Not long ago, the eastern border of the Netherlands was to be found in New Guinea, the country of the Papuans, at a longitude of 141o east and a latitude just south of the equator.
Officially, it did not become part of the Dutch empire until the nineteenth century, but the Dutch had laid claim to the region as early as the seventeenth century.
Departing from the Moluccan islands, the Dutch East India Company organized expeditions to obtain slaves and tropical woods from the Papuans.
These missions were not entirely successful. Read more about the expeditions.
“The country is rugged and wild, and mountainous in many places. The climate is misty and humid.”
”We must admit that knowledge about these lands is lacking”, Dutch visitors noted in the seventeenth century.
Since then, the extent of that knowledge has increased little.
As late as 1959, there were regions in which no Western traveller had ever set foot.
An expedition to such an area would be reported in the newspaper.
As always, objects of exchange were offered to the Papuans: cork, beads, empty tins, and even short pants for the men, which were meant to replace the traditional penis gourds.
The Papuans, the journalist noted, were as "delighted as children by these presents." “This warrior thinks he’s really someone since he’s acquired such exclusive headgear“ [a busted soccer ball]. (Algemeen Dagblad, 5 March 1959)
One of the very few Dutchmen who did not speak of the Papuans in arrogant tones was Jean Victor de Bruijn, an Indologist from Leiden University.
In 1939 he was appointed Controller of the Domestic Government for the Wisselmeren district in the Central Highlands.
De Bruijn’s finest hour came when New Guinea was occupied by the Japanese in 1942. He launched an intelligence mission together with local woodsmen and telegraphed information on the whereabouts of the Japanese to Melbourne on behalf of the Allied Forces.
On 22 April 1944, 52,000 American troops, including Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, landed in Hollandia, New Guinea.
General MacArthur transformed it into an operating base for the battle in the Pacific.
A few weeks later, de Bruijn and his men were evacuated to Australia. Read more about Vic de Bruijn and the war.
In the 1930s, there was an active independence movement among the Papuans in Biak.
During the war the pursuit of independence intensified as the Papuans realized that they had no affinity with the Dutch, nor with the Japanese or any other Asiatic people.
They felt a greater affinity with the South Sea Islanders.
Even today, the Kaisiëpo family leads a movement striving for independence within a pan-Melanesian federation. Read more about the Kaisiëpo family.
The Dutch government had repeatedly promised the Papuans independence.
In 1949, when Indonesia was finally granted self-rule, New Guinea was the only remaining Dutch possession in the region.
President Sukarno refused to acknowledge Dutch administration of New Guinea, and soon Indonesian soldiers started to infiltrate the country.
From 1950 until 1962, some 30,000 Dutch troops were dispatched to New Guinea to counter this threat.
Eventually the conflict was battled out at a political level. In 1963 control over New Guinea was handed over to Indonesia, after a period of temporary UN administration. This triggered an exodus of highly skilled Papuans to the Netherlands. Many New Guinea-based Moluccans and people of mixed Dutch-Indonesian descent also left the country as they no longer felt safe. In 1969, New Guinea officially became a province of Indonesia, after a referendum among the Papuans the fairness of which is disputed.
In 1962 the postage stamp was overprinted with “UNTEA”, United Nations Temporary Authority. The bird of paradise was an export product for New Guinea, used in the millinery trade in Western Europe. The bird of paradise population was severely affected as a result.
(Text and compilation: Margreet Schrevel)