Papuans claim their right to be "naked"

Papuans, in accordance with their traditions, live naked, wearing only a koteka or loincloth. For the Indonesian regime, which has ruled Papua for six decades, this cannot be fully accepted.

As a matter of fact, in this largest Muslim-majority country, nudity is not only considered an incivility but also a backwardness. Indonesia's anti-pornography laws, strengthened in the last fiveteen years, have made it easier to criminalise people who live in the nude.

Although the majority of Papuans no longer live unclothed, in recent years, more and more Papuans have chosen to revisit the traditions of their ancestors. This form of resistance to Indonesian colonisation is carried out both individually and in groups. Recently, teachers and students of St John the Baptist Catholic School in North Kamu District, Dogiyai, agreed to wear traditional Papuan clothing every Monday.

Is this a provocation? "Far from it!", insists an anonymous Papuan. "This is purely an affirmation of our identity as Papuans of the Melanesian race. We oppose the stigmatisation of our culture as backward. From our habit of living in harmony with nature, one should be able to see how much we, Papuans value our bodies as God's masterwork. In the past, Christian missionaries never made an issue of this," he concluded.

Is nudity really immodest? It all depends on our own perspective. For this reason, it is good to reflect on the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:22-23: 

" The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body is bright, but if your eye is evil, your whole body is dark. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! "

Back to school at Saint John the Baptist of Dogiyai, January 2024.