoranu and a local government official in
Waisai, embodies a new type of entrepreneurship among Beteo homestay owners. Between 2012
and 2014 she hired two professional divemasters who lead two to three trips a day. At least
twenty people work and live at Yenkoranu during the high season from October to January. In
nearby Yenbuba village, young men no longer seek careers as fishermen or in government
service. Instead they desire to become tourist entrepreneurs like Max Ammer or Ibu Gres.
On any given night in Yenkoranu, tourists sit for meals with Papuans, conversing in
English, Spanish, and occasionally Indonesian. Over powdered coffee with condensed milk they
talk about the creatures they saw during the day, comparing photos they took or stories of their
adventures. The close connections and intermingling between West Papuans with extralocal
visitors are not common elsewhere but are a feature of all homestay sites. It suggests that more
than the extraction of money and spectacle, homestay locations are sites for the creation of new
imaginaries not only among visitors, but sites where West Papuans see themselves through
different eyes in ways that are re-framing their social and moral horizon.
164
Figure 40 Kri shoreline with homestays in background, 2015
Where Kri used to be a burial ground for Beteo ancestors and a fishing and coconut
reserve for the nearby village of Yenbuba, it is now developing into a satellite village of several
family groupings, all of whom have shifted from fishing and harvesting to running homestays
(Figure 40). These families are the vanguard of a movement from a gift-based economy to a
service-oriented economy focused around tourism. With little to no larger-scale fishing activity
in the waters around Yenbuba village, most people focus their time and labor building and
expanding guesthouses, working in homestays, transporting guests, burning and clearing sites,
funding new church construction and engaging with visitors.
57
Warimpurem Homestay near Saporkren village on Waigeo
reflects larger-scale trends in the emergence of tourism economy. Built in
2013 by Beteo inhabitants from an adjacent village on family lands, it has hosted guests from
57
Most fishing activity near Yenbuba is restricted as the area is encompassed within a vast marine zone.
Apparently, there were some 43 fishermen in the village of some 450, but now many young men focus
exclusively on homestay enterprises. As of 2015 there were around 32 full-time fishermen left in
Yenbuba village.
165
Belgium, Sorong City, Jakarta, Australia, Germany, Wales, Poland, Canada, Japan, New
Zealand, Brazil, and the United States. People travel here to catch a glimpse of the endemic
(Diphyllodes respublica) or Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra),
snorkel Beteo inhabitants.
Warimpurem is a collection of thatched roof guest houses built around a larger family
dwelling where three generations of the Sauyai-Dimara family live (Figure 41). The homestay is
managed by Enggelina Dimara, a boisterous, warm hearted mother and keen business woman
(Figure 43). With her husband Heret Sauyai, she rents cottages to visitors alongside managing a
vegetable cooperative, subsistence farming and fishing, and coordinating with other
villagers who run kayaking or bird watching trips.
Figure 41 Warimpurem homestay, August 2014
Warimpurem is emblematic of the larger trends in Raja Ampat: it is positioned at the axis
of two worlds physically apart from Saporkren village but next to a path heading into a
residential zone. Like many other homestay sites, Warimpurem is a business but also a family
dwelling. Warimpurem is the home of a Beteo family with close links to the first homestay
166
developed on nearby Kri island in 2006. It is a tourist site that beckons travelers, but is also a
neo-traditional Biak mnu an extended family settlement and social unit. It is a space for Sunday
male prayer groups and a cool respite under the trees from the hot gossip and openness of the
village. It is also a particularly West Papuan type of place that sits apart from the Indonesian
government-funded village site.
As such, Warimpurem is not just a template for a certain business model but a model for
a new type of ethical development managed by Papuan people. For around 400,000 rupiah per
night ($27 USD at 2018 prices), visitors stay in a small cottage with occasional electricity and
three meals of rice, fish and veggies prepared by Mama Enggelina Dimara. They are immersed
and tears, practical jokes and high-pitched laughs, halting conversations and quiet moments.
An ecotourist aesthetic is reflected the design of Warimpurem and its position at the edge
of the Beteo village of Saporkren in a zone where traditional fishing and gardening are
allowed, but where no commercial-scale activities are permitted.
established a set of village regulations (peraturan kampung) that limit fishing and marine
harvesting from the reef slope and outwards a few hundred meters offshore. They also limit
fishing at aggregation sites and during spawning seasons.
58
These rules are site specific, but both
Saporkren and homestays like Warimpurem are situated within the Dampier straits marine
protected area. Several sasi zones are scattered nearby. Embedded within a composite seascape
of protected zones, West Papuan homestays are places for translating the ideals of conservation
into material values that can be shared among kin.
58
For instance, snapper spawn in the Kabui Bay twice a year. The area is closed to all fishing activity
during these times. Interview with Luther Mambrasar, Saporkren, 31 Aug 2015.
167
Figure 42 Enggelina Dimara Mandosir, owner of Warimpurem Homestay, 2014
Homestays like Warimpurem have become an important source of revenue for West
Papuan villages living within designated marine protected areas. The village of Saporkren is
connected by a winding road to the booming town of Waisai an hour or so to the east. The
mostly Beser-speaking residents make a living selling fish, gathering wood and cutting stone for
building construction, selling garden produce, working in government jobs as teachers or
administrators and managing a cooperative fish farm.
The 600 inhabitants of Saporkren have lived at the western edge of Waigeo island since
1947 after relocating from an island in the middle of Kabui Bay. Most consider themselves Beteo
with family connections to Biak and Numfor, along with other West Papuan communities
ya, Moi) who have married into resident families. Almost all adhere to the Evangelical
Church of West Papua (GKI) and the village is seen as a place for aspiring to live Christian
values of charity, community, humility and submission. The settlement is defined by a collection
of tidy homes built along a crushed coral walkway, with two jetties, an elementary school and a
168
Protestant church. Several homestays have been built since 2012. On weekends, Indonesian civil
servants visit beaches nearby or bring guests to trek for tropical birds, particularly the endemic
Red bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea rubra). For now, the rhythms of other work continue alongside
homestay tourism. During the day, men head out on small paddle outrigger canoes (perahu
dayung) or motorized canoe (ketinting) to fish for grouper, mackerel or other reef fish. Children
scamper by in white and red uniforms, and mothers tend to children, or head out to garden plots.
Women also gather marine products such as large clams (bia gaharu, probably Tridacna gigas)
for sale from Yenwapnor village.
Tourism has become the mainstay for several people. For instance, Demas Dimara leads
hikes into the forested hills behind Saporkren to scout for charismatic birds. Trips leave from
Warimpurem homestay by lamplight before dawn to seek out particular trees where the Red bird-
of-paradise dances and calls in the morning light. If the weather is not too cloudy or rainy you
will see flashes of red and yellow feather and hear the mewing of the birds as they swing on
branches in an acrobatic swirl for discerning females. Their choreographed routine is repeated at
night as the sun sets. Along the way, one may spot a hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus) or
other large bird take to the sky.
59
While many residents of Saporkren feel that eco-tourism has been beneficial, others have
become jealous. Tourism has led to major disputes about landownership between Beteo families,
of nearby villages. On the other hand, it has also catalyzed
cooperative efforts led by church congregations, a homestay association and NGOs to promote
59
For a recent checklist of avifauna identified on Waigeo Island, see: https://avibase.bsc-
eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=IDijwg , Accessed 18 Aug 2018.
169
Consociality in homestays: creating a shared spacetime
What are the effects of this new economy among West Papuans living amidst such
transformations? The rise of eco-tourism in Raja Ampat suggests that local communities are
willing to comport themselves as indigenous stewards in an unchanging seascape, because these
to generate
value in the form of money. This presupposition would fit with explanations that see the
alienating effects of capitalism as inherently destructive on local lifeways or to the authenticity
of human experience. In this rendering, all value is converted from vessels of meaning and
history to tradable goods that become mechanisms for the accumulation of capital.
On the surface it would appear that tourism in Raja Ampat is having negative effects on
local lifeways. Along with communities in ecotourist zones such as the Galapagos Islands,
Zanzibar, or Mentawai islands, the West Papuans
involved represent themselves as indigenous ecological stewards as a means to attract finance
capital. This would presumably lead to the dissolution of a pre-contact cultural authenticity. But
this perspective would reproduce an oft-treaded ethnographic stance. It would reproduce a
perspective in which locals are not capable of determining their own relations with others.
Such a gaze tends to position anthropologists as recorders of threatened societies or as
advocates on behalf of people unable to speak for themselves. The first issue is often empirically
wrong, while the second is ethically problematic. On Waigeo, Beteo a
actively striving to make their voices and positions known to the outside world by willfully
participating with outsiders. There is more than money at stake. Ecotourism has become a moral
economy as well as a coeval spacetime of sharing, conflict and negotiation. Like the hoped-for
return of Manarmakeri,
170
relations where cultural signifiers, differences of race, class or condition fall away, like the
in.
In many homestay locations near Waigeo island, Melanesians are not merely
instrumental in their dealings with outsiders but seek to become like them. Whole families are
adapting their residence patterns, use of technology, and food preferences. Whether taking part in
group snorkeling, sharing meals, partaking in gossip, homestays are performative grounds for the
enactment of a different type of West Papuan selfhood in which residents imagine a more
cosmopolitan world of diverse things and far-off places.
The Biak people have a history of adapting foreign ideas and making them their own. For
instance, a his ability to expand networks of trade
partners: socially beneficial relations that assist in the circulation of wealth and productivity back
through family lines to marriageable sisters. From another vantage point, ecotourism and
encounters with foreign visitors are the most recent space for the realization of a culturally
specific and gendered norms of sociability and sharing. Across Melanesia, interactions with
different people may have lasting effects because in several societies a person not usually
perceived as an autonomous individual but more of a bundle of relations (and potential relations)
with others.
Conversations with ecotourists
What motivates foreigners to visit Raja Ampat? What do they hope to gain from coming
to coastal West Papua? I asked several visitors at Yenkoranu on Kri Island in August 2014.
Many had seen pictures in magazines of the Wayag islands and heard from other travelers about
171
Most visitors to Kri island had previously traveled to more accessible tourist destinations
in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, Bali or Komodo in Indonesia, or Malaysia. They
considered Raja Ampat an ultimate expedition, akin to an ultramarine Everest. For instance, a
brother and sister from Spain liked its remoteness. A graduate student from Copenhagen wanted
to study waste management practices in small islands. An eccentric elderly Swiss pensioner
desired to get away from grey cities in Europe. A Japanese photographer wanted to photograph
banded sea kraits and manta rays. An Indonesian couple from Bogor
bird-of-paradise (Diphyllodes respublica) and wanted to see it dance in its native habitat.
The core period for tourism in Raja Ampat is between October and February when it is
colder in northern latitudes and when the waves are generally much calmer than in windier
seasons. Most visitors arrive by aircraft to the city of Sorong in West Papua before taking a 90-
minute ferry to the port at Waisai town on Waigeo islands. From there, homestay operators
transport them by motorized longboat to destinations at several island locations within the
Dampier Strait. This is a general pattern with some variation. Tourists who stay at more
exclusive commercial properties are picked up by speedboat in Sorong or charter yachts for
multi-day voyages. In contrast, a typical homestay visitor will organize their own travel and
coordinate by cell phone with a Papuan host to get to a homestay. At Yenkoranu on Kri Island, a
small boat typically embarks on two to three trips per day. A divemaster first briefs participants
Dampier Straits MPA zone are involved in dive operations. They are guides, boat drivers, aids to
divemasters, owners of dive shops and homestays, local intermediaries or contacts at different
dive sites, and occasionally divemasters themselves.
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Those drawn to the underwater realm talk about different species of coral, of species
aggregations, lunar cycles, tidal flows, bathymetric features walls, shoals, atolls, fringing reefs,
reef passes and nutrient upwellings. They seek to observe and interact with several species: small
brightly colored slug-like nudibranchs; fan corals waving back and forth in their lacy brightness;
manta rays, their huge bat wings and graceful swooping arms like a giant apocalyptic bird
swirling, observing and moving on; sharks who dart about and patrol the coral slope; turtles
shyly and diffidently swimming by.
These shared interests and stories create an aqueous consociality among divers. It is an
affinity that shapes their sense of belonging in a maritime realm (see Embree 2004). This affinity
is manifested in technical language. Divers speak of down currents, buoyancy control
devices, weights (in kilos; the fewer the sign of a more advanced diver), pressure bars (expressed
in pounds per square inch), dive depth and profile, nitrogen narcosis, O-ring gaskets and surface
intervals. They shed their skin and become marine-like, transformed by large rubberized fins,
glass masks, buoyancy devices and tanks.
As with other watersports, diving has its own language, codes and social subgroups.
Some are free divers who focus on breath control. Others are current or muck divers who visit
sunken ships or archaeological sites. Some focus on underwater photography while others seek
deep dives using mixed gas solutions. Still others seek the darkness to witness moral eels,
octopus, sharks and coral polyps spreading their fan-like appendages to grasp floating meals.
Long-term divers have even changed their physiology to adapt to the water world: some have
trained their bodies to maximize oxygen while others have developed especially keen eyesight
(see Overgaard et al. 2006; Gislén et al. 2003).
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At a communal dinner table over stewed water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) and mackerel
(Rastrelliger spp.) in January 2015reflected on their
experiences. I had returned to Kri on the invitation of the village secretary of Yenbuba who had
recently built his own homestay. The visitors described their most memorable dives, as well as
the need to better conserve the Raja Ampat environment, the problem of trash and services here.
They talked about the dangers of currents, religion and evangelism, free speech and gun
violence, and whether salak (snake fruit: Salacca zalacca) is really edible. Across such
conversational flotsam conservations always eventually return to the sea.
The days have a certain rhythm at a Beteo homestay: early morning dive trips and fishing
expeditions, fetching visitors who arrive by ferry to Waisai, afternoons waiting around, chatting
with locals as they build new bungalows and finding shelter in a passing squall. Beteo children
play in the sand in the adjacent dwellings. Slightly older children assist their fathers with boats,
spotting debris while travelling or accompanying their parents to other gatherings. The teenagers
and twenty-somethings are mostly in school or working at jobs in Sorong. Others work as
fishermen, in gardens or in homestays, building new structures, manning the compressors or
bringing supplies. They listen to digital recordings of Indonesian pop and reggae underneath
shady trees in the hot sun in the intervals between trips out to sea.
Several ecotourists have become longer-term residents. Several have made repeat trips to
stay with the same families. Others aspire to become renowned dive owners like Max Ammer.
For instance, Florian and Johanna from Innsbruck, Austria first visited Raja Ampat in 2012 for
two months and returned several times since with plans to build their own dive resort in the area.
Another woman from Slovenia with similar goals expressed frustration at the increased costs to
travelers at Yenkoranu and other homestays. She also rejected the expensive, exclusive luxury
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lack of waste disposal, infrastructure and inefficiencies across the region. As with Florian and
Joanna, she wanted to establish her own eco-resort modeled on environmental principles.
Such conversations suggest that some visitors hope to become part or fulltime residents
or to move beyond the category of tourist to cultural intermediary or informed adventurer, by
accumulating authenticity through primitivist tourism experiences (compare Stasch 2019). In
their engagements with strange others, such travelers seek a commensality a sense of
sharedness manifested through acts of exchange, long-term visits, and participation in what
they perceive to be daily activities.
seen as entrepreneurs and businessowners like their visitors. They aspire to transcend the ethnic
and local categories ascribed to them by outsiders. In this way the human dynamics of Raja
Ampat mirror its current flows, drawing from Indo-Pacific and far-away places, mixing,
changing and passing through to new destinations abroad.
Diving in Raja Ampat evokes a sense of awe among people who come here. The area is
known for its strong currents, complex dive profiles, basic infrastructure and lack of emergency
facilities (such as a decompression chamber). Yet for many people the opportunity to dive
among the society of the sea is worth the risks.
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Figure 43 Divers are briefed by local divemasters, Kri Island, 2014
On one occasion, I accompanied a few guests on a trip to Arborek Island. We sped along
in a small fiberglass hulled speedboat onward to Mansuar Island nearby.
Along the way we passed the Beteo villages of Yenbuba, Kapisawar, Kurkapa then to Arborek
Island, a flat round place with an important village encompassing its surface. Just off the village
in the sea one encounters a giant greenish purple clam agape, a clown fish, needlefish,
trumpetfish, schools of trevally a lionfish, barracuda, nudibranchs, and coral polyps swaying in
the moving waters. Farther down we had to anchor ourselves to the reef to keep from being
swept away. A huge green-striped Napoleon wrasse swam by as manta rays pulsed in the cobalt
distance. It is hard to adequately describe this alien world: azure, impossible, multichromatic,
swirling. It is a complex assemblage of interspecies connections, drama, betrayal and assistance
mirroring a world above.
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Innovation and change in the village homestay economy
While Max Ammer did not ultimately fulfill people hopes for the return of
Manarmakeri, he did foreshadow a new era in Raja Ampat where foreign visitors, money and
the
environment and to each other
biodiversity in the early 2000s garnered significant global attention that created a demand for
tourism in unexpected ways. Non-governmental organizations and conservation biologists likely
did not anticipate the rise of an endogenous network of locally-run tourist bungalows or the
development of a Papuan-run Raja Ampat Homestay Association.
The scale of development is evident in the intensity of efforts to mobilize families and
social networks. It can be heard in increased talk about services, credit, ratings, and investment.
These topics appear to echo a transition from gifts to goods, where money, rent and property
have become vital in areas of tourism interactions. In places outside of marine protected zones or
areas of nature tourism, socially-mediated exchanges still predominate. But in certain areas
tourism is reframing values about gifts and goods. For instance, near Arborek village Beteo
people have abandoned certain fishing techniques and fostered new feelings about animals (such
as manta rays and sharks) following interactions with Conservation International, a World Bank-
led coral reef mapping initiative, and increased efforts to protect these species. These days, the
village
nearby to mate and feed. These marine creatures have become tokens of value creation and
means of eliciting exchange.
homestay tourism market is a Papuan response to the
perceived threat of foreign-owned dive resorts. Most of the dive resorts are foreign owned and
operated with either a few Papuan staff or staff from abroad. Major shareholders are almost
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exclusively outside investors. The prices to stay at these properties is high. They market
weeklong packages with dives, lodging and meals, between USD $300-600 per night. Some boat
drivers charge extra for fuel costs. While Max Ammer was the first arrival, he now competes
with Swiss, Italian, German, Turkish, Balinese, Javanese, Dutch, French, Spanish and British
operators.
developments. Homestays offer an alternative: most homestays charge between USD $25-45
with meals included, and electricity by generator. They market to those on a modest budget who
seek immersion in a tourist imaginary with authentic people who live amidst intact ecosystems.
These developments rely on mimesis as well as innovation. Papuan bungalow designs
initially borrowKri Eco Resort. But the design aesthetic of Kri Eco
Resort had itself been modeled on traditional Biak house designs. Over the past few years,
homestay owners have improved construction techniques for larger structures (Figures 44-45).
They have built docks, led dive courses, hired specialized staff for bird expeditions sub-
contracted to outer-island kin for trips to other islands. Almost all homestays coordinate booking
through a centralized website (https://www.stayrajaampat.com/) that accepts credit card
payment. Each homestay is rated for the quality of services with international visitors providing
comments similar to an online business.
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Figure 44 Mambetron Homestay, Kri Island, Aug 2014
Yakob Sauyai, Secretary of Yenbuba village sat with two young children, chewing betel
nut as we spoke about the changes to village life and his impressions about the homestay
phenomenon.
60
He said that in the past, most people in Yenbuba prepared salted fish they caught
for sale in Sorong, a three-day journey by hand powered canoe. The first village of Yenbuba was
on Kri. A cemetery and coconut groves are visible traces of this past. He said that these days the
entire village economy runs on homestays. Yakob said that the homestays have helped Yenbuba
become more visible than before. Revenues have funded the construction of new homes as well
as a large church. Most in the village are supportive of limits to fishing nearby but still catch
food to share among families.
At the same time, Yakob worried that tourism is eroding Protestant values among young
men. He said several men who work in homestays have foreign girlfriends, new mobile phones,
clothes, and strange tastes. Several men from Yenbuba expressed anxiety about population
60
Discussion with Yakob Sauyai, Yenbuba village, Mansuar Island, September 10th 2014.
179
density and resource degradation particularly related to water quality and the accumulation of
trash. They did not always approve of rich foreigners treating their family lands as a recreational
zone. Additionally, some pointed to an increase in illegal logging of valuable hardwoods for
construction, and feuding between families over guests.
Figure 45 Beteo men construct a new homestay, Kri Island, 2012
Tensions between Beteo families have increased disputes over use rights, compensation,
land access and control. Competition between homestays for guests is often mitigated by
ensuring that all homestays in a given area have some occupants. This is the approach used on
Kri where different owners try to distribute guests to minimize risks of jealousy and inter-family
or village conflicts. One flashpoint has been between places that offer diving services, especially
the larger homestay sites at Yenkoranu (Kri), Nudibranch (Gam), Lumba Lumba (Kri), Mankur
Kodon (Kri), Kordiris (near Gam), versus those that cater to birding or village tourism in
Sawinggrai, Warimpurem on Waigeo, Manyaifun and on Mansuar Island near the village of
Yenbuba.
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Part of this dispute centers on what a homestay should be. To Martin Makusi, a homestay
should be an attachment to a family house in its original setting in a village. He believes the goal
is to provide visitors with an improved cultural understanding of West Papuan life rather than
pure recreation. His homestay at Dore Atri in Raswon at Yenbeser village is one model. To
Paulus Sauyai, Nudibranch Homestay immerses visitors in a setting apart of Sawinggrai village.
Some places cater specifically to divers, while others market cultural tourism, trekking or
solitude in isolated huts built on remote islands, or clan-owned lands apart from village spaces.
It became apparent that residents involved in tourism had to get organized. In 2012,
several managers of homestays created a Raja Ampat Homestay Association, now called the
Association of Business Development and Livelihood of the Indigenous People of Raja Ampat
(Indo. Perkumpulan Penggerak Usaha Dan Penghidupan Masyarakat Asli Raja
Ampat (PERJAMPAT). Martin Makusi said that it is good for Papuans to have their own
The problem they face is how to manage it. How to get to a standard, to
serve people from outside other foreigners (Indo: bule). The bule want to see the difference
between their lives, from their place in Europe or America, and different customs, different
thingshe good thing is that [local] people realize that instead of
fishing those [sea] animals and turtles we leave them there so our guests from other places come
to see them. When they snorkel they can still see them there.
61
Over the past few years, the association has become a center point of West Papuan efforts
to carve out a unique market for dive and nature-oriented tourism. It has developed a structure of
committees, with democratically elected executives, and representatives from homestays
61
Discussion with Makusi, September 3, 2015, Waisai, Waigeo Island.
181
throughout the archipelago. Volunteers from abroad have assisted with the development of a
website. By 2014 there were over thirty homestays in the predominantly Beser-speaking island
zone south and west of Waigeo Island. Since 2006, residents have hosted over 4,000 guests.
Over 150 households depended exclusively on homestay income for their livelihood.
62
To provide a more concrete sense of how local tourism is
ethical sensibilities, below I describe a four-day homestay workshop held on Kri Island from
September 16-19, 2014 attended by several dozen homestay owners. The workshop represents
one of a series of encounters between outside groups and West Papuans involving conservation
and tourism. It was a gathering point for several families to sort out their stake in a burgeoning
tourism economy. But doing so would require adopting new values about money and time that
led some to feel shame and others to doubt whether this new market would really benefit them
after all.
Getting organized: A meeting of the Raja Ampat Homestay Association
The workshop was led by a group of consultants and facilitators from a private
consultancy called 73 Ltd, based in Singapore.
63
73 Ltd. received funding from the Walton
Foundation with a five-year contract to support community economic and financial development
in Wamena in the Papuan highlands, Sulawesi and now Raja Ampat. According to CEO Dominic
and workshop facilitator Maria, the workshop intended to promote Papuan economic self-
sufficiency (Indo: peningkatan ekonomi) through leadership training, brand development and
62
nomic Income from Homestay Contributions & The Impact on
63
https://www.73-ltd.com/ For more specific results of 73 Ltd. Involvement with the Raja Ampat
Homestay Association, see: https://www.73-ltd.com/seventythree-and-the-raja-ampat-homestay-
association-how-communities-in-raja-ampat-are-shaping-their-world/ Accessed 18 November 2018.
182
strategic planning. Maria pointed out a corollary goal of promoting of environmental
stewardship.
Several members of 73 showed a video of a speech given a young girl at the 1992 Rio
Summit on the Environment in which she said
animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even
exist for my chi
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By opening the workshop with this clip, the consultants signaled
Papuan
attendees later shared their feelings. Martin Makusi sawe are the caretakers of future
generationsKarel, stood to speak and cried. He implored people to not only talk
(jangan hanya bicara’). People must also act Enggelina Dimara, one of the homestay
association leaders, said [W]e need to follow the advice of the young girl in the speech
Throughout the four-day workshop, 73 Ltd and members of the homestay association
returned to themes of collective responsibility to support future generations. Such talk
-criticisms and shaming of
one another. It was a particular type of discursive ethical projection. In a circle of plastic chairs,
participants gathered over raked sand under oval leafed trees to talk about gender and labor
(Figure 46). Maria wrote on a white paper on a wooden board for people to describe their
everyday activities. At several points, participants broke into groups to discuss individual verses
group-oriented work by gender and occupation. It became clear that many women worked many
more hours per day then men caring for children and maintaining a home, while men tended to
be off making homestays, lounging around or fishing.
64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfbqWG88Ems
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Figure 46 Homestay owners discuss gender, labor and values, Sept 2014
One afternoon,
comments and bookings below them on white printed paper pasted vertically to the side of a
longhouse (Figure 47). The posted columns revealed differences between popular and instead of
from less visited homestays. Longer columns meant more guests with more comments. Quantity
became commensurate with quality a higher number of guest comments became linked to
greater accumulation of money and prestige. The comment board also provided a visual index
for differentiating more valuable from less valuable spaces through public display.
Homestay owners found the board a source of laughter and anxiety. Attendees identified
reasons why some homestays appeared to receive more guest bookings and comments than
others: proximity to transport links, diving services, cell phone network, business acumen,
facility in English and reputation. Guests commented positively on the scenery, the
affordability and the pleasure of seeing the community care about the environment.On the
other hand, others decried the issue of trash accumulation, problems of communication, transport
costs, the proliferation of homestays, boring food and maintenance issues. The discussion
highlighted different values people placed on different homestays quantified by the number of
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guests and comments, qualified by positive or negative appraisals of services offered at different
sites.
Figure 47 Raja Ampat Homestay Assn members compare online reviews
A member of 73 Ltd. then discussed the importance of cooperatives by attempting to
translate a model from Spain to West Papua. Attendees watched a 1990 documentary film called
65
about the development of Spanish social investment
cooperatives . From time to time, trainers would stop the film to
emphasize certain points. For example, they stopped to discuss how the Basque people
experienced discrimination, arrest and prevented from speaking their own language by the
Spanish government. The Papuan audience understood the connection. Jose Maria Mondragon
did not fight or make demands, he pilihan cara lain).
65
https://www.cinemapolitica.org/film/mondragon-experiment, Accessed 18 Nov 2018.
185
situation in Papua? Such talk reinforced a sense that ecotourist homestays have become way for
West Papuans to envision a different future.
The workshop featured two ways of talking about value. First, it revealed a moment
where Beteo homestay owners talked about their hopes for tourism as a source of household
revenue arising from conservation. Second, the workshop provided an instance to witness how
homestays were being transformed into different in which owners expressed
desire and interest in the exchangeability of homestay sites as objects of a different kind from
everyday village structures or family dwellings. Appadurai (1986:4-5) argued that in seeking to
identify regimes of value, anthropologists should
meanings are inscribed in their
2014).
self-reliance through commoditized conservation, but also as a vector for actualizing a different
relation-to-self.
Homestay sites, marine protected areas, sasi mon zones, villages and protected forests are
all components of an increasingly heterogeneous spatial topography of values across the Raja
Ampat islands. Where Kri has become an island of capitalist exchange, other islands situated
outside zones of conservation management remain anchored to older forms of kin and trade-
based values in which commensality and sharing create durable bonds of affection and
obligation. Appadurai stresses that not every act of commodity exchange presupposes a
complete cultural sharing of assumptions, but rather that the degree of value coherence may be
highly variable from situation to situation (Appadurai 1986:15). In a similar way, Melissa
McCarthy describes how
understandings of the nature of exchange, and this often makes their actual interactions perilous
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understanding of its role varies widely. One could say that homestays are places for the
enactment of a particularly capitalist form of value coherence but that other places are sites for
realizing different ideals.
Homestays represent an experiment where West Papuans engage in a spacetime of
market value, where neo-traditional Biak dwellings have become storehouses for the
accumulation of money. This appears to be an inversion of social relations in which the ultimate
end is cash. However, perhaps circulation outwards follows routes of kin-mediated
distribution. As objects, homestays have becoming fetishized, alienated from their pasts, re-
created anew. They are built as material representations of a tourist imaginary where people and
nature join together seamlessly. Moreover, by quantifying the number of guests, comments and
revenues across different homestay locations they become places removed from history and
abstracted in a process where different objects of irreducibly distinct use-values
Eiss and Pedersen
2002:284).
The following morning, Maria asked homestay owners to find an object that represented
their homeland. One man chose a feather, another tree bark, while others presented seeds, fruit,
trash, shells, a piece of palm tree, a piece of paper, a fallen leaf and a piece of plastic. Two dozen
people stood and presented their chosen object. Coral signified the need to stop destructive
practices and ensure coral is alive for future generation. Cigarette butts and plastic represented
the need to address trash. A leaf from the cassowary plum (Cerbera floribunda) stood for
treating cuts and abrasions and traditional knowledge. Discussing their chosen objects provided a
way for participants to discuss problems they hoped to solve collectively without shame. Some
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said there was disunity. Others pointed to a lackluster commitment to collective efforts, perhaps
reflecting a general ambivalence about cooperation as an ethical practice.
The appointed leaders stressed a need for a unifying vision. Reuben Sauyai said that the
community must develop standard village regulations, sanctions for bad actors, and socialize
principles of protecting reefs, marine animals and trees throughout the islands. Other people
identified a need to provide clean drinking water facilities, markets for fresh fruit and vegetables,
oil recycling, construction of a school to teach Beteo children cultural values and a training
program for tourism management. Some wanted to offer kayaking to compete with luxury resorts
across the strait. Many expressed a desire for training to fix outboard motors, repair boats or dive
equipment locally. Others mumbled assent but looked furtively away.
Taken as a whole, the Beteo attendees to the homestay workshop expressed a desire for
eco-tourism to be a source of improvement for their lives. They spoke about their desire for cell
phones, better healthcare and better schools. They desired qualified teachers at village schools
who showed up. These are tokens of a broader desire among West Papuan communities across
Raja Ampat for self-respect, self-sufficiency or political recognition. Despite such yearnings,
communities outside tourist zones still depend primarily on sea and forest resources for their
livelihoods.
Tourism arrival, like the arrival of missionaries or stranger-kings, is an event
through which local people utilize emic categories to make sense of change. People here are
talking about how their seascapes have become sites of value by extralocals in different ways
from which they had been accustomed. The Raja Ampat homestay workshop is one of many
instances where West Papuans talk about their choices going forward.
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What are some of the risks to achieving their dream? People at the workshop identified
weak safety standards, inadequate equipment such as life preservers, motor parts,
communications systems, boats and compressors. They spoke about opposition from larger
(persaingan sehat), more of a moral than political economy. They also hoped to find better ways
of managing arguments over compensation between villages and within kin networks.
f
Wauwiyai over a planned resort. It has fractured trust among the Gaman family with young
rivals in Yenbeser village to claimed they were the rightful owners of old coconut stands who
should be compensated by any newcomers who wish to build a resort or homestay nearby. Some
on Wai Island was burned to the ground. In 2013,
Spanish couple of Biodiversity lodge paid land rights claims to its customary titleholder (milik
tahan) but others later demanded compensation for underwater resources. They stole a speedboat
as ransom. Other tensions continue to smolder. One man highlighted how Saporkren village is a
Onis Sauyai, a leader of the homestay association, :
want to float. . It is something we are attempting to do. It is like
He said that people tended to get along with nonlocals, but that
some disagreements have created difficult situations. He said that Max Ammer has considered
leaving Raja Ampat following frequent requests for additional compensation. Rivalries continue
to divide Beteo homestay owners.
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These ongoing struggles reflect longstanding Biak male efforts to collect symbolic capital
translated as value through the distribution of goods and services to kin. Others enhance their
reputations by associating with conservation organizations or foreign-owned resorts. Many
proudly wear clothing with insignia from Conservation International or Papua Diving as signs of
such relations. Maria said that it is up to the Beteo and to take ownership for organizing
themselves for the future. She said that Raja Ampat communities face challenges from
generations of top-down control from the church, schools and government.
One could argue that the efforts of Beteo homestay owners to cooperate could provide an
the struggle to break free from historic constraints. Isiah Berlin
(1969) distinguished between negative liberty the freedom to act without interference, from
positive liberty the capacity to be free from sources of control, constraint or limitation. In the
case of the homestay association, collective action expresses esire to articulate
their own goals.
For the time being, Beteo involvement in tourism is a way to lay claim to their future in
their own terms. It calls for an equal footing with outsiders on a level ground in which
interlocutors are not forces of chaos but perhaps are opportunities to enact new regimes of value.
Like the hoped for return of Manarmakeri, eco-tourism represents the potential for a better
future. It represents an attempt to break free of constraints through the development of new
capabilities as entrepreneurs as a means to live with dignity as Melanesian people (Nussbaum
2011). For many West Papuans, tourism ultimately affords an opportunity to dream of co-equal
relations with strangers against a generational background of unfreedom, lack, and dispossession.
Taken as a whole, we could say that ecotourism produces a set of quantifiable material
conditions or outputs but also a series of qualities and ethical presuppositions. The projection of
190
Raja Ampat as an untrammeled wilderness requires editing out of messy realities. It relies on
oversimplification and the transposition of desire. Yet despite these hazards, in Raja Ampat eco-
tourism has also provided an opening for new hopes and dreams alongside ongoing conflicts and
tragedies.
West Papuans draw from myth-dreams such as the story of Koreri to make sense of the
changes taking place in their seascape. While Dutch entrepreneur Max Ammer was not the
hoped-for avatar of change, his arrival, and the advent of tourism, has become translated in ways
that portend a more hopeful future in which increased engagement with strangers provides
resources and recognition for Raja Ampat communities. In one example of these concatenated
desires, members of the homestay association developed their own vision about what they value
through tourism. The statement below is one example of how people here are articulating their
hopes for how tourism is seen as an important vehicle for ethical life, as well as a future they
seek for themselves.
Perkumpulan Penggerak Usaha Dan Penghidupan Masyarakat Asli Raja Ampat
Fifty years into the future, we the people of Raja Ampat will have achieved the
highest possible quality of life. We will have become wise. The homestay
businesses that we are pioneering will have given us enough to live on. We will
have passed the responsibility of leadership to our children, as our heirs, and we
will have created opportunities for others in our villages.
Our people will be healthy and intelligent, with schools and hospitals in our
villages. Our people will be able to meet all their needs for food, grown naturally
and in our own gardens; for healthy homes built with local materials; for clothing;
and for sufficient energy that we will produce ourselves and from renewable
sources. Our people will continue to cultivate our gardens with care and only with
organic fertilizers.
Our children, our families and other community members will live in support
and care of each other, in peace, order and unity. We and other community
members are aware that we can achieve a high quality of life because of the very
rich, intact and beautiful environment in which we live.
Our forests will be protected so that there is no uncontrolled logging or
poaching of wildlife. Our forests will continue to provide us with enough wood,
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clean water and other goods to meet our needs for free, so that we will not have to
buy these things. So it shall be with our marine resources. We will only catch fish
sustainably and with environmentally friendly technology. There will be no
environmental destruction and our environment will be free from waste.
Our environment is our identity as the people of Raja Ampat and we are proud
to be from Raja Ampat. We, and all our people, will use our environment only to
meet our needs and not wastefully. We will build with local and natural materials.
Our settlements will be laid out according to our traditions. Our lives will be
sustainable. Our environment will be secure, guaranteeing that all our future
generations will enjoy a high quality of life, forever.
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Chapter 4. Reflective voyage: a conservation film tour
In the previous chapter, I identified how village tourism among the Beteo is a context for
hope but also for jealousy and misunderstanding. The story of Sawandarek village shows how
Beteo people living on Mansuar Island interpreted dive tourism operations as an index of the end
of times, in which Dutch entrepreneur Max Ammer became linked to the millenarian myth-
dream of Koreri. I described a few ways that eco-
themselves and to their surroundings in and around Waigeo Island through the emergence of
West Papuan-
By presenting accounts of motivations for travel to Raja Ampat alongside Beteo
engaging in tourism I sought to compare different expectations and
aspirations
reflected in increased talk about money, business, profit and material possessions. The ultimately
misplaced hope in Max Ammer suggests an alternate interpretation: that tourism encounters do
not represent a fundamental change to social cosmos because they draw from an
enduring narrative for how people in coastal New Guinea deal with difference (Burridge 1970;
Kamma 1972; Rutherford 2003).
-tourism in the Dampier Straits marine protection zone
is not only about transforming nature into economic value and its associated logics of labor, time
and production. It is also about the potential for value transformation. Interactions with Western
dive tourists, bird watchers and environmentalists have led people to re-appraise who they are
and who they want to be. This chapter builds from my discussion about homestay dive tourism
by expanding my unit of analysis from the specific geographic space of the islands and villages
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in the Dampier Straits marine protected area (Indo. kawasan konservasi perairan daerah,
KKPD) to the entire Raja Ampat archipelago. I focus on the theme of circulation of values and
representations about conservation through an ethnographic description of a two-week voyage
that I joined from November 21 to December 9 -
ndo: Pelindung Raja Ampat)
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, a 78-
minute documentary film produced by wildlife photographers Shawn Henrichs and John Weller,
with support from international environmental organizations and philanthropies, to over a dozen
West Papuan villages as a way to encourage greater local participation in environmental
conservation projects.
The tour also intended to celebrate the achievements of marine protection initiatives since
2004 by recognizing the actions of Raja Ampat people to support protection efforts. These
efforts include rotating marine patrols of local reefs and community declarations of conservation
zones. The tour also was designed to broadcast a set of specific messages about why biodiversity
is relevant to their lives. It projected the importance of taking care of reefs, managing waste and
preventing destructive fishing. A Sorong-based environmental education foundation called
Yayasan Kalabia organized the film tour along with the documentary filmmakers. Two other
Americans accompanied them to record the interactions with Raja Ampat people.
I argue that the Kalabia conservation tour is a way to understand how human-
environment relations are represented, produced and refracted. Through presenting human-
ecological dialogueributed
38) produced in the mode of an inter-island conversation about
66
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSElLd6tJaM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOzjD0Nyg-s&t=3s, Accessed 10 August 2016.
194
practices of environmental protection. By attending to the specific media of contact between
2014:438). I evaluate
the receptivity of conservationist messages among audiences who gathered to watch evening
screenings of Guardians of Raja Ampat, by evaluating talk from post-show discussions,
individual interviews and group interactions. Given the public nature of these events, I focus on
patterns of public speech the self-conscious communication of specific messages, for different
purposes rather than uncovering covert or hidden gossip about environmentalism.
Figure 48 Kalabia education ship during the Guardians tour, Ayau atoll
The Kalabia conservation tour
Every day or two, the Kalabia a retrofitted wooden tuna boat that travels to Raja Ampat
villages to teach children about conservation would stop at a different island or village
community in a grand counterclockwise journey throughout the archipelago (Figure 48 above;
see Figure 51 on page 214 for a map of the trip). Beginning on Waigeo Island on November 20,
it traveled to Ayau atoll near the border of Palau to small islands off the northwest coast of
195
Waigeo, Kofiau, Misool, Salawati Island. The Kalabia then sailed to Sorong City on the New
Guinea mainland, arriving on December 7, 2014.
The trip involved the participation of several thousand people. Every night, a crew of
Papuans and Americans set up an eight-meter wide screen with heavy rigging, lighting,
generators, and a giant inflatable manta ray. At each place the Kalabia visited the entire village
elders, village officials, children gathered to watch the film. Afterwards, village officials,
teachers or others would be invited to make speeches or comment on their impressions of the
film. The atmosphere would become more festive, as Edo Kondologit, a well-regarded West
Papuan singer from Sorong, led a nightly performance of singing, dancing and reflection.
67
The Kalabia tour is an ethnographic context for making sense of the social dynamics of
marine resource protection in Raja Ampat. The journey, and the film itself, provide a medium for
communicating ideals about who people should be through idealized representations of human-
environment relations: marine protection, sustainable tourism, awareness and behavior change.
The voyage was not only an opportunity for conservationists to show to locals what had been
achieved after implementing large-scale marine protection initiatives. The tour also afforded
opportunities for people to reflect on their diverse interactions with environmentalism. This
included odd alliances and often fraught relations with partners such as the Regency of Raja
polair), nonlocal staff working with Conservation International and The
Nature Conservancy, consultants with a World Bank coral reef management project, and others.
67
I joined the film tour serendipitously after watching the opening event in Waisai town in Waigeo Island
in Raja Ampat on November 20th 2014. After speaking with the Kalabia team and the filmmakers, I was
invited to accompany the tour before they departed from Warsambin village the following day. I assisted
with setting up and breaking down the film every day, participated in meetings with village officials,
evening performances and other events between Nov 22-Dec 9, 2014.
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The Kalabia tour also afforded a moment for people to aspire to more hopeful futures
both West Papuans and the international crew. Together, they projected different ways of living
with nonhuman species. They envisioned a politics in which nature had a greater say. After each
, people would stand, take a microphone and speak publicly about their
responsibility to support conservation goals together with outsiders for sake of their children and
grandchildren. While such statements, as public speech acts, are necessarily performative, they
sustained for a moment the possibility of mutual engagement to protect.
The nightly show and performances represent intersocial events that produced a shared
feeling that everyone had a stake in biodiversity conservation. At the same time, it seems that
such events produced different effects on Beteo and particularly in
terms of the potential for recognition or shame. In this chapter, I focus on the semiotic forms that
led people to see themselves as aligned with outsiders: in their quest for greater local control
over natural resources, to curtail ongoing resource exploitation by illegal fishermen and corrupt
government officials. I identify how particular images, statements, and representations led people
to imagine themselves to be active agents in conservation in ways that allowed the possibility of
shared values with foreigners. The possibility of a shared frame of view relied on the creation of
a spatio-temporal narrative frame in which talk about protection, the future, roles, responsibility
and transgression was even possible. I focus on patterns of speech about caring for future
generations as a means to locate value creation in the positioning of a person in relation to a
destructive past and a protected future. Such future-oriented ethical talk is consequential to any
evaluation of commensurability. Attending to patterns of talk also helps us identify whether
recognition, performance or some other pragmatics is at stake in such encounters.
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The Kalabia conservation tour provided a concrete way for West Papuans to enact their
values, to project for a single night a holographic version of themselves, to reflect on their
engagement with conservation programs. People saw places they recognized in the film and
often laughed when they recognized faces of friends or people they knew. They marveled at
underwater shots of trevally, sharks, and multi-chromatic corals. By interweaving stories about
conservationist programs and local forms of care such as sasi, village regulations, and hopes the
film reproduced a sense that outsiders and locals worked together. Yet the film also depicted
harm in the form of shark finning, craters of dead coral following reef bombing, plastic and
urban sewage.
But underlying the nightly performance was also a sense of freedom. Why else would
-love for the West Papuan people,
become a nightly refrain? Why else did the performances end with yospan, a Biak line dance
associated with cargo? Why did residents of Mutus Island invite the Kalabia participants to the
funeral of a young girl that had just died? Why did men and women in Solol dance the cakalele,
a Moluccan war dance, for the first time in decades? What other messages did the film and the
presence of outsiders communicate?
Synopsis of the Film
Pelindung Raja Ampat (Guardians of Raja Ampat) is a 78-minute documentary film
produced by noted wildlife photographers Shawn Henrichs and John Weller, with support from
international environmental organizations and philanthropies including Conservation
International, The Nature Conservancy, Blue Sphere Foundation, Walton Family Foundation and
Packard Foundation, in association with Indonesian Regency of Raja Ampat. The film intends to
a proud history of conservation, connecting communities and government in the
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4
The film juxtaposes high-quality images of marine seascapes with interviews of conservation
staff, religious leaders, government officials, and customary authorities to broadcast a story of
alliances to protect the region from degradation.
Guardians of Raja Ampat communicates its message through a combination of interview
clips and images of people juxtaposed with underwater and landscape scenes primarily in the
Indonesian language, interspersed with English audio clips and subtitles. Its intention to be a
showcase film with a teaching message is foreshadowed with its initial shot, a group of Beteo
children running down the dock of Arborek, followed by a time-lapse of night scene at a dock.
Marcus Wanma, Bupati of Raja Ampat, recalls efforts to create a marine region of over a million
hectares. Kristian Thebu, a elder, speaks about the importance of watching over
Erdmann, Senior Adviser to Conservation International, speaks of efforts in 2000s to understand
the nee
species. By introducing perspectives from an Indonesian government official, adat leader
and foreign conservation adviser, the film conveys a message of alliance, while perhaps eliding
instances of conflict or miscommunication in the development of marine protection initiatives.
Without a direct narrator, the film stitches individual stories in a montage that speaks directly to
its audience.
199
Figure 49 Poster advertising an evening film screening of Guardians of Raja Ampat
The film also suggests that biodiversity transcends local claims. Mark Erdmann says that
3-2004, people said they were suffering from food
Erdmann described how conservation
organizations and local communities jointly designed a series of designated marine protected
areas, many of which included declarations of sasi. Erdmann identifies the importance of
cooperation with government partners and commercial dive resorts, but stresses that the local
200
people are the real guardians. Kris Thebu and Erdmann stress that the biodiversity of Raja Ampat
all of
The layering of messages begins to communicate an ethical imperative to protect nature
and culture. Tahir Arfan, a local authority on customary law (tokoh adat) from Salawati Island,
argues that Raja Ampat has been a well-known place since the 13th century, as far away at
Majapahit kingdom. He speaks about the role of customary norms or adat, how such
adat
While he speaks, viewers see a sasi opening ritual at Sawinggrai village on Gam Island.
Women in white stand solemnly behind a pastor wearing a black suit in a line on an outrigger
canoe as it is paddled over a reef near the shore. Children and villagers watch along the beach,
establishing the public and shared importance of sasi
already knew conservation. The sasi tradition has goals that are everlasting, to sustain the
to the sea.
Arfan, a descendant of the last remaining hereditary raja family of Salawati island,
describes sasi as a type of commitment to protect valuable species and resources such as a
mangrove forest. He connects sasi gree with the conservation
to this sense of correspondences. Kris Thebu states that he had been involved in conservation
work for a long time as part of the adat council combating illegal logging, working to ban
-
201
managed so that it will produce continually from now until our future children and
grandchildren, because
Religious iconography and clips from talks with religious leaders underscore the multiple
ways that resources are valued in which people are called to engage in conservation. In one
example, a shot of a green-domed mosque at Yellu village near Misool is followed by a shot of a
small wooden Evangelical Christian Church of Papua. Yessy Leimena, pastor of a GKI church in
because humans have
We have to watch over it, not to just have power over it, but to nurture it. As in
the Bible, Genesis 2, chapter 15-16, we have to take care. So the task of
if we care for it, we are actually caring for our own selves. When I take care of the
s natural
world. So for my own benefit I am doing conservation.
While the pastor speaks, images of religious life circulate: mothers, daughters together,
men praying in church, women singing Nasrani gospel songs, of Papuan and non-Papuan people
together. This transitions to the image of Haji Kaidat Soltif, Imam of Fafanlap, far to the south
on Misool Island. Soltif, a Matbat elder with a long white beard
towards the land to see mountains like the teeth of a saw I feel blessed that we are here, we, the
children of customary law (adat)m emphasizes his love for the creations of Allah the
way the environment provides,
for a return to prosperity and abundance as in times past. These scenes seem oriented for local
consumption: they communicate a message of interfaith commitment to nature protection,
beyond purely economic motivations.
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The film presents several examples of ways that West Papuan people engage with
environmental protection as a means to communicate the sense that NGO goals and local needs
are intertwined. For instance, we are told that people living in the narrow strait in
libit Bay decided to limit catching mackerel (Indo. ikan lemah: Rastrelliger kanagurta) by
kerosene lanterns, giving the fish time to rest. We hear Nomensen Mambraku, a fisherman from
Arborek, reflect how no-
and small spillovers that align with marine management goals. We view men on community
marine patrols watching for trespassers. We learn of a recycling center in Sorong to deal with the
. We are told about the importance of protecting keystone
species such as sharks and manta rays.
These scenes are pedagogical as well as ideological: they i
a way of reflecting trans-regional NGO objectives. As such, Guardians of Raja Ampat is at some
level an effort to translate conservation values into an idiom that is recognizable to a West
Papuan audience.
One argument being made is that strategic alliances can be profitable. One man speaks of
pay to see;
is giving life and a bright future Tourism is heralding new human-environment relations as
well as intra-community dynamics: men in Arborek began swimming with mantas only after
seeing foreign divers swim with what had been demons; families are competing for visitors,
leading to rivalries and tensions. Nico Mambrasar, a guide from Yenwapnor village, speaks of
how eco-
Arborek island says that women have revived traditional weaving to sell colorful hats and
bask
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message is also reinforced when viewers are introduced to Andrew Miners who developed
Misool Eco Resort in consultation with local leaders, and who has hired many locals as
employees.
Tribal elders such as Kris Thebu and Markus Yelfom call for increased support of locals
for conservation, perhaps recognizing that some still do not understand or agree with
environmental protection. Perhaps recalling the pitch to local audiences, the film ends with an
exhortation by Tahir Arfan, tokoh adat of Salawati, to remember and to strengthen traditional
conservation mechanisms such as sasi:
It comes back to our faith. We as faithful human beings must give thanks. We are
thankful for what Allah has created for us, the tribes of Raja Ampat. We must be
thankful. Not only to so give thanks but we must also be vigilant, so these well-
known riches of the sea can be preserved for generations of our grandchildren.
As he speaks, Beteo people bedecked in traditional grass skirts, headdresses and painted,
re-enact a welcoming dance. Kris Thebu cautions that rumors and misunderstandings still exist,
co
Given such messages I now turn from a review of the film to an ethnographic description
-day tour, as a way of assessing to what extent the
medium and its message, produced a sense of togetherness of a coeval moral horizon, even if
for a brief moment in space and time. to identify
limits to the translatability of values about nature protection and the meaning making processes
of intersocial dialogue (Bauman 2005; Gal 2015; Hankins and Yeh 2016). If cross-cultural
mutually recognizable ethical dialogue about environmental themes is possible, then perhaps
ethnographic accounts of human-nature interactions can evaluate the extent to which these type
204
of engagements occur alongside anthropological accounts of instrumentalist linkages, natural
resource conflicts, or case studies of dispossession due to the encroachment of external actors.
Environmental protection as a route to self-regard for West Papuans
Although each village the Kalabia visited during its two-week film voyage had its own
the importance of protecting the land and sea around them as a means to provide their children
and grandchildren with a better future. For instance, in a late November discussion on Yellu, a
Muslim village on Misool island, Imam Soltif of Fafanlap told me
conservation, it will bring us happiness together in the present moment, and hopefully longer
term for the children of our grandchildren, who will follow the precedent we have currently
The imam spoke about his reverence for the unique lands of Misool, and about how
his ancestors had protected fishing grounds through sasi, as well as his stewardship as Kapitan
Laut, a title reflecting a history of trade links with Portuguese and later Dutch administrators
(Ellen 1986; Ploeg 2002). During an on-camera interview I witnessed, Edo Kondologit spoke of
his childhood memories in Sorong, of drinking water from a vine and how easy it was to catch
fish, now scarce due to pollution and overdevelopment:
What is clear is that my expectations for the future, for the people of Papua,
especially young Papua children should be encouraged to go forward... And they
need to be successful so, ts my hope, that the
children of Papua develop a sense of pride, pride in being Papuan.
He says that this sense of pride can untangle a legacy in which West Papuans have been
disrespected. To him respecting the land through recycling and waste management is essential to
the development of self-regard.
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Figure 50 Artist Edo Kondologit in hat with village welcome committee, Solol, Salawati
To Edo, the desire to promote Papuan self-respect is connected to protecting the land and
seascapes. It draws from his experiences preparing sago, spearing fish, eating fruits grown in
productive soils in his earlier life while growing up near Sorong on Indonesian New Guinea.
Though now based in Jakarta, he speaks longingly of his home in a particular idiom: of longing,
of aesthetic joy of the wind blowing in the merbau trees, at how being Papuan is knowing how to
live within a particular landscape; to remember. In an interview at Warsambin village, he spoke
of his excitement about the tour. He had small part of paradise
206
“Aku Papua”, Edo Kondologit
Tanah Papua tanah yang kaya
surga kecil jatuh ke bumi
Seluas tanah sebanyak madu
adalah harta harapan
Tanah papua tanah leluhur
Disana aku lahir
Bersama angin bersama daun
Aku di besarkan
Hitam kulit keriting rambut aku papua
Hitam kulit keriting rambut aku papua
Biar nanti langit terbelah aku papua
The Land of Papua is a land of great wealth
A small heaven fell to earth
The entire land full with honey
It is a treasure of hope
Land of Papua, the country of our ancestors
There I was born
Along with the wind along with the leaves
I was raised
Black skin, curly hair, I am Papua
Black skin, curly hair, I am Papua
Even if the sky later splits apart, I am Papua
Pointing to his heart, and speaking to a camera, Edo said that that Papuans should be
proud of their curly black hair and black skin as much as their birthplace. He dreamed of a time
when Papuans in Indonesia can direct the course of their own affairs. He stressed that foreign
resort owners and the regional Indonesian government must have responsibility for the local
population by providing financial support and training alongside more active roles of churches
and mosques to work together.
207
Shawn Henrichs and John Weller, producers of Guardians of Raja Ampat who also organized the
tour. Both spoke about the fragile beauty of Raja Ampat and its majestic people, as well as their
experiences filming and supporting conservation efforts in the region since 2008. Both
mentioned a desire to give something back. They hoped that this tour would be a gift for the
communities they had visited. These are glimpses of the type of remarks that the tour elicited
from its audience.
Interdiscursivity and translation: creating a polity of care
I suggest that the film tour is a type of dialogical interaction in the sense described by
Mikael Bahktin (1981) where different actors participated for an evening in a multivocal
conversation about people and nature that projected stereotypic ideals about actors involved, but
which may also have achieved something unexpected and enduring. Bakhtin discusses how ideas
are shaped through interaction and dialogue with others (1984:8788):
there only, it degenerates and dies. The idea begins to live, that is, to take shape,
to develop, to find and renew its verbal expression, to give birth to new ideas,
only when it enters into genuine dialogic relationships with other ideas, with the
ideas of others. Human thought becomes genuine thought, that is, an idea, only
under conditions of living contact with another and alien thought, a thought
expressed in discourse.
This notion of how thin
illustrated in the film as well as
through discussions at each village afterwards. The evening performances at villages throughout
Raja Ampat interpellated people as local stakeholders in a complex dance with global
es were suspended for a brief moment. Outsiders
208
and locals imagined each other as co-presences in a virtual spacetime signified
representation of identical struggles to conserve nature. This performing of shared values arose
through a call and response where people would speak over a loud amplifier to a diverse crowd
of agitated children, elderly men and women, gawkers, rascals, sober elders, fishermen, and
startled others. It was sustained through acts of collective singing and dancing, feasts and
celebration.
The arrival of this strange carnival was celebrated by many and reviled by others. But the
drama was channeled through a series of mediated representations in which everyone became
actors, adopting designated roles (see Goffman 1959; Hymes 1971) projecting their hopes and
dreams towards a future imaginary. Only weeks after the tour did it become apparent to me that
people in different islands, speaking different languages, and with their own situations seemed to
say strikingly similar things throughout the tour. For instance, many expressed a belief that
conservation actions were critical as a way of demonstrating proper conduct to one another, as
well as for the sake of future generations ability to make a living from the sea.
The repetition of such comments was in part generated by the film itself, which presented
a delimited range of legitimate modes of ethical comportment as well as expressing the necessity
to protect for the sake of future generations. Autonomous, unreflective adoption of such
messages could be problematic, unless placed within a larger context of regular
misunderstandings and strangeness which characterizes social relations in Raja Ampat. That is,
by weaving together a narrative of conservation as mutual engagement, the Kalabia tour
circulated the value of commensality amidst crosscurrents of dissonance. It attempted to
harmonize, select and enhance particular types of messages while removing others. The tour
transposed the message of Guardians of Raja Ampat from two dimensions to four: from a glossy
209
flat screen outward, from a virtual to physical embodiment in which conservationists and Raja
Ampat indigenous communities enacted a polity of care a regime of ethically-oriented nature
protection.
In making sense of how the Guardians of Raja Ampat film tour circulated
representations of care for nature and people, I seek to apply insights from linguistic
anthropology into how discourse gets repackaged. My focus here is how the documentary film
and nightly performances motivated reflection about environmentalism and calls to action by
audience members. I draw from anthropological discussions about commensurability, translation
and interdiscursivity (Gal 2015; Hankins and Yeh 2016) to evaluate how the film projected
norms of conservation, and how these images were adopted or rejected by people who watched.
For instance, Susan Gal (2015:231) draws from a semiotic approach to symbolic processes
developed by Charles Sanders Pierce t
ho
take them up as signs by interpreting them, each from his/her own perspective, and reframing
them in open-
Webb Keane argues that objectification how ideas become actions is not necessarily
an unreflective or purely functional process, but is oftentimes produced in events through
interactions with others (see Keane 2003:12-13). I seek to draw attention here to ways West
Papuans take up messages expressed in the film and make them their own. Before doing so I
need to say a few things about the process by which the film achieves its illocutionary force of
representing the reality of conservation in Raja Ampat.
Richard Bauman and Charles Briggs (1990) developed an approach for evaluating social
speech acts by arguing that bits of discourse are often taken out of context and repackaged.
210
Through processes of entextualiztion, decontextualiztion and recontextualiztion, utterances are
removed from specific socio-historical moments and stitched in documentaries to make truth-
claims about a world indexically represented by persons and places on a screen. Entextualization
ts historic 167). Joshua Malitksy further argues
that an ethnographic analysis of entextualization should examine the experiences of viewers and
film together at the moment of projection, as well as describe relations between the film and its
context.
indexes of physical realities, documentary films are photos in motion that presuppose a semiotic
relation to physical realities reflected in a film projected on screen.
By extracting a selection of an interview and splicing it into a montage of other elements,
bits of dialogue can stand for something larger. By removing discourse from a particular context,
o become an object to itself, to refer to i
1990:
Kalabia film tour by people talking about how others talked about conservation. The implications
of such talk for future action became a main focus of the nightly social performances. The
decontextualization and recontextualization of discourse is a form of control.
While linguistic anthropologists have identified various ways that these processes work
in speech acts or cross-cultural dialogue, few have adapted a dialogical or inter-discursive lens to
film, particularly to genres such as documentaries. In one notable exception, Michael Chanan
(2000) discusses documentary films as a different type of representational genre from narrative
fictional films. He argues that documentaries are different from feature-length films because they
211
tend to package information to craft an argument rather than narrative. Fictional films present
alternative worlds: actors rarely look directly into the camera or speak directly to their audience.
In documentary films, speaking directly to an audience creates a sense of veracity in
which the camera becomes a type of witness. Chanan highlights the Western as a film genre that
projects stereotypic representations of frontier America in the latter decades of the 19th century.
But a Western is made of a specific set of character types, locations, morals and plot
conventions. Like Westerns, documentaries have specific conventions, space-time relations, and
moral stakes. What is relevant to the use of these terms for my analysis is C
that s character does not so much derive from its formal characteristics as from its
external orientation, toward both the audience that it addresses and the tradition to which it
belongs and from within which it speaks (2000:60).
Bakhtin wrote how artistic genres are akin to complex utterances that depend on speaker
reaction.
68
National Parks: America’s Best
Idea strings found footage and artefacts with a single narrative voice-over to tell the story of the
history of establishment of iconic national preserves, others prefer unmediated sets of images or
conservations based on different concepts of film as a medium of democratic speech. In the case
of Guardians of Raja Ampat, viewers are presented with a heterotopic montage in which scenes
of people and places that are at once incommensurable are put into alignment with one another,
68
Gershon and Malitsky (2011:54-60) identify the roles that language ideologies play in film genres, in
which entextualzation, and recontextualization can be useful tools for how they craft their messages
differently. They id
(that is, how indexicality functions) informs the ways they make and i
212
links together quite disparate elements of the historical
Documentaries seek to establish truth-claims through testimonials in which individuals
often look directly at the camera to the viewer. This technique works against a general
prohibition to speaWhen that
happens, in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or Goodfellas, protagonists share insights into other
characterDocumentaries create a sense of real life
through testimony, montage, and linking footage of people and places in the concreteness of an
assumed time and space that viewers recognize as real, in which the camera becomes a witness
in the same space as the events unfolding.
The Kalabia film tour provided an interdiscursive space for the creation and consolidation
of social relations that facilitated a sense of sharedness across boundaries of language and culture
in which conflicts were smoothed and dissonances edited out in ways that somehow felt true to
many participants (see Irvine 2005; Silverstein 2005). This sense of sharing draws from a
theoretical stance in which language use is a form of social action and not just a means of
reflection (Baumann and Briggs 1990:62). It also presupposes that an intersocial poetics emerges
i
(Baumann and Briggs 1990:65; see Durranti 1983).
It is important to note that none of this would be possible without translating external
concepts about biodiversity into locally meaningful terms material benefits for school fees,
locally salient religious norms, etc. Gal argues that translation involves a process of interpreting
213
(Hill and Irvine 1993:67).
69
The Kalabia tour provided moments where people reflected about
how to fit environmentalist notions of biodiversity by translating local concepts of sacred space,
marine protection to sasi, resource protection with clan ownership, economic value for tourism
and flourishing wildness with West Papuan notions of values of place.
Given the distortions of language translation and interpretation, the possibility of
commensurability is a kind of radical act. What may seem to be an obvious instrumental
based on a principle of charity
according to a set of rational lingui:27, in
Povinelli 2001:321).
70
responsibilities towards the nonhuman recalls debates in the 1980s among feminist
anthropologist about whether nature, culture and supposedly universal categories such as
3).
, multiple, not singular.
What conservationists desire is to motivate people to engage in environmental protection: the
stakes are about mobilizing action. Gal draws attention to how nongovernmental organizations
Gal 2015:232). This aligns with the
apparent goal of the Kalabia tour to get people to reflect on their history of interactions with
69
(Latour 1988:15-16; see also Latour 2005:108).
70
in translations (and interpretations) across incommensurate semantic fields; about the risk of assigning
and acting on these translations in ordinary life; and about the social productivity of foregrounding
214
NGOs, view them as essentially beneficial, and to mobilize communities to continue marine
protection efforts into the future.
Figure 51 Guardians of Raja Ampat film tour route, November-December 2014. Source: National
Geographic.
A Storyline of the Film and Concert tour
In this section I describe the Kalabia film conservation tour as it traveled to over a dozen
villages on islands across Raja Ampat (Figure 51 above). In narrating the journey and
interactions of participants, I highlight the ideals, as well as frustrations encountered in
attempting to create a shared vision of conservation between foreigners and West Papuans, as
well as the reactions of audience members who attended nightly film screenings. The larger point
I seek to address is how the Kalabia film tour created a shared spacetime in which different
people communicated their views about what conservation means, what protection is all about,
and to what end.
215
In a pattern that would repeat every evening, the Kalabia film tour team moved aluminum
scaffolding, rigging, camera, generators, wires and connectors, a huge vinyl screen and boxes of
other gear to a chosen spot . A white drone flashed green and red above
us filming the commotion below with an insect like whirr. Around sunset, Edo Kondologit asked
the Kalabia team. A slideshow of photos taken that day were projected a luminous screen, a
diesel generator humming behind. The filmmakers spoke of their travels from Antarctica to the
north pole. They said Raja Ampat stood out because it remained a place protected by local
communities, which stood as a hopeful case of conservation success amidst failures in other
places. The filmmakers ended by saying the film is their way of saying thanks to West Papuans.
Edo added by imploring people to maintain vigilance for managing trash as a way to preserve the
sea.
After the film ended Berta and Markus of the Kalabia team led a question and answer
session with several hundred attendees who traveled to the event from Ayau. Men
spoke of their impressions of the film, about their hopes for the future, as well as perceptions of
conservation in general. One politely thanked the team for showing the film. Another spoke
about his feelings that Westerners usually bothered people and created misunderstandings. He
ate communication to prevent continued
mix-ups. Following the forum, Edo took the microphone and sang several songs. People began to
shuffle, moving in circles around the performance ground. Children later returned home, and
about thirty people disassembled scaffolding and ferried equipment back to the ship under a
starlit sky.
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It was a motley crew of about thirty West Papuan conservation staff, sailors, two
honeymooners, several Americans and a Canadian. The team included several foreigners:
Hunter, a recent college graduate and camera operator; Candice, a filmmaker and social media
expert based in Denver, Colorado, who with Hunter filmed a documentary about the film tour.
Shawn and John, documentarians and wildlife advocates, led the trip; Ben, an American
expatriate living and working in Tonga; and Angela, the Kalabia’s education manager and
negotiator for the tour.
team gathered around a wooden table covered with
laptop computers, hard drives, cameras, notebooks and cables. Shawn later recalled travelling
and campaigning for conservation throughout the region. He highlighted his efforts to establish a
protected zone for dolphins, mantas and sharks. villages when his
camera could capture images of marine life. Each had their own reasons for participating on this
voyage, but all shared a belief that environmental protection was a moral good that transcended
people or places, but also that Raja Ampat was a uniquely important place for communicating
conservation goals.
While the immediate goal was to communicate the importance of conservation to Raja
Ampat residents, they also intended to document and share their tour with their own audience
about getting the right shot to motivate conservation action reflects a larger theme of ethical
framing. I will return to this issue below as it relates to the possibilities and limits of
communicating conservation values.
Following the film screening at Rutum in the Ayau atoll, the Kalabia voyaged to Saleo, a
small village of approximately a few hundred people set in a sheltered cove off western Waigeo.
217
Along with Selpele, Saleo is one of two predominantly villages in Western Waigeo
notable for marriage residence patterns that are the reverse of the predominant pattern in Beteo
areas: namely, matrilocality over patrilocality.
71
Both places are also known as having customary
access rights in the uninhabited and iconic Wayag islands to the west. In 2013, a dispute arose
over Wayag and conservation because villagers were upset with a decision by the Regency of
Raja Ampat not to share tourism user fees collected in Wayag, based on the justification that the
villages were not included in the boundaries of the zone. Consequently, Saleo and Selpele closed
Wayag to tourism until the situation could be resolved. An agreement was reached in late 2014.
After the film at Saleo we travelled to Arborek Island, a small, round islet encompassed
by a village of Beteo-speaking people. While small, Arborek is a center of conservation activity
and a political center for the Beteo communities in and around this part of Waigeo. Much of the
footage from Guardians of Raja Ampat is from Arborek. John and Shawn made Arborek a
strategic hub for their work. They often visited the village and reported to have worked closely
with several Beteo intermediaries. This is not surprising in the middle
of Dampier Strait between Mansuar and Gam Island. There are several active sasi zones nearby,
and the villagers have welcomed tourists to dive with manta rays who gather at sandy shoals.
Other places had been less receptive to foreign visitors. John recalled that in Sawinggrai and
Yenwapnor, women demanded large fees in exchange for photographs. People seemed
suspicious of the arrival of strangers.
71
One consequence of this residence pattern has been the gradual introduction of people with different
ancestries into the village, from Biak, the Moluccas and Java. This has apparently led to confusion over
inheritance and landownership for compensation from a nickel mine, since men from elsewhere might
sometimes claim rights to use land and sea resources.
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Figure 52 Kalabia team with school children, Selpele village, Waigeo
Before the evening performance at Arborek, Edo and others took a motorboat to a manta
ray aggregation spot. We arrived to see a ten or more manta rays swimming in circular motions.
Two inflatable boats with divers hovered above, as cameramen filmed Edo snorkeling on the
reef.
A burst of rain halted the film as villagers gathered around a sandy spot near the jetty.
The routine followed a pattern similar to previous nights, with Angela of the Kalabia
organization introducing Shaun and John who followed by giving remarks about their film. Edo
as children joined in. The film had been dubbed in English for the benefit
of several Europeans who had volunteered with Barefoot Conservation, a dubious enterprise
relocated after being forced out of a different location. Several volunteers sat and watched the
film with villagers, who later participated in Papuan line-dancing.
On the fifth day Shaun filmed Edo as he spoke about his impressions of the tour. Edo
recalled his joy at seeing children shout hailing the message of self-regard. He
spoke of their innocence, lack of skepticism and honesty. He said that if children are able to
understand the message of the film it will bear fruit in the future. Shawn asked him how he
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would feel if conservationists encouraged others in Indonesia to adopt local forms of resource
protection. He said that other people beyond Indonesia should heed the
live on islands. What can the rest of the world learn from this? Edo said that there is a larger
responsibility to care for Raja Ampat, because if Raja Ampat is destroyed, the entire world will
What is happening in the northern horizonthe increased heating and melting [of
the Artic] sea will re going back to the local
wisdom of the indigenous community tradition today in Raja Ampat, the tradition
of sasi, where they have awareness for example that mangrove forests should not
be cut again, should be allowed to flourish, its roots will help small fish so that the
sea is able to support life, places for crabs, shrimp and others, continue to provide
significant effect.
change in places far away from New Guinea. He indicates how the local institutions such as sasi
place a role in mitigating the larger-scale forces unleashed by anthropogenic climate change. He
indicates the moral imperative to manage Raja Ampat for Papuans and others.
From Arborek the ship travelled a short distance to the Pam islands, site of a government-
sponsored village. From above, the Pam Islands is a string of steep karst islets carpeted in green.
Turquoise lagoons, reef shoals and sandy beaches of coconut palms extend southward. The
village has a broad concrete pier that hosts monthly visits of a Perintis ship stopping over from
Sorong on its way to Ternate. It has a largish village of several hundred people, mostly Beteo
and Christian, but with some people from elsewhere who married into families. Most people who
live on Pam are fishermen, though there are a few farmers too. Others make their living from
selling copra dried, baked coconut husks used for producing oil and soap and woven mats
(Indo. senat) to people from the Moluccan Islands in long-established exchanges.
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People living here feel at a loss about how to curtail destructive fishing by outsiders,
particularly after the conservation programs left. A man named Elia Usubasa said that Butonese
men bomb reefs regularly for fish which has led to permanent damage of the nearby reefs and
lower numbers of reef-based fish. The raiders knew the schedules of the marine patrols: they
would often sneak in under the cover of darkness. Elia lamented that the people on Pam wanted
to protect their sea but could not do so effectively without outside help. He said more regular sea
patrols and a working conservation post would help. Yakob Mambrasar, secretary of Pam
village, echoed these remarks. He thanked the Kalabia team for coming to show the film, which
provided abroad to help save the richness of their home.
that funding for patrols to prevent destructive fishing is important to protect reefs as well as to
This sense of being left behind from the economic potential of tourism is compounded by
the feeling many West Papuans have of being underdeveloped, isolated, or backwards. Several
people expressed such feelings when we visited the large Beteo village of Deer on Kofiau Island.
The Kalabia arrived under the cover of night. Deer is one of five villages on Kofiau, a set of
islands off the western coast of Waigeo between the Moluccan Islands and the West Papuan
mainland. There are several churches in town organized in a grid paved with crushed coral
concrete. Many homes are built in a traditional Raja Ampat style of palm rooves over hand-
milled planks cut from nearby trees. Many homes are perched on stilts over the sea. A trapezoid-
shaped marine zone encloses Kofiau and Boo islands.
A sign at the dock indicated that a form of community sasi was in force. In 2011
or so, adat leaders in conjunction with the Evangelical Christian Church of Papua (GKI, Gereja
Keristen Injili di Tanah Papua) enacted sasi protections for sea cucumber, clams, and fish
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species in different places, including in front of the village. The Nature Conservancy maintained
a small post on the island. Yet reef bombing remained a major challenge. Villagers said they
were afraid to confront the bombers some said they were witches without heads and would eat
people who dared to stand up to them while they slept. Others feared gangsters from Crocodile
Island near Sorong and the complicity of local police. There were many specters about, real and
imagined. These fears help show that despite having values about protecting reefs, many people
feel helpless in the face of exogenous forces and seek help in their efforts to care for their land
and sea resources.
Yunus Mansoben, kepala kampung of Deer village, spoke under a sacred banyan tree
about the obligations of people to protect the trees and sea. He said that the current situation with
illegal fishing is akin to the cutting of merbau trees (Intsia bijuga). The village realized that so
many of the slow growing, valuable hardwoods were disappearing that they had to make an
have some resources to make houses, or longboats. The people should understand this. It is the
same with the sea
progeny are not displaced To Mr. Mansoben, this was not merely mimicry of extralocal
conservation norms or only about managing natural resources, but represented a solemn duty to
God:
to this place that God has long prepared for us to maintain. So with the NGOs of
CI and TNC can help the people of Raja Ampat so it has nature of sea and land,
we are its protectors, together we manage it for the future of our children and
future grandchildren.
Yunus said that some residents
environmentalists when they arrived. And some still doubt the presence or benefits of hosting
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Indonesian staff at a small conservation post on the village. While the tangible benefits of NGOs
on Deer village are unclear to some, Yunus said that presence has continued to an
increase in the abundance and variety of creatures living in the sea off Kofiau. He said that in the
past, some men used compressors and bombs, but the NGOs have promoted a sense of
togetherness (Indo. kebersamaan) which has forced the local government to act. He said that
TNC had also provided the community with some protections against the gangsters (who often
arrive during church services on Sunday) by their presence, and funds for fuel and boats for
weekly marine patrols.
Outside of efforts by non-governmental organizations to promote conservation, Yunis
said that the Beteo of Kofiau observe church sasi as a reflection of their sincere religious beliefs.
On Deer, residents are afraid to transgress areas protected by the vilchurch, because they
believe that transgressions
sense of conservation as religious act was reinforced that evening, as Yusuf became angry after
the film screening and evening performance.
During a post-show music event he abruptly cut off the sound and stormed off to his
house. He said the it was late and that he felt that the goyang goyang (a dance form connected to
a popular music genre called dangdut associated with promiscuity and vice) was inappropriate
this late on Saturday evening before church the next day, and because the activities took place in
front of the church building (See Weintraub 2010). A meeting between the Kalabia team
resolved the dispute the following day. But it reminded everyone not to assume that everyone
agrees with, or understands, the different reasons why people value environmental protection.
Leaving Deer village on Kofiau Island, the Kalabia went southwards to Misool Island for
screenings on Yellu, Fafanlap and Misool Eco Resort on Batbitim island.
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-tooth horizon could be seen from
offshore in the Arafura Sea. The Kalabia charted its course carefully in order to avoid wrecking
on a shallow reef pass as it entered a bay of small islands on the way to the Muslim villages of
Yellu and Fafanlap.
Yellu is a small Muslim village built of wooden stilt homes on a small rocky island in the
middle of a seascape of jagged limestone cliffs and green hills. A green-domed mosque rose
above a dense cluster of wood plank homes built above water on long poles. As in other places,
the Kalabia team had sent announcements via radio, fliers and calls about their visit, but the team
still needed to request permission in person.
Imam Kaidat Soltif, a man featured in Guardians of Raja Ampat, had the final word. The
old man wore a white tunic and sat on a mat on the floor of a wooden house across from the
near the mosque. Mr. Soltif spoke of
families as well as to more far-flung polities. He lamented a decrease in shrimp and fish numbers
due to the presence of bagan platforms that rapaciously scooped up fish for sale to commercial
operations northwards. He emphasized that the Matlol and Matbat people indigenous to Misool
would be vigilant in protecting their home by working with TNC and sustaining sasi (Matlol:
saum samóm). fforts had helped to increase number of rockfish and grouper
in the reefs near Fafanlap.
Later that evening after the film ended in Yellu village, several people spoke about their
impressions and feelings. One man from Halmahera said that he was thankful to village officials
for prohibiting people from bombing reefs, which he said would have stopped fish from
spawning and aggregating. He expressed gratitude at seeing such beauty on the screen. Ali
Orenang, a local staff with TNC in Harapan Jaya, there is hope for all of us who are
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Salman Wiyai from Biak spoke about devoting the last eight years to work on
conservation programs. He said
Yet if we do not protect them, they will be memorable stories only. Would our younger brothers
benefit from this or not? No. So all our younger sisters have to protect the sea here, right? Indeed
ather of our fathers
Let us give the fish as a lesson to our children, how we maintain them, that we
have the sea, how we keep our forest. If not us, who else?...The film showed us
that the importance of the sea to the lives of our people. We should be proud of
Raja Ampat, it was not people from outside in Raja Ampat [that did it] no! Thats
right! So we have to keep our seas, our place.
A man from Waigama extolled children to ave to protect
re to dive with beautiful coral because the sea is
loves already destroyed ... people will not come here. They will go to Wakatobi, Manado.
What will we do if the coral is destroyed here?
nearby Harapan Jaya and
Yellu villages to protect against pollution marine life in the area.
In Fafanlap the following night a member of the Kalabia team said that the purpose of
Guardians of Raja Ampat was to enjoin people to protect the environment together so that it is
will be better. People who live in the coastal suburb or right here also depend on the sea.
Therefore, let us keep our wilds intact for the sake of children and grandchildren still ahead of
Later, Imam Soltif stood up to speak. He said that together, the audience saw a Christian
pastor moved to tears:
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For the love of our surroundings in Raja Ampat did this. So for that, let us do it,
our whole society, especially in the southern Misool. Let us come together to
support this program, and keep our environment as it exists as we see it
presented in the film.
The imam said that his parents used to tell stories of easily getting clams as large as
stones; ow it is difficult for us to. So let us keep our environment for our grandchildren so that
they know where the rockfish are, where the clam and coral thrive. Let us keep what was shown
to us by these foreigners A Christian priest said similar things. He entreated people to stop
throwing homemade bombs over the reefs.
Another participant said that he was grateful for the work of conservation near Misool
island because coral cover had visibly increased compared with previous years. Another said that
film has opened [our] eyes and hearts to hear what has been a hurdle .... to challenges we
people from The Nature Conservancy were rejected in Fafanlap.
They were not welcomed, and their motives misunderstood. But now people are taking greater
responsibility and have accepted their presence, because everyone in Misool depends on the sea:
Where the life of
Dialogue about conservation continued
counterclockwise voyage throughout Raja Ampat. From a wider-angle view, the film tour
provided a vantage point for understanding processes of value commensuration and value
difference about different ionships with and responsibilities to the environment. It
provided a moment of encounter where strangers shared their feelings, hopes and fears about the
risks to their seascape. But it also afforded an opportunity to produce a set of analogous
understandings about the reasons and values for protecting the environment. Through dialogue,
sharing, misunderstanding, different actors translated the moral imperative to protect into an
idiom they understood a process I will discuss in more detail below.
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After Fafanlap the ship set a course for Batbitim island to a stopover at Misool Eco
Resort. The ship neared the island early in the morning. Nearby a sasi ceremony could be seen
taking place: men and women stood on wooden longboats throwing offerings into the sea, boats
festooned with white ribbons. A man blew from a conch shell across the water. The sasi
ceremony concretely reminded everyone how residents still observed customary forms of
resource control amidst cross-currents of rapid change. In the end, the planned film screening at
Misool Eco Resort failed, after the metal rigging toppled over in a gale. Late in the evening,
John, Shawn and a few others presented the film on a small television screen to people gathered
from Misool Basefin, a conservation arm of the resort, and a few guests. The rest of the crew
remained on the starry beach, talking about tempestuous seas.
The Kalabia
Eco Resort on Batbitim Island. After a rolling, rainy passage the ship arrived to Solol village on
Salawati Island in the early morning, after passing by a pearl farm and church sasi zone. Solol is
a mixed community of people who refer to themselves as Tepin who speak Tiplol, a
distinct and unstudied M dialect. Unlike Fafanlap and Yellu, there were few stilt houses in
Solol. Instead, a large church steeple rose above the forest canopy to the left of the dock. A few
men sat on wooden benches beneath a hand-Welcome. Several
stands of tall trees and gardens were visible in the surrounding steep hills, with durian, coconut,
mango trees interspersed among houses.
Motoring up to the dock in a light mist, the team was greeted by several men standing on
a longboat playing loudly on drums one broad and wide, another tapering slightly in the
middle, with wooden sticks (Indo. suling tambur ) while another played a flute. The boat guided
them into the village, and then circled the boat a few times as we came to dock. Children came
227
out to stare and mingle. Soon, the entire village of Solol came up the jetty to greet the visitors.
Children arrived wearing white and crimson school uniforms, with older women wearing
Papuan-style batik shirts of blue and green. They women presented us with sarongs and shell
necklaces while they sang greeting songs. We then stopped at the entry of the village where two
women washed our feet in a large wide porcelain plate and children danced in grass skirts. We
then danced with Solol villagers arm-in-arm throughout the village.
The rains returned, took place
small village school. After the show many audience members spoke, followed by a karaoke sing-
along. There was not enough space in the one-roomed building for yospan dances or goyang
goyang that night. Markus from the Kalabia team remarks to a crowd of
curious spectators sitting in plastic chairs and standing outside peering through wooden shutters.
A man stood and took up the microphone and asked
year? his film is not about somewhere else, but about us
here in this place. It is for the future of our children, generations before us, for our children who
are still greenrose to
speak about his concerns about cutting down trees:
In the city or in the village before there was nice wooden timber, still good. So, let
us in
down all [the forest]. Yes. If we want to talk about our care for Raja Ampat, first
are
timber was already sold out!
e forest will
be gone. You must find water wells elsewhere. We used to get fresh water from springs, when
228
and smiled. But starting from tomorrow, we have to wo
assembly then rose and spoke of the need to maintain forests for future posterity, and not to
unconsciously also damaged the sea by dumping garbage there. Markus then became upset,
Ampat why we degrade
While Edo enlivened t
.
Around 11:30 that evening people gathered around a large wet field. Two men carried out
a large oil drum. Several people dressed in grass skirts leaped into an open space, jostling spears
and shields. The performers danced a cakalele, a Moluccan war dance, which had been banned in
Indonesia for many years. An elder, Barnabas Sawoy, narrated by loudspeaker while several men
and women and a young child danced around. One man was soon symbolically speared to death.
He lay on the grass before being carried offstage. The narrator later told me that the story was a
moral tale about a man who stole from the forest and was killed, so that the people would have
good things to eat and fertile land to live on.
Chronotopes of love and self-regard
how space and time are expressed differently in
artistic works as a way to assess how the film and audience comments produced a context in
which conservationists and West Papuans could see themselves as involved together in a joint
229
traces how chronotopes are constitutive elements of all art and literature, whether a Greek novel
(adventure-time in abstract space), Chivalric romance (miraculous worlds, subjective playing
with time), or
journey in time and space (Bakhtin 1981:84; see Valverde 2015: Ch1).
Figure 53 Participants dance following an evening film screening and conversation, Arborek Island
connections to the environment a modernist form, in which individual choice as important,
cosmogonic myth in which epic heroes dominate and fate looms, apocalyptic stories of the end
of days and new beginnings, tragedy of the continued suffering of West Papuans caused by the
Indonesian state the power of the film and audience participation relies on the layering of what
ronotopes, which emphasize love, stages of life, family (1981:224-236).
Importantly, Bakhtin emphasizes how
the life of nature, the unity of their rhythm, the common language used to describe phenomena of
s, he is also speaking of his
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love for his people, for an idyllic vision of intersocial relations, of religious values, of a harmony
of people in their natural surrounds.
Here, and elsewhere, people echo this sense of idyll, a timeless analogical mode of being,
in which what helps protect fish and trees is inherently also a way of talking about West
capture the full range of experiences in the film, or issues pertinent to marine conservation in
Raja Ampat: there is also conflict (with NGOs and government officials), misunderstanding
(interclan disputes over landownership), journeys of transformation (eco-tourism), and
occasionally, romance (among tourists).
Guardians of Raja Ampat, as a documentary film, does not tell its story through a plot-
driven narrative, but presents an argument based on idyllic chronotopes of human-environment
relations to convince West Papuans, donors, and Indonesian government officials of the
importance of protecting marine life in Raja Ampat. It is constructed through argument rather
than narrative, but also contains sets of stories within. What is striking about the film and
evening performances is how the types of things people said are determined by the limited range
of dispositions, utterances, and aspirations they saw on the film. Perhaps life imitated art, by
filtering out dissonant messages people had about marine conservation. What was broadcast (on
screen and in call-and-response post show dialogue) tended towards idyllic senses of people and
nature in synchrony, even if only as hope.
The chronotope provides a ces,
and geographic settings. But it limits the range of optia structural constraint on a
particular course of narrated events, beyond the will or control
-time French
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(2012:346) further argues that an analysis of chonotopic figures in artistic works and dialogue
It is striking how so much of what people reflected on during evening events involved
future. In a form of ethical deixis, West Papuans located themselves in particular times and
places as agents of action, or, conversely, lamented their inability to prevent the degradation of
the forests or reefs that surrounded them. Just as the film weaves diverse narrative threads, the
Kalabia tour itself connects different places, different ethnolinguistic communities with their
own histories. It presented a series of moments for integrating island communities into a larger-
scale imaginary in which forms of resource protection become a basis for making social
relations.
Out of frame, out of view
The persuasiveness of a documentary, journal article or other form of media relies on
strategic use of relevant examples, representations, and voices but also on depends importantly
on what is edited out. Guardians of Raja Ampat conveys a hopeful message of cooperation,
rather than conflict. It avoids direct criticism of the Indonesian government and does not mention
conflicts between villagers and conservationists in the early 2000s. It does not highlight the
frictions between families who are setting up homestays, nor the tensions between private dive
resorts run by foreigners and the emerging locally-run homestays.
People here know that these issues are unresolved. For instance, it is widely known that
elements of the police in Sorong city provide protection for illegal logging in Waigeo, a live-reef
fish trade, and other practices. Powerful business interests appear to be supporting new dive
232
resorts around Waigeo Island managed by Jakartans, or other people not from the region;
ongoing resource extraction and corruption threatens the idyllic representation of cooperative
environmental management, and many are cynical about the lasting benefits of engagement. In
chapter five, I develop an analysis of misunderstandings between different groups in relation to
environmentalism.
What I want to discuss here are a few examples of misalignments that occurred during
the tour. By identifying misfires and examples of misrecognition, I draw attention to the ways
people also engaged in processes of self-editing in their quest to perceive the Kalabia tour as
necessarily successful, a victory tour of sorts, rather than an ongoing persuasive case to convince
a more neutral audience about why they should join environmental programs. Webb Keane
argued that all social performances are risk-laden endeavors: their efficacy derives in part from
of failure (Levi-Strauss [1949]1969:48; Keane
2003:27).
During the tour a few thinalio village the Kalabia
team learned that locals had closed tourism for over a year and captured a speedboat of
conservationists in protest against lack of benefits in the iconic Wayag islands, a place claimed
by local clans. On arrival to Mutus island, a young girl had just died and the event there
was cancelled in order to join in mourning with the village. On Deer Island, the village headman
us dancing on sacred
ground. At a visit to Pam island they learned of widespread bombing, possibly in collusion with
government officials. Additionally, out at sea the Kalabia ship broke an axle, ran aground on a
reef, and everyone became ill during the voyage. Below, I describe one example of an
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unexpected event that required a quick change of plans, and a different type of ethical response
when the Kalabia team arrived to Mutus Island.
***
At around two in the afternoon, the Kalabia team was invited to pay respects to the
grieving family of a deceased child. They walked together along a crushed coral concrete path.
Beneath a blue tarp, rows of plastic chairs had been set out in front of a stoop. Inside, an old
woman sat crouched in the doorway. In front, the body of the child lay on a bier of blankets.
We all sat down in front, as people gathered behind and around us. Elder men from the
e coordinator, stood
up and said a few words. Angela then spoke, a bit quietly but with grace. Finally, John asked if
he could say something. He stood up and spoke in English, which Angela translated. He said
[W]e are very sorry, but grateful to come here today. We completely understand that family
comes first. The way you care for each other in Raja Ampat shows us how to live better. Take
These words were well received with nods from the elder men. The
grandmother of the child looked over at John as he spoke, and appeared to perceive the truth of
his feeling.
A village representative then stood up and gave a long speech as we sat beneath the tarp.
He spoke of and that he regretted the cancellation of the film event.
he wanted to get a cassette of songs from Edo (the Papuan singer). This finished, we were invited
to enter the house and to console the family. When we finally left the house together, the entire
village greeted us with handshakes. They accompanied us back to the Kalabia together, and sent
234
us off. It was a different kind of feeling, as if the categories of visitors and locals dissolved,
categories blended and layers of difference were peeled away, if just for a moment. We were
united together in grief, not as Papuans, Americans, foreigners or locals, but as humans sharing
the grieving for a lost child together.
None of these issues would be written about or shared in stories in recollections of the
trip. Such issues would also be elided from celebratory blog posts of fund-raising media events
for future conservation work. Perhaps part of the elision of the Mutus funeral arises from the
pressures of conservationists to present a story arc that fits preconceived notions about what
happens in far flung wild places. Anthropologists including James Igoe have written about how
conservation programs tend to reproduce stereotypes of local people amidst wild places, in part
due to pressures to raise funds from corporate donors who are presumed to also be necessary for
protecting threatened ecosystems (Igoe 2010).
to be streamlined in ways that avoid attention to local disputes over control of natural resources,
aspirations for economic development, or unintended consequences of environmentalist
intervention.
Just like a documentary film edits and stiches together images and sounds into a coherent
message, conservationists piece together vignettes and personalities and place them into a
recognizable frame that other NGOs, donors and environmentalist both expect and validate. An
effect of this tendency of conservation programs to represent indigenous people as ciphers for
larger-
homogeneous timelessness amidst untrammeled nature, or in situations that demand intervention
by better-equipped outsiders (see Stasch 2014, 2016).
235
But as Shawn mentioned during the trip, if the campaign achieves a legislative goal such
as protecting manta rays in Indonesia or bringing attention to destructive shark finning, then to
him the ends justify the means: the truth of a place and its inhabitants is necessarily inflected to
fit with larger political-environmental arcs in which local people sometimes unwittingly become
enmeshed in endeavors they never intended to be part of.
The Guadians of Raja Ampat tour as a metasemiotic and metapragmatic journey
Environmentalist media, such as the Guardians of Raja Ampat, are metasemiotic and
metapragmatic, in the sense that they communicate signs about ideal human and environment
relations. They signal mechanisms for interethnic cooperation to protect marine places, support
for eco-tourism, for avoiding destructive fishing and logging. The media provide a vector for
West Papuans to look forwards to a better future for their children as justification for their
acquiescence to conservationist goals as well as their participation as tokens in environmentalist
campaigns. In a way, the entire Kalabia trip, if considered a type of utterance or speech act, is
subjunctive hether for sake of children and grandchildren, as a way of
acting rightly as a Christian, to be good stewards and managers, to act like Westerners do, or to
hope for bountiful revenues from eco-tourism.
All the repetitions of phrases heard during nightly events about why protection is
necessary are a type of hopeful utterance for a future that might be, rather than one that already
is. The social effects of such talk and its repetitions express intentions that highlight how the film
and tour created conditions for West Papuans to place themselves in relation to conservation and
see themselves as a part of the larger story in which biodiversity programs really do benefit local
livelihoods (regarding spoken intentions, see Durranti 2015). As previously mentioned, this
236
conceit requires a fair amount of editing out of ongoing misalignments, rumor, jealousies,
conflicts, and political sensitivities.
The subjunctive mood of the Kalabia tour can make sense if we consider
is assumed to be the actual, really existing world, and requires the world to conform to this
emerges Biodiversity conservation,
through film, blogs, photos, and narratives of interchangeable parts that
reflected in the repeated statements of people in different villages throughout the tour.
The repetition of phrases about protecting
accidental, but an intentional outcome of an idyllic chronotope projected by Guardians of Raja
Ampat, which was received, embodied and performed by village respondents at every place
where the film was shown. The notion of idyllic relations of people and nature can be heard in
a
a route to self
merbau trees in Solol. It is also heard in comments by John Weller and Shaun Heinrich, who
made the film from images they had captured, who organized the tour as a way of giving back
something to people with whom they have developed bonds of affection.
The ways that environmentalist media portray local people either working alongside
international environmental groups or cut entirely out of view seems connected to what Anna
where social relations are mediated
237
through visual media that sets conditions for engagement, subjectivity is channeled through pre-
given concepts of nature and culture, and possibilities for social performance are focused to
achieve particular results (Igoe 2010:377).
To the extent that the Kalabia tour can be framed in terms of a larger economy of
appearances it is also a journey that entreats people to participate in a politics of care, in which
messages express the importance of desiring to protect the sea and land for ethical, economic or
often leads to unexpected, often messy entanglements: people who go to a wild place are often
transformed by the experience in ways they may not have intended.
ethnographic studies into environmentalism that critiques the anthropological tendency to focus
on conflicts between local people and extralocal forces to speak on behalf of one side in their
struggle against larger political-economic processes. While it is clearly important for
anthropologists to describe how people in places such as West Papua have been dispossessed of
land and marginalized by the Government of Indonesia, this is one part of what environmental
interactions entail.
Recent scholarship about the diverse ways that societies think about and engage with
nonhuman beings shows that the ontological is also political:
social life of nature is not false consciousness but has important consequences for the struggles,
aims, and outcomes of environmentalist interactions. Commensuration of local and NGO ways
of protecting reefs is not necessarily impossible or a neoliberal conceit (West 2016). Such
alignments may be the only pathway for successful conservation efforts.
238
Studies that identify unequal power dynamics have been important for understanding
how the creation of national parks and reserves can often have detrimental effects on local
residents. Whitehouse (2015) points out a potential bias to biodiversity conservation, in which
they take the view that non-Western peoples have the most suitable approaches while Western
it resets on rather vague and perhaps unduly homogeneous notions of what conservation involves
and w5:96). There are
alternatives: to cite one example, Satterfield (2004) identifies how loggers and environmentalists
in Oregon developed approaches to land management that provided for continued logging and
protection of keystone species.
against the power of institutional apparatus (particularly in the form of police and
government development agencies), neoliberal economic policies or bad actors. One can
certainly see the destructive power of these forces around Waigeo. However, what I have
attempted to show in this chapter is that despite a range of misunderstandings, it is sometimes
possible for different groups to represent their values in idyllic ways that elicit more hopeful
prospects for intersocial cooperation.
The Kalabia conservation tour provided an opportunity for reflection about conservation,
sasi and misunderstandings. It also was a situation of recursive mirroring where, in addition to
the film itself, the tour included a US-based film group that filmed the Western filmmakers about
their work. The second film crew emphasized the somewhat messianic way that the American
Talk emphasized also a set of morality stories, prohibitions, ways of acting rightly towards the
239
reefs, animals, etc. The potential of commensurability in all of its public, stereotyped and
performative sense is actually a vital part of creating a shared moral world.
The Kalabia tour involved the signaling and creation of a shared moral horizon; of values
that at some point do overlap, even with their clearly culturally mediated content. In a situation
of conflict over land rights, anxieties about belonging, concern about dispossession, and the
future, the Kalabia event celebrates for a moment the potential for a cosmopolitan vision of Raja
Ampat. It is ethnographically significant by providing an example of how Raja Ampat people are
sorting out how to live with others throughout their seascape, as well as the opportunities and
consequences of conservation practices.
240
Chapter 5. Cannibal witches, environmental mix-ups: doubts about others in Raja
Ampat
They arrived at Urai a small rocky place in the middle of Kabui Bay in between
Waigeo and Gam islands in silence with a sense of purpose. A few dozen Beteo people from
the nearby village of Saporkren gathered on the sandy shore. Nearby, timbered buildings and
concrete foundations lay half built. Blue plastic tarps flapped in the wind as waves lapped behind
them. A few men dug a circular hole about two feet deep while others kneeled and prayed. A
congregants buried a wide blue and white porcelain plate covered with a white cloth. Many
sobbed and cried aloud.
Urai island is the site of an ongoing dispute over land rights, tourism and ethics between
Wauyai sold rights to develop a resort on Urai to a woman from Jakarta. She gave money to
primary families (Indo: marga) i
72
Misgivings about this transaction initiated a major dispute that fractured longstanding alliances
between ethnic groups and among families.
73
On one hand, the Beteo people of Saporkren
village
the region, which gives them an ultimate say over who uses lands. They also believe that the
Beteo have recognized their claims.
72
Discussion with Elias Mambrasar, Oct. 2014, Saporkren. She apparently gave Rp. 1,500,000,000 (appx
USD $106,000) to four tuan tanah of Saporkren: Mr. Mesias Mambrasar, Matteus Mambrasar, Luther
Mambrasar and Lefinus Dimara (kepala kampung).
73
Discussion with Dennis Sauyai at Saporkren, Sept 2, 2014.
241
The dispute over Urai has brought into focus conflicts between communities that have
increased in intensity and stakes with the arrival of tourism since the 2000s. For generations, the
BBeteo arrived from
Biak on hongi raids, planted coconuts and raised families. The Beteo would give fish and trade
goods to the more interior-ago, damar resin, feathers
gélet) allowed Biak raiders to settle on uninhabited karst islets or
coastal facing zones.
In the last few years, the issue of who has rights to develop lands for gardens and marine
resources rights (hak ulayat) has become an ethical dilemma. Outsiders have pressured Papuan
residents on Waigeo to sell property in order to construct resorts or other developments in the
Dampier Straits marine protected area. In response, several Beteo families have built homestays
to host visitors from abroad who want to see Birds of Paradise, nudibranchs or feeding manta
rays. But outside of these tourist-
tourist boom. The dispute over Urai island is an example of intersocial tension arising from
conservation and tourism in Eastern Indonesia. People say that this is a new type of tradeoff.
communities.
Following the creation of several interlinked marine protected areas and conservation
initiatives in the 2000s the islands have become a focus of biodiversity protection, and
increasingly, a major destination for dive-focused and nature-oriented tourism. Several West
Papuan villages have been affected by these developments. This is particularly the case in coastal
Waigeo Island in the northern part of the Raja Ampat Regency, an Indonesian sub-provincial
242
political-administrative unit with a center in Waisai. The benefits from this new conservation
Efforts to protect the seas and forests in Raja Ampat have facilitated the fusing of
different values into hybrids. Such engagements have also provoked conflict within and between
chapters two and three, I discussed
instances where West Papuan communities sought to engage with nonlocal conservationists and
tourists. In my discussion of sasi and ecotourism, I highlighted situations where locally resident
communities sought to align normative expectations and behaviors about the environment in
their own terms with externally-introduced ideals about biodiversity as an intrinsic good for the
survival of animals and plants. I then discussed how tourism projects idealized relations of
people and nature as imagined zones of enchantment, purification and wildness in ways that have
psychological and material effects. Marine conservation programs have catalyzed emergent
hybrids church sasi or heterogeneous conservation zones in which different aims for
environmental protection have become interlinked in ways that have mostly benefitted those with
a stake in natural resource management.
Yet such engagements have led to unexpected developments. For example, the desire for
money and interaction with foreign tourists has motivated Beteo people living within designated
marine zones to construct eco-tourist homestays. These places have been transformed into sites
for capital accumulation in which value is quantified in ways that have untethered historically
dense connections between island peoples. Such new arrangements have led people to doubt
whether such transformations will ultimately be for good or ill. The nutrient-rich currents of New
violently. Analogously, the human social dynamics of these islands are not unidirectional.
243
Prospects for mutually beneficial intersocial relations is counterbalanced by a general
intentions. There is an intrinsic, unspoken caution underneath the surface of most social
interactions. For instance, it was several months before a man at Saporkren village was willing to
express his longing for sandals like mine. A few days after I gave them to him, he brought me
several large snapp
whether I was a mere visitor or someone worth asking something of in order to solidify our
friendship.
Besides wariness about entering into exchange as a means to foster reciprocal debt
obligations, West Papuans often doubt if strangers are friend or foe. Another man from the same
village had been rumored to be a cannibal witch due to his nighttime lurking and penchant for
using a chainsaw after dark. He would sometimes show up at my house and anyone present
, but become especially
diffident when Indonesian officials, particularly uniformed police or administrators, arrive to
drop off subsidized rice or check-in on unannounced visits. Such interactions tend to reinforce a
sense of separateness in places that never really desired such oversight.
People doubt whether self-actualization is possible: can they achieve their dreams, or will
they always be out of reach? Caution and doubt about oneself and others are reflected in
perceptions that the environment is a
nonhuman surrounds are not only zones of affordances but are also places of danger and moral
transgression. They are the domain of witches, other-than-human spirits and Satan. People often
disclaim the existence of malevolent forces: they will
embarrassment. But the persistence of talk
244
about nature as dangerous suggests these forces continue to lurk as manifestations of the doubts
people have about others. Transgressive beings could be interpreted as cognitive indices of West
Papuan doubts about social relations generally. They remain as nagging anxieties about the
capacity for the world to provide. Such cultural symbolizations of hazard are apparent in
intergroup interactions over natural resources.
I should clarify that not all West Papuan communities want the same thing when dealing
with environmental protection or tourism. Within communities, landowning families (marga)
with use rights may have different interests than non-landowning families. In some ways,
changes brought about by conservation in Raja Ampat have exacerbated simmering tensions
between families and across villages. At a wider angle, others with a stake in the region from
commercial tourism ventures, fishing and mining enterprises, environmental foundations to
Indonesian government administrators each operate with their own normative understanding of
what is appropriate or what is at stake. Such varied interests demonstrate how Raja Ampat is
both a moral and a political economy.
In this chapter, I focus on conflict, misunderstanding and moral transgression that arose
from conservation and tourism initiatives in northern Raja Ampat over a five-year period from
2010-2015. I first identify emic categories of immoral or transgressive forces through
an examination of nonhuman entities that reflect anxieties people have about social relations. I
discuss how figures of alterity cannibal witches, sorcerers, demi-gods and ambivalent spirits
reveal uncertainty about prospects for social interaction in a context where strangers are
regularly coming and going. These beings of ambivalent value are associated with specific
places. I argue that the juxtaposition of human from nonhuman domains has implications for
245
cross-cultural ethical engagements over resources (compare van Oosterhout (1994, 1998:135;
2001:45) on suanggi among the Inanwatan).
74
I then turn to etic or external instances of moral breakdown. I highlight
misunderstandings about conservation and tourism between different groups to argue that
failures can reveal values in conflict. I return to the Urai island dispute to make sense of
disharmony between West Papuans over who has the right to claim resources. I examine a
selection of human-environment conflicts between resident communities and nonlocal actors: a
dispute over compensation from tourist revenues in Wayag; the ransom of a speedboat in
exchange for compensation from conservationists on Waigeo; disputes about illegal logging and
mining activities; and rumors of theft in Kalitoko. Across these cases, I show how these
misunderstandings are about asymmetrical notions of proper relations between people and
nature. They are situations where different values come into conflict or do not align smoothly.
The resolution of some conflicts indicates how differing normative concepts of what is correct,
of what ought to happen with nonhuman surrounds, can be analogous, while the impasse in other
74
Diane van Oosterhout (1994, 1998) notes that among the Inanwatan of New Guinea there are three
different domains of exchange: between people, people and ancestor spirits, and those between people
the beings of the forest. She distinguishes these domains as oppositions between
1998:135 in Miedema et al 1998; compare Schefold 1994:818-819). Oosterhout notes elsewhere
(2001:45) that Inawantan believe that an increase in suanggi
iware) by greed for
personal accumulation, and the inability of Christianity to replace itsuanggi is thus
primarily associated with the loss of indigenous values or morals without proper replacements, and with
246
Witchcraft and sorcery reflect an ethics of caution in Raja Ampat
Papua, there is a surface that you can see but there is much else besides that remains
Martin Makusi told me one day in 2014 while visiting his home on Renswor on Gam
island. Later that year at a meeting of the Raja Ampat Homestay association, he said that Beteo
sometimes conceal their true feelings from others. On first meeting a Papuan person in Raja
Ampat they will usually tell you they are from a particular island or village and tell you
something about their relatives. Almost all will tell you whether they are married or single,
Christian or Muslim and how they make a living. Most will acknowledge they are citizens of
Indonesia, even if tenuously so.
These presentations of self fit with a paradigm of citizen-subjects in a multicultural
nation-state. From this vantage point, collaborations between indigenous people and non-state
environmental groups are a type of citizen engagement. Local populations interact with
extralocal civil society organizations to advocate for benefits not provided by state institutions
due to a lack of adequate representation or social capital. This positioning makes some sense in
the context of Indonesian nationhood. But most Papuans have relations with nonhuman forces
that remain concealed. What is surprising is how often what is hidden beneath the surface is
revealed in unexpected moments: domestic conflicts, jealous neighbors, finger pointing
following a sudden illness or hushed murmurs.
The cross-cultural engagements with environmental actors I described in previous
chapters can be viewed as a practical means for Papuans to redress historic inequalities arising
from exclusions of Melanesians by the Indonesian state. While these struggles are real and the
stakes are important for West Papuans to achieve dreams of respect and inclusion they are a
surface on which claims to democratic participation and intersubjective belonging are made.
These processes rely on an assumed ontological character of citizen to state, periphery to capital,
247
ethnic group to imagined community. My point here is to argue that occluded forces also make
have implications for a viable assessment of ethical life. By drawing out this material, I want to
suggest that the stuff of ethics is not only a matter of public intentional acts but should also
encompass the hidden dimensions of social life.
There is a sense that alterity a sense of estrangement and otherness is inherent in
social interactions in ways that are not just a matter of indigenous dispossession or
marginalization from politico-economic institutions. Among the Korowai of West Papua, Rupert
Stasch described how everyday alterity is evident in patterns of avoidance between married men
and their mothers-in-law, cross-sibling relations, residential dispersal and in the notion that infant
children are monsters before socialized as persons (Stasch 2009). In Beteo and Ambel society,
foreign things are alluring but also troubling. The two-sidedness of the value of foreign things is
mirrored in different moral domains people inhabit. For instance, despite the best efforts of
Christian evangelism and Indonesian nationalism, people throughout Raja Ampat still speak
about witches (suanggi), sorcerers (dukun, mawi), spirits (djin), devils (setan) and malevolent
forces (kabyo).
People live in a world suffused with opposing forces that do not always cohere. These
forces are rarely observed directly but are nonetheless commonly spoken of throughout the
invert moral edicts and ethical actions of how people ought to do things. A man in Saporkren in
2014 sans ilmu
sendiritempat
248
keramat), the spaces of forest beings (mon) or ancestral spirits (Ambel: mambri). He also said
Most people have opinions about sorcerers, either to chastise belief in them or consider
their counsel beneficial. Beteo children tease each other about demonic birds (burung setan) who
live in forested areas behind the village (Figure 54 below). Waisai traders speak about the many
djin who live in caves and along rivers. It is not uncommon to hear stories about alleged
poisonings due to jealousy or as retribution from a perceived slight. How can a person identify a
sorcerer? While at a fishing co-op one evening, a man from Saporkren village said that sorcerers
whether you are yourself a witch.
Figure 54
Transgressive Beings
Cannibal witches (Papuan Malay: suanggi; Beser: manwen) are key mediating figures of
transgressive actions in Raja Ampat. Suanggi can take human or nonhuman forms. They can be a
man or animal typically a crocodile, wild pig, flying fox or nightjar. More commonly, the
suanggi
249
the wood, animals appearing in the wrong place or time. At Yenbeser village on Gam island,
Beteo people speak guardedly about flying foxes because witches take similar forms at night,
swooping overhead. Others believe that witches can fly as detached heads. Telltale signs that a
person may be a suanggi are that they wander around at night aimlessly, glare at people and
genfrom Serui, a town on Yapen Island far to the east, fits this
description. He had previously worked with logging companies in Waisai some years ago before
settling in Saporkren village. He would occasionally come unannounced to my house late in the
evening, eyes wide, with a chainsaw. Of course, this is probably just a coincidence, but
sometimes culturally-mediated lifeworlds become embodied by those who temporarily inhabit
them.
Ambel people in Mayalibit Bay on Waigeo island believe suanggi eat others
clandestinely. A person will not know they have been eaten at first. They will have a bad dream
followed by an illness or conditions that causes them to waste away. It is believed that this is a
sign that a suanggi has eaten their livers, eaten from their essence in a way that leads to their
eventual demise. In Warimak village, Ambel residents say that their ancestors used to live
alongside suanggi and speak with them. These days cannibal witches live in uninhabited forest
zones. They can cast curses and kill but can also heal (menyembuh). One man said that suanggi
talk may be a way of talking about cannibalism, which he said sometimes took place before
Christianity arrived to the area. While there are different ways of experiencing and talking about
suanggi in Raja Ampat, they continue to haunt the minds and bodies of West Papuans. There is a
sense that the suanggi is the symbolization of an ethics of doubt about the world and its
inhabitants.
250
Before I say more about the claim that suanggi can be interpreted in terms of ethics, it is
important to briefly review how a few anthropologists have grappled with how witchcraft
reflects cultural values. E.E. Evans-Pritchard argued (1972:18-19) that witchcraft beliefs
(mangu) a
-Pritchard illustrated
nde speak about
The notion that witchcraft comprises a system of values and an idiom for speaking about
and explaining misfortunes is a critical analytical move. It shifts the focus to ways that other-
than-human forces provide a culturally meaningful way of accounting for key social norms, and
the inability for people to fully realize them. Among people of Gawa, an island society in the
Milne Bay area of Papua New Guinea, Nancy Munn (1986) noted that witches (bwagaw) are a
(Munn 1986:215). Witchcraft in Azande and Gawa is a discourse for bringing covert issues into
public view. It is a means for people to account for strange happenings, misfortune and anxiety
about others. Munn argues that witches represent a negative potentiality that exceeds accepted
boundaries of moral life: they fly too fast, consume too much and steal bodies in stealthy canoes
(1986:220-224). Instead of sharing food witches foreclose the potential for intersocial ethics by
making others into food.
251
The notion that witches represent unethical behavior occurs elsewhere in Eastern
Indonesia (Winn 2002:285).
75
Do witches essentially represent a type of sociological value
inversion? In the examples above, witches appear to be manifestations of rule-breaking behavior
or tokens for the instability of social cohesion. But when comparing accounts of witchcraft
across cultures, it remains unclear to what extent nonhuman forces from demonic beings to
climate change are essentially extra-social phenomena: forces that stand outside of what is
intrinsically social.
Some anthropologists have argued that the re-emergence of witchcraft beliefs
anxieties about the material consequences of capitalism in resource-dependent peripheries
(Comaroff and Comaroff 1999; Geschire 1997). Schram (2010:729) argues instead that
witchcraft is neither a vehicle for economically-dislocated societies to account for their
marginalization or a remnant of traditional belief systems but a conceptual apparatus for societies
to conceive a schema of values: an apperception of the fact of being in society itself
In truth, it may not be possible to fully account for the cultural salience of witches or
nonhuman forces. But the continuing association with these entities suggests they have
something to do with the daily work to make life worth living. Their presence in many societies
is certainly quite commonplace, even taken for granted as sources of annoyance rather than awe
(Evans-Pritchard (1976 [1937]:19). Bruce Kapferer (2002:4) likewise highlights the everyday
you may be one yourself,
Nils Bubandt (2014) argues that Buli
75
Phillip Winn (2002:285) discusses how envy (Indo: iri hati) threatens community relations. He notes
suanggi
252
gua) but do not know
around which doubt is being reproduced in a continuously failed attempt to understand and
Bubandt 2014:19); they are , an index of reflexivity about
the world. But gua also bring talk about ethical expectations and engagements out of the
shadows (see Keane 2016:506).
As cultural manifestations of doubt (aporia), the gua
existence, the opacity of the human mind, the impossibility of exchange and conviviality, the lies
of the Christian church, the failures of state promises, and the witchcra
(Bubandt 2014:241). Analogously, a
sense of failures over value relations, misunderstandings without resolution, fears of future
clashes over tourism benefits, and forestalled alignments over environmentalism. In the sections
below, I describe a few cases of conflict over resources that, like witchcraft, indicate that there
are limits to mutual recognition or overlaps regarding environmental values in Raja Ampat.
Witches signify the limits of interpersonal ethics in Raja Ampat
Considered from this vantage point, sorcery and witchcraft are phantasmagoric they are
subjects and phenomena that are irreducible to externalities. They are shadowy images of our
fears (Kapferer 2002:23), failed signifiers: necessarily uncanny, aporetic and indeterminate
(Siegel 2006:21; Bubandt 2014:54). Schram notes that for the Auhelawa of Normanby Island in
Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is improbable because witches are always invisible. Traces of
light or fire are their only clues (Schram 2010:733). Schram discusses
confessional talk brings witchcraft into the open. Such discourse illuminates how it i
253
aims is often
obscured (Robbins and Rumsey 2008). Several of the examples cited above suggest that talk
about witches and nonhuman forces is a way that some societies work through norms and limits
of appropriate action. But witches also suggest the limits of interpersonal ethics because they
embody a denial of recognition. This de-actualization
(Bubandt 2014:182).
Ambel people said that in the past witches and people would speak with each other but
n to
interpret these former things according to Christian morality, and the suanggi began to disappear.
76
These days, witches on
Waigeo are said to take the form of faceless disembodied heads, flying about aimlessly, eating
others wantonly. They are the horrid form of intersubjective denial. They foreclose the potential
for ethical relations because they forestall signification in general they are the ultimate
disavowal of Lé-to-face relations as a key basis of ethics and transcendence.
One may wonder if all this talk is archeological historic traces of a cultural imaginary
or part of contemporary lived experience for West Papuans. Are there still suanggi in Waigeo?
suanggi are still
of Warimak village up
the suanggi cave, the cave of seitans a story
which recounted how human-witch relations became estranged:
76
Conservation with Yeheskiel Dawa (and Wolter Gaman), Warimak village, Sept 11, 2015.
254
One day a granddaughter heard whistling sound in the forest. They became scared
77
They heard the sound from night until morning. It was raining
outside, and the pair did not return to the village. Back home, she told others
ther
Soon a few accompanied the grandmother and her granddaughter to the suanggi
cave of Abiap Tamolo. They came across meat smoking with a wonderous smell.
Abiap
themselves in the waters [as a form of ritual cleansing]. They said this because
finished, we are doomed, because of those wh
witnessed pieces of smoked people body parts everything!
So people [later] made war there they carried machetes, spears, and came to the
suanggi place to destroy them. They made war on the suanggi until all were
suanggi
time, we have not been able to see them again.
So, finally all the witch-men had turned to stone. But there were still more
suanggi wandering, wandering the land. But following the arrival of the Gospel
people here decided to live as ordinary people. Now the people have religion.
This is how it is.
Yeheskiel recalled that in the past the Ambel and suanggi d up with one
suanggi and they retreated deep into primary forest. But their presence is still felt. Talk of
suanggi tends to increase during times of village strife, jealousy and misunderstanding.
suanggi food, feed them with the liver
r to profit from
foreign arrivals over others.
77
Discussions with Yeheskiel Dawa, Wolter Gaman, and Nadius Nok, January and August-September
255
Such sentiments imply that immoral traces continue to haunt the minds, bodies and
spaces of Raja Ampat. In sum, through their grotesque actions often manifested as illness or
social discomfort, cannibal witches appear to be signs for how West Papuans in Raja Ampat sort
out proper relations between each other. By talking about them and the reasons for their
transgressive actions they bring under-articulated aspects of human ethical life into public view.
Dealing with sorcerers and nature spirits
Besides cannibal witches, sorcerers and nature spirits are other classes of beings that
not such forces are epistemologically verifiable is not so important. What is important is how
they are tokens for making sense of proper and improper conduct throughout Raja Ampat. These
beings are both intimate and strange. For example, among the Ambel super-human giants called
mambri are clan heroes. Every kin network can recall stories of their deeds on mountains or
along rivers. The Nok clan knows how their mambri once spoke with dragons and fought
suanggi and invaders long ago. On Kofiau island, the elected village head (kepala kampung) of
Deer village said roh-roh (ghosts) and suanggi inhabit certain banyan trees so that Beteo who
informants at Harapan Jaya village
on Misool Island will tell you about the many djin who inhabit karst caves nearby, manifesting
as foreign people at irregular intervals. People with customary land title to a particular area
(Indo. tuan tanah) are said to have special mataráa (North Moluccan Malay: incantation) and
ability to speak with djin but not to photograph them (Taylor 1988). As with suanggi they are
often invisible to the human eye.
256
Others claim to have knowledge of special herbs or plants in guarding against curses
from malevolent forces or black magic (Indo: ilmu hitam). This knowledge is generally
maintained by specialists called dukun snon mon or bin mon).
78
Most
villages have such specialists. Many people, despite their Christian beliefs, still consult with
them. In Yenbeser, diviners (Papuan Malay: mawi) can foretell the future or can diagnose prior
cellphones, people would ask the mawi to determine trave
Papuan singer Edo Kondologit recalled to me at an evening discussion that once as a
young boy he encountered a crocodile while bathing in a stream near Sorong City. He was very
afraid and thought he was going t
Mawi can also diagnose sickness especially whether another person has been cursed by
someone who has something against them. For instance, a self-identified mawi from Yenbeser
village told me how he identified a woman from Maybrat who used poisons against a member of
her family who would no
of dirt from a graveyard. In confessing her actions, she brought out her jealous feelings which
were assuaged a bit by having a relative of the accursed bring her prepared food. In instances like
this, or when a person becomes ill a second time following initial treatment, it is assumed he or
The sick patient would then be brought to a sorcerer who would make offerings to clan
ancestors and engage in specific treatments. The afflicted would often be cleaned with bark and
leaves from particular trees and plants. One in particular, a red-leaved palm-liked plant known as
78
Other names for for sorcerers and healers: yal (Ambel), ikintor (Beser).
257
daun suanggi(Ti plant; Cordyline fruticosa)
body and then be partially eaten (Figure 55 below).
On other occasions blood from a white chicken is sprinkled onto a patient. Some healers
will introduce a small crab shell. The crustacean then inhabits a suanggi’s body like a hermit
-attach to their
bodies at dawn and perish. Treatment also involves dreams where healers travel to sacred places
Other healers give people amulets called anti as protection. As with belief in suanggi, the
allopathic efficacy of treatments is perhaps less relevant than a persistent collective sense that
people can get psychosomatic relief from such consultations. It is as if the real treatment is
sucking out the poisons of intractable social ills, giving them names, bringing them to light.
Figure 55 Suanggi leaf (Cordyline fruticosa), Harapan Jaya village Misool, 2014
Besides cannibal witches or sorcerers, Ambel nature spirits known as mon have ethical
implications. As described in chapter two, the mon are entities associated with particular habitats
and sacred places at some distance from village locations. The places mon inhabit are generally
off-limits (kabus) to economic activity. Mon are ambivalent towards human affairs and
258
aspirations. If they reflect an ethical stance it is an ethics of caution towards nonhuman nature.
This is partially due to their inscrutability. If provided offerings (kakes) and spoken to
appropriately they are considered to help ensure the fertility of the surrounding land and sea for
human use. However, mon kairi are places of malevolence such as a dangerous shoal below
Mansuar island.
Entering a mon zone without proper permission typically leads to sanction in the form of
a natural disaster or animal attack. Ritual actions can mitigate the dangers of mon, suanggi, setan
or other potentially harmful things. People give offerings, ask permission and recite ritual
speech. Offerings usually take the form of betel leaf, cigarettes and ritual speech. An Ambel
person whose clan has usufruct rights to an area will ask for protection before entering their turf.
They will first explain their intentions. Before large celebrations, people must first ask
permission from the djin or mon that reside in the area. Being recognized by such spirits is
important to ward off sickness or other dangers.
An Ambel informant claims that mon can be invisible or take the form of an animal.
They can manifest as ve
example, in Kakit, we can see snakes, snakes that come near us. They are called mon
pointed out that mon and suanggi are different: they live in different places and have different
intentions. He retold how he recently encountered a mon while leading a trek when a friend was
bitten by a spider (laba-laba, possibly a species of Macrothele). His friend became dizzy and
rom the mon in the
area through which they had transited. One man said it was essential to not talk dissolutely but
259
help. Once back to Warimak village, an Ambel man from the Gaman clan made an offering to
the nature guardians so that the bitten man would heal.
Figure 56 Papuan blacksnake (Pseudechis papuanus) at Kakit creek, Waigeo, Sept 2015
The need to placate mon can be linked to a broadly Melanesian view that the natural
world is a limited resource whose fertility must be renewed through ritual action (Harrison 1985;
Tuzin 1998). The identification of bad omens (tanda buruk) signifies that
companies to do things, or take resources from an area.
Intermediaries who can intercede with nonhuman forces are key. Ancestors recognize
those persons who are endowed or who have traditional kin-based rights to a particular area and
are the guardians of the forest. Unlike suanggi then the mon are not inherently destructive to
human relations nor do they foreclose the possibility of ethical relations. However, they
represent a type of warning not to exceed socially acceptable and commonly understood
boundaries of human striving.
Despite these differences, cannibal witches and nature spirits reflect values about human-
to-human and human-to-environment relations. They are a communicative idiom that brings into
260
resource extraction and social disharmony. These are emic categories that shape the moral
horizons of West Papuan communities despite conversion to Christianity or Islam, the advent of
an ecotourist economy, or articulation as a periphery of the Indonesian administrative state.
Cannibal witches continue to be relevant as a cultural grammar to comprehend rapid social and
ecological change. People have adapted to the new tourism economy as best they can, through
cooperation, negotiation, obstinance, and challenge. External forces occasionally exceed the
boundaries of what seems proper to many West Papuan communities.
I now turn to a few cases of misunderstanding between groups over environmental issues
in the region. My purpose is to show that people from different social orders do not necessarily
share the same values, which at times can lead to intractable ethical dilemmas.
Instances of ethical or moral breakdown in Raja Ampat
Since becoming an internationally recognized destination for eco-tourism the Raja Ampat
islands have experienced a rapid economic boom that has benefitted some but left others behind.
It has made some residents prosperous by providing them with access to foreign goods or
opportunities to interact with visitors from abroad. Migrants from Java and Sulawesi islands to
the east have expanded businesses that cater to Indonesian visitors alongside official tourist
campaigns that market the region as a biodiverse and culturally rich setting.
been left behind. This is an accident of geography but also a legacy of divergent approaches to
interacting with outsiderssomewhat
diffident in their engagements, willing to trade but preferring to keep to themselves. In years past
Beteo received permission to settle on uninhabited outer islands. Limestone islands and coral
261
atolls tended to be marginal for gardens but quite good for fishing. In a twist of fate, these
formerly marginal areas also happened to be very scenic locations for tourism; reefy islets like
Kri have become central zones of desire and conflict over
Disagreements over conservation and tourism activities in recent years have exacerbated
conflicts in Raja Ampat over defining and using resources among kin networks, villages,
government officials, private companies and foreign investors. Such disagreements are often
about who has ultimate authority to claim rights to a land or sea area. In the past, people gave
money or produce to clan owners in exchange for permission to make a living on their lands. An
increase in tourism demand has inflated the perceived value of sea facing patches. Speculation
and contest over ownership by mavericks claiming genealogical descent from landowning clans
is a sign of competition to sell forest plots, islands or sea areas to nonlocals in exchange for cash
or material goods.
In recent years, Waigeo island has become a site for several contentious development
projects.
79
In the Kawe-
overwater village to temporary settlements on land but without road access to other sites. In
contrast, Beteo-dominated Saporkren has become a weekend haunt for civil servants from
Sorong city at the end of a paved road from the booming regional town of Waisai, a short ferry
ride from the Papuan mainland. Rumors circulated that the site for Waisai was developed in the
mid 2000s to cover up an illegal logging operation. Nearby several people feared that a
government-planned ring road to transect Waigeo island would accelerate logging of tropical
hardwoods such as the Moluccan ironwood tree (kayu besi: Intsia bijuga) in several protected
forest zones. Additionally, while environmental conservation groups such as Conservation
79
Discussion with Ririn Fitriawati, Flora and Fauna International, Waisai, Sept 2015.
262
International and other environmental non-governmental organizations (Flora and Fauna
communities.
Such situations have intensified rival claims for recognition of landownership: some
izin banyak) to do
anything one man complained. Tall stands of coconut trees, like graveyards, are interpreted as
visible traces of long-term activity in an area. Clan histories and memories of past traces across
the land and seascape are oral tales and precedent for establishing rightful guardianship. Today,
family bersaudara while these days, fractures have widened a gulf of
jealousy and misunderstanding between both groups (see Remijsen 2001:180). What is clear at
this point is that negotiation and ownership of customary lands in Raja Ampat remain muddled.
There seem to be many competing accounts of who really controls a place, who belongs and who
is a stranger. Below I highlight a few instances of conflicts over the proper use of natural
resources, and the beneficiaries of tourism-focused activities. While the circumstances that led to
each dispute differs, each case represents a clash of values about human-environment relations.
The proof is in concrete, or would have been. Urai, a small rocky island at the entrance of
y, had become a centerpiece of dissention between two villages that risked
develop a private eco-tourist resort to a Jakarta-based investor on Urai island. In return, she
263
distributed a drum of diesel oil to both villages and distributed cash to the Mambrasar and
Dimara clans.
80
Rumors spread on nearby Saporkren village that the Sauyai clan had assented to
the sale. People from Wauyai argued that they were the original and true owners of the whole
island. A majority of Beteo families in Saporkren disagreed by claiming that their ancestors were
allowed to develop coconut groves and to fish and hunt there.
81
The standoff over Urai islands soon became critical. Construction halted over rival claims
and demands f
without violence. As the priest spoke, he began shaking then sobbed loudly, testifying to the hurt
he personally felt, and channeled at an evening prayer session. Together, the congregation prayed
that a joint meeting between villages could resolve the dispute and built a monument to their
elders. On a windy, somber afternoon at Urai, elders sang and buried a large heirloom plate with
their sorrows along the sandy shore, hoping for a miracle (Figure 57).
80
Discussion with Elias Mambrasar, Oct. 2014, Saporkren.
81
Discussion with Dennis Sauyai at Saporkren, 2 Sept 2014; Bram Goram, Saporkren, December 2014.
264
Figure 57 Saporkren parishioners pray for a resolution to the Urai conflict, 2014
According to GKI resident pastor Anache Goram, the impasse over Urai island is a
dispute between two villages and a disagreement within communities over the destiny of people
and land. It is both a rivalry between West Papuan neighbors, and dispute within each
community about who has the right to make decisions about resources. She
is the right thing to do? Should it become a religious site or a tourist resort? The fate of Urai, as
with Waigeo generally, is unclear.
What is clear is that the impasse between the two communities represents the
incommensurability of values, as well as confusion over who has the right to make claims about
them. The tensions over the ultimate fate of Urai island are not merely a tussle over landrights
between two rival villages, but are a conflict over what the land represents a hallowed site of
Christian origins or a locus for a joint tourism venture. It is an example of incommensurability in
which plural goods are not aligned, whether from misrecognition, power struggles, or other
misunderstandings. The clash of values at Urai is a conflict between the importance of
265
Christianity
auwiyai, cut off from the economic boom associated
with homestays or dive resorts. On the surface, a clash between use verses exchange value, at a
The case is illustrative of larger struggles: Wauyai is jealous that people in Saporkren
have gotten government funding for business ventures, from a fish co-op, to bird trekking,
s
hak regime is more fine-grained: the people of Wauyai have
customary land rights (hak tanah adat) whereas the people of Saporkren have the right to
cultivate (hak garapan
82
Disputes over ownership rights have not been resolved. Rival claims
appear to have increased as land is seen as equity for investment, able to be sold to extralocals
for massive profits. The conflict over Urai is a metonym of larger-scale tensions coursing
through the region. At stake is whether heterogeneous West Papuan communities see their
struggles and values as shared or whether they are inherently working at cross-purposes.
It is said that before the advent of tourism people moved freely about to build gardens or
groves and settlements in exchange for valuable trade goods. A relative lack of overt inter-ethnic
82
Discussion with Luther Mambrasar, Saporkren, Sept-Oct 2015. The legal status of customary
landownership in Indonesia is described in the Decree of the Head of the National Land Agency (BPN)
Number 2 of 2003 concerning the Norms and Standards for the Mechanism of Management of
Government Authority in the Field of Land Implemented by Regency/City Government (Keputusan
Kepala Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) Nomor 2 Tahun 2003 tentang Norma dan Standar Mekanisme
Ketatalaksanaan Kewenangan Pemerintah di Bidang Pertanahan yang Dilaksanakan oleh Pemerintah
Kabupaten/Kota). Uncertainty persists about legal status of this type of right:
http://hukum.unsrat.ac.id/men/surat_bpn_2_03.htm
266
population density (Palomares et al. 2007:50; McKenna et al. 2002).
In prior decades, the only way to travel to Waigeo Island was by hand-powered canoe or
outboard watercraft. In the 1960s and 1970s, artisanal mining, pearl farming and logging was
intermittent while in nearshore waters an Indonesian commercial enterprise, PT
83
Usaha Mina,
trawled for sardines. Since then, Waigeo island has experienced a rapid influx of migrant settlers,
tourists and entrepreneurs. An influx of people has transformed the view of land from a
common-pool resource to a finite quantity, from something to be shared to a means to acquire
money. More visitors arrive everyday: in the fall of 2015, a ferry traveled twice daily from the
burgeoning town of Waisai to the east. An asphalt paved airstrip cut into the woods will soon
accommodate jet travel from Jakarta.
that all is for the benefit of communities or environment, especially the closer one gets to urban
areas. Many Papuans doubt the government or environmentalists are really on their side. Reuben
Onis Sauyai says no one really trusts the Raja Ampat Regency government. He
said that Papuans know how to care for their sea and land, while the government only exploits
natural resources. He pointed to the lack of teachers at village schools, the many closed health
clinics, lack of medicines, the small number of Papuans staffing official posts as evidence of
intentional neglect. While the office of marine and fisheries affairs and marine police have
83
Perseroan terbatas (PT): an incorporated company
267
supported community marine patrols, such joint efforts are undermined by negative encounters
between Papuans and Indonesian officials.
and administrators with the Regency of Raja Ampat over the management of the Wayag islands,
a widely photographed site west of Waigeo. The conflict in this case illustrates a value clash
between clan and village-
Wayag to be a lucrative driver for foreign eco-tourism to Raja Ampat. Each side perceived the
Wayag islands as symbols of different kinds: on one hand, as proof of the legitimacy of
customary stewardship, deserving of recognition and compensation; on the other, as a desirable
location for dive and snorkel trips, a site for extracting value as money.
Upset feelings over tourism fees on Wayag Islands
The uninhabited Wayag island group northwest of Waigeo island is the most
photographed site in Raja Ampat. Its turquoise lagoons and jagged peaks are a metonym of
remote, pristine and untrammeled. While uninhabited, the islands
and Selpele (pop. 550) who also manage the area through seasonal harvest closures in the form
of sasi adat and sasi gereja.
84
In 2008, the Indonesian government designated a marine protected
area encircling the island group.
85
Conservation International operated a small conservation post
in the area, later turned over to a government fisheries department (Dinas Perikanan dan
Kelautan). Competing uses and claims on Wayag eventually led to a confrontation between
84
In October 2012, Saleo and Selpele convened a large sasi ceremony in Wayag to open up a closed
fishery for invertebrates (lobster, trepang, clams) and reef associated fish assemblages that has been off-
limits since 2009. Such sasi harvests are often timed to coincide with Christmas feasts.
85
KKPD Waigeo Barat (271,630 hectares). See: http://www.kkpr4.net/index.php?page=page&id=20
268
, conservationists and the Indonesian government.
86
Like Urai, what took place at
Wayag sheds light on undercurrents of tension around human-environment relations across Raja
Ampat.
In February 2013 residents from on Saleo and Selpele closed Wayag to tourism to
express their outrage for not having received funds from a government-instituted tourist entrance
fee (PIN) levied on all visitors (see Atmodjo, Lamers and Mol 2017).
87
Residents claimed that
revenues from the Raja Ampat tourism entry fee were not shared with the villages as they were
located outside of the boundaries of the Waigeo Barat MPA zone. They pointed out that the
Wayag islands are traditional fishing grounds of
them. So leaders from Saleo and Selpele demanded compensation. Their request was not only a
matter of money, but of ethics: for their claims as a denial
of their role in protecting Wayag. They argued that tourist appeal as a
refuge for marine megafauna is largely due to their stewardship.
In important ways biodiversity is attributable to human efforts prior to the
initiation of modern marine zoning efforts, combined with monitoring against overharvesting
different species. The request for compensation was a means of gaining recognition of their
integral role as a partner in conservation. The closing of Wayag signaled dissatisfaction
residents of Western Waigeo about what they perceived to be unequal distribution of benefits
from tourism. They protested their feelings of being left out of the economic boom. Saleo and
Selpele closed all access to the iconic rocky islands.
86
of interaction with the Moluccas and other island communities. The 10 Kawe-speaksuku of
Saleo have equal access to usufruct rights or (milik tanah
87
https://www.stayrajaampat.com/ultimate-raja-ampat-guide/information/raja-ampat-marine-park-entry-
permit/
269
ith the help of mediators such as Kris
cil and an adviser to Conservation International, along with
staff from Sorong and Indonesian government officials. This heterogeneous group traveled to
meet with community members in Saleo and Selpele in February 2014. The delegation heard
from customary leaders Korianus Ayello from Selpele and Ellie Dimalao of Saleo. In the end all
sides agreed to provide fee revenues to the villages. They recognized rights of
traditional use and management in Wayag. By October 2014, the islands reopened to tourists.
The conflict over Wayag shows how an increasingly monetized economy is forcing people to
reconcile values about the use of natural resources, habitat and heritage in Raja Ampat. Unlike
Urai, overlapping values on Wayag seem to have aligned over the importance to maintain
healthy reef ecosystems. The intervention by mediators such as Kris Thebu assisted in translating
ay that the Indonesian officials both
understood and accepted.
The Wayag dispute centered on the distribution of monetary benefits, but a larger issue
was a lack of recognition. The acknowledgement of mutual goals to promote ecosystems through
tourism is a shared desire among power brokers, clan elders and the younger generation.
Conversely, the standoff over Urai represents a clash over unequal benefits from tourism where
dissonant values Christian pilgrimage site or private dive resort could not be aligned. On the
surface, both cases can be read as disputes over the power to exploit, transform or control nature.
But what is at stake is also the moral politics of recognition: the capacity to define the context
and possibilities of freedom; the hope that conservation and tourism encounters are sites of
reciprocal recognition, rather than disenchantment (Williams 1997:10-12).
270
Captive speedboats in Warsambin
While most villages initially welcomed the arrival of international NGOs in the early
2000s, some families became wary about their intentions. In 2012, a group of men from
Warsambin village a mixed Ambel and Beser-speaking place
Mayalibit Bay captured a speedboat used by Conservation International to patrol waters in the
bay. The raiders demanded 100 million rupiah (or appx. $10,000) and another 100 million rupiah
for their relatives on Kawe island to the northwest. In this case, the dispute was settled through
discussions with Ansan family members and representatives from cil
(Dewan Adat), in conjunction with Conservation International staff from the nearby station.
Conservation representatives agreed to provide payment to soothe bad feelings in return for the
captive watercraft.
In a similar way, speedboats have also been ransomed by aggrieved Melanesians over
ast southeast of Raja Ampat (Parker 2013).
In both instances, the patrol boats were not useful in themselves, but were taken as a means to
demand acknowledgment of their role in managing their seascapes. The speedboats are tokens of
foreign wealth, the power of surveillance and mobility. By removing them from circulation in the
waters, Papuans communicate their feelings of disrespect; a sense that their values have not been
adequately considered. The return of watercraft as a return gift in exchange for compensation (in
words and money)
fringe is about more than power or money. Disputes over resources also communicates a desire
for social recognition.
Back at Warsambin, residents allow
their docks. While some still grumble about the presence of conservationists, most have good
things to say . For instance, at a
271
community meeting to discuss marine protection efforts in September 2014, several of
seagrass, lobster and fatter sea cucumbers. While some were initially skeptical about the goals of
no-bank ikan
value protecting nature (melestarikan alam) as integral to protecting their cultural rights.
On the other hand, it is obvious that not all conservation initiatives or eco-tourism
ventures have the same goals in mind. Some outsiders work to gain the trust of local
communities or provide training or other benefits. Others talk about such stuff while concealing
more profit-oriented intentions. In this sense they are like suanggi difficult to detect; thieving;
. On small Arborek island to the southwest of Mayalibit, people took
more drastic measures when sometime in 2015 they exiled a tourist venture called Barefoot
Conservation for presenting themselves as a conservation and research organization. A European
man claimed he wanted to set up a cooperative manta ray conservation project with volunteer
students. After a while it became apparent that his conservation group was in fact a private
venture with little environmental aims and doubtful benefits to .
Martin Makusi said that locals have uncovered their masksto reveal the underlying
rapacious desires of many would-be conservationists in Raja Ampat. He said that there are
several other examples of unmasked operators in the area, from a Spanish-run resort on Yenanas
island, Turkish-owned Papua Explorer and a Balinese-managed Raja Ampat Dive Lodge on
Mansuar island. Each of these resorts restricts access of local villagers from guests at their luxury
properties. Several informants said these resorts misled Beteo communities about the prospects
for shared stakes in their futures. It is perhaps not surprising that Beteo communities developed
272
homestays as an alternative mode of ethically-oriented tourism from private resorts, which
extract value (as revenue) from Raja Ampat and invest it elsewhere.
Resource Extraction and dispossession on Waigeo Island
Upland and away from the main tourist paths the Ambel remain ambivalent about the
encroachment of tourism and development projects. Many see the arrival of outsiders as a threat
which risks upsetting already complex relations between kin groups. For instance, logging and
mining ventures have exacerbated intraclan disputes across several villages. Some families have
claimed the right to exploit the forest for their own needs. They have allowed outsiders to enter
forests where they harvested trees to be sold elsewhere. Such actions have challenged
longstanding notions that an Ambel gélet has a collective responsibility to determine the best
uses for its territories. It has also challenged the status of kin-based land claims as a means to
challenge encroaching development.
Instead of legally enforceable contracts, Ambel land rights are often identified in named
rivers, hills and peninsulas that delineate boundaries between territories managed by groups of
hereditary and marriage-
topogenic narratives that are forms
areas. In a time of rapid change more entrepreneurial residents have exploited shifting
expectations about landrights. The rapid spread of private property, contracts or logging
concessions, lik
understanding of land and sea as domains of clan-defined and kin managed zones. Mining or
large-landscape: they are open
wounds to societies for whom legal land title or contracts are leading to complex negotiations
over ownership and collective action.
273
Consequently, illegal logging represents a major threat to intersocial relations on Waigeo.
In Kalitoko village, a man from the Siam clan claimed he had the right to give permission to
logging operations behind the village. While he knew that the activities he promoted contravened
rules within a protected Nature Reserve (Cagar Alam), he claimed that such logging would
provide needed money for school repairs. Besides, he claimed, the area had been logged before.
Environmentalists report that such activity is prohibited in . Ririn
Fitriawati, former manager of Flora and Fauna International office in Waisai, suggested that
permission had been granted to certain men connected to prominent clans. She argued that the
persistence of illegal logging has underscored internal conflicts between Ambel kin groups that
have not yet been fully resolved.
Figure 58 Bay, 2015
Ririn mentioned that staff from FFI convened a community meeting in Kalitoko to
address concerns about illegal logging. Members from the Lapon family confronted the extent of
tree cutting taking place in their clan territories. They saw wooden planked paths winding
through the forest, with many valued hardwood trees felled along the path. On a few occasions I
274
accompanied them. On one visit in 2014, we encountered a logging camp deep in the woods
behind Kalitoko village. We saw a wooden shelter covered with blue plastic tarps and littered
with abandoned trash (see Figure 58 above). Warm ashes indicated that people had been there
the night before. Within a few days of our discovery, leaders from Kalitoko halted all logging
activities. They sanctioned a chainsaw operator and required him to purchase solar lamps for the
whole village. But the scars remained. Ririn said that the revelation of concealed logging activity
government officials:
They say that the government is not taking sufficiently strong action to counter
their concerns especially since the elected headman is on the take. 100% of the
villagers are unhappy with the status quo. Beteo people share anxieties about
forest exploitation.
Back near Saporkren, Demas Dimara, a local guide for scouting Red-bird-of Paradise
development of Waisai is creating problems for us and for the forest animals. The birds are upset
with the sounds tidak
nyaman). There is evidence of increased extraction on Waigeo every day: limestone quarries
along forest roads, rumbling trucks hauling huge logs; small brick-making operations along
recently opened dirt roads; a sky turned red from fires to open forests; the expansion of
construction into the frontier.
A large concrete soccer stadium, towering green-domed Saudi-financed mosque, and
more dive resorts reveal rapidly changing landscape. Most long-term inhabitants are
not opposed to development as long as it accords with the value they place on maintaining family
275
networks and the freedom to maintain their livelihoods their way. But like the suanggi, the
who harbor doubts about the future.
Environmental degradation has already made its mark on human settlement patterns
across the island. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, representatives from an Indonesian logging
firm named PT Planet 2000 surveyed lands in the upper eastern part of it Bay where
valuable tropical hardwoods grow in large stands behind villages. The company promised to
build houses and give money in exchange for the right to cut trees on Ambel lands. The Nok
family along with members of the Dawa, Mangaprouw and Kolom clans gave their assent. By
2002 the company had taken out many ironwood and agarwood trees without fulfilling their
promises to build everyone homes. Moldering buildings, some roofless, are all that remain. In
2003, German zoologist Thomas Schultze-Westrum
humans (called orang gi) for help to stave off illegal logging.
88
Ambel people later occupied the abandoned logging camp. In 2008, the Indonesian
government bestowed official recognition of Warimak as an official village (kampung resmi),
important for receiving financial assistance.
89
But rumors and mistrust underlie its development,
and there is a forlorn quality to the place. Unresolved issues over who should have been given
funds from logging revenues have encouraged rumors, and have led to sorcery accusations.
88
Waigeo, Insel de Magier (Waigeo, Island of the Magicians). ZDF/Arte films, 2003, 52 min. Available:
https://programm.ard.de/TV/Themenschwerpunkte/Dokus--Reportagen/Alle-
Dokumentationen/Startseite/?sendung=2872416951393400 and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR260hyKlVM, Accessed 10 January 2019.
89
In a given year, the government will disburse funds twice. The village elected leader (kepala kampung)
travels to the Dinas Pembangunan (the local Regency office of Development), receiving between 100-500
million rupiah (10-50,000 USD). Other official funds for village development include: 1) APBD:
Angaran pendepatan belenja daerah; 2) APBN: Angaran pendepatan belena negara; 3) PMPM Mandiri;
4) Otsus: Otonomi Khusus Papua; 5) a general infrastructure development fund.
276
There is a sense of loss here the trees are gone; communities have been left behind. Few
tourists visit here despite a remarkable rainforest setting surrounded by massive karst cliffs.
To Yohanes Gamanformer head
Sorong-based Christian NGO Yayasan Nazaret, the paradox of West Papua is that multinational
corporations such as Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont Mining reap huge profits from minerals
he told me. He cited figures from IndonesBadan Pusat
Statistik) to point out that Papua and West Papua Provinces are among the most marginalized
growing concerns about illegal fishing conducted by rascals
from islands to the east (Indo: orang jahat), particularly among islands outside of MPA zones to
the east of Waigeo.
Yohanes said that in the early 2000s Tobelo people (from Halmahera Island in the
Moluccan archipelago to the west of Raja Ampat) came to Mayalibit Bay to hunt for sharks
leading to tensions with Ambel people. Elsewhere across the Raja Ampat islands, Butonese from
Sulawesi Island bombed coral reefs for fish or stunned large wrasse and grouper for Asian
markets. The Pam island, Kofiau and Misool are considered vulnerable to illegal fishing activity
including the use of large drift nets, potassium cyanide and underreported catch of large reef
fish, shark, turtle, lobster and sea snails. Close to Sorong city, a gang of pirates controls small
Buaya (crocodile) island, with widespread rumors of collusion between former members of the
Indonesian Provincial Police of West Papua involved in logging, fishing and oil-pricing
schemes.
90
90
https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/3907721/balada-labora-sitorus-polisi-pemilik-rekening-gendut-
yang-kabur-dari-bui, Accessed 10 March 2019.
277
But despite their doubts, West Papuans also have reason for hope. A more encouraging
example concerns nickel mining on Gag Island. Between 1996-2008 BHP Billiton and an
Indonesian subsidiary PT Gag Nickel made extensive surveys and took various samples.
91
A
previous nickel operation, Pacific Nickel Mine, closed in 1969 after the Indonesian government
accused it of supporting the Papuan independence movement. In November 2008 BHP withdrew
its company following a successful grassroots campaign by Melanesians against extractive
industry operations in the region. They mobilized a media campaign on radio and television as
well as through petitions to the Indonesian government. Such successes are hard won, but
be threats to their way of life.
Rumors of using radio transmitters to steal birds from Kalitoko
A final example of an environmental mix-up shows how good intensions can be mistaken
for clandestine motives. In this case, Ambel people living in Warsambin and Kalitoko villages
became concerned that foreigners who came to Waigeo with the apparent goals of forest
protection were actually out to steal birds or block off access to traditional hunting and gathering
areas. A few years beforehand, a Belgian entrepreneur negotiated a fifteen-year lease with
members of the Ansan clan to create a semi-private forest bird reserve for tourist expeditions
jealous and questioned his motives. They decided not to allow him access after all. Around the
same time, environmental NGO Flora and Fauna International (FFI) had negotiated land from the
Lapon clan in nearby Kalitoko village.
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Discussion with Yohanes Goram Gaman, August 2014, Sorong City, West Papua.
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FFI staff had discussed an agricultural extension project along with plans for future forest
trekking excursions. Some believed that FFI had plans to exploit the natural resources and
to the village in May 2015, staff members shared information on traditional community
mapping. They played a simulation on a screen that projected a satellite view of the surrounding
forest in advocating for ecotourism as a means to promote economic development and forest
conservation. Several Kalitoko residents interpreted the presentation as a signal that the
environmentalists were preparing to control their lands with nefarious technology.
Others said that the arrival of FFI heralded the entry of more outsiders to the area. A few
men in Kalitoko told me that they feared that the foreigners had plans to insert radio transmitters
inside local bird species so that they would fly abroad. A man from the Lapon clan accused the
environmental group of intentionally creating community tensions.
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He was incensed that he
was required to attend a mandatory Sunday community work day instead of heading to his
gardens. His wife complained that FFI had caused trouble and distress:
allowed to go to the forest while we indigenous people cannot even get enough food to eat?
Several elders met and told FFI that they no longer could work in the area. It was as if
the suanggi tales had become vindicated again.
technology and radio transmitters to steal valuable birds reveals their wariness about
intentions. The fear of losing birds speaks to their loss of control over natural resource extraction
generally, but also to a sense of bewilderment with talk about strange technology. By linking
fears of transmitters to plans for a private eco-tourism park, they express a fear of losing out
from tourism, as well as a voice as stewards of their forests.
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Discussion with Fitria Rinawati, Waisai, Aug. 24th, 7 September 2015.
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After a time, tensions over cyborg abated: at a meeting in
September 2015 in which I participated, adat leaders from Kalitoko said that the
environmentalist could return to continue their work in the area. This decision followed
products from their forest lands. It seems that part of the issue was that FFI was blamed for latent
tensions between feuding families. For instance, all adults had recently been compelled to
participate in the construction of a new church. Several men said they would have preferred to
gather agarwood (gaharu, the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees infected with a mold,
Phialophora parasitica) in the bush, or take a break from stifling village life. But the
environmentalists and residents eventually worked out their differences. People acknowledged
that FFI was not trying to exploit them. A man who had initially accused the group of having bad
intentions later apologized.
This example of misunderstanding over radio transmitters and eco-trekking reveals
the mistranslation of values about nature protection by outsiders. In Kalitoko, Flora and Fauna
International attempted to promote conservation goals by implementing village zonation
regulations. But the display of color-coded maps or technology seemed to misfire: the goals of
rational land use became mixed up in a social context where space is delineated into clan-based
governance. Of course, the Ambel along with other indigenous peoples inhabit multiple
worlds. Most are aware of the 119,500-hectare East Waigeo Nature Reserve (Cagar Alam) and
plans of PT Padoma Group to build a ring road behind their villages.
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Many have expressed
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https://www.mongabay.co.id/2018/03/07/tidak-hanya-maleo-waigeo-juga-kaya-akan-satwa-liar/
280
public concerns about illegal logging and water quality on Werobiay, Syam and Waimin
watersheds.
Ririn from FFI said that conflicts between Ambel villagers and outsiders in Mayalibit
Bay reflect different values about the use of natural resources. Human-environment relations
here and elsewhere reflect a diversity of needs and ideals. When Yeheskiel Dawa talks about the
cave of suanggi Abiap Tamolo, he speaks about a specific geographical site but also presents a
topogenic account that delineates human from nonhuman spaces beyond Warimak village.
Knowing where and how to engage with the forest is serious business: one could get lost, or
stumble into a hazardous zone, leading to illness or death. Ambel forests are liminal zones where
the focus of protection is less on maximizing potential monetary gains from extracting forest
resources. Rather, to most Ambel the value placed on maintaining nonhuman spaces reflects
ethical norms that emphasize the acknowledgment of human limits, and the importance of
respecting other beings.
By uncovering the doubts people harbor about others (and themselves), the contours of
human-environment relations in Raja Ampat become clearer. Nature is both intimate and strange.
Sago stands are sources of food and sharing, while logging camps are places of theft. Mon zones
are dense repositories of cultural memory but also of danger, reminding people to avoid greed, to
speak respectfully with one another. Sasi gereja transposes Christian moral values onto fishing
sites and fruiting trees. The different types of environmental care currently practiced in Raja
Ampat are enactments of values. They reflect subjunctive behavioral repertoires for acting
rightly by demonstrating care through charity, sharing and cultural renewal. In engaging with
NGOs and government officials, the residents of Waigeo have articulated how religious belief
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and ancestral spiritual practices can be effectively linked to no-take marine protected areas and
integrated ecosystem management.
Misunderstandings about ecotourism, conservation or development arise when different
actors presume to be doing the right thing in situations where what is right is not always
proportionate. These misunderstandings tend to arise from a lack of awareness that different
actors may have different values. For instance, conservation groups tend to prioritize species
flourishing or biodiversity targets as core values. Indonesian regional government administrators
seek to increase revenues from resource exploitation and development. In their official capacity,
these representatives promulgate the value of economic development as a route to national
integration, perhaps their own professional careers.
The Ambel value balanced reciprocity between human and nonhuman
beings (including trade relations within clans, and ensuring the fertility of clan lands). But as
Yeheskiel lamented in chapter two, they also value recognition for their role in maintaining wild
forests. They long for material goods like packaged noodles and outboard motors. These things
are not merely useful to better living. They are also signs of their membership in a cosmopolitan
society they hear about but do not see. Perhaps like the suanggi, their desire for urban life is
spectral: it is
On Kri island, young Bete
of expanding fame, reflected in successful outward trade networks and lasting bonds of
obligation. Eco-tourism has become a vector for Biak gender norms and the value of engaging
with outsiders, bringing back the foreigners wealth and investing it in new churches, school
uniforms, and married sisters. But none of these values can be realized if doubts persist. Aporia,
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social entropy, conflict, and environmental degradation loom in the background to hopeful
futures.
Below, I provide a final example of an environmental mix-up between two rival Ambel
clans in the village of Warsambin. I present it here especially to highlight how Ambel people
relied on nature to manifest signs as judgement in an inter-clan territorial dispute that occurred in
while I pursued fieldwork in the area 2014-15. By relying on the nonhuman surrounds to act as
judicial authority after human efforts failed indicates how Ambel perceive the natural world as
suffused with ethical affordances.
Nature as a mediating agent for inter-clan disputes in Ma’yalibit Bay
From time to time, different families claim the rights to use the same patch of land and
sea to make sago, raise gardens, hunt cuscus or collect fish. Some disputes can be attributed to
increased population density or the influx of commercial fishers into the Bay
informants said that seek to resolve conflicts through local forms of dispute resolution in which
the environment activated through socially-meaningful signs such as a crocodile or powerful
wind has juridical authority to mediate seemingly intractable misunderstandings.
Ideally, disputes between families over rights to harvest mackerel or take mud crabs are
resolved straightaway. Most often, the elected village headman (kepala kampung) coordinates
with customary leaders (pimpin adat) to convene a community meeting with representatives of
different sides. They invite the eldest person from the primary kin network (gélet) with usufruct
rights (hak ulayat) in the disputed region to speak. This person tells a story of the arrival of their
clan to an area that describes specific natural features they encountered. The speaker then names
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This place-making story or topogenic narrative is perceived as a form of evidence or
justification to d
-specific
knowledge; to share their history of living and moving through a landscape. The audience listens
and comments on the veracity of what is said. If the opposing side does not dispute the narrative
the conflict is resolved without further trouble.
take issue with particular details of their tracing, the dispute is escalated. In this second stage,
senior members of neighboring villages assemble as mediators and verifiers (saksi) of what each
side claims. A majority verdict would allow one clan exclusive rights or then require them to
share oversight. If the dispute is still unresolved, people turn to nonhuman judgment. Clan elders
behalf of rival claims. For instance, one side might request for a crocodile to appear while the
bukti). One
senior adat -clan disputes over land rights
throughout Papua.
In the early 2000s, an open-pit nickel mine began operating near Go village in the
operations while others were worried that it would scare animals away. The Fiyai, Low and Kapa
marga began to feud over the mine. The Low and Kapa clans had hak ulayat rights (access to
and control of specific land and sea zones) while the Fiyai clan did not. The Low family did not
want mining to continue while members of the Fiyai clan said it would bring development funds
for village improvements.
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Following the threefold approach described above, the Fiyai and Low families first met to
hash out the dispute. But the two sides could not agree over details about which clan had
legitimate claims over land and sea areas near Go. By arguing over topogenic narratives, the
Low clan was also implicitly requesting that the Fiyai accept their argument that mining should
stop. The two sides could not come to an agreement. So several clan elders met in Warsambin in
May 2006 (representing the Gaman, Ansan, Dailom, Dam, Lapon, Wakaf, Sarua, Rumbiak,
council (dewan adat) attempted to settle the dispute over who had precedence to land rights in
Go, but the Fiyai still would not agree.
Unexpectedly, a woman from the Fiyai family died. This was widely interpreted as proof
evidence that they must relinquish their claims to support the nickel mine at Go, and they
certified this as a valid judgement: a situation in which the death of a person was perceived as a
valid communicative sign.
T perceive the environment as
more than biophysical stuff. For example, the Ansan clan says that their ancestors still inhabit the
Manibron River near Warsambin village (see Figure 59). Young men occasionally still travel to
primary forest stands. Near Kapadiri the older folks sing about hidden forest people (known as
the Gi people; Indo. orang gi) who speared fish at a rocky promontory. Only recognized leaders
of the Obet Fei family can see and speak with them. Thunder dragons still rumble on Mount
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Nok. West Papuans across Waigeo island express a consistent belief that the nonhuman
surroundings have power (Indo. kuasa) in a similar way that they describe the power of the
Judeo-Christian God in sasi gereja zones.
The appearance of certain animals such as cassowary, successful hunts of wild boar, a
large harvest of lobster or crabs, abundant fruiting seasons or a good planting season can be
interpreted as signs that people are doing things rightly. Conversely, the death of a hunter by a
boar, snakebites, crocodile attacks, disease outbreak or persistently unusual weather in the form
of flood events or drought is often perceived as punishment for bad actions whether
transgressions of off-limits fishing areas, rapacious extraction of ironwood, intra-community
jealousy, or a lack of respect for nonhuman entities. I asked one adat leader whether there is a
lesson to learn from these stories. He said that they show how people must respect community
Figure 59
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In discussing Charl
o some
5:209). In Raja Ampat, some moral goods
such as intrinsic species protections or an ethical stance where human beings ought to live in
harmony with nonhuman entities provide a framework that compels people to act in
accordance with values or be inspired to do so when they fail.
mediated by nonhuman forces in ways that have practical effects on everyday life. To talk of the
environment in terms of resources in Raja Ampat does not sufficiently account for its place-
specific ethical content. Substances and forces beyond the realm of the human are consequential
sasi
zones off Misool determine where one can go fishing, hunting, or gardening. No-take marine
protected areas near Arborek guard marine sp
caretakers seek to instrumentalize this good by shuttling tourists to dive among valuable marine
animals within them. In Ambel mon areas near Kalitoko, nonhuman entities are embodied ways
of demanding appr
of the land and sea, as well as edicts to maintain them.
Environmental conflicts reflect doubts people have about others
different concepts
will lead to conflicts over values? I suggest that while different types of environmental goods are
present in Raja Ampat, and not all are commensurate with each other, in certain circumstances
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the values people place on a certain resource or form of protection can be considered valid even
by those with very different norms. For instance, Protestant Beteo communities put great stake in
ensuring their reefscapes are not exploited by commercial fishermen. They desire to protect their
cultural autonomy through managing forest and marine zones for their own use. In Chapter Two,
I described how several communities in Raja Ampat have reinterpreted sasi as a hybrid set of
practices that incorporates Christian edicts with conservation principles. This hybridization has
led to new behaviors: a reduction in shark finning, careful attention to manta rays and
nudibranchs species that previously had little economic or social value.
Perhaps the capacity for a world of value pluralism does not rely on the total alignment of
different values or concepts of the good. Perhaps a key variable is the capacity for social groups
to imagine of a situation where there is more than one equally valid alternative to acting rightly.
Put differently, for a pluralist ethos to exist in Raja Ampat or elsewhere it is necessary to identify
a potential for ethical commensuration between two or more apparently incongruous value-
ideals. The conflicts I described in this chapter could be interpreted as evidence of unbridgeable
differences. Legacies of mistrust, betrayal, hidden motives and doubt challenge attempts to
smooth over the rough edges of intersocial encounters.
Disharmony between and within social groups is a basic feature of society. What I hope
to have demonstrated in this chapter is that resolving environmental disputes requires going
beneath the surface: it involves considering how people think of themselves in relation to their
surroundings, the premises for interacting with outsiders and the possible limits of cooperation.
Cannibal witches signify the limits of recognition and ethics: they are a cultural
conceptualization of moral hazard, shadowy motives, jealous urges. Conversely, abundant lansat
fruits or fat lobsters are interpreted as signs that people have acted rightly towards one another
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and with nature. Accounting for hazards and hopes is relevant to Raja Ampat because the region
has become viewed abroad primarily as a conservation success story. In this portrayal West
Papuans have harmoniously engaged with international conservation groups and the Indonesian
government in support of biodiversity and tourism.
While many have indeed participated in the promotion of species protection, and others
have looked to ecotourism as their best bet for the future, West Papuans have become indigenous
props in a staged production. Their fraught engagements with outsiders over resource control
have been mostly edited out of view in promotional media that advertise Raja Ampat as a
sparsely-inhabited natural paradise. It is important to recognize that West Papuans have good
reason to be wary about interacting with others based on fraught encounters with logging, mining
and fishing corporations, corrupt public officials and interclan disputes. These doubts are also
reflected through an ontological framing of nature as an ambivalent space of affordance but also
of hazard. The stories of suanggi, mon and nonhuman beings reflect an epistemology of doubt
that frames West Papuan social relations with others: are they a friend or potential enemy; are
they human or witch; are they people to exchange with or people to fear?
I began this chapter by describing how nonhuman
of their environment and natural resources. Such entities are often hidden forces. Cannibal
witches, sorcerers, demi-gods and ambivalent nature spirits are classes of nonhuman entities that
challenge what is knowable about the world and its inhabitants. They remind West Papuans of
the limits of knowledge and control over the environment, as well as of other people. On an
interpersonal level, such forces demand proper respect, highlight the critical need for reciprocity,
and warn others of the destructive capacity of greed latent within everyone. Such forces also
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hey seem to
be prevalent in societies in which willful demands can have dangerous consequences.
If ambivalent spirits reflect the limits of human agency and understanding, an increase of
environmental misunderstandings highlights the limits of shared notions of appropriate action in
relation to natural resources in Raja Ampat. The standoff over Urai island is one of several
ks for nature. It is also a contest over
whether religious ethics or economic value should be paramount. The dispute over Wayag
revenues were a means to an end in which their traditional marine use rights could be validated
by government officials and conservationists.
conservation speedboat in Warsambin. The intensity of such demands makes sense when
gélet are defined not only in terms of people but as geographically
demarcated territorial units. Finally, the misunderstanding over bird trekking and mapping in
Kalitoko highlight-based protection are
necessarily the same. These cases challenge the potential for a shared moral horizon. The
episodes caution an overly general assumption of easy symmetry between cultures, groups or
norms. Taken as a whole, they suggest that the work of cross-cultural ethics is always in some
sense incomplete.
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Conclusion: Crosscurrents of values in Raja Ampat
The last chapter highlighted a few cases of disagreement over the use of resources as well
as who claims rights to assert control over them across the Raja Ampat islands. By linking
persistent talk about cannibal witches as manifestations of doubt to human-environment conflicts
I showed how West Papuan communities have a culturally-specific idiom for expressing
unknowable or uncontrollable aspects of everyday life. Demonic presences are rarely seen but
feed on rumor, jealousy and greed. Disputes over land and sea resources evoke similar feelings
in Raja Ampat, and like sorcery accusations or suanggi beliefs, threaten to destabilize
cooperative efforts to achieve shared goals. Yet cannibal witches and misunderstandings over the
destiny of islands are not aberrant features of social life. Both are central to making sense of
, and the possibilities
for trusting others.
In this final section, I
processes of value difference and value commensuration in Raja Ampat. I briefly review ways
that anthropologists have taken up the concept of commensuration as a metapragamatic and
semiotic process of identifying similarities and differences, but also importantly as a process of
cultural translation. I review ways that people have wrestled with seemingly different values
related to conservation and tourism. As I described in Chapters Two and Four, several key
intermediaries in Raja Ampat affiliated with local non-profit organizations, church groups, and
advisors to conservation groups have worked to understand, translate, and adapt to newly-
established environmental programs, despite having different reasons for caring about trees, fish
or turtles. For instance, Yohanes Gaman, late leader of Sorong-based Christian organization
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Yayasan Nazaret Papua, linked West Papuan struggles for political autonomy to environmental
stewardship by arguing that intertribal unity must be fostered from the roots up. He argued that
proper care for lands is as a sign of engaged Christian living that will unite Papuans through a
common purpose. that MPAs and no-take
[we must work] with
nsure conservation in Raja Ampat
is to align the interests of clans with NGOs. Both Yohanes and Kris wrestled with the ethical
implications of working with conservationists. Each sought to identify potential equivalences in
ide Papuan goals for cultural and political recognition.
West Papuan tourist homestays represent distinct regimes of value in which conservation
norms are linked to the search for better economic futures. Beteo entrepreneurs have adapted,
and transposed the language of conservation in their own terms. On nearby Kri Island, Reuben
Sauyai, a Beteo pioneer who developed dive tourism on small Kri Island, said that NGOs such as
Conservation International have created opportunities for sharing ideas but that ultimately
Papuan people must lead the way through tourist entrepreneurship and local resource
management. In this way, he views NGO goals as sometimes incommensurate with Beteo values
-determination. In Chapter
Three, I also described how Beteo managed eco-tourist homestays represent a different regime of
value from West Papuan village spaces or private tourist resorts. In these zones, individuals
including Enggelina Dimara, owner of Warimpurem homestay, have become ethical exemplars
for a new type of value creation and circulation. Both homestay owners and foreign guests have
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participated in creation of a zone of commensality, through which participation in nature tourism
becomes a common frame to imagine different possibilities for themselves.
By considering, reflecting or misunderstanding other values about the
environment, West Papuans and others are translating their own ethical stance in terms of
another. This process of evaluating or measuring objects or ideas of different kinds can be
referred to as commensuration. Whether or not a values can be understood or synced
own cultural milieu t According to Hankins and Yeh
(2016:7), c
distinct in nature. It hinges on judgments of similarity in the face of essential difference, the two
held in tension with each other and yet of a piece, and it is, thus, wrapped up in the production of
borders and boundaries of all sortsAn example of a commensuration practice is efforts to link
NGO-sponsored marine protected areas and Papuan managed sasi gereja sites as types of
conservation. Failure or misunderstanding is part of the process: conflicts over resources I
described in Chapter Five reflect the dual sidedness of efforts to identify potential symmetries
from differences in what groups think ought to be done with Raja Ampascape.
Commensuration, the measuring of differences and similarities, is at the
point where simple comparison gives way to the imperative to equalize, to make things measure
up3). For instance, the capacity for conservationists and West Papuans to perceive
MPAs and sasi sites as different versions of analogous conservation practice is not self-evident,
but relies on the production and realization of a sense of sameness in a concept or artifact.
Relaying different versions of conservation to be interpreted , again
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Ampat relies on the circulation of notions of environmental practices, framing of engagements
and back and forth dialogue.
The evaluation of different cultural conceptualizations of environmental care is also a
2015). Conservation and tourism
in Raja Ampat are topics that create qualities of sameness through circulation in media, through
conversations, workshops and everyday encounters. They arrive as bundles of value relations
that must be made meaningful, repackaged and distributed through chains in conceptual frames
that are recognizable in local terms. The various forms of environmental protection no-take
zones, sasi gereja, mon areas, forest reserves are each distinct but also roughly comparable.
The fact that Papuans, conservation staff and government administrators have spoken about them
as analogous types of environmental management reflects processes of commensuration at
workshops, survey interactions, and disputes over several years. I participated in this process, by
eliciting responses to questions about NGO programs and sasi, or in asking people to give their
perspective on value conflicts, such as the standoff at Urai Island or the Wayag standoff over
tourism user fees. In each instance, I asked people to reflect on their values, and evaluate to what
extent the introduction of conservation programs could be understood as equivalent types of
environmental stewardship, or if not, what made them different. Relatedly, West Papuan-
managed homestays, private tourism resorts or Indonesian hotels are all roughly comparable
variants of tourist accommodations available on Waigeo. The distinctive feature of homestays is
how they are presented as ethical alternatives to private tourist spaces: beneath coconut palms on
sandy Kri, divers arrive to thatched palm bungalows and nursing mothers. Electric generators
and plastic packaging are kept in the background in order to sustain an image of harmonious
nature-culture; the links between homestay owners and finance capital are concealed.
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In a later article, Gal (2018) expands on her notion of interdiscursivity as a metasemiotic
process of enregisterment: transferring speech fragments or social positions from one context to
another. An example of this process is Christian missionary efforts to translate theological
concepts into different languages and worldviews (Gal 2015:230). In the context of this thesis,
we could say that the repetition of environmentalist dis
the natural world reflects an ideology about conservation that creates opportunities for evaluation
by different social actors with different understandings about what the terms of environmental
protection entail. This includes the words used and the values that underlie them. The apparent
obviousness of the analogy between sasi and no-take zones relies on the production of sameness
or difference through framing. The contrast between private dive resorts such as Kri Eco Resort
from Warimpurem homestay relies on the circulation of framed objects that produces a sense that
they are qualities of a different kind.
The back and forth dialogue about human-environment relations, ethical practices, or
forms of resource stewardship is not automatic. It is a dialogue shaped by different people
talking about such things as if they were proportionate. When Kris Thebu speaks about sasi as
equivalent to conservation, he takes up the Western value and word association of biodiversity
conservation and marine protected areas, and interprets it from his own perspective, reframing it
in relation to West Papuan concepts and values about caring for the nonhuman world (Gal
2018:2; compare Gershon 2019:7). By making things proportionate, they are measured against a
type of standard or rule. In the case of conservation and tourism, an example of a measure or
standard is the quality of ecosystem or cultural services protected. This could be expressed in
terms of biodiversity the number and range of species and habitat mosaics, or by safeguarding
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the cultural values and lifeways of resource-dependent populations in settings such as Waigeo
Island.
Prospects for value commensuration on Waigeo Island
The possibility of commensuration in human-environment interactions across Raja
Ampat would challenge a few assumptions in the study of competitive interactions over natural
resources research site. First, it would suggest that not all interactions
between outside forces and resource-dependant peoples can be reduced to zero-sum strategies
(see Laitin and Fearon 1996). Second, it would also suggest that different social groups can
imagine moral worlds other than their own, if different actors are able to recognize the validity of
say, for protecting the long-term viability of sea turtles
even though such megafauna are desirable prestige foods for feasts.
Figure 60 Sea turtle near Mansuar Island, 2015
The diversity of ways to protect the environment on Waigeo Island shows how West
Papuan communities living amidst protected zones are engaged in efforts to translate external
moral norms into a locally meaningful idiom. In Chapter Two I described how sasi gereja
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represents a fusion of Papuan evangelical Christian values with conservationist principles of
intrinsic species value. Such institutional innovations have also shaped new behavioral
repertoires. For instance, in the past few years fishermen i
protected area have stopped killing sharks for export to Chinese markets. Beteo residents living
in villages in and near these protected zones have come to greatly value manta rays and
nudibranch species for attracting divers. It is unclear that these behaviors would have occurred in
the absence of NGO conservation efforts.
Additionally, the abundance of marine animals on the islands and craggy shores of Raja
Ampat are increasingly perceived . Biodiversity has been
interpreted in a religious frame in a way that projects a moral quality to conservation linked to
Christian or Muslim norms. It has been translated and repackaged into an idiom of loving care,
To cite one example, on
Fafanlap island near Misool, Haji Kaydat Soltif spoke of how the Matbat people engage in saum
saumon a regional expression of seasonal marine closures in conjunction with Indonesian
staff from the Nature Conservancy as a means to ensure catch for their children and in line with
Koranic edits to be guardians (Arabic: khalifa) to care for nature and each other.
94
And yet, despite these displays of Godliness or happy commensuration, malevolent
forces continue to lurk in the shadows. Failure to address reef bombing near Pam Island, or
misunderstandings about who should benefit from the development of Urai Island are examples
of standoffs where Papuans doubt each scoundrels who bomb
94
One example of such verses he mentioned includes Al--85 (), a verse from the
measure and
diminish not to men their things//and make no mischief on the earth after it has been set in good order//
https://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=7&verse=85&to=93, Accessed 3 August 2019.
297
reefs during Sunday church service (Indo. ibadah); gangsters from Crocodile Island near Sorong
who terrorize nearshore fishing villages; cannibal witches lurking in the shadowy places near
Ambel villages that may eat you before you realize you are already dead; ever more trash thrown
into the sea by reckless tourists; ocean acidification, unpredictable rains and rising sea levels
the foreboding signs of a changing climate. In Mayalibit Bay, the recent loss of so many merbau
trees to logging near Kalitoko or the disappearance of lobsters to overfishing on Beo island has
chastened Ambel hopes for better livelihoods.
Will the rains come on time this year near Mansuar? Will the rascals kill or steal all the
Napoleon wrasse off Pam island? Will the tourist boom destroy what fragile truce remains
between the Beteo and Maya peoples? Are the
Indo. orang belanda) allies in their struggles for land rights or are they strangers after all? Will
West Papuans ever be emancipated from the political and social marginalization they have
, where representatives were coerced to vote
n of West Papua? Everyday life often involves fraught ethical
choices for navigating hazards that threaten to destabilize hopes for a better future (see Das
2015:54).
Translating values into a ‘second first language’
Marine management and ecotourism practices around Waigeo Island have led West
Papuans and people from elsewhere to engage in discussions across boundaries of social
difference about . In many instances, the
actors involved did not intend to take part in such discussions in the first place. Often,
misunderstandings about how locals and non-locals ought to take part in conservation programs
or ecotourist initiatives have forced people to make sense of what others were doing. People
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desired for their perspectives to be acknowledged by others as valuable, worthy of recognition or
support.
As I argued in my description of the Kalabia conservation tour in Chapter Four, the
translation of environmental practices into a locally meaningful values is only possible when
intersocial dialogue unfolds in shared space and time that participants willingly co-create. During
the Kalabia film tour, filmmakers and conservation staff led nightly discussions at a dozen island
villages. Participants discussed their . They spoke in
protection by sharing stories, reflecting on their heritage, expressing their fears for the future.
Here and elsewhere, talk about Christian sasi, Ambel mon guardians, protecting seascapes for
future generations, banning the killing of sharks for fins, and organizing patrols to guard against
piratical bomb attacks are examples of different ways that West Papuans and outsiders have
developed a conversation that involves value differences and processes of value commensuration
about stewardship of land and seascapes.
Figure 61
299
The Kalabia dialogue is one of several instances I described in this thesis where West
Papuans reflect on their views about ethical engagement with the environment, and responsibility
to each other. Webb Keane (2016) emphasizes that an anthropological approach to ethics should
be grounded in the empirical specificity of documented accounts of different socio-cultural
ther and support, or
regularly engage in evaluative ethical practices.
Figure 62
On Waigeo each person has his or her own ethical language for protecting the
environment that at first glance may seem untranslatable. On Kofiau island, Yunus Mansoben
speaks of sasi gereja in terms of Protestant moral norms of respect for a God that provides as one
possibility for human flourishing. A Javanese-marine scientist argues for the importance of
integrating GIS maps, climate and ecosystem data with statistically robust surveys to promote
biodiversity goals. An Ambel elder speaks of Christian charity while
bounty is based on responsible guardianship of mon areas and avoiding jealously to prevent
300
cannibal witches from lurking. At Kakit near Warimak, Yeheskiel Dawa spoke in hushed tones,
soothingly imploring the mon spirits for a safe passage, and thanking them for their stewardship
by offering bundles of food. In each instance, people seek to operationalize deeply felt values
into socially-meaningful actions.
Figure 63
But ethical commensurability is a dialogical process. In part, people are forced to sort
things out because regimes such as sasi gereja, mon beliefs or no-take conservation practices
reflect distinct ideologies with different knowledge practices. Researchers in places beyond Raja
Ampat have documented how different moral norms can coexist within a particular society.
Michael Lambek (1993) describes how Islam, cosmology and spirit possession in Mayotte
society are incommensurable bodies of knowledge ilim). Each represents a distinct knowledge
301
under a common neutral measure, or under a set of rules which will tell us how rational
ither are they in
conflict with one another because each makes sense within its own domain.
o emphasize that incommensurability intrinsic to culture
rather than a preventable pathology of culture or thought, hence both a feature of any ethical
system or tradition as it plays out, and part of what it isthe world, the circumstances of life
that ethics addresses (2015:228). Like Keane, Lambek emphasizes the ways that more than one
alternative view of the good is inevitable. Moreover, the evaluation of different notions of ethical
activity assumes that the capacity for reasoning between competing choices is a basic feature of
human experience.
The possibility of appraising different value orientations relies on a capacity for open
dialogue. In a commentary on the prospects for studying cross-cultural ethics, Lambek identifies
Hans-George Gadamer
one speaker tries to understand another by practical judgement or phronesis-
(Gadamer
1983:264-5, cited in Lambek 1997:138).
opening of a space of mutual vision from which genuine conversation can begin and
the joint horizon can be gradually opened further. This is what happens as we learn to listen to
and speak with others (Lambek 2015:229). Speaking with another and attempting to understand
alternatives necessarily relies on a capacity to consider alternative strategies or values.
values in
ways that can be translated to the cultural norms in another, Arto Laitinen (2015) identifies how
302
Alasdair MacIntyre -ethnocentric understanding of
5:206):
In the beginning of such a process, the traditions do not understand each other, but
this position can translate his or her understandings into the vocabulary of their
-
conceptual innovations, the limits of translatability can be broadened and also by
stretching of these limits and the gaining of understanding of other practices then
make it possible to criticize both traditions and identify inadequacies in them or
point out possible solutions to the identified ones.
Laitinen argues that cultural relativism does not preclude the consideration of alignments,
lor
argued that this is because humans are self-interpreting animals with identities and values that
emerge through social interaction. Taylor suggests that people from different cultural orders can
recognize the awe (Achtung, via Kant) of other societyethical truths (see Meijer 2016:32-34;
205-210). His approach reflects a philosophical position that values cannot be reduced to one
ultimate good; that ethical standards are inherently plural (Berlin 1969; Nagel 1979). In this
sense, sasi gereja, sasi mon, konservasi and biodiversity are concepts that cross the presumed
divide between cultural understandings of environmental care. In Raja Ampat, the value of
protecting species, ecosystem mosaics and cultural heritage are goods that while at some level
are incommensurable are also and recognizable as
moral by others.
303
Whether within a social order or between them, people face choices between multiple,
sometimes conflicting ideals (Nussbaum 2001:113-117).
95
The intrinsic value of protecting sea
turtles may lead Beteo residents of Ayau atoll
feast. The Indonesian local government may need to divert more tourism funds to
villages of Selpele and Salio following a negotiated settlement to keep the Wayag Islands open
to visitors and in respect for their longstanding claims to managing the islands. The young men
from Buton who bombed coral reefs for reef fish off Pam island may soon come to fear divine
retribution from entering protected sasi gereja zones or the wrath of a unified congregation. Like
the current flows that meet and swirl about Raja Ampat, the human seascapes of these coral and
limestone islands are a domain of ethical cross-currents.
is also qualified by imbalances in power between different actors. International NGOs arrive
with speedboats, government connections, capital that immediately created asymmetries with
West Papuan fishermen to express their own views. In some cases, consensus over
environmental practices in Raja Ampat may be surface-level to avoid shame or open conflict.
Strategic delay, foot dragging or avoidance are other ways to communicate dissent. Lambek
(2015:230) notes that most cross-cultural encounters are not conversations among equals, but
involve coercion, silencing, and differences of power. This is especially acute when one side
say conservationists are convinced they have the right answers.
In part, universalist pretensions often overpower West Papuan
discreet claims for cultural recognition of their own forms of resource protection. It is also
95
akrasia, a
ccepting imperfect outcomes can be compared to
a conflict in values when presented two rival goods.
304
important to acknowledge the role that material resources have in creating imbalances between
different actors: NGOs tend to arrive with money, boats, personnel and plans. Prospects for hurt
feelings or misunderstanding are ever-present. But the fact that West Papuans have succeeded to
get their views represented in zoning plans or through public media portrayals of sasi ceremonies
shows the creative ways communities on Waigeo have effectively gotten their message translated
into a different ethical idiom.
By understanding the grounds for different values the intrinsic value of manta ray
conservation, the instrumental good of protecting reefs for homestay tourism revenues
conservation advocates and West Papuan communities may come to understand
approaches. By attending to the affordances that nature provides a source of community
livelihood, a repository of historical memory, juridical authority over intra-clan disputes West
Papuans may acknowledge other forms of environmental engagement at a time of uncertain
change.
Raja Ampat is a seascape of dispersed but interlinked peoples connected to a history of
inter-island voyaging and trade, raiding and marriage exchanges. It has been a place of mixtures
of currents, languages, and traditions for millennia: from the first encounters between
Melanesians from Sahul and the Austronesian-speaking arrivals, to the period of Islamic
Sultanates and Christian missionaries, the birth of the Indonesian nation and annexation of West
Papua. In more recent times, conservation and ecotourism have become key domains through
Raja Ampat are attempting
to chart their own course ahead.
West Papuans are navigating increasingly turbid waters, amidst increased threats from
overfishing, ecological shocks and habitat fragmentation. As with other island peoples, they
305
confront species loss, unpredictable rains and ocean acidification. Perhaps this is one motivation
for communities to link with outsiders to promote environmental protection. This awareness of
increased threats to their way of life has involved acknowledging the potential good that other
forms of environmental care can have to promote the stewardship and survival of their island
realm.
Sorting out value differences and value commensurability in Raja Ampat draws from
seful things for building, eating, trading
or sustenance but is also is a wellspring for social relations and of ethics. The recognition that
to forge new connections and be open to different ideas.
The evidence from Raja Ampat suggests that a seascape of plural values about people and
regarding conservation. Put differently, conservation and tourism encounters in Raja Ampat
reveal instances of pragmatic cooperation or begrudging acceptance rather than zero-sum power
struggles. At first glance, it would seem that a lack of a common ground for a shared value
orientation around environmental protection would most likely lead to conflict between West
Papuans and international actors keen to promote biodiversity or tourism goals. Documenting
such misunderstandings has been a common trend in ethnographic writing about conservation
(West 2006). Yet there is another way of looking at these interactions when considered from the
standpoint of value pluralism. For instance, Cassaniti and Hickman (2014:154) argue that
pluralism does not call for a universally agreed upon notion of what is correct. Moreover, the fact
of incommensurability does not necessarily foreclose the potential for overlaps between different
-e hierarchies.
306
In Chapter O
Kaliraja as a cosmogonic center, a meeting place that established kinship connections between
sed connections with strangers
from elsewhere. Origin stories chart a social cosmology of links with people from afar that
guides contemporary struggles over landrights, environmental programs and cultural recognition.
By incorporating the heroic exploits of heroes from elsewhere, epic histories reveal unexpected
myths is reflected in ways West Papuans have interpreted the arrival of outsiders as messianic
figures in the hopes of bringing about new types of relations whether with other Melanesian
communities, long-lost Western brothers, or people sympathetic to aspirations of a free and
independent West Papuan nation. By drawing from the past, storytellers and key intermediaries
are charting a course to a more hopeful future.
In Chapter Two, I highlighted how marine conservation in Waigeo presents an amalgam
of locally-inflected actions of seasonal resource taboos and adaptations of Christian values about
n protecting reefscapes, environmentalist supported concepts of no-take zones and
ancestral areas where humans should tread carefully.
people revived a limited type of seasonal harvest prohibition and taboo called sasi to incorporate
Christian ethics, and ancestral sites of nonhuman spirits. On Waigeo island, a center point of
international conservation programs and ecotourism, two distinct forms of sasi are currently
practiced: sasi gereja, a type of Christian village-based resource protection and sasi mon, a set of
clan-mediated rules for areas beyond villages inhabited by ancestors or nonhuman spirit beings.
Engagements with valued places highlights how conservation in Raja Ampat is consequential to
307
tanding of themselves and others, amidst ongoing resource degradation, the
denial of Christian social virtue or economic marginalization.
In Chapter Three, I identified how Beteo people have turned to village-based homestay
tourism as a means to a better future. Eco-tourism has also become a context for West Papuans to
meet and share with foreigners in ways that is changing expectations for their own lives. Because
eco-tourism relies on marketing pristine environments, it has galvanized communities to take an
active role in protecting reefs and sharing ideas through the Raja Ampat Homestay Association
as well as through kin networks. While the tourism market is a new institution, it has adapted
technologies of the past, such as traditional Biak house designs for tourist bungalows. The
attractiveness of foreign wealth, and the promise of close social bonds with non-Papuans, also
draws from a millenarian myth cycle of Manarmakeri that looks ahead to times of peace and
plenty.
In Chapter Four, I described how a film tour created an opportunity for communities to
reflect on their values about nature. The 2014 Guardians of Raja Ampat film and conservation
tour showed how over a dozen villages entered into dialogue with environmentalists, expressing
in their own idiom what conservation means to them, and why it is important. I showed how the
Kalabia conservation tour is an ethnographic context for showing how human-environment
relations are represented, produced and refracted. Through presenting human-ecological
dialogues in circulation, I identified elements of socially distributed polysemy, particularly the
semiotic forms that led people to see themselves as aligned with outsiders.
In Chapter Five, I qualified hopes for easy alignments by highlighting how doubt and
jealousy about others (within and across social boundaries) challenges assumptions of social
harmony or shared understanding about the capacity for a person to be moral, or to act ethically.
308
Conflicts over resources on Waigeo indicates that disagreements over values about human and
environmental relations will continue. Yet, while this is certainly true, it need not suggest that
Raja Ampat will always be a zone of contention over environmental issues.
Taken as a whole, the dissertation shows how West Papuan communities are actively
evaluating differences and similarities of environmental values, practices and goals across
bou
dialogic imagination, the creation of a coeval spacetime and courageous efforts at translating
values into an idiom that others can understand. It is witnessed in a decision not to kill a shark, a
developments, to obey the sasi sanctions in a closed fishing zone, or to respect the ancestral
spirits on their own turf. It i
work closely with Conservation International to expand no-take marine reserves off Gam Island.
grouper in Kabui Bay during spawining aggregations. It is witnessed in community efforts to
sustainably manage Spanish mackarel after spending time with fish scientists.
in
accordance with Christian values and to banish the temptations of greed or jealous anger to the
shadows. It means guarding against cannibal witches and knowing how to respond to conflict in
socially productive ways perhaps through adat-led conversation, appeasement, apology, or
tribute to a church after trespassing into a closed sasi zone. It entails listening to other views
about what is right innate value of manta rays and
translating these foreign con
into daily life.
309
The awareness of the threat of climate change to species as well as to human society
highlights how the issue of environmental protection has become an ethical and moral domain
about our responsibility to the natural world and to each other. Across the Raja Ampat
archipelago, West Papuan communities have demonstrated that despite cultural differences or
grounds for valuing what is worth protecting, they have often worked across boundaries of social
difference to protect the land and sea they call home.
310
Appendix 1. Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human Research Protections
In 2014, I obtained IRB approval for human subject research (Project 130737S)
96
,
research funding, project oversight by Dr. Hamid Toha of the State University of West Papua
(UNIPA) and Professor Dr. Tony Rudyansjah of the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Indonesia, and Dr. Dedi S. Adhuri, an anthropologist and senior scientist at the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Research Center for Society and Culture. They helped me
ministry of research (RISTEK), local residency status (KITAS) travel papers for subdistricts
across Raja Ampat (surat jalan) and logistical support to facilitate work in Indonesian New
Guinea. Throughout my research I was careful to obtain oral or written consent prior to
participating in meetings, ceremonies, or recording conservations. In some cases, informants
asked me not to write down or repeat information they provided me out of respect, fear of
reprisal, or for personal reasons.
The data and collected research material of this dissertation project includes recorded
audio and video, photos, surveys, transcribed conservations, fieldnotes and collected GPS data
points. I obtained over one hundred hours of audio recordings captured on two handheld digital
recorders. These encompass individual interviews, group discussions, larger-scale public
96
This project involved three primary consent regimes, with two corollary consent procedures. The three
primary consent regimes are: 1) a questionnaire/survey script; 2) a consent script read aloud to
participants for semi-private participant observation; 3) an interviews script. In addition to these primary
consent regimes, I utilized: 4) a consent script for audio recordings of interviews or events or; 5) a
information is being elicited. Throughout the course of my research, I sought permissions for consent
with prospective participants at the outset of the main research interaction, but not for public spaces in the
context of participant observation.
311
meetings, church celebrations and conservation workshops. In 2012, I utilized a survey protocol
designed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as part of a global cross-comparative study
of small-scale fisheries and protection.
97
As part of that effort, I collected 80 surveys and visited
over a dozen fishing-dependent villages in the northern part of the Raja Ampat archipelago. I
compiled typed fieldnotes of observations and transcribed interviews, captured several thousand
photographs and a few hours of video. As often is the case, these materials comprise an
incomplete, initial archive of resources for the study of human-environmental interactions in one
field setting.
Figure 64 Artisanal fisheries survey team, Arborek Island, August 2012
97
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/centers/cmbc/research/sustainable-ecosystems/safrn/
312
Appendix 2. Valuable marine and terrestrial species
Family or Genus
Species Name
(Latin)
Local Name
(Indonesian)
Common Name
(English)
Ariidae
Arisu sp.
Sembilang
ariid catfish
Belonidae
Tylosurus
gavialoides
Julung
Needlefish (Stout long
tom)
Caesionidae
Caesio sp.
Lalosi
fusiliers
Caesionidae
Caesio
chrysozonus
Lalosi batu
fusiliers
Caesionidae
Caesio lunaris
Lalosi
Lunar fusilier
Caesionidae
Caesio
caerulaurea
Lalosi
Blue and Gold fusilier;
Scissor Tailed fusilier
Caesionidae
Caesio
erytrogaster
Lalosi
fusiliers
Carangidae
Selaroides sp.
Oci
Yellowstripe scad
Carangidae
Decapterus sp.
Momar
mackerel scads (jacks)
Carangidae
Caranx sp.
Bubara
Jacks; trevallies
Carangidae
Caranx
caeruleopinnatus
Bubara Lebar
Coastal trevally
Carangidae
Carangoides
fulvogutt
Bubara hitam
Yellowspotted trevally
Carangidae
Caranx
melampygus
Bubara panjang
Bluefin trevally
Carangidae
Caranx
sexfasciatus
Bubara kuning
Bigeye trevally
Carangidae
Scomberoides sp.
Lasi (alt. Lossi)
Queenfish (prob.
Scomberoides lysan)
Chirocentridae
Chirocentrus
dorab
Ikan pisang;
golok-golok
Wolf herring
Clupeidae
Spratelloides
gracilis
Teri
Silver-stripe round
herring, slender sprat
Clupeidae
Spratelloides
robustus
Teri
Blue sprat; blue sardine
Clupeidae
Hilsa toli
kapas-kapas;
ikan terubok
Hilsa shad
Engraulidae
Stolephorus
indicus
Teri
Indian anchovy
Engraulidae
Stelopharus
commersonni
Teri
Commersons anchovy
Engraulidae
Stolephorus
indicus
ikan teri, puri
Anchovy
Exocoetidae
Cypslurus
poecilopterus
terbang
Yellow flying fish
313
Labridae
Chelinius
undulates
Napoleon
Humphead wrasse
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus sp.
Gutila
Emperor species
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus
leptolepis
Gutila
emperor bream species
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus
amboinensis
Gutila
Ambon emperor
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus harak
Gutila
Thumbprint emperor
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus
miniatus
Gutila
Trumpet emperor
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus
ornatus
Gutila
Ornate emperor
Lethrinidae
Lethrinus
xanothochilus
Gutila
Yellowlip emperor
Letrinidae
Acanthopagrus
berda
Kapas
Picnic seabream
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus sp.
Ikan merah, or
kakap merah,
occasionally
bambangan
snappers
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus
erythropterus
Ikan merah, or
kakap merah,
occasionally
bambangan
crimson snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus
sanguineus
Ikan merah, or
kakap merah,
occasionally
bambangan
blood snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus
malabaricus
Ikan merah, or
kakap merah,
occasionally
bambangan
Malabar blood snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus fulvus
kakap
Blacktail snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus russelli
Ikan merah, or
kakap merah,
occasionally
bambangan
Russells snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus
semicinctus
kakap
Blackbanded snapper
Lutjanidae
Lutjanus bohar
kakap (ikan)
merah
Red Snapper
Lutjanidae (Etelinae)
Pristiopomoides
multidens
kurisi
goldband jobfish
Lutjaninae
Luthjanus johnii
Gutila (alt.
tambangan)
Johns snapper
314
Mugilidae
Mugil cephalus
bulana
Sea Mullett (or Flathead
mullet)
Nemipteridae
Nemipterus
nematophurus
Lakorea
Doublewhip threadfin
bream
Nemipteridae
Nemipterus
nematuphurus
Lakorea; kurisi
Doublewhip threadfin
bream
Scaridae
Scarus spp.
Kakatua
Parrotfish
Scaridae
Scarus quoyi
Kakatua
Quoys parrotfish
Scaridae
Scarus ghobban
Kakatua
Blue-barred parrotfish
Scaridae
Scarus forsteni
Kakatua
Forsten's parrotfish
Scarinae
Bulbometopon
muricatum
Bumphead parrotfish
Scombridae
Scomberomorus
spp.
Tenggiri
Spanish mackerel
Scombridae
Katsuwonus
pelamis
Cakalang
Skipkjack tuna
Scombridae
Euthynnus affinis
Cakalang
Kababida
Mackerel tuna
Scombridae
Cybiosarda
elegans
Cakalang
Leaping bonito
Scombridae
Thunnus
albacares
Cakalang, Ekor
kuning, Tuna
Albacore tuna
Scombridae
Gynmosarda
nuda
Cakalang
Dogtooth tuna
Scombridae
Rastrelliger sp.
Lema
Short mackerel
(Rastrelliger
brachysoma), Indian
mackarel (Rastrelliger
kanagurta?)
Scombridae
Restrelliger
brachysoma
Kembung
Short mackarel
Serranidae
Ephinephelus
merra
ikan Kerapu
Honeycomb grouper
Serranidae
Plectropomus sp.
Geropa
coralgroupers
Serranidae
Variola louti
Geropa
Yellow-tailed lyretail
(grouper)
Serranidae
Epinephelus sp.
Geropa
Mero, Grouper
Serranidae
Cephalopoilis
leopadus
Geropa
Leopard grouper
Serranidae
Cromileptis
altivelis
Geropa
Humpback grouper
Serranidae (Epinephelinae)
Epinephelus
fasciatus
kerapu
Blacktip grouper
Serranidae (Epinephelinae)
Cromileptes
altivelis
kepau tikus,
kerapu
Humpback grouper
315
Siganidae
Siganus sp.
Samandar
Rabbitfish
Siganidae
Siganus
argenteus
Samandar
Streamlined spinefoot
(rabbitfish)
Siganidae
Siganus guttatus
Samandar
Rabbitfish
Siganidae
Siganus doliatus
Samandar
Barred spinefoot
(rabbitfish)
Sphrynidae
Sphyrna lewini
Hiu
Scalloped hammerhead
Toxidae
Toxotes sp.
sumpit
archerfish (various)
Toxidae
Toxotes
jaculatrix
sumpit
Banded archerfish
Plectropomus
leopardus
Geropa
Coral grouper, leopard
coral trout
Amusium
Amusium spp.
simping
scallop
Ranellidae
Charonia tritonis
bia trompet
Triton conch
Diadematidae
Diadema
setosum
bulu babi
sea urchin
Loligo spp.
cumi cumi
squid
Octopus pp.
gurita
octopus
Penaus
udang
shrimp
Panulirus
udang
lobster
Portunidae
Scylla serrata
kepiting
mangrove crab
Trochus niloticus
bia lola
trochus
Tridacna
Tridacna gigas
kima rakasa
giant clam
Turbo
marmoratus
batu laga
green snail
Holothurians
(sea cucumbers)
Actinopyga
Actinopyga
echinites
teripang babon
deep water redfish
Actinopyga
Actinopyga
lecanora
teripang malam
stonefish
Actinopyga
Actinopyga
mauritania
teripang gosok
surf redfish
Actinopyga
Actinopyga
miliaris
teripang malam
blackfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
Microthele
noblis
teripang susu
black teatfish
Bohodschia
Bohadschia
argus
teripang bintang
tigerfish
Bohodschia
Bohadscia
similis
teripang ikan
chalkfish
316
Bohodschia
Bohadschia
vitiensis
teripang benang
brown sandfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Acanthotrapeza)
coluber
teripang soasoa
snakefish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Halodeima)
atra
teripang minyak
lollyfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Halodeima)
edulis
teripang ?
pinkfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Metriatyla)
scabra
teripang gosok
sandfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Microthele)
fuscogilva
teripang susu
white teatfish
Holothuria
Holothuria
(Microthele)
fuscopunctata)
teripang sepatu
elephant trunkfish
Stichopus
Stichpous
horrens
teripang kucing
dragonfish
Pearsonothuria
Pearsonothuria
graeffei
teripang kong
kong
flowerfish
Stichopus
Stichpous
chloronotus
teripang japong
greenfish
Stichopus
Stichpous
hermanni
teripang kong
kong
curryfish
Thelenota
Thelenota
ananas
teripang nanas
prickly redfish
Thelenota
Thelenota anax
teripang balok
(racun)
amberfish
Other valuable marine species commonly spoken of in Raja Ampat
Abangan: mangrove jack, Lutjanus
argentimaculatus
Agar-agar: Seaweed, Gelidium or Gracilaria
Balobo: Hemiramphus japonicas
Barakuda: barracuda species, Sphyraena
barracuda, Sphyraena flavicauda
Batu-batu: Apogon niger
Belanak: Mullet, Mugil cephalus
Belut: Freshwater eel, Monopterus albus
Belut laut raksasa: Gymnothorax javanicu
Bia: sea snails, top snails
Bia kodok
Bia lola
Bia gaharu (Polymesoda sp most
likely Polymesoda erosa and P.
geloin)
Bia Mata Bulan: Gold-mouth turban,
Turbo chrysostroma
Bia Warna Putih: Cypraea sp
317
Bobara: Trevally, Caranx melampygas or
Caranx ignobilis
Kuwe Gerong or Masidung or bobara: Giant
Trevally, possibly Caranx sexfasciatus
Bubara: bubara kuning, Caranx sp.
Bulana: Flathead Grey Mullet, Mugil
cephalus
Butana: Elongate surgeonfish, Acanthurus
mata
Buntal (or buntak): Stellate puffer fish,
Arothron Stellatus
Cakalang: Tuna
cakalang batu
cakalang kambing, Shipjack Tuna,
Katsuwonus pelamis
Cantik: Blue eye royal dottyback,
Pictichromis dinar
Cumi: Squid, Sepiotheuthis sp.
cumi jarum (Also referred to locally
as suntun)
Ekor Kuning: fusiliers, Caesionidae
Lolosi ekor kuning: Caesio chrysozonus?
Geropa: Grouper, Plectropomus sp.,
Honeycomb grouper, Epinephanus
merra
The yellow-edged lyretail, Variola
louti
Leopard Hind, Cephalopholis
leopardus
Humpback Grouper, Cromileptes
altivelis (also called Geropa bebek)
Gurame: Carp, Osphyronemus gourami
Gutila: (alt Tambangan), Golden snapper,
Luthjanus johnii
Gurita: Octopus species
Big blue Octopus, Octopus cyanea
Web footed octopus, Octopus
ocellatus or Amphioctopus fangsiao
Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris
Greater blue-ringed octopus,
Hapalochlaena lunulata
Hiu: Carcharinus spp., Carcharhinus
leucas, Carcharhinus melanopterus but also
Sphyrna lewini
Ikan Gurame: Carp
Ikan Kue/Kwe/Kuwe: Pompano,
Trachinotus sp.
Ikan Kokatau: Parrot fish
Ikan Lele: Catfish
Ikan Pari: Stingray
Kaci-kaci, Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus
Kakap: Snapper
Bae: Deepwater red snapper, Etelis
carbunculus
Kakap merah: Coastal red snapper,
Lutjanus bitaeniatus
Kakap tikus:
Kakap: Deepwater longtail red
snapper, etelis coruscans
Tola: pink or rosy snapper,
ristipomoides filamentosus
Kembung: Mackarel, Decapterus Punctatus,
possibly also Rasterelliger Sp.
Keling: wrasse, Cirrhilabrus sp.
Kerapu: Grouper
Kerapu Tikus: Baramundi, Asian Sea
Bass, Lates calcarifer
Kira: Sembulak sardines
Ikan Pari: stingrays, Dasyathis sp, Dasyatis
uarnak?
Ikan Pisang (alt: parang-parang, golok-
golok): Dorab wolf-herring, Cirosentrus
dorab
Ikan Teri: Anchovy, probably Teri
Anchovy, Stolephorus commersonnii
Ikan Todak Nipis: Flat needlefish, Ablennes
hians
Ikan Selar Kuning: Trevally/Yellowstripe
Scad
Ikan Lemadang: Dolphinfish, Coryphaena
hippurus
Lolosi merah: Red pinjalo, Pinjalo lewisi
Kakatua: Parrot fish, Scarus rubraviolaceus
Kaci-kaci: gold spotted sweetlips,
Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus
Kalabia: Kalabia, Walking Shark
Raja Ampat, Hemiscyllium frecineti
Cendrawasih Bay, Hemiscyllum
galei
Kaimana, Hemiscyllum henryi
318
Kapas-kapas: Co,
Stelopharus commersoni
Kembung (or banyar): Mackarel,
Rastrelliger spp.
Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger
kanagurta
Short mackerel, Rastrelliger
brachysoma in libit Bay
Kerapu: Ephinephelus merra
Keling: wrasse
Kepiting: crabs
Kepiting bakau, crab
Kerapu: grouper sp. (Epinephelus spp)
Kerapu Napoleon: Ceillenus
undulates
Kerapu Tikus: Baramundi
Kerapu macan, tiger grouper,
Mycteropurca Tigris, also humpback
grouper, Cromileptes Altivelis
Kima: sea shells
Kuwe: Jacks
Kuwe bobara: Giant Trevally
Kuwe mata besar: bigeye jack
Kuwe mata besar: bigeye jack
Kuwe batu or Canang: amberjack
Kuwe lilin: crevalle jack
kuwe rambut: threadfish
Kuwe kuning: yellow jack
Lakoria: (kurisi in Bahasa Indonesia),
Nemipterus nematuphurus
Lalosi: Ranbow sardine? Caesio spp; Caesio
erytrogaster or Dussumieria acuta
Langsar, barakuda or alu alu: Barracuda
Lele: Catfish, Clarias batrachus
Lema: Rastrelliger kanagurta (see Kembung
above)
Lemadang: Dolphinfish
Lobster (or sometimes udang karang)
Painted Spiny Lobster, Panulirus
versicolor
Lola, trochus snail, Trochus niloticus
Mamin
Mata Bulan: Taractes sp.
Mata kucing
Mengiwang
Moluska: Mollusca
Momar: Decaptherus macrosoma
Napoleon: Napoleon Wrasse. Cheilinus
undulates
Ochi: bigeye scad, Selar crumenophthalmus
Pogot or boge: trigger fish
Titan triggerfish
Puri, pura-pura : Anchovy, Stolephorus sp.
Samandar: Rabbitfish, Siganus sp.,
especially Siganus fuscescens
Ikan Selar Kuning: Trevally/Yellowstripe
Scad
Sikuda: Emperor fish, Lethrinus sp
Ambon emperor, Lethrinus
amboinensis
See: kakap above
Sontong: cuttlefish, Sepia sp.
Suo: (Cendro in Bahasa): hound needlefish,
Tylosurus crocodilus
Sunu Tungsing (alt: Kerapu): red grouper or
coral trout, Cephalopholis miniata
Talang talang: Queenfish, Seriphus politus
Tariasan: Rusty jobfish, Aphareus rutilans
Tembang: Sardines
Deepbody Sardinella, Sardinella
brachysoma
Goldstripe Sardinella, Sardinella
gibbosa
Fringescale Sardinella, Sardinella
fimbriate
Terbang: Flyingfish, Cypselurus sp.
Yellow flyingfish, Cypselurus
poecilopterus
Bony Flying fish, Hirundichthys
oxycephalus
Tenggiri: Spanish Mackerel,
Scomberomorus sp.
Tenggiri: Spanish Mackerel,
Gymnosarda unicolor; also perhaps
Scomberomorus commersomii
(narrow-based Spanish mackerel)
[key types of mackerel in libit
bay are: Spanish mackerel, two
species common to the area:
Rastrelliger brachysoma (17.2 cm
avg length), R. kanagunta (20.9cm
319
long, 4.9cm height), R. jaughni (a bit
smaller, not caught in the Bay)
Teri: Anchovy, Stolephorus indicus,
Spratelloides gracillis, Spratelloides
robustus
Tongkol: Mackerel Tuna (Thunnus spp.)
alt: Tuna Sirip Kuning: Yellowfin
Tuna
Ikan Tuna Sirip Biru: Bluefin Tuna
Tuna gigi Anjing: dogtooth tuna
Cakalang: Shipjack Tuna
Ikan Tongkol: Mackerel Tuna
Trepang, Teripang: sea cucumber. Common
names: n
gosok, susu
Teripang koro: Microthele nobelis
Teripang pandan: Theenota ananas
Teripang putih: Holothuria scabra
Udang: Panulirus sp; shrimp
Windu: tiger prawn
Walo walo: alt name for barracuda species.
See above
Wobbegong: Taselled Wobbegong,
Eucrossorhinus Dasypogo
Valued terrestrial plants and animals in Raja Ampat
Tree species:
Bintangor Bunut, Callophyllum soulattri
Buah rao (Daar, in Ambel): New Guinea
Walnut, Dracontomelon dao
Cemara: Samara tree, Casuarina montana,
Gymnostoma sumatranum, or
Papuacedrus papuana
Damar: Damar tres, gathis damara
Gaharu: Agarwood, Aquilaria malaccensis,
Aquilaria filaria and Gyrinops
versteegii. Agarwood is a dark
resinous wood that is created when
Aquilaria and Gyrinop trees become
infected with a parasitic mold,
Phaeoacremonium parasitica.
Jambu hutan (Engli, in Ambel): Syzygium
sp. Possibly watery rose apple,
Syzygium aqueum, or Syzygium
acutangulum
Kayu besi: Moluccan Ironwood, Intsia sp,
particularly Intsia bijuga
Kayu kukuh: nandu wood, Pericopsis
mooniana
Kayu sner: Manilkara, Manilkara
fasciculata
Kayu putih, eucalyptus, Melaleuca
leucadendra
Kayu susu: Blackboard tree, Alstonia
scholaris
Kenari: Java almond? Canarium vulgare
Ketapang hutan: Terminalia, Terminalia
copelandii
Lengkua (galangal?)
Lontar: Borassus heineanus Beccar
Bandicoot berry, Leea indica (used as an
important charm against evil spirits)
Mersawa/siner (in Ambel): Palosapsis,
Anisoptera thurifera
Matoa: Lychee, Pometia pinnata
Merbau/kayu besi: Moluccan Ironwood,
ipil-ipil tree, Intsia bijuga; Intsia
palembanica
Nyato: Palaquium spp.
Palaka: Octomeles sumatrana
Pinang: Areca, Mandacanii heatubun
Pohon sukun hutan, breadfruit, Artocarpus
altilis
Samama/Kayu Jabon: Anthocepalus
macrophylus
Sagu: Sago, Metroxylon sagu
Sawo hutan: Manilkara fasciculata
Cultivated species common in gardens:
bayam: spinach
buah merah: pandanus
buat terong: eggplant
cabe: chilis
kacang panjang: long beans
coklat: chocolate
jagung: corn
jambu: rose apple
320
kacang hijau: green beans
kacang tanah: peanuts
kankung: water spinach
kasbi (alt. ubi jalan): cassava (and yams)
keladi: taro
kelapa (and kopra): coconut
kulit kayu: tree bark
kunyit: turmeric
lansat: lansat fruits
lengkuas: galangal
mangoes: manga madu, manga golek,
manga bacan, manga batu
papaya: papaya
petatas: potatoes
pinang: areca nut
pisang: bananas; pisang nona, pisang raja
(plantain)
rica: chilis
sago: sago palm
sayur: various vegetables
singkong: cassava
sukun: breadfruit (or Artocopus sp.,
jackfruit)
tebu: sugar cane
terong: eggplant
tomat: tomato
ubi: tubers
Animals hunted and eaten in Raja Ampat:
Babi, wild pig: Sus scrofa (non-native);
Bornean bearded pig - Sus barbatus barbatus
Cuscus, Ground Cuscus: Phalamger
gymnotis
Greater Flying fox: Pteropus neohibernicus
Spiny Bandicoot: Echymipera kalubu
Echymipera clara
Maleo: This species is different from the
extremely rare Maleo Waigeo: Aepypodius
bruijnii, which lives in high hills near Mr.
Nok on Waigeo island
Spotted Cuscus: Spilocuscus maculatus,
Spilocuscus papuensis (Waigeo cuscus)
Javan Rusa - Cervus timorensis
Dusky Pademelon: Thylogale brunii
Grizzled Tree Kangaroo: Dendrolagus
inustus
Spiny Bandicoots: Echymipera kalubu
Northern Cassowary (on Salawati):
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Papuan Hornbill: Rhyticeros plicatus
Pinon Imperial-pigeon: Ducula pin
321
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