Page 267 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

This condition was not only experienced by the people of Papua, but also by people
in Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara, and other regions in Indonesia. Only in Maluku, the
status, role, and legitimacy of a Bapa Raja (literally Father King) was still very strong.
There was good communication between the village head and the Bapa Raja. In addition,
generally a village head position in Maluku was held by a Bapa Raja. If an ordinary person
became the village head, the development would involve the Bapa Raja from the planning
stage to implementation.
After special autonomy in Papua had been enacted and running for more than 14 years,
it brought about changes in social and cultural life of the Papuans. In terms of politics, many
young people who had more capabilities than the others in the community emerged, to
elevate their status. Many young Papuan people occupy important positions in both the
government and the legislature. This has caused a shift in leadership causing people to
have more respect for them than for their traditional leaders.
In addition to the traditional political system in Papua, Maluku and NTT, cultural
change has had a further impact on daily living habits. The presence of Europeans in the
East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua, had brought a change in the habit of eating while
sitting on the floor to eating at the dinner table with the use of modern tableware. People
have learned about the culture of foreign dance such as Polonaise dance, and adopted it
into local culture and the dance in Maluku. In the area of East Nusa Tenggara, the people
adopted Portuguese traditional dress and dance styles. Also, there are words borrowed
from Dutch into local languages for example oma and opa, referring to grandparents and
nyonya and tuan the words used to refer officials or teachers and pastors.
Changes in the language have been striking. When the Dutch came to Maluku, Papua
and East Nusa Tenggara, the Malay language was the language of daily life, and was
used in various aspects of life, from work, sharing the gospel, education, trade and social
life. Gradually, the Malay language (now the language used is Indonesian) became the
everyday language used by people to communicate and begin to shift the habit of using
local languages to communicate in the family.
The changes above occurred unintentionally, and they will continue to be experienced
by the people of Papua. There is even a view that the next 20 years the Papuans with dark
skin and curly hair will transform into Papuans with white or brown skin and curly hair. In
art, there will be new musical instruments and new dance creations.
No culture continues as it was without change or influence from outside sources.
Culture is not static but dynamic. The changes that have occurred in Papua can be said to

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