West Papua is thick with traditions that are still hereditary. Cultural practices and traditions in West Papua includes regular traditional ceremonies and rituals, such as cutting a finger when a family dies and stepping on a plate.
Eight Cultural Practices and Traditions in West Papua
Besides abundant nature, West Papua is rich in culture and traditions. The traditions of the people of West Papua include traditional ceremonies at certain moments.
So, what are the traditional ceremonies of West Papua that are still sustainable today? Check out the various West Papuan cultures and their philosophies below!
1. Stone Burning Tradition (Barapen)
The West Papuan people carry a unique tradition of burning stones or barapen. Barapen is the name for people in the city and also other names in each region.
Barapen is a symbol of gratitude and brotherhood, but it can also for funerals. This cultural practices and traditions in West Papua is one of the oldest cultures there.
In this West Papuan cultures, the people will make a hole and cover it with banana leaves. They will also arrange clean stones on top, with the largest size at the bottom. Then, firewood was on it and covered with small rocks.
After that, they burned the arrangement of stones until it was hot, then put a lot of food on it.
These foods include pork, sweet potatoes, vegetables, etc. Once cooked, they eat it with a cup of bitter coffee. The tradition to foster a closer sense of brotherhood among Papuans.
2. Tradition of Stomping Plates (Mansorandak)
The Biak Tribe in Doreri Bay, Manokwari, West Papua, performs the stampede tradition or mansorandak. The rule is to welcome their relatives who have returned from overseas.
In this West Papuan cultures, nomads will bathe in flowers on a traditional plate.
Then, they entered a room with the extended family. He will circle the nine custom plates nine times. Nine represents the nine clans of the Doreri tribe in Manukwari.
Afterwards, the nomad will step on a crocodile replica to symbolise trials and challenges and end with a meal together.
This tradition is a form of gratitude for return of family members and to cleanse evil spirits in the bodies of nomads while overseas.
Apart from that, the community also performs the stampede tradition when welcoming state guests visiting Manokwari. The guests will carry out this tradition symbolically as a form of gratitude for the people there for their visit.
3. Tradition of Ararem
The Biak tribe in West Papua performs the Ararem tradition at local people’s weddings.
In this cultural practices and traditions in West Papua, the groom’s extended family delivers the dowry to the bride’s family’s house on foot carrying traditional plates, jars and other offerings.
The extended family of the prospective groom will walk carrying offerings accompanied by dancing and singing. The singing is like Indonesian national songs. They also waved the Red and White flag.
4. Finger Cutting Tradition (Iki Palek)
The community will carry out the tradition of cutting fingers when a family member dies. Even though they seem extreme, they do it as a symbol of sadness and to prevent disaster that causes more death.
The Dani tribe in the Baliem Valley usually performs this tradition of cutting fingers after funerals using machetes or knives.
Alternatively, the abandoned family will bite their knuckles until they are cut off. They must cut off the finger according to the number of deceased family members.
5. The Tradition of Making Tattoos
The people of West Papua, especially the Meyakh and Moi tribes, have a tradition of making tattoos on their bodies. The tattoo is patterned with lines and dots, circular to resemble a conical or tridiagonal triangle that lines up vertically and horizontally.
The people dip fish bones or sago tree thorns into the langsat tree sap. They also mix fine charcoal in the process of making tattoos.
6. Marriage Tradition
The tradition of getting married is sacred everywhere, and the Arfak tribe in West Papua is no exception. There, however, the dowries were unusual, such as firearms from the wartime Dutch and Japanese.
Apart from that, hundreds of millions to half a billion buy dozens of sheets of cloth, beads, pigs, to the latest smartphones.
If the men who do not have money can owe, they will work in the garden or fields if they are in debt. One of the most expensive dowries is the two-edged Timor Island woven cloth, up to IDR 50 million.
7. Sasi Planting Ceremony
Planting sasi is a cultural practices and traditions in West Papua of death by the Marind tribe or the Marind-Anim tribe, which developed in the Merauke Regency area. The Marind tribe is in the vast plains region of West Papua.
The word animal in the naming of the Marind Anim tribe means male, and the word annum implies female. The population of this tribe is 5.000 to 7.000 people.
Sasi is wood which is the main medium in this death ceremony. Sasi is planted for approximately 40 days after death and will be removed after the thousandth day of planting.
This West Papuan culture always carried out by the Marind Tribe. This ceremony impacts the results of typical Papuan wood carvings, which are well-known to foreign countries.
8. Ear Piercing Ceremony or Ero Era Tu Ura
Children aged three to five years follow this cultural practices and traditions in West Papua to educate their ears. There is a shaman named Aebe Siewi who leads this ceremony.
The child who undergoes the ear piercing ceremony will later sit on the mat with other children. They pierced the child’s ears using a unique tool.
They do the Ero Era Tu Ura ceremony to protect the child’s ears. The West Papuan people hope that through ear piercing, children will always hear good things, not bad things.
Those are eight of the cultural practices and traditions in West Papua, which are very popular but also unique. The diversity of cultures in Indonesia is lovely to learn about.
