Alex Van Steen – RMI expeditions to Carstenz Pyramid

7. From: Amy Meredith Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2014 7:00 AM To: Alex Van Steen Fwd: Stranded Climbers on Carstensz? PTFI has rescued hundreds of climbers, and not once recouped their costs. … While one can argue that based on humanitarian need, they should intervene, the fact is it is incumbent upon the climbers to make certain they know how hard the jungle can be, know there really is a contingency plan, know the political lay of the land, and there is relationship as they transit....AND don't expect a free hand out should the proverbial ka ka hit the fan.

9. A pastor in Kobae gifts me his pig’s tooth necklace as thanks for visiting the remote villages in the Zombandoga valley.

10. Papuan tribesman prepare for a tribal war between two villages in Timika, Papua , Jan. 6, 2010. Challenges

11.

12. Witch burning June 2013Highlands tribal warfare, J Cutts photo

13. Sawi head hunting circa 1962 John Cutts speaks with Dani warriors

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15. RMI’s Connection Befriending a child in Hitadipa at the home built by Bill Cutts

16. Who are the Moni?

17. Cutts’ home in Hitadipa, Papua

18. Photos circa mid-1960s

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20. Opportunities “Giving relationship”

21. Community officials & leaders Being introduced to dignitaries of the Legislative Assembly of Mimika Regency.

22. Schools, teachers, coaches, churches & pastors

23. Sugapa Route Visitor Protocols This church serves an important role in the Gamagae community. Guests are welcomed to find refuge here and are asked respect the following requests. This will help ensure use of the building for future travelers. Please stay off of the raised area which surrounds the altar. This area is for local religious personnel only and it is considered offensive if others trespass there. Please keep hot water, stoves & cookware out of the building. This helps keep the area clean. Please hang a trash bag just outside the building to collect your garbage. Villagers will burn your trash for you. Because of the importance of Sunday worship, travelers should not expect access to the building on Saturday evenings or Sundays. Please offer a donation for your use of the church. This is an appropriate and considerate way of expressing thanks.

24. Connecting withindividuals

25. Meeting with an OPM commander

26. Porter, camp & cook training

27. Seminar Topics •How to stay healthy on the trek •Staying safe & warm in the moorlands & mountains •Sanitation for cooking & cleaning •How to establish comfortable campsites •Practiced setting up tents •How to build latrines / dispose of waste •Distributed certificates of completion

28. What does a visit to Papua look like when a model of relationship building is effectively implemented? “Giving relationship” = Access in Papua

29. Happy Travels!

Notas do Editor

Good morning. My name is Alex Van Steen. (I’m the one in the middle.) I have been an expedition mountaineering guide with Rainier Mountaineering Inc. since 1989. My topic this morning, “Building Sustainable Tourism in Papua, Indonesia,” is a challenging topic, and not entirely without differing opinions on how to proceed. While I am speaking primarily to those of us who wish to operate as commercial tour operators, much of this info should prove at least interesting and hopefully useful to individual climbers as well.
I wear a lot of different hats for our company, including Environmental Mgr. & Safety Officer, but certainly one of my more ambitious undertakings has been the creation of our Carstensz Pyramid program, attempting to develop this program in a manner which is environmentally, socially & relationally highly responsible. This is difficult for many reasons, some of which I will have time to touch on. There are models for commercial practice being used today that make better business sense and make better short-term sense than the model we are engaging. I briefly refer to some of these models but challenge us as commercial operators, regardless of the model we choose, to operate in a manner that demonstrates the highest possible regard for indigenous peoples and their environment.
In the early 1990s, while guiding on Mt. Rainier, I met a woman who had grown up as a missionary kid in the jungle highlands village of Hitadipa, very near to Carstensz Pyramid. The friendship between our families grew over the years and both Amy and her brother John have been key resources in our attempts to develop a sustainable model for adventure tourism in Papua. As RMI collaborated to build this adventure, this model of respect/ consideration / high regard for indigenous peoples, their ways of life, and their land was foundationally important to all of us - including the Papuans who expressed a readiness to tackle a project of this enormity – wherein the indigenous people would become the in-country operators, our hosts, rather than only porters, cooks, and trail-clearers.
Beginning in 2011 when I started this project, we have desired to build long-term relationships which would respectfully balance our visits with the Papuan’s traditional ways of life. No easy task because virtually everything about these two cultures (contemporary Western society & traditional Papuan society) is strikingly different. I will explain how RMI’s program tries to do this, and it is important to contrast our efforts with other program models where tourists (climbers) come in only briefly to experience the culture, to take pictures, to attain a summit, but fail to leave anything of lasting value as desired by the indigenous peoples through whose lands we travel. We all may have to put aside our Western cultural mindset of “take pictures, collect summits, build experiences” to truly put Papuans and their land first if we expect sustainability. Our Western mindset has been viewed in exceedingly harsh terms by tribal Papuans; in fact, it was described to me as “rape and run” tourism. This is because we are seen as taking – and even taking by force – rather than as giving.
Pursuing this model that builds relationships trumps either arming ourselves (with special police or military escort) as in some models or bypassing tribal villages altogether (as with helicopters) as in other models because, while these other models do indeed offer a short-term solution, evidence is gathering that they will likely yield only short-term benefits for the tourism industry. Those models are seen as antagonistic – we’re muscling our way through their lands, we’re not seen as interested in the people en route, in fact, we’re seen as depriving villagers of any resources which we might have to offer; again, we’re seen as only taking, not giving – and this won’t be sustainable.
Two stark examples of the evidence I speak of are: First - The increasing conflicts between tour operators (with their tourists) and indigenous Papuans (whether hired as porters or encountered along the trek in various villages). For example, the traditional Illaga route used since the first ascent of Carstensz in 1962 has all but been abandoned because the route has experienced so much tension. Second - There are also an increasing number of calls for help by tourists/climbers who – quite frankly – have failed to plan ahead & prepare adequately (e.g., those who have failed to secure medical or security evacuation coverage) or who have tried to cut too many corners (e.g., placing too much emphasis on cost to determine which operator to use).
How many more incidents - like the Illaga situation in August 2012 where a commercial climbing group was held at bay for a few hours, severely intimidated, and extorted for cash - can tourism accept/ handle? Even when commercial operators plan ahead & prepare well, they can still encounter significant troubles stemming from deeply-seated cultural differences. Regardless of why, of course, these kinds of incidents naturally deter tourism.
The essential question becomes: What actions/ initiatives/ which model of tourism fosters sustainability? This is what we’d like to know. For a historical perspective on outsiders involvement, the first missionaries came to the interior highlands only in the mid-1950s. They encountered previously uncontacted, tribal peoples. And while the Dutch originally colonized New Guinea, Indonesia has controlled Papua only since the early 1960s, and has opened Papua to tourism only since 2006; so practically speaking, quite recently. So herein lies an opportunity in its infant stages. Commercial operators like RMI have an opportunity to build relationships with indigenous peoples which will help build an understanding between our extremely different cultures, which is necessary to develop a sustainable model of tourism.
No doubt, the challenges of establishing a sustainable model are a bit overwhelming. For one, we cannot fully grasp the cultural divide between us and the indigenous tribal people because the challenges in this place & for these people have been so numerous and are simply, mostly, beyond our ability to relate to.
The whole of Indonesia is a land of immense diversity, at every level. Our Western concept of “multi-culturalism” only barely helps us grapple with the level of diversity present in Indonesia. To start, there are some 300 different tribal languages spoken in Papua alone and those Papuans are ethnically distinct from other Indonesians. A harsh topography of steep mountains, dense jungles, and immense swamps historically separated tribes and today a nearly total lack of infrastructure maintains that divide. Colonization (describing the perspective of the Papuans), first by the Dutch and currently by the Indonesians, has created social, political and economic tensions that are difficult to untangle & appreciate. And there exists a Free Papua movement which includes – practically speaking – every indigenous Papuan.
And the indigenous people still commonly engage in tribal warfare; witchcraft is still actively practiced; and a retribution ethic (kind of like a Hatfields-and-McCoys eye-for-an-eye ethic on steroids) is deeply ingrained in the culture of many tribal groups.
Though head-hunting and cannibalism have not been documented among all the highland tribes, many tribes appear to us to be quite violent & unpredictable. And yet in the face of all these significant challenges indigenous Papuans are also interested in developing sustainable tourism.
A tiny bit of evidence for this is that RMI has been partnering with one such Papuan who is working very hard to establish himself credibly. As well, this desire to be involved in community development – which includes working with tourists – was reiterated to me numerous times during my recent visit. So RMI seeks to collaborate with Papuans, asking what they want, certainly not just impose our goals on them, e.g., just bringing climbers to Carstensz.
RMI’s connection: The direct root setting for the relationship building I am trying to do in Papua included Bill & Gracie Cutts’ arrival to Moni tribal lands in the interior highlands in the early 1950s. Whatever one might think of the role of missionaries in tribal societies, history to this point indicates that if it hadn’t been for the missionaries, we would likely have no access to these environments. Sure, mining and logging companies have also set up shop, but to speak plainly, they are not at all interested in providing recreational support for the tourism industry. Missionaries were the ones who intentionally sought to develop relationships with tribal peoples. They learned their languages and lived & died among these people.
It is interesting that only in 1937 had the first known meeting between a European and members of the Moni tribe occurred. So Bill & Gracie were some of the very first white people to come to live among the Moni. The Moni number approx. 25,000; relatively small in number while still being one of the larger highlands tribes, and inhabit pockets of land and jungle roughly just north of Carstensz Pyramid.
Bill & Gracie ultimately took in 6 orphans, which later proved instrumental in saving their lives. See, by introducing the Bible to the Moni, many traditional practices were challenged and so people wanted to kill the “white evil spirits” (Bill & Gracie). Those people traveled to various villages to gather support for the killing as they felt that Bill & Gracie’s magic was very powerful. But each village they approached refused to help them because each one had a baby which had been taken in by the Cutts’. So Bill and Gracie lived to adopt both John and Amy into their family.
These two white missionary kids grew up knowing the Moni world as well as the Western world. I couldn’t have any better interpreters, both of language and of custom & culture, than John & Amy. My relationship with them provided a distinct advantage in the development of our program & my relationship with the Papuans.
Now, RMI, through my relationship with John & Amy, has been able to assist an indigenous Papuan of the Moni tribe to establish himself as the first non-Indonesian owner/operator for Carstensz adventures. This man & his team have an enormous task ahead of them. We also expect years of work & relationship building ahead of us but RMI is hoping for a resulting model of tourism which isn’t seen as antagonistic, which isn’t seen as “all take and no give,” and which is sustainable.
So, what are our opportunities to develop a relational model which will be the key to sustainable tourism? The model we propose is the model RMI tries to use everywhere we go. Of course, in Papua it is even more critical because of the numerous challenges & the significant cultural differences. I want to say that our model is a social ethic. Not so much a “Leave no trace” (as the environmental ethic goes) or a “Do no harm” (as in medical ethic goes), but rather a social ethic of “Giving relationship.” Whether you already have connections in Papua or are traveling there for the first time, the ability to appreciate a distinctly foreign culture and behave appropriately are the beginnings of giving relationship. In these following slides I will give you some examples through stories of some of my encounters which I hope model well “giving relationship” & the relationship building we are suggesting.
The essential question we were able to ask community officials & leaders was, “If you want a partnership, what does partnership look like?” Moses Sondagau (w/ me in photos on rt) works with the local regency government to ensure that porters are paid. He walked with me from Sugapa to Hitadipa, a hike of about 4 hours, and we had some significant time to chat. He had worked as a porter for a number of commercial outfitters over the past decade and in that time, the abuses he witnessed spurred him to begin serving as an advocate for the Papuan people. He now ensures that commercial outfitters uphold their responsibility to treat porters respectfully and pay them as promised. On average, he told me, only about 75% of the porters are being paid as promised. His work isn’t easy and can be fraught with tension because he is essentially policing both foreign & Indonesian operators. That said, he was shocked that I spent time just chatting with him, asking him about his family, showing him pictures of my family – extending what I would consider just simple kindness to a hiking compadre. He confessed that no foreigner had ever expressed such interest in him as a person. I told him, “You are an usua me, good man, taking a difficult job, working on behalf of your people.” He appreciated that.
I was invited and took the opportunity to speak at two church services, I assisted with an inter-faith Muslim/Christian children’s soccer camp, I visited a TK – a kindergarten class – and spoke in 2 high school classrooms at an international school. One of my most intense experiences also proved to be one of the most productive. In the remote village of Gamagae, after hiking through the jungle and the pouring rain for most of the day, we could hear a group of men yelling, and then we could see them approaching us quite hastily. One man especially seemed quite agitated. This is how I was introduced to Atan Topani (with me in upper right photo). I know that the Moni always speak loudly; their language sounds clipped; and they are more reserved with smiles than we are – it was important that I remember these cultural differences – but I also didn’t hear any of the customary greetings – amakane, amakanea, amakanenga – that let me know that regardless of how they sound or look, they’re welcoming. As it turns out, Atan was upset because the last group to come through his village had desecrated his church. This village, of which he was the pastor, consisted of a supply shed, a very basic church building, and a few wood & grass huts which housed about 20 villagers, and the tourists had cooked and then left garbage in the church. Atan explained that he wanted tourists to visit his village, but he needed tourists to respect his community.
After about two hours of “muna muna” – men’s talk – we together developed the “Sugapa Route Visitor Protocols” for travelers – what to do and what not to do when visiting. Here again, the essential question was, “If you want a partnership, Atan, what does partnership look like?” It looks like, “We want tourists, they can use our church as shelter, and here’s what considerate behavior looks like.” When I came home, I had these translated by various friends into Bahasa Indonesian, Dutch, German, Spanish, Japanese and Russian, and they are now ready to be posted in various villages.
In my most recent trip, I spent just under a month and visited about 10 communities, going village-to-village & connecting also with random individuals. I visited one area where the young children had not yet seen a white man. I also joined in on some indoor soccer matches in the city of Sentani. One of the other cultural differences that I found stark is that even if you think you are a patient person or a person who really enjoys conversation, you have nothing on the Moni. The Moni love to talk. To engage relationally with folks, I found I had to be willing to sit for hours and talk. When I told people my story, that I was traveling the land to meet the people because I wanted to know the people through whose lands I wanted to bring customers, they all responded very positively. Knowing how important talking is to the Moni, it was nice to hear one man say, “This is good talk.” Another man said, “What is happening here is more precious than cowry.” Cowry shells are very attractive little sea shells that become highly valued because of the stories associated with those who trade them. For example, “This cowry was used to settle a certain dispute. Later, it was offered as part of a bride price. Etc.” This was how cowries increased in value as they accumulated history. That was also affirming to hear. All of this relationship building, and visiting & traveling, and story-telling opened up an interesting chapter in my encounters with Papuans …
For quite a while prior to my arrival, we had arranged for individuals from various Moni villages to congregate in one place and participate in a seminar which would help them know how to work with tourists. During the evening of our first day, the OPM – the Free Papua Movement – commander and several of his top lieutenants came in to see what we were doing, effectively to either let us continue or not. He and his men just came into a small room where Amy and I were eating dinner, and introduced himself. He let us know us know right away that “today I come with a smile.” This was good news because this was the group that in the past had been responsible for some extremely savage attacks. We chatted for a little while that evening – based on our story, he gave us permission to proceed – and then he presided over our training seminar the following day. Halfway through the day an increasing number of men entered the village so that just before mid-day a large scale “muna muna” occurred. Muna munas can run the gamut, but many of them revolve around what traditionally has been the domain of men in tribal society: strategies to wage war, the secrets of effective hunting, and how to best protect their families. This no longer included me and Amy, this was about them deciding whether tourism was something they wanted. The OPM Commander spoke, men responded, Maximus, our Moni partner explained the vision; it was a lot of loud talking back and forth. Finally, one man spoke up (the guy in yellow), and he said the most stunning thing. He said, pointing to Amy, “Who is that woman? She is Ami-sana, sister of Zani-mala (speaking of John), children of Tuani (speaking of Bill Cutts). Now I will listen.” The OPM is a fractious movement. This commander told us that he was chief over the Carstensz area, including Illaga (where the New Zealand climbing group was held hostage) and Sugapa (which many tour operators are now starting since Illaga has such troubles). He told the gathering on this day that, “The time for my name to be big is over,” implying a new era where villages could collaborate to assist tourists, and of course to reap the rewards of tourism. I don’t doubt that he has clout; I don’t know that the world was entirely changed that day; but I do attribute much of the good that came out of it all to the “giving of relationship” that started with the Cutts’.
So the training seminar was a raging success. We discussed what was working well in other areas (like our Peru and Nepal treks), what wasn’t working well (like porters not being treated well), and what we might need to change here in Papua (for example, how to with human waste).
We discussed how to keep porters healthy and safe along the trek, we practiced setting up tents, and we concluded by awarding certificates of participation which porters could offer as evidence of learning to any prospective tour groups. It is difficult to know, but I was told that this was the very first time that a foreigner came in to offer training, the first time that the in-country operator was an indigenous Papuan, and certainly the first time that the OPM sat in on such training. 35 men from surrounding villages received certificates. As a biased-toward-action American, I wanted to do more, right? but relationship building is a slow & lengthy process.
To speak practically, we can’t expect to replicate the lifelong commitment of Bill & Gracie, or of John & Amy, or even replicate the commitment of several foundational years in a one-week adventure trip. Practically speaking, we don’t have a relational foot to stand on. But even visiting once, we can know so much more about this place than simply that we need rubber boots for the bogs! For your own background, I encourage you to visit our “Why climb with RMI?” page, our “Responsible Climbing Initiatives” page, and my “ClimbCarstensz” blog – or access the plethora of on-line resources available on these people, their culture and this environment. Choose an in-country tour operator who treats the Papuans well. This will require research, but the hallmark of a responsible company is how well they look after their porters on the trek. While just these ideas may produce a much smoother experience, the next steps in relationship building will be that much easier. We believe that our “giving relationship” social ethic, however, will – over time – help provide access.
I am happy to try to answer any questions you might have.

Alex Van Steen – RMI expeditions to Carstenz Pyramid

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Alex Van Steen – RMI expeditions to Carstenz Pyramid

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