Page 320 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

Behind the curtain of local wisdom, the efforts of the society to maintain a harmonious
atmosphere has always been beautifully formulated, both (1) horizontally between
community members or ethnic groups from one to another, and (2) vertically, between the
upper structures (leaders) commonly referred to as supra-ordination and ordinary people
(ordination). With regard to a harmonious relationship in the vertical frame, it has always
been emphasized; the one in power is not a ‘leader’ who uses the authorities at will, but
puts the interests of those people who entrust their rights and sovereignty to him or her.
Leaders have always been synonymous with elders who are seen as the main institution
that play an important role in bridging the people (the world) and the Divine One. In
Melanesian society, the king is seen as a social organ to whom the ‘rights’ and ‘obligations’
of ordinary community members are entrusted to serve the interests of the people in the
perspective of creating harmonization.
The essence of harmonious life in relation to the dimension of ‘power’, has always been
understood as ‘service tasks’ carried out by a trustworthy person (a king or chieftain), whose
responsibility is to fulfill the rights and obligations of the community members honestly
and sincerely. In the traditional society of Merdey, part of a larger group of Moskona (Teluk
Bintuni District, West Papua Province), it rarely occurs in the course of history that a king or
chieftain carries out his duties for the sake of his own interests. It could happen, and ‘chaos’
would be the price to pay. Life would turn into mayhem; havoc and resistance (war) would
be the ultimate price (Neonbasu, 2011a, 2013).
In certain aspects, oral tradition is a contextual model of indigenous knowledge, which
is attached to certain personal and community identity. The model of this basic knowledge
has become the information basis for the society to facilitate communication and decision
making process in order to build harmony. This basic knowledge is equally well suited for
everyday needs because it is in touch with local conditions such as the physical situation,
the natural environment, socio-cultural perspective, and personal image as long as the
focal point of information is a way of life that the society has inherited from generation
to generation. This knowledge is dynamic and always provides man with the knowledge
to understand the external system and internal creativity (Nongkas and Tivinarlik, 2004).

Melanesian Religiosity
Melanesian societies have a spirituality that permeates the entire life cycle with a network
of relationships between ‘human beings with others’ in a very natural. Timorese (and East
Nusa Tenggara society in general) always say that what has been experienced by their

320 Chapter 8

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