In the
article “Rule of the Headhunters” published in Newsweek, author Maggie Ford describes the chaos that took place from
1999 through 2001 in Borneo, and all around Indonesia. Headhunters were attacking immigrants from
Madura. As they were hunting them down
they would kill anything in their path.
The Indonesian army would try to prevent the headhunters from killing
the Madura. The headhunters would take
their heads and hang them on sticks and in their homes. In 1999, in Borneo it was illegal to do that. “The army carried some 16,000 Madurese by
convoy to safety in the provincial capital of Pontianak, leaving behind
troubling questions.” President at the
time, Suharto had a transmigration policy in place. This was supposed to help poor people to
relocate on a different island like Borneo so that each island is not
overpopulated. The plan did not
work. The problem is that the Madurese
carry “kris” daggers with them, and they are not afraid to use them if they
feel threatened. This causes many
conflicts between each ethnic group. The
new president of Indonesia around that time period proposed that they give each
ethnic group more revenue of the local deposits of oil. He’s hoping that that would stop the
headhunters.
This
article, to me gave me a lot of questions.
For example “Why didn’t this article give me any answers on the effects
that it had on Indonesia?” “What are the
reasons why all of the ethnic groups attacked each other?” Was it because of the allowance of letting immigrants
into every island, I’m not positive. I also
asked myself “What is going on in Borneo right now?” I don’t understand why the tribes had to kill
one another just because they were on their island together. After finishing this article, it made me want
to do more research on Borneo, and all of Indonesia.
Judging from your questions I can tell you were very interested in this article. I too wonder how live is in Borneo today. Even though head hunting is illegal, I wonder if some members go against the gain and practice head hunting anyway.
ReplyDeleteI can tell this article interests you in many ways. I also wonder why all these ethnic groups attacked each other. This article gives me more questions than it does answers, which makes me want to learn more about headhunters.
ReplyDeleteI can't belive they used to cut people's heads off and use them for religious or tribal reasons. I can see that this article has many interesting things about it, and I can see why you chose it. Im not getting much answers, but I'm getting more questions about the headhunters. Great job on this article.
ReplyDelete