What sort of society do West Papuans wish to have after an Indonesian withdrawal?

* From: Papua Tribesman
* To: reg.westpapua@lists.riseup.net, Tapol
* Subject: What sort of society do West Papuans wish to have after an Indonesian withdrawal?
* Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 07:00:46 -0700 (PDT)

Hi everybody,

In Reply to AWPA's question : "What sort of society do West Papuans wish to have after an Indonesian withdrawal?", there were already a series of discussions among friends in the UK and myself, and the conclusion was to establish a country that is based on tribes: commonly I refer to as Tribal Democracy. The idea originally came from discussions among Demmak tribal elders, on what is the best system to operate under a free and independent West Papua, the idea has been shared among all Koteka elders, those in the jungles, villages and towns, as well as Koteka Students all over Indonesia.

Why Tribal Democracy? - First, Based on My Personal Life Experience

Story One: From My Experience at the Churce

I have worked for various parties: (1) church services and organisations, even until the top (synod) level of the Evangelical Church of Irian Jaya (Gereja Injili Irian Jaya - GIIJ), which is now the Evangelical Church of Indonesia (Gereja Injili di Indonesia - GIDI). I was raised as a child and church goer from my childhood of GIIJ, an evangelical church in West Papua. When I was a teenager, I worked from the congregational level up to regional and synod level.

When I became a young man, I was then elected as the first young person to hold a synod level office of GIIJ. I was one of those who proposed the name-change from GIIJ to GIDI, remembering the work of GIIJ had spread to other islands and parts in Indonesia.

From these (to be continued...)

Introductory Note to this Blog

This blog is specifically dedicated to the elders of the Koteka Tribas in West Papua (formerly calld the Netherlands New Guinea or West New Guina, West Irian and then Irian Jaya respectively).
There are at least 245 tribes with distinct patterns of leadership and system of governance in West Papua, which requires a contextualised approach to manage public affairs, particularly after the independence of West Papua.