Five centuries of settlement dynamics and mobility in the Northern Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua - Gaffney, D; Tanudirjo, D; Arnold, L; Gaman, W; Russell, T; Djami, E; Macap, A (Routledge, 2024)
We explore changes to settlement and mobility in the northern Raja Ampat Islands (Waigeo, Gam, and Batanta) over the past five centuries, a time when speakers of several Austronesian languages were moving throughout the archipelago. The evidence shows: (1) some settlement relocations were rapid, occurring within a generation, while other settlements remained fixed for hundreds of years; and (2) there were numerous clan and family scale movements that led to high levels of intermarriage between language groups and settlements. The results demonstrate that far from being a place of stasis caught between the worlds of Maluku and New Guinea, Raja Ampat settlement and mobility were highly dynamic. This dynamism prompts us to rethink the relationship between today’s settlement locations, their language affiliations, and the meta-narratives about their recent population histories. We propose that the deeper past of Raja Ampat may have also been characterized by dynamic movement and social flux. Abstrak Kami mengkaji perubahan permukiman dan mobilitas penduduk di Kepulauan Raja Ampat bagian utara (Waigeo, Gam, dan Batanta) selama lima abad terakhir, kurun waktu ketika penutur beberapa bahasa Austronesia berpindah ke seluruh nusantara. Bukti-bukti menunjukkan: (1) beberapa relokasi permukiman berlangsung cepat, terjadi dalam satu generasi, sementara ada permukiman lainnya berrtahan tidak pindah selama ratusan tahun; dan (2) banyaknya perpindahan suku dan keluarga telah mengakibatkan tingginya tingkat perkawinan campur antara penutur bahasa yang berbeda dan permukiman. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa wilayah tersebut tidak statis, meskipun terapit di antara wilayah Maluku dan Papua. Sebaliknya, perpindahan pemukiman dan mobilitas penduduk di Raja Ampat sangat dinamis. Dinamika ini membuat kita perlu memikirkan kembali hubungan antara lokasi pemukiman yang ada saat ini, afiliasi bahasa mereka, dan meta-narasi tentang sejarah penduduk akhir-akhir ini. Kami berpendapat bahwa di masa lalu wilayah Raja Ampat mungkin juga ditandai oleh pergerakan penduduk dan perubahan sosial yang sangat dinamis.