Papua is also often referred to as West Papua because Papua can refer to the entire island of New Guinea including the eastern half of the neighbouring country, east New Guinea. Papua is a province in Indonesia located on the island of New Guinea or west New Guinea.
Papua Province itself has an area of 420,540 km, consisting of 255 indigenous tribes from the province. One of the most famous Papuan tribes is the Asmat tribe, this tribe is in the easternmost part of Papua.
The Asmat tribe is known for its unique wood carvings. The population of the Asmat tribe is divided into two, namely those who live on the coast and those who live inland.
The distribution of the population of West Papua from the Asmat tribe starts from the coast of the Arafuru Sea to the Jayawijaya Mountains. Overall, they occupy the Asmat district in charge of 7 sub-districts.
The immense space of Asmat Regency makes the space between villages or villages and sub-districts terribly so much. Not to mention the miry contours of the land, creating traveling from between different villages will take 1-2 hours on foot.
West Papua Is Also Famous for Asmat Tribe Crafts
The Asmat tribe form West Papua is very famous for its traditions and arts. They are called reliable engravers and are internationally recognized. There are many types and varieties of Asmat-style carvings.
Usually, the carvings they produce talk about something, such as the story of their ancestors, their daily life, and their love for nature.
In addition to carving, the Asmat people enjoy the dances and songs they usually perform when welcoming guests, facing harvest season, or paying homage to the spirits of their ancestors.
The Asmat folks extremely respect their ancestors, it may be seen from the traditions they need. Although modern culture has influenced their lives a lot, but for matters of tradition and customs it is still quite thick and difficult to remove.
In the tradition of the Asmat individuals, there’s conjointly a building known as Rumah Bujang or normally referred to as Jew. This home is a very important and indivisible a part of the lifetime of the Asmat tribe.
Jew is the main house from West Papua, wherever all the activities of the Asmat area unit allotted. It was so important, when they wanted to establish a Jew, a special ceremony had to be held first. Only unmarried men are allowed to measure in Jew’s house.
West Papua Indigenous Peoples of the Asmat
Except once there’s an enormous event in West Papua, girls’ area unit often allowed into the person reported by the Asmatkab.go.id website. Atsj District ancient leader, Matias Jakmenem explained that person is one in all the bachelor homes for the Asmat tribe.
This is because of, the resident’s area unit all male teams (Beorpit). Every village contains a Jew and is that the center of Asmat life. Women within the Asmat community area unit solely allowed to enter the person, once there’s a celebration or ancient ritual.
Matias said that Jew is an initiation house, where youth (males) in the Asmat community receive initiations, such as fighting, beating Itifa, fishing and ancestral stories.
In West Papua, Jew in the Asmat language means spirit or spirit. So, Jew can also be interpreted as a soul or soul that animates and moves life together. Thus, each community group is not scattered.
Jew is created from native wood and rattan and palm leaves as a roof. The bark is employed because the floor of the house. Jew also has 7-10 doors with one wair (main furnace), as well as several other furnaces on the right and left.
The Purpose of Jew Making and Its Meaning
In the customs of the Asmat folks, every kindred or fam is supplied with 2 doors and 2 fireplaces. In the tradition of the Asmat community, Jew isn’t seen in terms of the length and dimension or the scale of the Jew.
That’s because, Jew has been inherited from the ancestors and ancestors of the Asmat community. The bachelor’s house does not have a partition or room that separates the stove and water.
The fireplace and stove became a logo of the place for every cluster. On the pillars of Jew’s house in West Papua, there are a unit carving of the war heads of every cluster that has died.
The meaning behind the placement of the carved heads of war dead is as a guide for the Asmat community from generation to generation. That way, the normal heritage continues to flow within the lives of the Asmat residents from time to time.
The carving of the war head symbolizes the legacy of the Asmat tradition that has been preserved since time immemorial. Every Jew made by the Asmat community always faces the direction of the rising sun or parallel to the flow of the river.
The position of Jew is also a marker and symbol of the circle of life and a way of communicating and living together for the Asmat tribe. From here you can get to know more about the Asmat tribe, which is an indigenous tribe from West Papua.
