The Koteka Tribal Assembly (, abbreviated as DeMMaK) is a cultural organisation of the

Koteka The koteka ( Mee, ), also referred to as a horim or penis gourd, is a penis sheath traditionally worn by native male inhabitants of some (mainly highland) ethnic groups in New Guinea. The koteka is normally made from a dried-out gourd, ''Lagenar ...

-wearing tribes of the then

Papua province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri, and is divided in ...

region in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It was established in as an outcome of discussions among the elders of several tribes in the highlands of the region. The main goal of the assembly is to peacefully, democratically and legally work towards the recognition and protection of customary laws, values and beliefs of the Koteka peoples. Many activists from the organization who were involved in peaceful protests have been tortured and forced into exile. DeMMaK was in May 2000, prior to the Papuan People's Congress II (2000) held in

Jayapura Jayapura (formerly Hollandia (1910-1962), Kota Baru (1962-1963), Soekarnopura (1963-1968)) is the capital city, capital and List of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of Papua (provi ...

. The field leader of DeMMaK is

Benny Wenda Benny Wenda (born 1975) is a West Papuan independence leader and Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). He is an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the Unit ...

. Sam Karoba is the founder and international chair of DeMMaK. Though DeMMaK is generally supportive of the PDP, it accuses the latter of being too accommodating of the government. Koteka Tribes claimed to consists of seven major tribes in the central and southern highlands of Papua; namely Lani, Mee, Amungme, Kamoro, Yali, Damal, and Moni with other sub-tribes such as Nggem, Walak, Hubla, Kimyal, Momuna, Ngalik. According to DeMMaK, the above is the division of the Koteka Tribes according to foreigners. The people from the Koteka Tribes themselves classify the Koteka Tribes into four major tribes: Lani, Mee, Loma and Yali Tribes. It is organised in as a confederation that consists of elders who independently and autonomously join and or leave the assembly as they wish, and contribute to the organisation according to their willingness and capabilities in order to achieve their goal. DeMMaK is managed under coordination of a Secretary-General that is assisted by Coordinators based on activities carried out within the Assembly.

References

{{Reflist Western New Guinea

See also

References