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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThey believe the story that they descended with the bubbling waters of a flood and settled in Kokonao and continued their lineage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over time, a newcomer came to their village and asked, \u2018Who are you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We are Mimika-we (we are Mumuika people),\u2019 the locals replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man was still incredulous, \u2018What are you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We are Kamoro-we (we are Kamoro people), we are living people,\u2019 the people replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, Mimika-we is used to identify themselves and Kamoro-we as self- identification in the context of meeting the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Japanese occupation, during the Pacific War, Kokonao was used as one of the Japanese military bases. In the 1920s, Kokonao was already a bustling area inhabited by the Kamoro tribe. Therefore, Kokonao is often referred to as the Old Town because it is 40 years older than Timika.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1927, Dutch missionaries came to Kokonai to establish churches, schools, houses and dormitories. The traders, mostly from Sulawesi, were Muslims and also built a mosque. Then, PT Freeport came to build a giant gold mining company on their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As is the case everywhere, when the modern world infiltrated their lives, many Kamoro people lost their cultural knowledge and traditional lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the Dutch government banned their religious activities and traditional lifestyle in the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that time, the Dutch colonial government established an outpost in Kokonao, West Mimika. Meanwhile, the Catholic church established villages to stop the semi-nomadic pattern of the Kamoro people, which hindered data collection and also prohibited traditional rituals such as the movement from mud land to coastal land and karapao. As a result, the art of carving disappeared along with these rituals for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is, until an American and Hungarian historian and anthropologist came along in 1985. His name was Kal Muller. He entered the Kamoro village and saw the extraordinary potential of Kamoro carving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muller saw that the Kamoro live in harmony with nature, interpreting and embodying it in the symbols of their carvings. They are a nation of explorers and master carvers. This open host culture was the starting point for the birth of various cultures in Mimika.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muller then initiated the Kamoro Kakuru cultural festival with the help of PT Freeport Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This festival was followed by various efforts to revitalise the Kamoro carving tradition, especially training to revive the spirit of carving so that the Kamoro culture and their spirit will rise again to become part of the world\u2019s diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The land of Kamoro has now developed into a modern city, more modern than other cities in Papua. In the midst of this modernity, we still find the richness of their remaining culture, namely the Karopa traditional ceremony, weaving, dancing, and carving in Kamoro villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#Papua #WestPapua #Indonesia #Ourislands <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The land that extends along the southwest coast of Papua, Indonesia is the homeland of the Kamoro. A tribe that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,2],"tags":[31,15,16,36,14],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destination","category-news","category-stories","tag-papuaisindonesia","tag-explorepapua","tag-indonesia","tag-ourislands","tag-papua"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n