Western New Guinea

The main articles are:

• Indonesia
• New Guinea

Geography

For the geology and geography of the island, see New Guinea.

Population

According to official estimates, as of mid-2022, the population was 5,601,888.

According to 2014 data, the interior is predominantly populated by ethnic Papuans, while coastal cities are inhabited by descendants of mixed marriages between Papuans, Melanesians and Austronesians, as well as other Indonesian ethnic groups. Migrants from other regions of Indonesia also tend to inhabit coastal areas.

Western New Guinea is also home to some non-contact peoples. As of 2020, more than 40 tribes with whom no one has contacted live in this region.

Tribes

The Chitak, Land Asmat, and Avew tribes were one large family, but wars and territorial problems caused them to separate and form new tribes in their territories.

The same applies to the tribes of Kombaev, Korovaev, Korfei and Korf.

Asmaty

Main article: Asmata

Chitak and Mitak

The name "Chitak" was given by the Dutch, as they entered the area from Merauke through the territory of the Avya tribe, which called the tribe living in the area, Chitak. The opinions of several groups, such as traditional figures and traditional elders, are that the naming of Chitak to the Blur and Clear districts is an insult and a gross insult. The Dutch used the word "Citak" because at the time the locals "loved to eat a human being."

Having learned the meaning of the name "Chitak," the inhabitants of the Chitak region did not approve of it and stated that before the Dutch gave the inhabitants of this area the name "Chitak," they already had a name given to them by their ancestors, namely "Kau."

Korovay

Main article: Korovay

Languages

The official language is Indonesian, and Papuan Malay is the most common lingua franca.

According to various estimates, the number of local languages ​ ​ in the region varies from 200 to more than 700, with the most common being tribute, yali, ekari and biak.

Provinces

The region is governed as six autonomous provinces of Indonesia. In 2003, the region was divided into the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

In 2022, new provinces Central Papua, Mountain Papua, South Papua and South West Papua were created.

Provinces of Indonesia by Division 2022

Lorenz National Park

Lorenz National Park is an Indonesian national park located in the provinces of Central Papua, Gorny Papua and South Papua, in southwestern Western New Guinea. One of the most environmentally diverse national parks in the world.

It is the largest national park in Southeast Asia. In 1999, Lorenz was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Lorenz's forests cover the traditional lands of eight indigenous ethnic groups, including Asmat, Amung, Dani, Sempan and Nduga. The estimated population in 2010 was between 6,300 and 10,000.

Traditional culture

Bounty hunting and cannibalism

The bounty hunt was caused by endless vengeance for those killed earlier, as it was believed that before they were avenged, the spirits of the dead remain in the village. According to the beliefs of the Papuans, this brings diseases and other disasters.

In the past, men of the Marind-Anim people (Marinds) were known for their bounty hunting, which was always directed at other tribes. This was due to their system of beliefs and the naming of newborns. The skull was thought to contain mana power.

From the 1870s to about 1910, the Boigu, Dauan and Saibai peoples, as well as neighboring Papuan peoples, were persecuted by "warriors" from the Marin-Anim tribe. In literature devoted to this period, these people are usually called "tuger" or "tugeri."

Headhunting was not primarily motivated by cannibalism, but the dead man's flesh was eaten at ceremonies after capture and murder.

Korovay, a tribe living in southeastern Western New Guinea, lives in tree houses that reach a height of almost 40 meters. It was originally thought to be a defensive practice, presumably to protect against the Sitaks, a tribe of neighboring bounty hunters.

Since 1954, the Dutch government has imposed a ban on tribal wars and, as a result, on bounty hunting. In 1961, it was reported that tribal warfare and bounty hunting were not eradicated, but were rare.

Bish pillars of the Asmat people

Bish is a ritual pillar created and used by the Asmat people of Southwest New Guinea. Such poles are also common in New Zealand and Vanuatu. See Asmata for details.

Sexual culture

Marindas-anim are also known for their sexual culture. Ritual intercourse (otiv-bombari) with women took place on the girl's wedding day, when after the ceremony she had sex with a relative of her spouse before having sex with her husband. This ritual intercourse took place at other times, such as after childbirth.

Marind-anim were also known for their form of ritual homosexuality.

These rituals accelerated the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, in particular inguinal granuloma (donovanosis), which since 1912 has spread in the form of a major epidemic. By this time, marinids were already experiencing a marked decline in birth rates, mainly due to the earlier spread of gonorrhea in the Pacific region.

Marind-anim men dressed for the ceremony, 1920s

The Dutch colonial administration banned bounty hunting and ritual homosexuality, as well as rites in which many men engaged in sexual intercourse with one woman.

Corvar - figurines for the souls of ancestors

The term corvar describes an artistic style and in particular small statues of ancestors that are carved by many ethnic groups in Western New Guinea. These are standing or seated figures, usually holding an openwork twisted shield. When a person dies, the corvar is carved to provide a home for the soul of the deceased. The statues were approached for advice.

When Western New Guinea was a colony of the Netherlands, most of the early works of art, such as shields, trophy heads and statues of ancestors, were sent to Dutch museums before World War II.

Canoe

Coastal peoples around Humboldt Bay depend on canoes. Mani (boat nose decorations) can take the form of a human, bird or fish and are painted red, black and yellow.

History

2025: TPNPB kills 17 people in Dekaya district

On Thursday April 10, 2025, militants in the Papua region said they had killed more than 17 people since the weekend, claiming they were soldiers disguised as gold diggers, and police said the rebels were holding two hostages.

Quiet, but more and more fierce fight for independence does not cease between security forces and insurgents of the National Liberation Army Western Papua (The West Papua National Liberation Army, TPNPB), fractions of the Organization free Papua since in 1969 this territory was transferred ​​ under control of Indonesia as a result of disputable vote under observation of the United Nations. Papuan rebel spokesman Sebbi Sambom said in a statement that the rebels had killed more than 17 people since April 6, including five on Wednesday April 9, and said they were military men disguised as gold diggers.

"About 50 people managed to escape, three were injured," Sebby said when contacted via the messaging app on Thursday, April 10.

Sebby estimated that there are about 100 gold diggers in the Yahukimo region. Most of them, he claimed, were not native Papuans (OAPs) and were therefore suspected of being agents of government intelligence. "Yes, we say they're [scouts]," Sebby said in a voice recording sent to Tempo.

"If Indonesian government forces want to pursue us, please come to the city of Dekai, we are in the city," Sebbi said, referring to the town in Yahukimo County where the incident occurred.

Defense Ministry spokesman Frega Venas told reporters that 11 illegal miners had been killed in the area and denied they were military, adding that it was rebel propaganda.

This attack has become one of the deadliest in recent years. In 2018, a separatist group killed 21 road builders in the mountainous Nduga region. In recent years, rebels in Papua have been able to acquire the best weapons captured in raids on army posts or acquired from the black market. They also abducted foreigners, including a New Zealand pilot who was released in 2024 after 19 months in custody. In March 2025, more than 90 tribes, political organizations and religious groups in West Papua called for a boycott of products allegedly implicated in the region's "ecocide," according to the separatist group.

The tribes urged people to boycott companies whose products are linked to palm oil supplied from Papua province and the cause of deforestation in Indonesia, calling it environmental suicide or "ecocide." "The boycott campaign has identified a number of targeted brands likely to be involved in ecocide in West Papua," Papuan group the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULWMP) said in a statement.

1916: Map of Netherlands New Guinea

Click to enlarge

Movies

• Dead Birds (1963) is a documentary about the cycle of military skirmishes between the people of Danios and neighbors.

• The Disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea is a television film about the disappearance of a 23-year-old American from a wealthy family in New Guinea during a trip to the Asmat people.

• Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale, 2000 is a film about a homosexual Jewish traveler who stayed, including with the Asmat people in New Guinea.

• Tribe (2005) - the first series is dedicated to the Kombai tribe

• Life With Kombai is a television series on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic called Lost Tribes of the World aired in January 2007.

Books

• Merlin Taylor "Where Cannibals Roam"
• Arne Falk-Rönne, "Journey to the Stone Age, Among the Tribes of New Guinea"

Researchers

Ekaterina Belyakova - anthropologist, ethnographer, documentary photographer. Junior Researcher, Department of Australia, Oceania and Indonesia, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great (Kunstkamer) RAS. For more than ten years he has specialized in ethnography of traditional societies in New Guinea. He has extensive field work experience in Papua among local Papuan communities. Research interests: transformation of traditional cultures, intercultural interaction, bodily modifications, visual anthropology, medical anthropology.