United for Justice and Love

The One Big Tribe festival for West Papua took place over the Spring Equinox at Maynooth University in Ireland. People came from the USA, England, and the Netherlands especially for the festival and a wide array of nationalities were representated including 7 Papuans, Australians, a New Zealander and some Italians. The diversity of the attendees reflected the mix of ideas and backgrounds of the various visitors - who each brought their own ideas, experience and energies.

The festival began with a ceremonial singing of Irish (Liam O'Maonlai) and Papuan (Sem Karoba) songs in front of a backdrop of the morning star flag. Irish rockers 'The Kitch' got the crowd buzzing with some good old rock and roll and finished with an amazing rendition of Bob Marley's 'redemption song'. Next up was Papuan dancers Sampari who brought the beauty of Papuan culture to life. The growing crowd got into the drumming and chanting and the passion for Papuan freedom was growing by the second. When it was time for Sampari to finish - the crowd demanded more and Sampari were only too happy to reply with a storming version of a Papuan freedom song.

Next up, members of the Latin American Solidarity Centre in Dublin gathered for a set of deep harmonic songs from across the globe providing a perfect introduction and scene setter for Papuan Tribesman to come on stage to tremendous welcome and applause. The crowd was buzzing and one visitor remarked 'with this energy, you all should be linked in to the national grid'. Sem brought the sadness and strength of the Papuan struggle for political, cultural and spiritual freedom to the venue with some of his own (Recently recorded) songs as well as older, more traditional Papuan songs. He was joined on his stage by his friend and fellow warriror, Irish singer Liam O'Maonlai. The spirit of Irish culture and resistance was merged and songs were followed by a mournful silence as news of the U.S bombing of Baghdad arrived.

It was late in the night and everyone was highly charged with the amazing and unique energy of the setting (draped in Papuan flags and icons) and the amazing Hothouse Flowers were the perfect followup to get everyone dancing, celebrating and rejoicing in our solidarity and connectedness. Indeed the crowd was so charged that the music spilled over outside to the carpark when the concert was finished.

Next day, an early and tired start brought dozens of people to a Global Forum for West Papua at Maynooth. All were tired but still in awe at the success of the previous night. Throughout the day, which turned out to be sunny and warm, participants joined in circle formation for talks and idea sharing on West Papua, Women's struggle, Global resistance, and 'ways forward' as well as the sharing of songs, dancing and tears.

Overall, the passion, energy, ideas, awareness and money raised for the West Papuan struggle will form an unstoppable force for peace in Papua as well as an eternal thorn in the side of the Indonesian government. Plans are already in place for followup work, projects and actions. =============================================================

Forty Years of Indonesian Occupation 'One Big Tribe'

"One Big Tribe" May 1st 2003 marks forty years of the Indonesian occupation of West Papua.West Papua was handed over in the 60's through a seriously flawed so called de-colonistaion process by the Dutch, Americans, British and the UN. The country has been ravaged, polluted and pillaged by the Indonesian government, multi-national corporations and worldwide inaction ever since.

May 1st 2003 marks forty years of the Indonesian occupation of West Papua.West Papua was handed over in the 60's through a seriously flawed so called de-colonistaion process by the Dutch, Americans, British and the UN. The country has been ravaged, polluted and pillaged by the Indonesian government, multi-national corporations and worldwide inaction ever since.

For forty years, men, women and children have been dispersed, dislocated, murdered, raped and silenced through imperialist agendas and capitalist greed. Harrowing stories have emerged of what can only be described as genocide but the powerbrokers remain inactive, silent, and in many cases collaborate in and perpetrate these crimes.

But the people of West Papua are strong. Their spirits remain free and resistance to oppression grows as within their country and around the world, brave Papuans risk their lives to tell their story.

This spirit of resistance was embodied at the "One Big Tribe" festival in Maynooth 21-22March. People from Papua, Ireland and throughout the world gathered to sing, tell their stories, weave together threads of ideas and make important and lasting links and connections.

The festival was a celebration of culture, Papuan culture, Irish culture, shared cultures and an exploration of means of expressing those cultures as resistance. We could say that culture is a set of stories, through which we remember, envision and adapt. Through our stories we affirm our culures, identities and our life paths.They are a vehicle for the imagination, a way of resisting and a source of strength.

When a people are silenced, their stories wiped out, erased and the means through which they express and share those stories restricted we can clearly see the transformative power of them.

The Indonesian government and other governments and multi-nationals colluding with this genocide also know the power of these stories and have acted accordingly. All oppression seeks to silence and manipulate truth. Acts of cultural genocide seek to erase these stories as a means of erasing the people.

Over the past few days in Maynooth we listened to sometimes harrowing accounts of oppression and destruction, not only of a people but of our earth, our animals, our spiritual connections.But as we listened we made the West Papuan story our story. As the struggle continues, more ways will be found to make this a story of the world and one in which we all have a role to play.

"When we recover our past, the earth will open its secrets" Jaime Huenun (Indigenous Chilean Poet)

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http://www.onebigtribe.org

"It is sure that Indonesia will not give us permission for freedom, so we appeal to people outside Indonesia to the international community, to the UN so other nations can join us and assist us."

Murdered Independence Leader, Theys Eluay