Page 250 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

In some ethnic groups in Papua, such as ethnic Karon and Meybrat, there is an
educational house called the house of Henia mekiar. In the Henia mekiar house, the girls
are educated by the older women considered experienced enough in life. Here they are
taught about manners in the family, how to take care of the household, how to serve
and receive parents in-law and other in-laws. Besides that, they are taught how to weave
nokeng, make lai-lai, gata-gata and some of the work and equipment to be used soon after
marriage. In some other ethnic groups, there is no special education for girls. The girls will
usually be taught by their mothers and aunts or sisters of the father, or the wives of the
brothers from their mothers’ side.
After graduating from the initiation school, a child especially a boy is expected to
be able to fight in a war. ‘Snonsja nggo mun, binsja nggo yun’ meaning ‘We kill the men
and bring the women’, is a song of victory, which is often sung by the Biak each time
they manage to attack and bring the women and other prisoners31. In the past, often
as a result of a war between tribes, women were severely lacking in almost all villages in
Biak Noemfoor, so that women became the most valuable items. The attackers would
always kill the men and abduct the women and loot their belongings. The women were so
important because they could give offspring and could be used as a medium of exchange
that was of high value to pay fines.
Besides people from Biak Noemfoor Papua, Papuans from Misol were also known to be
very violent. Miguel Roxo de Brito stated that the powerful kingdom of Misol carried out
the offensive not only to the environment around Papua, but also attacked Seram Island in
Maluku waters located in the southern part of the island of Misol. Once they carried out the
attacks, their boats never returned home without the booty, and when he visited the Onin
in his voyage to Raja Ampat, MacCluer Bay and Seram in the year 1581-1582, he mentioned
that the coastal population of Onin also worked as traders. They traded with Seram People
who came to the site to buy massoi and traded it with swords and iron goods from others.
The inhabitants in the coastal area are of mixed blood as a result of their marriages to
people from East Seram (Gelpke, 1994). The main trade back then was not only for masoi
skin but also the slave even in 1654, when the Dutch managed to establish contact with
the king of Onin, the king could prepare 200-300 slaves every year for the Dutch (Widjojo,
2013). Slaves were well known in the history of the people of Papua, Maluku and NTT, they
were used to help their masters and as a dowry or to pay fines. But using the slaves as a
commodity was something they had just found out in the 16th century.

250 Chapter 6

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 250 2/10/17 2:11 PM