1-11-2023 (JAKARTA) A viral video depicting the indigenous Hongana Manyawa tribe approaching a bulldozer near a nickel mine in Indonesia has triggered outrage and condemnation from activists, branding the land clearance action as ‘genocide’ against the indigenous community.
According to a report from IFL Science, this indigenous tribe hails from Halmahera, Maluku, where a significant reserve of nickel has become a sought-after commodity for electric vehicle battery production.
The initial narrative of the viral video unfolds as follows: In a remote corner of Halmahera, workers were in the process of clearing land for mining operations when a small group of Hongana Manyawa tribe members, which translates to ‘people living in the forest,’ emerged, armed and seemingly signaling their disapproval of the outsiders’ intrusion. One of the workers, startled by the encounter, began recording the incident.
However, the Hongana Manyawa tribe eventually retreated upon hearing the rumbling approach of the bulldozer.
“This was incredibly shocking because we had no knowledge that this particular forest had already been penetrated by the company. It happened much faster than we anticipated,” shared Callum Russell, Asia Research and Advocacy Officer at Survival International, with IFLScience.
The Hongana Manyawa tribe is an isolated group with no prior contact with the outside world. It is estimated that there are approximately 300-500 members of the tribe who remain unaffected by external influences, while around 3,000 have gradually made contact with the outside world since the 1980s.
Weda Bay Nickel, a company partially owned by the French mining corporation Eramet, initiated mining operations on the island in 2019.
“It is a bitter irony that these people call themselves Hongana Manyawa – ‘Forest People’ – yet they are the ones being destroyed in the name of the green transition,” Russell remarked.
Meanwhile, Weda Bay Nickel argues that their mining concession is far removed from the region inhabited by the indigenous tribe. However, Survival International claims to have uncovered internal documents revealing that the company had enlisted anthropologists to warn about the presence of the Hongana Manyawa people within and around the designated area.
