Word: Ayu Arman
Come to the Amungme tribe. You’ll be greeted with a festive rite called Pesta Bakar Batu. Dances will accompany the feast, as well as pigs and a variety of yams burnt on hot stones as the main course. This is the time when brotherhood is bonded (again).
Before the miners came along, the Amungme lived for thousands of years in what many call the ‘stone age’. Not only did they use stone for their daily activities such as hunting and cooking, but they also exchanged goods such as axes, salt, shells and pigs.
They live in harmony with nature in the north and south of the Jayawijaya mountains. When night falls, nature becomes very wild. At dawn, their honai is transformed into a large and beautiful house by a garden full of colourful flowers.
Their fields are always full of crops. Some are ripe, some are just growing. Always abundant and ready to be harvested at any time.
Surrounding their hamlet lay mountains from east to west, with their peaks standing perpendicular to the sky. From the mountain peaks, water gushes from fresh, clear pools, between the rocks, forming tributaries and flowing down.
The mountain peaks have sacred value to the Amungme tribe, most of whom live in Freeport’s current mining concession area. The Amungme respect the peaks with great care and believe that their ancestors watched from the heights of the peaks.
At the foot of the mountains are forests where a variety of birds fly in to enjoy the beautiful dawn. Kuskus sunbathe along the branches of the trees. Looking south, they see a vast land that they cannot see where it ends.
This land area is where the Amungme people hunt, gather, grow crops and raise pigs. They sell their crops and livestock to the market.
This is their main cycle of activity: home, field, market. Then, back to the house. The Amungme people’s home, like most Papuans in the mountains, is a round honai with a thatched roof designed to keep warm in the cold mountain climate. For them, the honai is a dwelling zone that symbolises the breast and womb of their mother who has fed them all these years.
This is reflected in the dances and rituals of their daily lives. One of them is the stone-burning ritual inherited from the Amungme ancestors in celebrating a life full of joy for all the blessings given by nature and God in their lives.
Freeport’s presence challenges the Amungme tribe to live in a modern consumer culture. In their land, which has undergone modernisation development, we still found the tradition of stone burning, which is still deeply rooted in their lives.
Stone burning is a legacy of Amungme ancestral cooking that brings a high sense of solidarity, love and empathy. It is a symbol of close relationships between neighbours, togetherness, and gratitude.
At the end of 2024, we attended a stone-burning ritual in Mandiri Jaya village, Timika City. That afternoon, all the Amungme people gathered in the courtyard of a large house with their agricultural products. Tubers, vegetables, chickens and pigs.
The stone-burning ritual begins with a dance. The Amungme men call out loudly to begin the event. Traditional music begins to play, stirring the bodies of women and men, adults and children, dancing on bare feet.
The Amungme men accompany the screeches with their distinctive voices, which create a dynamic rhythm that adds to the lively atmosphere of the bąkar batu party. Their faces are energised, sweaty and happy.
Some of them decorate their faces and body parts with thick white and black chalk. Sago leaves tied with cassowary feathers are coiled above the men’s heads. A few dried sago leaves are tied around the wrists.
The mantras chanted, the distinctive screeching sounds, the body paintings, and the trinkets on their bodies are symbols of the presence of ancestors who always ensure the survival and blessings of every citizen who carries out this tradition.
In the first stage, they make a hole in the ground to resemble a frying pan. The depth varies, depending on the amount of food prepared, according to the number of people participating in this rite.
Stones and wood are then prepared for cooking. The stones and wood were arranged according to the rules. Not haphazardly. The largest stones are placed at the bottom and then covered with wood, and then the smaller stones are arranged again, covered with wood again. Next, the pile is burned until the wood is completely burned and all the stones are smoldering.
On the other hand, a pig was sacrificed in a special way, namely by shooting an arrow through the heart. An archer who is a tribal elder, ready to shoot. The pig was held and an arrow came out of the gendewa, sticking right in the heart.
Seasoning is prepared. Pig is cleaned. The contents of the stomach and other parts that are not consumed are discarded, all that remains is the meat and the thick fat. At this stage, all activities are done by men.
The mothers prepare vegetables in the form of iprika or hipere leaves, tirubug (cassava leaves), kopae (papaya leaves), nahampun (sword gourd), and towabug or hopak (corn), bananas, yams, and chicken. The only seasoning used is salt.
On top of the hot stones, banana leaves are placed in pieces, then vegetables and tubers are placed in the excavation that has been covered with leaves. Next, hot stones are placed on top of the vegetables and tubers and then covered again with grass.
The same goes for cooking pork and chicken. Pork and chicken are roasted separately with vegetables and sweet potatoes.
After all the cooking ingredients are added, they are covered again with banana leaves and hot stones and covered again with leaves, forming a sturdy pile. This process requires care to ensure that the food cooks evenly.
This cooking process takes about 2 to 3 hours. The hot stone will absorb the heat and channel it into the food beneath it, making it cook naturally and deliciously, having a very distinctive taste.
While waiting for the food to cook, the event was filled with ceremonial speeches from community leaders, traditional leaders, church leaders, songs of praise, and of course dancing together.
Two hours later the stone mound was removed, the cooked pork and vegetables were ready to be served.
At this stage, the traditional leader ensures that everyone present receives food equally. The leader and his immediate family do not touch processed food for themselves before making sure everyone gets it.
The Amungme tribe is very respectful of guests, vouching for other tribes who attend, especially if they have previously quarreled. Because the presence of guests at their celebration is an honor and a sign of blessing for those who celebrate the tradition of burning stones.
The food was then distributed equally to all participants present. Furthermore, all will receive the same allocation, men, women, the elderly and children. After that, the residents then started eating this food.
The burning tradition has always been a moment eagerly awaited by the people of the Amungme tribe and other Papuan mountain tribes. To celebrate this tradition, they are willing to spend large amounts of money to finance the party and the residents are willing to not work for days.
Currently, the rite of burning stones has developed. It is no longer only done as a form of gratitude for birth celebrations, traditional marriages, coronation of tribal chiefs, preparing soldiers for war, and recovery from war conflicts, or sadness due to death. The stone burning rite has also become a social system for welcoming big guests visiting Papua, commemorating religious holidays, building places of worship, safety and thanksgiving which involves many people.
If you want to watch this stone burning party, you are free of charge. However, if the stone burning party is for a death ceremony, you should bring souvenirs for the residents. ***