Papua, originally called Irian Jaya, is divided into two provinces. Since 2007 the "head of the bird" (look at the map!) became West Papua, with its capital in Manokwari, and the rest become the Province of Papua, whose capital is Jayapura. In appearance, Papuans (including those in Papua New Guinea) are more similar to Australian Aborigines, and originate from the same continent. Most people think of Indonesia only as being part of Asia but, due to the plate tectonics of the region, it actually straddles two continents; the island of Papua is part of the Australian continent.
The Malaysians can rightly claim Mount Kinabalu as the highest in Asia, as Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) is located within Australia (the continent!). Most Indonesians from the western part of the archipelago think Papuans all have dark skin, curly hair and wear koteka. However, there are two distinct types of Papuan which can be described as coastal Papuan and internal Papuan. Sorong and Raja Ampat are districts populated primarily by coastal Papuans.
Living on the western edge of Papua, historically they have had more contact with people from the outside world, including Java, Makassar, Seram, Ambon, Manado and even Arabia. They have mixed so thoroughly over the centuries that now it is not easy to tell where they come from by appearances alone, although their skin colour is certainly darker than the Javanese. The internal Papuans have always been a forest people, like the Dani tribe found in the Baliem Valley in the Province of Papua. These are the ancient tribes who wear koteka and represent what we think of as "Papuan".
You don't need to be deep in the rain forest to feel isolated. In Misool there was no electricity or telephone signal. I had experienced being this far from civilization before doing fieldwork in Kalimantan, but this was 2012 in an area already gaining a reputation as a place to visit. Being somewhere so isolated made it difficult to move around. The ferry came and went only once a week. Most of the population depended on fishing for their livelihood.
In the same way as the cities relied on motorcycles to get around, the predominant form of transport here was by boat. You might have to visit another island just to buy cigarettes, and the cost of fuel here was several times higher than in Java and available in only limited quantities. When the price went up IDR500 in Jakarta there were demonstrations a IDR5,000 increase here was not unusual. This made all aspects of life expensive. You saw plenty of IDR100,000 notes but it was rare to see anything in smaller denominations.
School in Misool only went up to Elementary level. If students wanted to continue, and if their parents could afford it, the children had to move to another island. This is not that unusual in remote parts of Indonesia. The medical facilities here were limited. A mother told of how, when expecting a child, she had to get herself onto a boat and travel for hours to another island to find proper medical attention.
Things were made worse by a lack of education regarding birth control. People didn't seem to think about family planning and saw children as simply the inevitable result of sex. For me it was confusing. Their lives appeared difficult enough as it was, but then they had five children? Some women seemed to get married and divorced quite often, and might have several children by different fathers. On top of this, affairs were commonplace. Most people in Raja Ampat spoke Papuan "bahasa pasar" that was fast and high pitched. I was learning a new language, like "hujanhujan ampas" for "drizzle" and "larilari babi" for "sprinted". Abusive and rude language was also not unusual here.
It wasn't just the words that were rough but also their behaviour to each other. A crying toddler calling for his parents was shouted at by a grandmother, "Be quiet! Your father is dead and your mother ran away!" When the child would not stop crying his father hit him with a broomstick. Even mothers didn't think twice about beating their children and a father might chase a naughty child, threatening him with a machete. Husbands and wives threw chairs at each other when they fought. It was just so violent! Life is tough!
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