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sick people are not taken to the hospital when they get ill. In many cases patients see
traditional healers for the prognosis of the illness they have and may think it was a curse.
The healing process is also related to a harmonious relation with the cosmos (Nongkas and
Tivinarlik, 2004).

Melanesian People’s Worldview (West Papuan Society)
The Melanesian element that is significant is the worldview, and this discussion focuses on
the pattern of the West Papuan people. This review refers entirely to the connection between
oral tradition and development. In general, West Papuan people have a lot of sayings that
can be seen from the way they think, the people’s perspective on themselves, other people,
the universe, the world of the dead, including God. People in Papua (Papua province and
West Papua) have 310 languages. West Papua itself has 67 languages (Sujadi, 2013).
The most immediate problem is the inability to accept and review the sayings in society.
Oral tradition is crystalized and found in folk songs, word puzzles, word games, folk tales,
myths, legends, daily greetings, spontaneous expressions be they happy, sad, or surprised,
classical comments, sad, happy, or surprised expressions, and any archaic forms from the
pattern of society’s life system.
The Merdey community in Bintuni Bay often sees something, from terms or actions, in
relation to something else. That is why development is always connected to government,
from above, belonging to others, subject, and object. Spontaneous impressions always
come out about ‘development,’ which is thought to be ‘foreign’ because the effort comes
from outside. Everything from the outside is always foreign. If they think about the
government, it is identical with an institution that has everything, that has to be obeyed.
They often follow something without knowing anything about it.
The Merdey area is not different from Melanesian culture, which has been identified
by Tucker and Petocz as a domain that includes said culture. In oral traditions, not only
is the area identification discussed, but also some identity and deep respect of people’s
conscience. How the development dynamics looks at oral tradition in the same way so
people also feel that they own the development, and thus they can be involved in it. In
the original meaning, development has to be understood as an on-going attempt to guide
society so one day they can find their own identity.
Tebay (2009) gives us an acute analysis. He didn’t just present the root of the conflict in
Papua that came about since it joined Indonesia on May 1, 1963, he also reviewed another
aspect that was more fundamental to analyze every conflict that appeared in Papua.

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