Indigenous Development and Empowerment in Mimika Regency, Papua Province of Indonesia

The Amungme and Kamoro are indigenous groups that are among the most underprivileged and vulnerable groups in Mimika Regency, Indonesia. Modernization came to the area since the 1960s through mining activity and has encouraged modern infrastructure that disrupted Amungme and Kamoro indigenous lifestyles. These state-led developments have further underpinned the marginalization of these groups by the transmigration program that brought a high influx of migrants who are more supported and benefit from economic activities in the regency. To bridging the gap of economic advancement to indigenous people, non-government organizations have emerged with the purpose of developing and building the capacity of indigenous people to assist them to engage in and adapt to economic and social changes. However, these approaches of empowerment are challenging for Amungme and Kamoro to fully benefit with its prominent aims. This research focuses on the development of indigenous people in Mimika to find the link between current empowerment programs with the indigenousness of Amungme and Kamoro as beneficiaries. The research objectives are to describe the current condition of Amungme and Kamoro in relation to recent development in Mimika; to analyze the role of civil society in improving development projects through in-depth analysis on the development process of LPMAK, Lemasa, Lemasko and government; and to analyze the idea of indigenousness within current empowerment programs conducted by civil society while identifying key areas to improve current empowerment programs. This research uses qualitative methods to collect data from key informants with in-depth interviews from relevant stakeholders involved and through document analysis. Various perspectives from the customary institutions, non-government organizations and indigenous people of Amungme and Kamoro are analyzed and evaluated. The research findings reveal that the premise of current empowerment programs in health, economy and education does not fit with the Amungme and Kamoro’s empowerment needs. Although current empowerment programs have developed the capacity of Amungme and Kamoro by bridging the gap between their condition and modernization, and the engagement of customary institution has enhanced its strategy to better empower indigenous people, the different focus of empowerment has limited the Amungme and Kamoro to be fully empowered by the program. The Amungme and Kamoro people’s ecological context, livelihood and gender have played a key role in criticizing those programs against their indigenousness.