living on both sides of the border. Many of these languages can be further classified into
dialects. [Wurm, 1975; May 1986; Hyndman, 1987]. The languages roughly correspond
to cultural or clan groupings.
From north to south, these groupings and their approximate populations are as follows:
Vanimo/Sangke/Sko people, (possibly 5,000); Waris/Waina/Pagi/Senggi (5,000); Dera
(2,000); Yafi/Dubu/Emumu (1,000); Yari (unknown number); Pyu (possibly as few as
100); Biksi (possibly only 200); Abau (1,000); Ok peoples [possibly as many as 50,000
divided into: Ngalum (5,000), Kawol (unknown number), Iwur (unknown number),
North Kati (2,000), Ninggirum (20,000), South Kati (6,000), Yonggum (including those
known as Muyu people in Irian Jaya) (4,000)], Boazi (2,000); and the southernmost
peoples of the Yey/Ionda/Kanum (otherwise known as Trans-Fly) group (4,000 mostly
dispersed away from the immediate border vicinity) [Wurm, 1975; Nelson, 1979: 236]
[see Figure 2].
The eight language groupings spoken by people living on both sides of the border are:
Vanimo/Sengke/Sko; Waris/Waina/Pagi/Senggi; Dera; Ngalum; Ninggirum; Yonggum;
Boazi and Yey/Ionda/Kanum. Many of these people can claim lands on both sides of the
border [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 14, 22; Papua New Guinea, NIO: 1984] and carry on
traditional trade and social contacts with those on the opposite side of the border. The
census figures for the border people of Papua New Guinea list several census divisions
where there is an 'Irianese component' in the population. This is the case for the Bewani,
Imonda Local, Dera, Iura, Green River Local, Ningerum, North Ok Tedi, Middle Fly,
Saru and Bensbach census division returns [PNGDFAT, Border Administration Manual
(ca. 1984), Section Seven, Sub-Sections Five and Six].
51 Figure 2: Language Groups of the Border Area
(map courtesy of R. J. May)
J a y a p u r a Vanimo Gr ee n River PAPUA INDONESIA GUINEA
Phylic or Stock Boundary Family Boundary Population density One dot =1.000 people
MTeam
Cross-border ties are very much related to language similarities, shared cultural traits, and traditions. The Border Agreement notes the existence of cross-border ties amongst the traditional border-dwelling peoples and seeks to ensure that the rights of these people to pursue their traditional trade, hunting and social exchange across the border are maintained. However it is difficult to ensure that all cross-border traffic falls into one of these traditional purposes and several commentators have indicated how the existence of cross-border ties between peoples divided by the arbitrary and invisible border line has security implications.
One security implication, and also one indication of the strong link between cross-border communities, was provided when in 1983 people living in the Middle Fly area were asked their 'usual occupation' for the purposes of a survey and several (but less than ten) of them replied 'OPM guerilla' [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 42].
There appears to be great variation in the force o f cross-border ties; some villages feel bound to communities across the border, whereas others have no commitments. The assistance given to those who crossed the border into Papua New Guinea from Irian Jaya since the start of 1984 testifies to the pattern o f sympathies and ties between Papua New Guinean border people and those on the west side o f the border. Language is the most apparent tie between communities: those Yonggum-speaking refugees were o f the same language grouping as the majority of those in the Papua New Guinean border district to which they crossed and were consequently made more welcome than the Ningerum speakers, whose presence in the area was m erely 'suffered' by the local people [Hastings, 1986: 220] .
The survival or disintegration of cross-border links has been greatly influenced by the presence of border administration posts set up in the 1950s and early 1960s. At that time, the actual position of the boundary was often not known, and the adm inistrations determined between them the m ost suitable ad hoc arrangem ents for governm ent purposes. These informal administrative agreements made between Australian and Dutch border officials helped to establish the allegiance of several border villages to a particular administration: the establishment of a border post allowed for villages to identify with that administration, and for villages at some distance to choose to move closer to the post in order to enjoy the services provided. However, in several cases, it was later discovered that some posts had been established in positions in the territory across the border, and were therefore not within the presumed jurisdiction. Hank Nelson has noted that:
The exact location of the border in the interior was unknown to officials and irrelevant to inhabitants. Villages in some areas were nominally Dutch when the
53
Dutch officials were present and changed their nationality when approached by Australian patrols. Most of the time they did not have to admit any allegiance. Dutch missionaries working on the upper Fly River made converts of Australian citizens. The Dutch and Australian administrations rarely found it necessary or convenient to confer [Nelson, 1974: 40].
Yet some informal agreements were made: in the southern border area around Ingembit in 1954 the Dutch administrator based at Boven Digul (present day Tanah Merah) agreed to administer seven border villages while the Australian administrator based at Kiunga agreed to take responsibility for 12 villages further to the east [van der Veur, 1966b: 99]. The Dutch border stations (at Waris, Jafi, Boven Digul, Tanah Merah) and the Dutch mission at Ninati were closer to the border than those established by the Australian administration (at Vanimo, Kiunga and Darn), with consequently stronger influence on border peoples. This influence was evidenced by some movement to the west as people sought employment in wage-paying jobs in W est New Guinea, and there were no such opportunities in Papua and New Guinea. Many people visited Hollandia (Jayapura), Mindiptanah or Merauke to seek jobs. Jo Herlihy, who studied the human geography of the border region in the mid 1970s, has noted that 'Most traditional communication and trade routes for the zone, such as they were, ran east-west rather than north-south, so that contacts across the border were more important for some communities than linkages on the same side' [Herlihy, 1986: 177]. Although additional Australian border stations were later established, further border patrols made and the boundary demarcated, in some areas east o f the border the people had already oriented them selves towards the Dutch administration. It has been observed that in some places ties were so strong and the border so poorly demarcated... that one finds in the patrol reports many statements such as: 'Kamdomdan, like Opka, is a W est Irian village but it is in PNG territory' (PR N o.l of 1968/9) [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 37].
In the northern border area after 1950, the Dutch established a patrol post at Waris which exerted a strong influence over the villages to the east. The area became known as the 'W aris enclave' and encompassed the Imonda, W aina Sowanda and Dera census divisions including about 5,000 people [Kelly, Mopio and Weeks, 1983: 36]. The Dutch provided more opportunity for education in the northern border than did the authorities in Papua and New Guinea, and consequently many people from Papua New Guinea learnt Dutch and Bahasa Malay [ibid.] Several villages in West Sepik and well inside Papua New Guinea territory have Indonesian/M alay names (such as Baru for 'new', etc.). Some villages were more influenced than others: W asengla, 3 km from Waris, was in close contact with the Dutch whereas the relatively distant Waina-Sowanda villages were less affected [Gell, 1975: 2,4]. Verrier noted the result of Dutch influence on the village of Sekotchiau:
Sekotchiau was a village within the borders o f PNG, but one which had been administered by authorities in the west and, at the end of 1962, it was reported to be completely WNG in attitude [Verrier, 1976: 317].
Sekotchiau (also spelt as Skotiaho) was the centre of frequent m ovem ent across the border [Herlihy, 1981: 174].
When the border was demarcated in the 1960s and the existence of several villages extremely close to or straddling the border was detected, some villages were 'dispersed' for security reasons (such as Opka and Ingembit) [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 7]; others were required to choose between administrations and relocate their villages. Sekotchiau, for example, opted to join Papua New G uinea, although it had previously been administered by the Dutch [Herlihy, 1981: 389].
Some villagers were not satisfied with the administrative changes introduced as a result of the boundary demarcation. In 1963 Warren Dutton, an Australian cadet patrol officer based at Kiunga, was approached by border people with a request. They were reported to have said:
We want to remain with the Australian administration but all our good gardening and village land is on the w est side of the border and our land on the east of the border is only our low-lying sago swamps. We must live in our villages on the hills. Please move the border to the west so that we can remain here [Australian. 13 November 1984].
The boundary, however, was not to be moved for the convenience o f these people who were forced to alter their residence patterns. The Border Agreement negotiated between Indonesia and Australia and Papua New Guinea in 1973 required adm inistrations to discourage permanent settlement within a two kilometer zone on either side o f the border.
A survey o f the border population in Western Province undertaken in 1983-84 noted that there are strong cultural and historical ties between the people in Papua New Guinea and the people west of the border yet there is quite some variation between districts as to the strength o f cross-border ties [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 14]. It was noted that the Ningerum people, living in com paratively densely populated areas, had very strong cross-border ties [ibid.: 32]. The establishment of a Catholic mission at Ninati (close to the border opposite Ningerum) in Irian Jaya and 'the more rapid developm ent o f the M indiptanah area than that o f Kiunga' prior to 1970, led to 'a drift o f settlem ent westwards' [ibid: 14; see Smith and Hewison, 1986: 207]. The population movement was generally towards the east after that time, although not all migration has been one way [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 16]. For example, to the north o f Ningerum, in the Star Mountains census division, the village of Kwirok was reported to have been regarded as 'an Irian Jayan settlement' and in early 1983 the villagers from Kwirok 'moved back
55
across the border to Korkit' ribid.: 36]. Visits to Jayapura by Vanimo people have also been noted, although these links may not have resulted in any perm anent migration westward [SMH, 2 May 1983; FEER. 16 August 1984].
Although cross-border ties in the Ningerum area have been observed to be very strong, this is the case only for the villages quite close to the border. A few kilometres south of Ningerum amongst the Yonggum of North and South Ok Tedi census districts and Moian census district, ties are strong and extend beyond the immediate border area [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 14, 31, 32].
It is claimed that all traditional border dwellers are known to the respective border authorities [Legu Vagi, Foreign Affairs M inister, interview, Port M oresby, 7 April 1986]. Under the border arrangements between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, traditional border peoples need only to notify designated border stations of their intention to cross the border, the reason for their journey, and the duration o f their stay prior to crossing the border. Others who cross the border are required to obtain a pass.
As a result of the long history of cross-border movement it could well be that there are several thousand people living in Irian Jaya who could claim Papua New Guinean citizenship, and probably more in Papua New Guinea w ho could claim Indonesian citizenship [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 33]. It has been suggested that at least 2,000 Yonggums and Ningerums who crossed into Papua New Guinea from Irian Jaya since 1963 (that is, not counting those who crossed since February 1984) have been absorbed into the Papua New G uinean community [W arren Dutton, M em ber for North Fly, Interview, Port Moresby, 14 March 1986]. Other long-standing residents of the area support this view [Smith and Hewison, 1986: 207]. The 1984 survey o f the Western Province border population requested people to state their place of birth and found that 13.8 per cent of adults (mostly in North Fly) reported that they had been bom in Irian Jaya [Pula and Jackson, 1984: 35]. In the Kiunga area, many people had close relatives living in Irian Jaya, or were themselves bom or brought up there [ibid.: 31]. It is likely that many of those living in refugee camps in Papua New Guinea's border area would be eligible to apply for Papua New Guinean citizenship, given that their parents or grandparents were bom east of the border.
Although frequent, cross-boundary movements have generally been discouraged by both administrations. Van der Veur noted in 1966 that although the administrators of both Tanah Merah and Kiunga recognised that people on both sides were related, only '"short visits" were permissible; longer ones, however, were to be strongly discouraged. Movement of villages or parts of villages across the boundary were to be prevented;