The rainbow never sets

the others. I thought how similar this was with our Australian Aborigines and their claim for land rights.

This awareness became accelerated by the transmigration policy of the Indonesian government. The Irian Jayan people felt threatened by the 'assimilation' policy and feared that their Melanesian distinctiveness and culture was going to be lost. For the first time in their history they felt united by that threat.

The Synod meeting took place in Manokwari, on the north/west side of Irian Jaya. The airport was nestled into a high mountain, which came close to the sea, not leaving much room for the planes to manoeuvre. Only smaller planes could land there. I had to change planes on the island of Biak, and breathed a sigh of relief when we landed safely at Manokwari.

There were representatives from all 30 Presbyteries at the meeting. It emerged that their main concern was, how to cope with the transmigrants. Large areas of their land had been taken away and given to the newcomers from Java or Bali. The latter were mainly Muslims and non-Melanesian, whereas the ethnic Irian Jayans were nominally all Christian. The indigenous people didn't want to share their land with them. The military commander of the Province, Brigadier General Sembiring Maliala, a Christian from Batak, North Sumatra, spoke to the Synod meeting at length and invited each Presbytery to tell the meeting about their complaints. One by one they reported of serious clashes between the immigrants and the locals.

According to their ancestral traditions, their land was not seen as being owned by them privately, nor by the community, but they could use it for growing and harvesting food. This concept was more akin to biblical land ownership in the Jubilee passages. The immigrants built fences around their allotted areas, and the locals complained that they couldn't even walk through to get to their land. They accused the immigrants of deliberately interrupting their Sunday services, and in some instances their church buildings had been burnt down.

Many reported rape, torture and killings by the military, especially in the area of Tembagapura, where the giant American-owned mine of FREEPORT operated. They complained of the rivers being 'poisoned' and their livelihood gone. Many considered themselves as second class citizens in their own land. The Indonesians dominated all political and economic life and looked down on everything Melanesian.

The military commander promised that he would investigate all their complaints and see to it that justice was done with regard to the indigenous people. He also assured them that the Government was trying to win their hearts. There was little evidence of that, however, as the military might of Indonesia seemed to crush any indigenous aspirations.

The Synod later adopted a resolution, that the church was to ask the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in Jakarta to open a branch at Jayapura, to help them in their fight against government excesses.

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