History
The first arrival of Javanese people in Merauke was recorded in 1893, following the transmigration program initiated by the Dutch colonial government. Where they were brought in to fill large empty areas and open up agricultural land. As of 2018, there were 59 Javanese settlement units with an average of 500 families per area, with the number of Javanese people in Merauke reaching 45,000 people and constituting the largest migrant population. [1] On the other hand, the number of transmigrants or newcomers, especially Javanese, increased from 4% in the 1970s to 41% in 2005; while the number of indigenous Papuans in the same period decreased drastically. [2]
According to the researcher from the Papua Archaeology Center, Hari Suroto, the arrival of Javanese people in Merauke began in 1889, the British colonial government in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, is very disturbed because its territory is often attacked by the Marind people from Merauke. The British then asked the Dutch for help in guarding its border areas. The Dutch then established a military post in Merauke on 14 February 1902 to prevent attacks by the Marind people on neighboring British New Guinea and the northwestern Torres Strait Islands (Boigu, Dauan, and Saibai). At that time, Dutch soldiers and government employees stationed in Merauke often lacked food supplies. [3]
Dutch colonial soldiers and government officials were heavily dependent on rice shipments from Java, whose arrival schedule was uncertain. Meanwhile, Merauke has a vast expanse of land and abundant water from the Maro River. This prompted the Dutch colonial government to consider developing rice fields in Merauke. Then, in 1905, the transmigration program by the Dutch colonial government began. They implemented colonization and turned Merauke into a rice barn for the eastern region of the Dutch East Indies. At that time, the Dutch colonial government built 1,000 hectares of rice fields by bringing in farmers from Java. In addition, they were also brought in as household assistants, controller, and government staff. [2] Then in 1908, Javanese people were brought in together with Timorese people. [4] The transmigration program continued until 1910. Transmigrants from Java were placed in Kuprik, Spadem, and Mopah Lama. [3]
These Javanese transmigrants then had children and descendants who were born and raised in Merauke. The descendants of the Javanese ethnic community are known as the Merauke Javanese people. While the people of Javanese in Suriname and New Caledonia descent are at least still fluent in Javanese, most of the Merauke Javanese people cannot speak Javanese, [5] but rather use Indonesian. [3] Some of them mingle with the local community and other transmigrant communities by using the local variety of Malay creole language, which is called Papuan Malay. [6]
Culture and lifestyle
Although they no longer practice Javanese culture and language as they did in their homeland, they still use Javanese names. However, the majority remain Islam, as in Java. [7] Likewise, typical Javanese culinary delights are easy to find in Merauke, including dawet , tempe bacem, tempe mendoan, cendol , tape , soto , bakmi , pecel , sego berkat. Apart from that, there are also gethuk telo, cenil , lemet, timus, onde-onde , and various peyek. [3]
The presence of Javanese people in Merauke also significantly changed the lifestyle of the native inhabitants of Merauke, the Marind people, who originally lived on the coast and rivers, moved to the lowlands. Those who initially lived by hunting, later became farmers, because they were taught how to cultivate rice and secondary crops by Javanese transmigrants. In 1910, a number of Marind residents, taught by Javanese transmigrants, began to open rice fields and plant rice. The Marind people's introduction to modern agricultural systems continued through the transmigration wave from 1965 to 1995. In 1985, the Indonesian government under the New Order relocated Marind families to transmigration areas also occupied by Javanese. [8]
Religion
Most the Merauke Javanese people are Muslims, unlike the indigenous Marind population who are Christians. They were also among the influential people who brought Islam to the indigenous people of Merauke, although the historical accuracy of this is doubtful. [9] Islam spread to Merauke around the 1800s by people who came from the west. They are Javanese, Timorese, Banjarese, Makassarese, Minangkabau, Kei, Selayar, and Malay. According to the Chairman of the Merauke Branch of the Papuan Muslim Council, Abdul Awal Gebze, it is estimated that Islam entered the Marind people (the native inhabitants of Merauke) around 1884. According to some Marind figures, around the 18th century, eight Muslims came using a sailing boat to the south coast of Papua in coastal villages in Okaba and preached to the local population. [10]
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