Arfak people
The Arfak people are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arfak Mountains on the Bird's Head Peninsula in West Papua, Indonesia. The area inhabited by the Arfak people is in Pegunungan Arfak Regency at an altitude of above sea level. The Arfak Mountains border Manokwari Regency to the north, South Manokwari Regency to the east, Teluk Bintuni Regency to the south, and South Sorong Regency to the west.
Pegunungan Arfak Regency is accessible via two main routes: through Manokwari Regency or via South Manokwari Regency.
Etymology
The word arfak comes from the word arfk in Biak, meaning "people who sleep on fire", because the Arfak people place burning coals under their stilted houses to warm themselves.Sub-groups
According to "the father of Indonesian anthropology" Koentjaraningrat, the inhabitants of the Arfak Mountains consist of four sub-groups with similar cultures: Hatam, Meyah, Sougb, and Moile. Each group speaks a different language, so they cannot communicate with each other in their native tongues.Arfak sub-groups inhabit the Arfak Mountains with clear territorial divisions. The Hatam, the largest group in the southern Arfak Mountains, live in Oransbari District and Ransiki District. The Meyah, often called the "original Arfak people," inhabit the eastern mountains in Warmere and Prafi Districts. The Moile live in the western mountains in Minyambouw District, while the Sougb inhabit the northern mountains in Anggi District.
Arfak culture
The Arfak people take pride in their tribal identity, and when traveling outside their region, they openly identify as part of the larger Arfak tribe. The four sub-groups of the Arfak people each have different languages, although Hatam and Moile still share some grammatical similarities with the main Arfak language. Weapons among the Arfak and their four sub-groups include bow and arrows. The complete bow and arrow set is called inyomus in Sougb and inyomusi in Irai village. Practitioners of black magic among the Arfak, known as suwanggi, are sometimes hired as assassins. The Sougb call them surer.The Arfak people have traditional dances such as the, which all sub-groups of the Arfak perform. The dance has two names depending on location: when performed on streets it is called Tumbuk Tanah, and when performed near houses it is called Tumbuk Rumah. The dance is accompanied by songs telling stories of plants, farming, the history of the Arfak people, beliefs, and past wars.
Another dance, the Magasa Dance, is also known as a Snake Dance to outsiders. The name refers to the winding, snake-like movements following the song's lyrics. Magasa is performed during weddings, harvest season, and when welcoming important guests. It is danced in pairs between men and women with hand-holding, jumps, and stomping. It tells stories of romance, heroism, and nature's beauty. The Red Fruit Dance is performed only by Arfak youths and represents the land's beauty.
Each Arfak sub-group is led by a clan leader, and each group has distinct clans and languages. The Moile have clans such as Kowi, Saiba, Mandacan, Sayori, Ullo, Ayok, Indow, Wonggor, among others.
The Arfak are skilled hunters and traditional healers.