Page 270 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

appearance that made them different to Papuans. There are many Papuans with faces that
look like people from Java, who are called Mujair Papua (Irian with Javanese Face). Their
face and skin color is the same as people from Maluku or Timor.
The history of ethnic groups in the three regions in Indonesia with Melanesian culture
(Papua, Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara), is not static, but dynamic as a result of their
contacts with other tribes and foreign nations, which have led to changes in various aspects
of community life that we can see today. The Melanesians can be found distribued and
spread all over Indonesia, particularly in provincial cities and counties. This distribution and
growth was due to a variety of forces such as human trafficking, employment, marriage,
education, and maritime trade. Physically, many Melanesians generation now have curly,
wavy, straight, white, brown, and black hair but their identities remain known from the
family or clan attached to their names or origins.
We discuss here, the thinking concept of Melanesian people about the “Land” based on
interviews with Don Flassy, an expert on the art and culture of Papua and the member of
Papua MRP on July 24, 2015. According to Don Flassy, there has been a misinterpretation
in which there is a view in Papua that the land belongs to customary rights. The term
communal rights, with regard to the division between owners (individuals) of land,
labor tenants and workers, whereas in Melanesia this designation does not fit; the term
customary land is more suitable, because the land belongs to the whole community
together or keret. The land cannot be cultivated arbitrarily or at will because it is tied to the
belief system. The land is likened to the human body as well as Mama or Ina which when
used properly will always give good results for human beings.

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