The mysteries and legends of Raja Ampat are very rich. The Papuans have maintained an oral tradition, passing down their stories, their history and their legends mainly through song, as their languages were not written. Not having a written language is one of the things that now causes things like the four different spellings of the villages own name we encountered in Warsamdin (aka Warsandin, Warsambin, Warsanbin).
Since the 300-year Dutch occupation, which at the beginning resulted in the loss of almost all traditional Papuan artifacts (thought to be anti-Christian), and continuing with the Indonesian occupation which began with the burning of all books and any remaining artifacts, it is fortunate that the Papuans had an oral tradition, otherwise none of their history would have survived at all. However, like in Canada, the US and Australia, the colonizers forbid the natives from speaking their tribal tongues, to the sad end that those languages are now going extinct (I was once in a village called Beneraf in the Sarmi Regency of Papua where there were only 2 surviving speakers of the language, and they were in their 70s). No doubt with the underuse of the language, and the subsequent extinction, much of the history, legends and myths have been lost as well.
There are still some surviving stories in Raja Ampat, although today's youth don't seem to know them, and are not interested in learning... It's a sad state of affairs. I've been trying to convince the Kalabia education team that they are in the perfect position to collect and compile these stories into a book, but they have yet to really take the idea and run with it - a shame, because they have the perfect opportunity to do so as children of Raja Ampat, who visit each and every village in the archipelago, and with at least one team member who speaks every language onboard. Actually, I was told by one elder that certain stories can be only passed along a very specific kin line anyway, and if the indicated person doesn't show an interest, or the predecessor dies before having a chance to pass on the inheritance, it is lost to this world.
A couple 'Cerita Rakyat' still around today, in addition to the Raja Ampat creation myth:
The people of Ayau have a lovely story about how they came to live in the Ayau archipelago (their 'promised land') with the help of sea turtles. It begins, as any good myth does... "Once upon a time, a long, long time ago.."
Pada suatu saat di masa yang sudah lama sekaliiiii....waktu dulu duluuuu eee........
There was a small village that was preparing for a huge fiesta. The villagers had to go in search of a lot of food so that the entire community could eat it's fill at the feast, so they began to divide up tasks for fishing. Now, way back then, there was no such things as a 'johnson outboard motor', ships, or speedboats that can easily travel long distances like there are now. People had to row, using their traditional prows, sometimes with the addition of a sail to add to their speed a little bit, and not make the people too tired. While the fishermen were out at sea bouncing amongst the waves in their little dugouts... all of a sudden a huge, yet good, seaturtle appeared... The sea turtle had been watching the fishermen patiently yet painstakingly fishing with their lines, occasionally pulling out tiny fish... they weren't having much luck. So the turtle began to pull one of the boats that held two fishers aboard named Igo dan Ina... he pulled them all the way to another set of islands which were not so very far away from Igo and Ina's village.
On this new island, Igo and Ina were very very happy because the island was rich with marine resources - lots of fish, huge sea turtles, large shellfish, and much more marine life. There were beautiful, colourful shapely shells. On the island itself there was an expansive forest anda large sago plain. It was obvious to them that there would always be plenty for people to eat here.
After discovering this paradise, Igo and Ina went home to their village and told their family and community about it. They were all in agreement to move to this new island that Igo and Ina had found, and once they moved there they were very happy, because the island was full of fish.
Since this time, sea turtles and people have been good friends, because it was the turtle that gave the people this paradise where life was better for them.
In general the people, and especially fishermen, of Raja Ampat believe that they must protect the dolphins in order to protect their livlihood (the fish stocks)... They have several stories of the dolphins leading fishermen to good fishing spots after hours of desperate searching at sea, and also a story about a dolphin rescuing a lost fisherman and returning him home safely to his village after days at sea. The common belief is that if the dolphins are plentiful, the fish will be plentiful, so they will never catch or harm a dolphin.
Most of the stories I've ever heard in Papua are related to people living in harmony and respecting nature - the tradition, not the exception, in native Raja Ampat culture. We included the above story of the sea turtle from Ayau in the Kalabia education module as a catalyst for discussion of the traditional ways of looking at nature, and discuss current conservation efforts.
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