Page 256 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

May 22, 1894; Father Cornelis Le Cocg d’Armandville SJ, arrived in Papua, in the Skroe area
close to Fakfak. In 10 days, he baptized 73 children. Schooling in civilization was performed
at home and taught by the teachers of the gospel. Michael Rumlus was one of the Catholic
gospel teachers who arrived in the village in 1938. According to Damiana Rumlus (the
daughter of Michael Rumlus) when her father came, the villagers of Hiripau still wore
loincloths made of tree bark. Michael Rumlus asked for three bales of red cloth to Tual to
be sewn into shirts and pants for the villagers of Hiripau. He began his work of changing
the lifestyle of the free people become those who abided by his rules. He built a house big
enough to accommodate the girls of Hiripau village. In the house, the girls were taught the
Catholic religion, how to cook, how to sew and various other knowledge relating to the
function of a woman. Meanwhile, the men in addition to being taught about religion, were
also taught how to grow crops and a variety of other knowledge related to duties of a man
(Usmany et al., 2013: 81).
The gospel effort undertaken by Zending Protestant and Catholic Mission grew in
Papua. Teachers from Maluku, Sangir, Java, Manado, were brought to Papua to help the
Zending Mission and the Dutch in developing Papuan human resources. Several years
later, the Papuans themselves managed the education and spread the gospel in Papua.
But when World War II broke out, civilization and formal schools were temporarily closed,
except for schools used by the Japanese for military and political purposes. After World
War II ended, the Dutch resumed their power over Papua. Then, in addition to increasing
education, the Dutch government also rebuilt their administrative centers in some areas
which had not been reached yet.
In addition to sending the teachers of the gospel to Papua, the Dutch government
sent colonists to Papua. Rosmaida Sinaga, clearly described how the Dutch colonial
government sent the first colonists to Nederland Nieuw Guinea (now Papua)59. The first
colonists were dispatched in 1929 and stationed in Manokwari. But this colonization failed
due to the inability of the colonists to work, the outbreaks of malaria, the poor soil and
because sports activities received more attention than farming activities. According to an
informant, the Javanese and other ethnic groups were also brought into Papua to work in
the plantations there. In 1936, about 300 Javanese were dispatched to Ransiki (now South
Manokwari district) to work in the rubber plantations. When World War II came, almost all
of the workers left Papua. Only a few company foremen remained there to safeguard the
company’s assets. Likewise, the plantations opened by the Japanese in Papua used forced
labor from other ethnic groups. However, due to World War II, many of these workers

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