Total population | |
---|---|
11,000 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Indonesia (South Papua) | |
Languages | |
Marind family within the Trans–New Guinea phylum of Papuan languages, Indonesian language | |
Religion | |
Christianity (predominantly), indigenous beliefs | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indigenous Papuan peoples of Western New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, other Melanesians |
The Marind or Marind-Anim are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the province of South Papua, Indonesia.
The Marind-anim live in South Papua, Indonesia. They occupy a vast territory, which is situated on either side of the Bian River, from about 20 miles to the east of Merauke, up to the mouth of the Moeli River in the west (between Frederik Hendrik Island and the mainland; east of Yos Sudarso Island, mainly west of the Maro River (a small area goes beyond the Maro at its lower part, including Merauke). [2]
The territory of the Marind tribe consists of a low-lying, deposited coastal area. This area is for the most part flooded in the wet season. The hinterland, which is situated somewhat higher, is intersected by a great number of rivers. Originally, either sago or coconut palm trees were planted, though stretches of bamboo could also be found.
Mostly during the 20th century, Marind culture underwent major changes. The Dutch colonial administration forbade head hunting and ritual homosexuality, and also the rites in which many men had intercourse with one woman. These rituals accelerated the spread of the sexually transmitted diseases, in particular, granuloma inguinale (donovanosis) which erupted in a major epidemic from 1912 onwards. [3] By this time the Marind had already experienced a marked reduction of birth rates, mainly attributable to earlier introduction of gonorrhoea to the Pacific region. [4]
Thanks to the efforts of the Missionary of the Sacred Heart, Petrus Vertenten, the Dutch government was alerted about the critical situation of the Marind, who due to the spread of the disease and their own particular practices were now risking extinction. [5] [6]
Christian missions and the introduction of schools to assimilate the people to western culture also resulted in major changes in Marind culture. [7]
Jan van Baal (1909-1992), a Dutch social anthropologist who worked among the Marind, wrote in the early 1980s that traditional Marind culture was gone. [8]
The Marind languages form a small family of the Trans–New Guinea language phylum. [9]
Traditionally, the social structure of the Marind was characterised by a clan system. The Marind tribe was also divided into two halves, called moities, each consisting of several patrilineal clans, called boans. The boans were further divided into subclans.
People lived spread out in several extended families. Such an extended family derived its origin from a mythological ancestor. Ancestor veneration had a characteristic form here: these mythological ancestors were demon-like figures, they featured in myths, and acted as culture heroes, arranging the ancient world to its then recent state, introducing plants, animals, cultural goods. [10] They often had the form of plants or animals; there was a kind of totemism, but it was not accompanied by a regular food taboo of the respective animal or plant. [11] Totems could appear both in artefacts [12] and myths. [13]
The word for such an ancestral spirit being is dema in the Marind languages. The material similarity of this word to “demon” is incidental. Each extended family keeps and transfers the tradition. It is especially the chore of the big men of the respective family. The influence of these big men does not go beyond their extended family. [10]
In the past, the Marind were famous for their headhunting, which was always aimed at other tribes. [14] This was rooted in their belief system and linked to the name-giving of the newborn. [15] The skull was believed to contain a mana-like force. [16] [17]
From the 1870s to around 1910, the Boigu, Dauan and Saibai people, along with neighbouring Papuan peoples, were being harassed by thugeral "warriors" from the Marind-anim. In literature dealing with the period, these people are generally termed 'Tuger' or 'Tugeri'.
The Marind-anim are also notable for their sexual culture. Ritual intercourse (otiv-bombari) with women would take place on the day of a girl's wedding, when after the ceremony she would have sex with her new partner's male kin before having sex with her husband. This ritualistic intercourse would take place during other times as well, such as after the woman has given birth. [18] The Marind-anim were also famous for their form of ritualized homosexuality. [19]
Marind culture was researched by several ethnologists and missionaries. For example, the Swiss Paul Wirz, the German Hans Nevermann, [20] and the Dutch cultural anthropologist Jan van Baal, who was the Governor of Netherlands New Guinea from 1953 until 1958. [21]
The Marind languages form a small family of the Trans–New Guinea language phylum. [22]
The Korowai, also called the Kolufo, are the people who live in southeastern Papua in the Indonesian provinces of South Papua and Highland Papua. Specifically their tribal area is split by the borders of Boven Digoel Regency, Mappi Regency, Asmat Regency, and Yahukimo Regency. They number about 3,000 people.
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, Indonesian Papua, is the western, Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region is also called West Papua.
A Bisj, mbis or Bis pole is a ritual artifact created and used by the Asmat people of south-western New Guinea, Indonesia. Bisj poles can be erected as an act of revenge, to pay homage to the ancestors, to calm the spirits of the deceased and to bring harmony and spiritual strength to the community. Bisj poles are a type of wooden ancestor pole among the Asmat of the province of South Papua, Indonesia. Figures of the dead are stacked along the pole, and a phallic symbol of fertility and power is included. The poles were traditionally carved to accompany the feast after a headhunting raid, and although headhunting is no longer practiced, the bisj tradition continues to the present time as a customary practice to honor deceased members of a village.
The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the province of South Papua, Indonesia. The Asmat inhabit a region on the island's southwestern coast bordering the Arafura Sea, with lands totaling approximately 18,000 km2 (7,336 mi2) and consisting of mangrove, tidal swamp, freshwater swamp, and lowland rainforest.
Merauke Regency is a regency in the far south of the Indonesian province of South Papua. It covers an area of 45,025.91 km2, and had a population of 195,716 at the 2010 Census and 230,932 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 232,357, comprising 121,237 males and 111,120 females. The administrative centre is the town of Merauke; this was projected since 2013 to become an independent city (kota) separate from Merauke Regency, but the alteration has been deferred. It is also the provincial capital of the new province of South Papua since 2022. Merauke is the largest regency in Indonesia, with an area of 45,026 km2, slightly larger than Estonia.
Merauke, also known as the District of Merauke, is a large town in South Papua, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency. It is considered the easternmost city in Indonesia. The town was originally called Ermasoe. It is next to the Maro River where the Port of Merauke is located. As of the 2010 census, Merauke had a population of 87,634 which at the 2020 Census had increased to 102,351.
The Papuans are one of four major cultural groups of Papua New Guinea. The majority of the population lives in rural areas. In isolated areas there remains a handful of the giant communal structures that previously housed the whole male population, with a circling cluster of huts for the women. The Papuan people are Melanesian people composed of at least 240 different peoples, each with its own language and culture. Sago is the staple food of the Papuan supplemented with hunting, fishing and small gardens.
The Wasur National Park forms part of the largest wetland in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia and has been one of the least disturbed by human activity. The high value of its biodiversity has led to the park being dubbed the "Serengeti of Papua". The vast open wetland, in particular Rawa Biru Lake, attracts a very rich fauna.
Morori is a moribund Papuan language of the Kolopom branch of the Trans–New Guinea family. It is separated from the other Kolopom languages by the intrusive Marind family. All speakers use Papuan Malay or Indonesian as L2, and many know Marind.
The Simbari people are a mountain-dwelling, hunting and horticultural tribal people who inhabit the fringes of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, and are extensively described by the American anthropologist Gilbert Herdt. The Simbari – a pseudonym created by Herdt himself – are known by cultural anthropologists for their acts of "ritualised homosexuality" and semen ingestion practices with pubescent boys. In his studies of the Simbari, Herdt describes the people in light of their sexual culture and how their practices shape the masculinity of adolescent Simbari boys.
Marind is a Papuan language spoken in Malind District, Merauke Regency, Indonesia by over ten thousand people. Dialects are Southeast Marind, Gawir, Holifoersch, and Tugeri. Bian Marind, also known as Boven-Mbian, is divergent enough to not be mutually intelligible, and has been assigned a separate ISO code.
Simbari or Chimbari, is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea.
Maklew is a language of the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family in West Papua. It is known to be spoken in Welbuti village, Merauke Regency. It is thought to be closely related to the Yelmek Language.
Kundu is a pidgin name in Papua New Guinea for an Hourglass drum used to accompany formal occasions, religious ceremonies and for celebrations. This drum is emblematic of Papua New Guinea and it appears on the country's coat of arms.
The Nunggubuyu are an Aboriginal Australian people of eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
South Papua, officially the South Papua Province, is an Indonesian province located in the southern portion of Papua, following the borders of Papuan customary region of Anim Ha. Formally established on 11 November 2022 and including the four most southern regencies that were previously part of the province of Papua and before 11 December 2002 were all part of a larger Merauke Regency, it covers an area of 117,849.16 km2. It had a population of 522,215 according to the official estimates for mid 2022, making it the least populous province in Indonesia.
Okaba is a coastal town in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia.
Piet Drabbe was a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart who worked successively from 1912 to 1960 in the Philippines, the Tanimbar Islands, and on the southern coast of Dutch New Guinea, now the Indonesian province of Papua.
The tifa, tiwa or tiva is a single-headed goblet drum used throughout the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia, where it is traditionally the "dominant instrument" in Maluku province music. The term tifa has been used outside of the Maluku Islands, including on the island of Java and on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's Papua province.
Petrus Vertenten was a Belgian Missionary of the Sacred Heart in Dutch New Guinea.
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