Indigenous people of New Guinea

The indigenous peoples of Western New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, commonly called Papuans,^[1] are Melanesians. There is genetic evidence for two major historical lineages in New Guinea and neighboring islands: a first wave from the Malay Archipelago perhaps 50,000 years ago when New Guinea and Australia were a single landmass called Sahul and, much later, a wave of Austronesian people from the north who introduced Austronesian languages and pigs about 3,500 years ago. They also left a small but significant genetic trace in many coastal Papuan peoples.

Papuans

Dani people from the central highlands of Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Total population
14,800,000
Regions with significant populations
Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Languages
Languages of Papua In Papuan New Guinea: Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Unserdeutsch and English In Indonesia: Papuan Malay and Indonesian
Religion
Christianity, Islam, and Traditional Faiths
Related ethnic groups
Other Melanesians, Ambonese, Moluccans, Aboriginal Australians, Malagasy people

Linguistically, Papuans speak languages from the many families of non-Austronesian languages that are found only on New Guinea and neighboring islands, as well as Austronesian languages along parts of the coast, and recently developed creoles such as Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Unserdeutsch, and Papuan Malay.^[2][3][4]

The term "Papuan" is used in a wider sense in linguistics and anthropology. In linguistics, "Papuan languages" is a cover term for the diverse, mutually unrelated, non-Austronesian language families spoken in Melanesia, the Torres Strait Islands, and parts of Wallacea. In anthropology, "Papuan" is often used to denote the highly diverse aboriginal populations of Melanesia and Wallacea prior to the arrival of Austronesian-speakers, and the dominant genetic traces of these populations in the current ethnic groups of these areas.^[3]

Children dressed up for sing‑sing

Languages

 

The language families in Ross's conception of the Trans-New Guinea language family

Ethnologue's 14th edition lists 826 languages of Papua New Guinea and 257 languages of Western New Guinea, a total of 1083 languages, with 12 languages overlapping. They can be divided into two groups, the Austronesian languages, and all the others, called Papuan languages for convenience. The term Papuan languages refers to an areal grouping, rather than a linguistic one. So-called Papuan languages comprise hundreds of different languages, most of which are not related.^[5][6]

Papuan ethnic groups

 

Yali in the Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia

The following indigenous peoples live within the modern borders of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Austronesian-speaking (AN) groups are given in italics.

Indonesia

West Papua

Main article: List of ethnic groups of West Papua

Papuan ethnic groups / tribes in the Indonesian province of West Papua include Arfak, Borai, Doreri, Hatam, Irarutu, Koiwai, Kuri, Madewana, Mairasi, Maniwak, Mbaham, Matta, Meiah, Miere, Meyah, Moire, Moru, Moskona, Napiti, Oburauw, Roon, Roswar, Sebyar, Sougb, Soviar, Sumuri, Wamesa, Warumba, Waruri, Wondama.^[7]

Southwest Papua

Main article: List of ethnic groups of Southwest Papua

Papuan ethnic groups / tribes in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua include Abun, Ambel, Batanta, Biak (Betew, Kafdaron, Bikar, Usba, Wardo), Biga, Butlih, Domu, Fiawat, Imekko (Inanwatan-Bira, Matemani-Iwaro, Kais-Awe, Kokoda-Emeyode), Irires, Ma'ya (Kawe, Langanyan, Wawiyai), Matbat, Maybrat (Ayamaru, Mare, Karon Dori, Ayfat, Aytinyo), Meyah, Moi-Ma'ya, Moi, Mpur, Nerigo, Tehit, Tepin, Yahadian, Yaben-Konda.^[7]

Papua

Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Papua include:^[8]

Jayapura City	Kayu Batu/Kayu Pulau Tobati Enggros Nafri Skouw Sentani
Jayapura Regency	Demta Kaureh Kemtuk Kawamsu Mekwei Narau Gresi Nimboran Oria Ormu Kapori Foya Sauso Tabia Tarpia Taworfa Yansu Yamna Kendate Tofamna Bauwi
Sarmi Regency	Akwaikai Airoran Anus Baburiwa Bagusa Yarsun Bapu Bonerif Lairawa Kauweraweo Mander Papasena Wakde Baso Bonggo Itik Keder Maremgi Podena Marembori Babe Kabera Kwerba Masimasi Samarokena Wares Berik Dabra Kwesten Massep Sobei Warotai Betaf Foau Kapitiauw Liki Nopuk
Keerom Regency	Aywi Janggu Taikat Yafi Manem Sowei Dubu Molof Usku Emumu Sangke Waina Senggi Waris
Biak Numfor Regency	Borapasi Bonefa Kofei Sauri Siromi Tafaro Waropen Wairata Burate Sedasi Otodema Demisa Demba Biak
Waropen Regency	Amabi Ansus Busami Karema Kurudu Marau Munggui Nisa Papuma Pom Arui Woi Anate Nakabui Waropen
Yapen Islands Regency	Borapasi Bonefa Kofei Sauri Siromi Tafaro Waropen Wairata Burate Sedasi Otodema Demisa Demba
Mamberamo Regency	Bauzi Duvle Tauraf

Highland Papua

Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Highland Papua include:^[8]

Jayawijaya Regency	Nduga Walak Dani
Pegunungan Bintang Regency	Yali Ngalum Biksi Ketengban Tyu Sukubatong Una
Tolikara Regency	Eiponek Taori Kwerisa Toarikei Turui Lani
Yahukimo Regency	Hmanggona Hupla Inlom Korupun Sela Mek Kosarek Momuna Mek Nipsan Ngalik Lani Lembah Mek Nalca

Central Papua

Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Central Papua include:^[8]

Mimika Regency	Kamoro Sempan Damal Amung
Nabire Regency^[9]	Yerisiam Wate Mora Hegure/Yaur/Yagure Umari/Teluk Umar Gwoa Napan Mee Auwye/Ause Moi
Painai Regency	Mee Dou Wodam Wolani
Puncak Jaya Regency	Lani Barat Dem Fayu Kiri-kiri Moni Tause Wano Dani

South Papua

Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of South Papua include:^[8]

Merauke Regency	Bian Marind Kanum Kimaghama Maklew Marind Dek (Hulu) Marind Laut (Muara) Mombum Maraori Yey/Yei Sota
Asmat Regency	Asmat Citak Pisa Sawi Tamnim Warkai Biplim
Mappi Regency	Airo Awyu Kayagar Siagha Tamagario Yaghay Yaninu Sumaghaghe
Boven Digoel Regency	Aghul Iwur Katik Kauwoi Kombai Korowai Kotogut Yanggon Okparimen Ninggerum Wambon Wanggom Yair

Papua New Guinea

• Abelam
• Angu
• Baruya
• Biangai
• Bilibil
• Chambri
• Duna
• Etoro
• Fore
• Gadsup
• Gogodala
• Haroli
• Hewa
• Huli
• Iatmul
• Kaluli
• Kwoma
• Koteka
• Maisin (AN with many non-AN elements)
• Melpa
• Mian
• Morkai
• Motu
• Min
• Mundugumor
• Ogea
• Orokaiva
• Sambia
• Swagap
• Tairora
• Tanga
• Telefol
• Tsembaga
• Urapmin
• Wiru
• Wola
• Wopkaimin
• Yaifo
• Zia

Bismarck Archipelago

• Baining
• Tolai
• Trobriand

•  
  Girls from Papua New Guinea
•  
  Papuan people in folk dress in Jakarta
•  
  Newly married Kayu Batu couple in Jayapura, Indonesia

Origin and genetics

 

Phylogenetic position of the Papuan lineage among other East Eurasians.

 

Schematic summary of population settlement in Insular Southeast Asia, involving several East Eurasian lineages: (A) Initial occupation of Sunda and Sahul by ancestry related to modern New Guinean and Australian Aboriginal populations, followed by deep mainland Asian (Tianyuan- or Onge-related) ancestry. (B) Dispersals of ancestries associated with ancient Mainland Southeast Asian and ancestral Punan-related components predating the coastal South Chinese, and hence Austronesian-related, ancestries. (C) Austronesian expansion leading to Austronesian (Ami- and Kankanaey-related) ancestry observed in NE and SE Borneans and subsequent specific Papuan ancestry admixture observed in the Lebbo population in East Borneo.

The origin of Papuans is generally associated with the first settlement of Australasia by a lineage dubbed 'Australasians' or 'Australo-Papuans' during the Initial Upper Paleolithic, which is "ascribed to a population movement with uniform genetic features and material culture" (Ancient East Eurasians), and sharing deep ancestry with modern East Asian peoples and other Asia-Pacific groups.^[10][11][12] It is estimated that people reached Sahul (the geological continent consisting of Australia and New Guinea) between 50,000 and 37,000 years ago. Rising sea levels separated New Guinea from Australia about 10,000 years ago. However, Aboriginal Australians and Papuans had diverged genetically much earlier, around 40,000 years BP. Papuans are more closely related to Melanesians than to Aboriginal Australians.^[13][12]

Haplogroups

The majority of Papuan Y-DNA Haplogroups belong to subclades of Haplogroup MS, and Haplogroup C1b2a. The frequency of each haplogroup varies along geographic clines.^[14][15]

Autosomal DNA

The genetic makeup of Papuans is primarily derived from Ancient East Eurasians, which relates them to other mainland Asian groups such as the "AASI", Andamanese, as well as East/Southeast Asians, although Papuans may have also received some gene flow from an earlier group (xOoA), around 2%,^[16] next to additional archaic Denisovan admixture in the Sahul region. Papuans may habor varying degrees of deep admixture from "a lineage basal to West and East-Eurasians which occurred sometimes between 45 and 38kya", although they are generally regarded "as a simple sister group of Tianyuan" ("Basal East Asians").^[11][12][10]

 

PCA plot of genetic variation of worldwide populations. Papuans (green) cluster relative close to other East Eurasians, such as East/Southeast Asians.

There is evidence that the ancestors of Papuans and related groups "underwent a strong bottleneck before the settlement of the region, and separated around 20,000–40,000 years ago".^[17]

Papuans display pronounced genetic diversity, explained through isolation and drift between different subgroups after the settlement of New Guinea. The most notable differentiation was found to be between Highlanders and Lowlanders. Papuan Highlanders fall into three clusters, but form a single clade compared against Lowlanders. The Highlanders underwent a population bottleneck around 10,000 years ago, associated with the adaption of Neolithic lifestyles. Papuan Lowlanders display increased diversity and can be broadly differentiated into a Southern Lowlander cluster and a Northern Lowlander cluster. The genetic differentiation among Papuans is suggested to date back at least 20kya, while the sub-structure among Highlanders dates back around 10kya, with higher diversity among western Highlanders than Eastern ones. The genetic diversity is paralleled by linguistic and cultural diversity.^[18]

Archaic introgression

Based on his genetic studies of the Denisova hominin, an ancient human species discovered in 2010, Svante Pääbo claims that ancient human ancestors of the Papuans interbred in Asia with these humans. He has found that people of New Guinea share 4%–7% of their genome with the Denisovans, indicating this exchange.^[19] Denisovan introgressions may have influenced the immune system of present-day Papuans and potentially favoured "variants to immune-related phenotypes" and "adaptation to the local environment".^[20]

ASPM gene

In a 2005 study of ASPM gene variants, Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the Papuan people have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM Haplogroup D, at 59.4% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.^[21] While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase.

Notable people

• Abba Bina, Papua New Guinean businessman and politician
• Archie Thompson, former Australian soccer player
• Elie Aiboy, former Indonesian footballer
• Marlina Flassy, Indonesian anthropologist and the first woman to be appointed Dean of Cenderawasih University
• Frans Kaisiepo, 4th Governor of Papua and National Hero of Indonesia
• Nitya Krishinda Maheswari, Indonesian badminton player and 2014 Asian Games women's doubles gold medalist
• Nowela Auparay, professional singer and Indonesian Idol winner
• Peter O'Neill, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
• Freddy Numberi, Indonesian politician and former Minister of Transportation
• Raema Lisa Rumbewas, Indonesian weightlifter and silver medallist at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics
• Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer
• Titus Bonai, Indonesian footballer
• Ricky Kambuaya, Indonesian footballer
• Michael Somare, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
• Heather Watson, English female tennis player
• Benny Wenda, West Papuan independence leader.
• Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan, King of Sekar and National Hero of Indonesia
• Abdul Hakim Achmad Aituarauw, Member of People's Representative Council
• Alwin Komolong
• Kusuga Komolong
• Saiful Islam Al-Payage, Indonesian Islamic preacher

See also

•  New Guinea portal
•  Indonesia portal

• Aboriginal Australians
• Indigenous Australians
• Koteka Tribal Assembly
• List of ethnic groups of West Papua
• Malagasy people (Africa)
• Moluccans (to the west of New Guinea)
• Negrito (Southeast Asia)
• Papua conflict
• Proto-Australoid
• Stéphane Breton (filmmaker)
• Torres Strait Islanders between New Guinea and mainland Australia (including the Meriam people, whose language family is otherwise found in New Guinea)

References

1. From the Malay word pəpuah 'curly hair'. "Papuan". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
2. Traditional Melanesia at the Encyclopædia Britannica
3. Friedlaender J, Friedlaender FR, Reed FA, Kidd KK, Kidd JR (2008). "The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders". PLOS Genetics. 4 (3): e19. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019. PMC 2211537. PMID 18208337.
4. Jinam, Timothy A.; Phipps, Maude E.; Aghakhanian, Farhang; Majumder, Partha P.; Datar, Francisco; Stoneking, Mark; Sawai, Hiromi; Nishida, Nao; Tokunaga, Katsushi; Kawamura, Shoji; Omoto, Keiichi; Saitou, Naruya (August 2017). "Discerning the Origins of the Negritos, First Sundaland People: Deep Divergence and Archaic Admixture". Genome Biology and Evolution. 9 (8): 2013–2022. doi:10.1093/gbe/evx118. PMC 5597900. PMID 28854687.
5. Palmer, Bill (2018). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area. Mouton De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
6. "Forthcoming Series: Papuan Languages". Brill. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
7. Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
8. "Pemerintah Provinsi Papua". www.papua.go.id. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
9. "Bupati Mesak Siap Bangun Asrama Siswa Suku Terasing di Nabire – Pemerintah Kabupaten Nabire". Pemerintah Kabupaten Nabire – "Nabire Aman, Mandiri dan Sejahtera". Retrieved 2022-10-25.
10. Taufik, Leonard; Teixeira, João C.; Llamas, Bastien; Sudoyo, Herawati; Tobler, Raymond; Purnomo, Gludhug A. (December 2022). "Human Genetic Research in Wallacea and Sahul: Recent Findings and Future Prospects". Genes. 13 (12): 2373. doi:10.3390/genes13122373. ISSN 2073-4425. PMC 9778601. PMID 36553640.
11. Yang, Melinda A. (2022-01-06). "A genetic history of migration, diversification, and admixture in Asia". Human Population Genetics and Genomics. 2 (1): 1–32. doi:10.47248/hpgg2202010001. ISSN 2770-5005.
12. Vallini, Leonardo; Marciani, Giulia; Aneli, Serena; Bortolini, Eugenio; Benazzi, Stefano; Pievani, Telmo; Pagani, Luca (2022-04-10). "Genetics and Material Culture Support Repeated Expansions into Paleolithic Eurasia from a Population Hub Out of Africa". Genome Biology and Evolution. 14 (4). doi:10.1093/gbe/evac045. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 9021735. PMID 35445261. Taken together with a lower bound of the final settlement of Sahul at 37 kya it is reasonable to describe Papuans as either an almost even mixture between East-Eurasians and a lineage basal to West and East-Eurasians which occurred sometimes between 45 and 38kya, or as a sister lineage of East-Eurasians with or without a minor basal OoA or xOoA contribution. We here chose to parsimoniously describe Papuans as a simple sister group of Tianyuan, cautioning that this may be just one out of six equifinal possibilities.
13. Pedro, Nicole; Brucato, Nicolas; Fernandes, Veronica; André, Mathilde; Saag, Lauri; Pomat, William; Besse, Céline; Boland, Anne; Deleuze, Jean-François; Clarkson, Chris; Sudoyo, Herawati; Metspalu, Mait; Stoneking, Mark; Cox, Murray P.; Leavesley, Matthew; Pereira, Luisa; Ricaut, François-Xavier (October 2020). "Papuan mitochondrial genomes and the settlement of Sahul". Journal of Human Genetics. 65 (10): 875–887. doi:10.1038/s10038-020-0781-3. PMC 7449881. PMID 32483274.
14. 崎谷, 満. "DNA・考古・言語の学際研究が示す新・日本列島史 : 日本人集団・日本語の成立史" [New History of the Japanese Archipelago Revealed by Interdisciplinary Research on DNA, Archeology, and Language]. (No Title) (in Japanese).
15. Kayser, Manfred; Brauer, Silke; Weiss, Gunter; Schiefenhövel, Wulf; Underhill, Peter; Shen, Peidong; Oefner, Peter; Tommaseo-Ponzetta, Mila; Stoneking, Mark (2003-02-01). "Reduced Y-Chromosome, but Not Mitochondrial DNA, Diversity in Human Populations from West New Guinea". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 72 (2): 281–302. doi:10.1086/346065. ISSN 0002-9297. PMC 379223.
16. "Almost all living people outside of Africa trace back to a single migration more than 50,000 years ago". www.science.org. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
17. Choin, Jeremy; Mendoza-Revilla, Javier; Arauna, Lara R.; Cuadros-Espinoza, Sebastian; Cassar, Olivier; Larena, Maximilian; Ko, Albert Min-Shan; Harmant, Christine; Laurent, Romain; Verdu, Paul; Laval, Guillaume; Boland, Anne; Olaso, Robert; Deleuze, Jean-François; Valentin, Frédérique (April 2021). "Genomic insights into population history and biological adaptation in Oceania". Nature. 592 (7855): 583–589. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03236-5. ISSN 1476-4687.
18. Bergström, Anders; Oppenheimer, Stephen J.; Mentzer, Alexander J.; Auckland, Kathryn; Robson, Kathryn; Attenborough, Robert; Alpers, Michael P.; Koki, George; Pomat, William; Siba, Peter; Xue, Yali; Sandhu, Manjinder S.; Tyler-Smith, Chris (2017-09-15). "A Neolithic expansion, but strong genetic structure, in the independent history of New Guinea". Science. 357 (6356): 1160–1163. doi:10.1126/science.aan3842. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 5802383. PMID 28912245.
19. Carl Zimmer (22 December 2010). "Denisovans Were Neanderthals' Cousins, DNA Analysis Reveals". NYTimes.com.
20. Vespasiani, Davide M.; Jacobs, Guy S.; Cook, Laura E.; Brucato, Nicolas; Leavesley, Matthew; Kinipi, Christopher; Ricaut, François-Xavier; Cox, Murray P.; Gallego Romero, Irene (2022-12-08). "Denisovan introgression has shaped the immune system of present-day Papuans". PLOS Genetics. 18 (12): e1010470. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1010470. ISSN 1553-7390. PMC 9731433. PMID 36480515.
21. Mekel-Bobrov, Nitzan; Gilbert, Sandra L.; Evans, Patrick D.; Vallender, Eric J.; Anderson, Jeffrey R.; Hudson, Richard R.; Tishkoff, Sarah A.; Lahn, Bruce T. (2005-09-09). "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM , a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens". Science. 309 (5741): 1720–1722. Bibcode:2005Sci...309.1720M. doi:10.1126/science.1116815. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 16151010. S2CID 30403575.

Further reading

• W. G. Lawes (1882), "New Guinea and Its People", Popular Science Monthly

External links

•   Media related to People of Papua at Wikimedia Commons