Indonesia Nusantara: Folklore from Papua

Irian Jaya, or also known as Papua, is a great part of Indonesia which is rich in cultures and natural beauties. The famous Raja Ampat is there, and many other white sand beaches are also there.

Basically, you may know the cultures and habits of the society of a place from the old story from that place, since most of the life value in Indonesian society was told from elder to younger people. After you hear or read an old story from some places of Indonesia, you will see that the story is deep and meaningful, even though you may hear some illogical things in the story, perhaps it was made to activate the creativity of the children, and also the flavor to make the story become more interesting. So here, I present to you a folklore from Papua.. Enjoy :)

Once upon a time, there was a man named Towjatuwa in Irian jaya (an old name for Papua). He lived beside Tami River.

He was sad, His wife was pregnant and it was too hard for her to deliver the baby. To help the baby, Towjatuwa needed surgical operation with a sharp stone he could get from Tami River.

When he was looking for the stone, he heard strange sound from his back. He was surprised to see a giant crocodile. He was scared. The crocodile slowly moved to Towjatuwa . This crocodile was different from other crocodiles. It had the feather of Cassowary at its back so it was scarier than other crocodiles.

Towjatuwa moved back to run, but the crocodile greeted him and asked what he was doing there. Then Towjatuwa told the condition of his wife. Then the crocodile answered: “don’t worry. I’ll come to your house tonight. I’ll help you and your wife.” Towjatuwa went home to see his wife. He told his wife about that crocodile happily.

The other night, the magical crocodile got into Towjatuwa’s house. With its magical power, the baby could be born safely. The baby got named, Narrowra. The crocodile portended that the baby would become a great hunter.

The crocodile, named Wawute by the local people who had heard this story and told it to their children, asked Towjatuwa’s family not to kill and eat any crocodile’s flash, or their entire family would be die. Towtjatuwa and his family promised that. They became the protector of river life in Tami River.

Could you find the epic culture which is taught from this story to the younger generation? You will see why the natural life of Papua is still good right now. Yes, we believe crocodile might endanger our life, and from the story, we know that it is quite common to see crocodile in the rivers of Papua. But after all, the kids were taught, indirectly from the story, that even though the crocodile is scary, they need to be protected as the part of nature. This story may has changed the image of crocodile in our mind. Smooth way, isn’t it?

GOOD BYE BOREDOM

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