In a small Doromena village, located at the foot of Nafonsoro mountains, Jayapura a brave man was born and destined to free Papua and West Papua from the hands of the Netherlands. His name is Marthen Indey, he was born on 16th March 1912. The name Indey was given by his family since birth. Meanwhile, the name Marthen is connected to missionaries that came to Doromena. Johannes Bramer is Marthen’s step father, appointed by the Dutch to spread Christianity in Doromena. Marthen’s personality was pretty much influenced by him.
Marthen Indey’s Education
Coming from an ordinary family, Marthen Indey went to Volkschool and finished in 1926. After finishing, he often sailed out of town with a few young Ambon men, he then registered and got accepted at Kweekschool voor Indische schepelingen Makassar. He graduated from that school in 1932.
In June 1934, with strong determination, he left his parents and his hometown to pursue knowledge in Java. He registered at Sukabumi Police Academy, West Java. He participated in the police academy and finished it in 1934. He was then promoted as a Class II Police Agent, positioned in Ambon, including Mimika, the southern side of West Papua and Banda Neira, Maluku.
His Service for the Netherlands
During his job in which he was positioned, he was involved in various campaigns led by the Netherlands with the purpose of breaking Papua’s local tribes’ resistance. Right before the Pacific War outbreak, in July 1940 until January 1941 to be exact, Marthen was assigned to help the Dutch Secret Service in Manokwari, West Papua to be on the look-out for Japan’s movements. It was believed that to invade the area, the Japanese agents were spying on that area. During the time, many Japanese soldiers was already roaming around in the land of Papua under the pretext of working in a Japanese cotton farm named Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha (NKKK) in Ransiki Manokwari, Nabire, Wandamen Peninsula, Room islands, Rumberpon and the surrounding areas.
Aside from cotton farm workers, there were many Japanese soldiers disguised as fishermen as well, it turned out that Japan had prepared Manokwari, West Papua as their base for the Great East Asia war. In the middle of NKKK cotton farm, an air fighter airstrip was built, and the soldier uniforms were hidden in cottons. Apart from that, the Japanese army tends to secretly hold funeral ceremonies at night. When the Japanese army left, the holes were dug up and it turned out that the holes were filled with grenades, ammunition, small cannons, machine guns, and many kinds of ammo. Marthen and his comrades successfully confiscated those weaponries to eventually fight the Netherlands.
In March 1914, Marthen Indey was reassigned to Tanah Merah, Digul, West Papua. In his new post, he was appointed as Tweede Posthuiscommandant (deputy police commander). He led 31 police guards from Indonesia from various ethnic groups. His sense of nationalism grew because he often socialized with heroes, one of them is Soegoro Atmoprasodjo a former leader of Taman Siswa, and other young men from Papua such as; Frans Kaisiepo, Corinus Krey, Lukas Rumkorem, dan Silas Papare. Soegoro, who was trusted by the Netherlands to lead a Bestuur school, in reality was holding secret meetings with local heroes to instill independence and patriotism in the context of an independent Indonesia. Soegoro also taught the young men to sing Indonesia Raya. From this moment on, Marthen strived to make his land of birth to be a part of Indonesia’s independence.
The Struggle for Independence
The heroes of Papua, including Marthen, did a meeting. Their presence influenced the Papua Battalion that was formed by an ally when they landed in Papua in 1944 to fight against Japan. In the end, along with Papua residents and the Papua Battalion agreed to rebel against the Netherlands starting from 25 December 1945.
Ironically, on 14 December 1945 the colonials knew their intention in doing a rebellion. This resulted in the capture of hundreds of people in Papua. As many as 250 people were caught, including Marthens, Soegoro and Silas Papare, they were thrown to prison because they were considered as threats. Marthens was moved to a prison in Serui on 17 July 1946, because he was considered leading a rebellion over and over again from behind bars.
Marthen then joined Komite Indonesia Merdeka (KIM) which later on became known as Partai Indonesia Merdeka (PIM) as a member. On 12 December 1946, Marthen with Corinus Crey, and Nicolas Youwe sent a telegram to HJ Van Hook (The Governor at the time), declaring that West Papua shall not be separated from Indonesia in reaction to the Netherlands effort to separate West Papua by rejecting the heroes request to represent West Papua in Denpasar Conference from 20 to 24 December.
Marthen’s effort in uniting West Papua to be a part of Indonesia was also seen in his rejection towards the forming of Negara Indonesia Timur (NIT), because West Papua was not a part of it. In the year 1962, Marthen Indey joined the guerrilla during Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora). In the same year, he delivered the desire of Papua’s people to stay loyal towards Indonesia in the Piagam Kota Baru. In the end, West Papua officially joined Indonesia. Marthen died on 17 July 1986, because of his services he earned the National Hero title on 14 September 1993.
