Daily life in Asmat // Asmat is a group of people residing in southern coasts of West Papua. In 1961, the Asmat were notorious for the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, and so forth widely labelled cannibals, headhunters, and savages. In the same period, Indonesia annexed West Papua from The Netherlands. It followed with the arrival of transmigrants from other parts of Indonesia, immediately setting forth the journey of the Asmat to a diabolical course. Ever since, Indonesia have reinstated government and military control of the area, leading to construction projects, severe deforestation, and Asmat economy overpowered by the transmigrants. The Asmat, despite all advancements, continue to celebrate their ancestral feasts. Since the turn of the century, Catholicism – brought by Dutch and American (and now Indonesian) missionaries – and Islam – brought by Indonesian transmigrants – have gradually challenge the very existence of Asmat customs and ritual feasts and, to an extension the Asmat way of life: the subsistence that has sustained them for centuries. Among its last defenders is an American priest, the last Catholic American priest in West Papua, who have served Asmat for 40 years. Given all the difficulties, effectively the Asmat is orphaned in their own land, barred access from health, education and welfare.
By 2030, less than 17% Papuans will remain in West Papua. Asmat people are a minute fraction of Papuans currently in existence.
