The Existence of Traditional Culture from Wamena City, Indonesia in the Middle of Globalization Flow
Cresensia Liany Prastica Mallisa1*
1 Department of International Relations, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Accepted: 15 February 2021 | Published: 1 March 2021
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Abstract: In this paper, the author tries to describe the existence of traditional culture from a small town in Papua, Indonesia, namely Wamena in the midst of globalization which can be said to have succeeded in influencing several local cultures in Indonesia, even though it is not realized. To maintain their own local culture, it requires active participation from the local community, where they as actors are directly involved in this. This also does not have a temporary impact but has a long-term impact on the descendants of the local community in the future, so that they can continue to maintain the existence of this traditional culture. Thus, some very unique traditional cultures have been carried out by local communities until now as an effort so that these local cultures do not just disappear even though globalization has emerged. The local people there do not close themselves off from foreign cultures that represent globalization, but rather filter the incoming foreign culture so as not to replace the traditional culture of the area.
Keywords: Local culture, Globalization, Identity, Wamena, Papua
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1. Introduction
Globalization itself means the process of international integration that occurs due to the exchange of world views, products, thoughts, and other cultural aspects. The term globalization became known in the 1980s and became increasingly popular in the 1990s. Globalization has received many pros and cons from every party who feels the impact of globalization itself.
There is no one person or party in this world who can avoid globalization, because if we keep up with the times, of course everyone will have more needs and also have a desire to change according to existing developments and demand people to change their lifestyle and cause positive and negative impacts. But it must be remembered that globalization can affect various existing fields. One example of a field that is influenced by the emergence of globalization is culture.
Every country has definitely become a country that is entered by globalization, including Indonesia. Indonesia consists of various ethnic groups and cultures that cannot be generalized, this does not mean that Indonesia cannot be united because of the differences, but this implies to us that Indonesia is very rich in ethnicity and culture, where every island is found in Indonesia have their respective characteristics that must be maintained so as not to fade away.
Each of us must love our own culture, it does not mean closing ourselves from incoming foreign cultures, but it is better if we can filter the incoming culture so that it does not dominate and even replace our own nation's culture.
The changing times take place very rapidly where capital, technology, people, ideas, and information move unceasingly inherited from political boundaries and cultural boundaries.
Cross-border processes such as human trafficking, population migration, technology diffusion, religious conversion, and military conquest are not new phenomena. At this time, the world is experiencing the 4T Revolution (Technology, Telecommunication, Transportation, Tourism) which makes boundaries between regions not an obstacle, because everything can be achieved in an instant so that a global village is created as predicted by Marshall McLuhan in 1962 (Saptadi, 2008). However, these things have unwittingly threatened nationalism because they indirectly separate everyone from the local identity and weaken the role of the nation as an identity. Globalization can change a person's lifestyle and even affect the socio-culture and traditions of a country. These socio-cultural changes seem to show cultural consequences due to the swift currents of globalization (Holton, 2000).
The expansion of communication networks that causes relationships between people around the world to run quickly and closely creates a dilemma between remaining in the original identity or joining in the identity of a community that identifies itself as a global networked society (Castells, 1996). Without realizing it with the times and the impact of this globalization, foreign culture has begun to enter every country, including Indonesia. A factor that can be our concern in seeing the development of globalization is age. If we observe together, many young people are more interested in listening to songs from other countries that use foreign languages than songs that use traditional languages. Many young people also enjoy learning modern dances from other countries rather than learning their respective traditional dances. In addition, if there is a concert with guests from outside there will be young people coming in droves, willing to jostle and not a few who with great difficulty come with various equipment to enliven the concert situation. And the last example is also, not a few young people who prefer watching foreign films than watching films from their own country which are considered somewhat boring and less exciting to watch. These things may be very common, but if we understand it well, from this we can see that the interest of young people towards other nations can exceed their interest in their own country. Many young people are not fully aware that they are the next generation that is the hope of the nation. There are still many young people who want to learn the culture of their respective nations, but there are also many young people who are very fanatical about the cultures of other countries. Young people in each area become the hope for the surrounding community in advancing their area, especially for the children who are native to the area itself. This is of course the same as what the Wamena community hopes for the native children of the area. Therefore, the authors see that this is also one of the reasons the Wamena people maintain the existence of their traditional culture. They want that native children who are born when they grow up will continue to remember and know the ins and outs of their culture so that they are not easily affected by the entry of globalization. If all the children born do not know about their own culture, it is certain that the culture of the area will be lost and forgotten.
It can be said that in the current era, foreign culture is able to compete with Indonesian culture, so it can be said that foreign culture has slightly shifted the position of the Indonesian nation's culture, especially the local culture that exists in every region in Indonesia. In fact, local culture in every region in Indonesia can be an attraction for foreign tourists to come to Indonesia, so that the impact of globalization will not affect our own culture. Of the many various local cultures in Indonesia, we should be able to take advantage of globalization itself to introduce our culture to foreigners. The state does not seem to always promote domestic interests against anything foreign (Schoelte, 2000, 139). This is also an important matter that cannot be ignored by the state as the main actor. Indonesia must take decisive steps in protecting and preserving
its culture from this globalization issue. Indonesia must be more aggressive in promoting and becoming a solution so that the traditional culture in each region in it can develop without erasing the existing culture, so that globalization does not mean as a substitute but a developer.
This can be proven if we look at our brothers and sisters in Eastern Indonesia, namely in Wamena. This globalization introduces everyone to increasingly sophisticated technology and can connect everyone regardless of distance or time, so that the local culture of Wamena has become one that attracts the attention of foreign tourists and many foreign tourists who are curious and want to witness the local culture. If you visit Wamena, you will meet tourists who come to Wamena to see first hand what culture itself is like. The culture of the city of Wamena, which is still very traditional, is an attraction for foreign tourists, because in this modern era, most traditional cultures have disappeared and are not even known by the nation's children, plus this culture is very unique.
The author argues that globalization can certainly affect the culture of a nation, but it cannot replace traditional culture that has been inherent from the beginning. Foreign cultures that enter as a result of globalization must be filtered in order to maintain their own culture in order to maintain a sense of love for the country. Globalization does not always have a negative impact on the culture of a nation, but also has a positive impact. If globalization did not exist, maybe every country would find it difficult to communicate and introduce the wealth of its country such as its own culture and could not be recognized by many people around the world. The country of Indonesia is rich in various cultures from each tribe, so that must be maintained and introduced to foreign countries in order to continue to exist in the midst of globalization and of course it can be taken into account by foreign countries. Therefore, the local people of Wamena should not be silent and must make efforts to help their culture continue to exist amidst this current of globalization.
2. Literature Review
The Father of Cultural Anthropology, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, England carried out a series of studies on primitive societies, covering the cultural development of human society beyond the transitional phases “from wild society, through barbaric life to civilized life”. Culture is a complex whole, which contains other knowledge and habits acquired by humans as members of society (Tylor, 1871). This is the same as the development of local communities in Wamena in the past, who did not know and understand many things until now, where technology is increasingly sophisticated and makes it easier for people to do what they want.
Culture is a configuration of learned behavior and the results of behavior whose elements are shared and transmitted by community members (Linton, 1953). This paper is the same as what the author meant, that the culture defended by the Wamena people does not have a temporary impact. With the intention of maintaining the local culture from globalization, it can also simultaneously help the next generation and so on for the basis and guidelines so that the existing culture does not just disappear.
Prof. M.M. Djojodiguno in his book "Principles of Sociology" in 1958, culture is the power of mind, which is in the form of creativity, taste, and intention. Where copyright is science, which comes from physical and mental experiences, intention is religious/ belief norms, which originates from sangkan (birth) and paran (death), and taste is a norm of beauty that produces art, which comes from beauty and rejection of ugliness. According to the author, this opinion
from Djojodiguno can also be used as a reason why every culture that is owned must be maintained because it has useful results for our daily lives.
To facilitate the identification of the effects of globalization on culture, (Holton, 2000, 140) have classified them into three theses which give rise to the consequences of cultural globalization, namely homogenization, polarization, and hybridization. The first thesis is homogenization, which sees global culture in a commonality. If in Indonesia the homogenization process has been going on since the beginning of the era of Indonesian liberalization during the era of President Soeharto. Since the liberalization period, foreign cultures have entered Indonesia in line with the entry of other influences (Saidi, 1998).
Globally, all levels of society are considered to have a common culture and customs, and the most important thing here is that this tends to be focused on all trends occurring in Europe and the United States. Indirectly, this can be done through economic, political and social aspects.
Homogenization states that the American or Western cultural pattern is the standardization of global culture in the era of globalization (Holton, 2000, 141). In the economic field, this cultural unification stems from a market strategy in marketing goods and services from multinational companies (MNCs). Through this marketing, a term called Holton as consumer capitalism emerged, which is related to the Standard Brand Image; Mass Advertising; High Status Given (Holton, 2000, 142). According to the author, the examples most often encountered in everyday life are KFC, Mc Donalds and others, which represent the culture of fast food and soft drinks.
The next thing that indirectly unites people's culture is through film viewing, in this case the Hollywood film industry which continues to be productive in releasing good films, indirectly introducing their culture to the world community who watched it. Apart from films, it is also through communication tool brands, such as Google, Motorola, and Yahoo. These media also play a big part in the unification of global cultures. The mechanism of change is related to the spread of the market economy and global strategies of multinational companies around the world (Holton, 2000, 142). Regarding homogenization, the writer thinks that traditional culture is very important to be maintained in order to continue to exist among the people of a certain place. A culture is not guaranteed to be better if it completely closes itself from other cultures, but there must be assertiveness from the actors so that they are not immersed in other cultures, especially if everyone thinks that the culture in European and American countries is the standard that must be followed.
Holton's second thesis is polarization, which is very different from the previous thesis.
Polarization is against cultural unification, unlike homogenization which generalizes all cultures that must follow European and American culture. Polarization believes that everyone has their own culture which cannot be generalized and moreover cannot be required to follow or make the culture of a country as a benchmark. This thesis states that globalization, known as technological progress, actually produces friction which ultimately strengthens some parties to become a match for the previous parties (Holton, 2000, 145). The example given by Holton is the significant difference between the culture of Western society and Eastern society, especially the Middle East. Middle Eastern society is based on fundamentalist thinking that holds strong religious teachings, is stagnant, erotic, and authoritarian. This is very different from the typical Western people who are free, dynamic, full of innovation, rational thinking, and tolerant (Holton, 2000, 145). If you look at Holton's second thesis, the author thinks that this polarization depends on each actor, because everyone's views cannot be known, but it would be nice if culture is open so it is not tightly closed because remembering the era that continues to rotate but not totally change, more to filter culture that entered due to globalization.
The last thesis is hybridization, where there is a process of exchanging culture and cultural
elements from various sources. This is the same as biological hybrid processes where there is an attempt to combine cultural elements from various sources (Holton, 2000, 148). Holton (2000, 149) is the easiest to understand the application of hybridization in music, contemporary art, religion and spiritual life, but it is not easy to judge the scale and scope. This is due to the absence of a clear concept of the orientation of the mixed culture, so that this process results in no culture that is truly pure (Holton, 2000, 150). This cultural hybridization practice encourages every individual in the world to have a bond with each other, to live side by side with different backgrounds and to have a great sense of tolerance. The three theses above have their respective explanations that cannot be considered wrong because in fact, the things that are used as examples in the above theses really happen today. However, the first thesis, which makes America and Europe as the benchmarks of a country cannot be said to be correct because each country has its own culture that cannot be changed following America and Europe, and in the second thesis we are as individuals who want to develop better. Of course, we cannot shut ourselves off from the globalization of other cultures that continue to emerge because it can make our way of thinking very narrow. Personally, the authors are more likely to agree on Holton's third thesis, namely hybridization in which we must be open, in this case, do not reject the incoming cultural globalization and do not close ourselves off from cultural globalization but can exchange cultures without forgetting the culture of our own nation. The literature review above is very suitable and true in the present, so that the author feels helped by it.
The existence of traditional culture from Wamena, Indonesia
Wamena is one of the cities in Papua Province which has Jayawijaya Regency. Various tribes have settled in the Jayawijaya regency, three major tribes including the Dani, Yali, and Ngalum tribes. Each tribe has a unique culture that is different from one another and cannot be generalized, but what the three have similarities are their closeness to nature and the belief that a good life can be obtained if balance can be achieved. However, of the three tribes, the indigenous tribe that dominates and is also widely known by immigrants is the dani. The Dani tribe has been known for hundreds of years as skilled farmers and is able to use agricultural tools or tools. Not only that, the community has also been familiar with the technology of using stone axes, knives made from animal bones, bamboo, and spears made using strong and heavy dug wood. Various traditional cultures that are still practiced today in the midst of globalization and are able to attract the attention of others, include: War between tribes, where the main purpose of this war is to achieve balance by eliminating disturbing elements that threaten calm.
This is often encountered when the author is still living in Wamena, students or office workers are often sent home from their respective schools or offices if this or other similar thing has happened.
Second, the culture of cutting off the finger or the left ear is called ikin pilin, this culture is done as a symbol of deep sadness, condolences when a family member or close relative dies.
This local community believes that the culture of cutting fingers is a symbol of the pain and pain of someone who has lost a family member. The tradition of cutting the fingers of the left hand or ear is done in various ways, including by using sharp objects such as knives, axes or machetes even by biting the knuckles, and by tying the fingers with ropes so that the blood stops flowing and the knuckles die, then fingers it was cut. If one day readers come to visit Wamena, of course they can see for themselves, especially if you visit or shop at the market, that's when you can see that some local people who are sellers have had their knuckles or ears cut off.
Third, still often wearing traditional clothes in daily activities, where there are koteka, sali and noken. Koteka is one type of traditional Wamena clothing that is commonly worn by men.
Koteka is made from kunden or pumpkin in various sizes. If the koteka was used by men, it is different from sali. Sali is one type of traditional Wamena clothing that is commonly worn by women. The last one is noken. Noken is a bag made of wood skin and is shaped like plastic in general but has a strap (like a sling bag), noken can be used by both men and women. Usually noken is hung on the head or worn like a sling bag that we usually see. However, apart from being types of traditional clothes, these three items (Koteka, Sali, and noken) are also often sold in knick-knack shops that sell all kinds of home decoration supplies or other trinkets.
Usually other local communities or non-native Wamena people use koteka, sali and noken as home displays.
Fourth, living in a traditional house called honai made of grass or thatch. The author often gets questions when meeting new people or new friends, what is the shape of the house in Wamena?
Do you live in Honai? The answer is that in general, in Wamena, all houses have the same shape as other cities, so there is no difference whatsoever between houses in Wamena and houses in other cities. However, the honai referred to above are traditional houses that exist only in a few settlements of native people there, to be able to see these honai, you must visit several villages that still have or use honai as their home.
Fifth, perform rekwasi, a traditional ceremony performed to honor the ancestors. Usually the soldiers would make with lard, shellfish, bristles, cuscuses, sticky sago, mango tree sap, and flowers on their body parts. Sixth, storing the corpse of the chief and preserving it so that it can be visited and seen by foreign tourists, of course there are readers who do not immediately believe this point, but it does exist. If you come to visit Wamena, you can go to a village that holds the preserved corpse of the chief.
Seventh, organizing stone burning, where the fuel from this stone can use any kind of meat, but if in Wamena always use pork as stone fuel there. The way to burn stones is that the ground is usually dug into a large hole and then the meat is put in the hole, covered with leaves and then smoked until cooked. Readers can see first hand the stone burning process. If there is any event, the people will burn the stones.
Eighth, hold a large-scale Baliem Valley Cultural Festival every year which shows their culture so that it is known to many local people and foreign tourists who come. It can be said that all the people of Wamena City are always looking forward to this festival. This festival really attracts the attention of many people, because this festival is usually held in a few days so that the presentation of traditional cultural performances is very complete and has been packed regularly so that everyone who witnesses can enjoy and understand it.
With its strong traditional culture to this day, it can be proven that many foreign tourists come only to see firsthand how the local culture is real. The Director of Papua Adventure Tours and Travels estimates that every month there are 200-300 foreign tourists who come to Wamena, so every year there are more than 2000 foreign tourists visiting there and most of the foreign tourists come from Japan, Korea, China and Europe. But specifically in August, there are as many as 700 foreign tourists who come, because this August is precisely the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival. Initially, these cultural shows were first held in 1989, but they did not use the name Baliem Valley Cultural Festival, but they are increasingly considered good in promoting local culture to migrants who live in Wamena or foreign tourists from other countries. So that in recent years, started and inaugurated in 2015, the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival is set to become a permanent program of the district government and is always held in August. The estimated price rates for foreign tourists such as lodging, transportation, meals for
4-5 days are around 600-850 USD, but do not include ticket fees to Wamena and other additional costs. For watching tickets in the past few years, it was not expensive, for the people who live there it is charged around 1.76 USD, and for foreign tourists around 3.52 USD.
However, when the author saw the festival in 2019 firsthand, the cost of watching was free, only need to pay for the vehicle parking fee. The festival begins with scenarios that trigger war such as kidnapping citizens, killing tribal children, or raiding newly opened fields. The existence of this trigger caused other tribes to take revenge so that the attack was carried out.
This attraction does not make revenge or hostility a theme but instead has a positive meaning, namely Yogotak Hubuluk Motok Hanorogo, which means Hope for a Tomorrow Must Be Better than Today. Last August 2019 proved that this BVCF really attracted the attention of foreign tourists from various countries. Ticket sales and reservations to watch BVCF in 2019 were still in demand until March two years ago, even though the distance from March to August is not too far away. The Baliem Valley Cultural Festival managed to break two records, national record and international record (world).
Table 1: Number of Foreign Tourists in 3 years
Year The number of foreign tourists who witness the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival
2016 836
2017 1335
2018 1380
In 2019, no data has been found that shows the number of foreign tourists who witnessed the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival. However, it is unfortunate because in 2020 there will be no BVCF due to the corona virus. The people of Wamena do not reject the entry of globalization, but rather emphasize that they choose to filter the incoming globalization and keep their local culture so that it does not become extinct and can be maintained for generations by their children and grandchildren regardless of how many newcomers or foreign tourists enter bringing globalization. They also do not shut down at all, but it can be said that they are more careful in accepting technology or whatever it is that they just recognize.
3. Conclusion
The conclusion is that culture is an aspect that can also be penetrated by globalization. But globalization can have both good and bad impacts in terms of culture, depending on us as actors in this globalization. It must be instilled in each person that we should be proud of our own culture, not to be swallowed up by the current of globalization and forget about our own culture and then glance at foreign cultures and obsess over those cultures and then ignore our own cultures. The case examples above prove that with many local cultures it is very beneficial and enriching for Indonesia. Local culture from Sabang to Merauke can be an attraction for foreign tourists so that globalization can have a positive impact on Indonesia. Foreign tourists voluntarily come to Wamena to see firsthand how the culture there is, that should be the main reason for each of us so as not to be lulled by foreign cultures that enter our respective countries.
The local culture in Wamena still exists in the midst of this modern era, because if we observe until now the traditional culture in Wamena is still happening today if we look directly at the location. The existence of traditional culture in Wamena does not mean rejecting the entry of globalization, but in order to maintain the indigenous culture of the area in order to filter out the incoming globalization so that local culture is maintained and does not just disappear due to globalization. What is no less important is the role of the state, where the state as the main responsible actor must support and be a solution to maintain the culture that is in it.
The message for young people in particular is that young people should be at the forefront of facing globalization because young people are also vulnerable to being influenced by foreign cultures entering their respective countries. There is no prohibition on knowing foreign cultures, it will actually add insight to everyone, but one must remember to position which is more important between foreign culture and the culture of our own nation.
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