Unveiling the Enigmatic World of the Bauzi Tribe in Papua

Lamone November 24, 2023

The Bauzi tribe

The Bauzi tribe, also known as the Baudi people, is one of approximately 260 indigenous tribes currently inhabiting Papua. According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an American mission and language institution, this tribe is listed among the 14 most isolated tribes. The Papua Central Statistics Agency (BPS) also includes the Bauzi tribe in the list of about 20 identified isolated tribes. This isolation is a result of the extensive wilderness, mountains, valleys, swamps, and winding rivers surrounding the Mamberamo region, preventing direct contact with modern civilization. The daily life of this tribe is still lived traditionally.


Brief History

According to their historical spread, the Bauzi tribe originated from the northern Waropen region. Over time, they spread south to Lake Bira, Noiadi, and southeast to Neao, two areas located in the Van Rees Mamberamo hills. The length of this region is approximately 80 kilometers. The Bauzi people were able to spread due to their ability to move using boats along rivers and on foot. The population is only a few thousand people. In 1991, SIL released data indicating that the number of Bauzi people was around 1,500. They are scattered in the northern and central parts of the Mamberamo region. The current population of the Bauzi tribe is expected to have increased each year, although there is no official data on their development.

Way of Life

As a tribe occupying an isolated area, some Bauzi men still wear loincloths, typically made from dried leaves or tree bark tied with a string around the genitals. They also adorn themselves with bone ornaments in their nose holes. Women wear a piece of leaf or wood bark tied with a string around the waist to cover their modesty, but they do not wear chest coverings. During traditional ceremonies and welcoming guests, adult men wear head ornaments made of cassowary feathers and coat their bodies with sago water. The majority of this tribe still lives at a subsistence level, engaging in hunting and semi-nomadic activities. Therefore, they craft various tools such as arrows, spears, machetes, knives, and others for hunting. They hunt forest animals like pigs, cassowaries, possums, and birds, cooking the game by burning or using hot stones. Additionally, the Bauzi tribe processes sago as a staple food and cultivates tubers, but they rarely consume vegetables. This dietary pattern contributes to malnutrition and anemia symptoms in their children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. Despite limitations, they possess knowledge of natural remedies using forest plants (ethnomedicine).

Since the beginning, the Bauzi people have lived as nomads, adapting to the food and comfort needs of a region. They build shelters at the river and forest edges to aid in hunting, foraging, or gardening. However, they are not familiar with proper farming techniques. With the assistance of missionaries, this tribe has gained some knowledge of gardening. In small settlements, they construct hut-like houses with walls made of wood and roofs of sago palm leaves or tree bark. These dwellings are built on stilts. To this day, they continue to build houses in this manner. As an isolated tribe, the majority of the Bauzi people are not proficient in Malay (Indonesian), including literacy and numeracy. They communicate orally using their local language.

Religious Life

Bauzi people generally adhere to tribal beliefs and customs (animism). However, approximately 65 percent have embraced Christianity as a result of encounters with missionaries from Europe, the United States, and Papua. In their social life, they do not follow a strong collective leadership model, making conflict resolution challenging. Linguists who are also missionaries from SIL, assisted by local translators, have been studying the Bauzi language and dialects for years. This effort has resulted in the publication of various literature about this tribe, including the translation of the New Testament into the Bauzi language by Dave and Joice Briley.

According to SIL records, the Bauzi language has around 1350 words divided into three main dialects: Gesda Dae, Neao, and Aumenefa. Since their discovery in the 1980s, foreign and local missionaries have been educating the Bauzi people, not only in spreading the Christian gospel but also in social service missions. This work has led to the construction of churches used for worship and social services for the Bauzi tribe. Evangelization and service to this tribe were also carried out by the Masirei Evangelism and Service Foundation (YPPM) in the early 1990s. This task was later continued by the Bethani Foundation for several years. Since 1995, the Amal Kasih Foundation has been specifically working with the Bauzi tribe in the Fona Village until now.

Many names are used for the Bauzi tribe, including Baudi, Bauri, and Bauji. According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in the United States, this tribe is classified as one of the isolated tribes in Indonesia. Similarly, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Bauzi is categorized as one of the 20 isolated tribes in Papua.

This tribe rarely comes into direct contact with modern life due to the vast wilderness of forests, valleys, swamps, and large rivers that surround it. These geographical boundaries isolate them from general societal interactions. The Bauzi tribe has approximately 1,500 members, scattered in the northern and central regions of the Mamberamo area.

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