“I am Indonesian, am I?”: Papuans’ psychological and identity dynamics about Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia gained its independence in 1945, and in the 1960 s, Papua was approved, de jure, by the United Nations as part of Indonesia. However, since its integration to Indonesia, racism, stigmatization, and violence have been part of Papua’s history. The present study was designed to understand the meaning of Indonesia and being Indonesian as perceived by indigenous Papuans, and how they perceive social change. We interviewed 63 Papuans who lived in Papua, North Sulawesi, and Java Island, and used thematic analysis to organize and describe the data. We found that, despite feelings of disappointment found among Papuan participants how the majority of Indonesians treat and negatively perceive the Papuans, many of them still consider themselves as Indonesians. Their concern is that, if Papua is indeed considered part of Indonesia, and Papuans are also called Indonesians, they asked to be treated like other citizens equally. In terms of social change, there is an improvement in Papuan infrastructures, but this development is considered slower compared to other regions. We suggest that in order to build trust, peace, and justice in Papua, it is better to start treating the Papuans like other Indonesians equally, consider criticism as a reminder to treat them better, and investigate seriously human rights violations.