Wanggom in Indonesia

Introduction / History

There are several hundred speakers of the Wanggom language. They reside within the province of Papua, Indonesia. They live primarily by fishing, gathering, hunting and logging in their swampy lowlands. With their land at an elevation of less than 100 meters above sea level, the Wanggom people can best be visited by boat. Villages on the Digul River can also be accessed by floatplane.

The people enjoy sago worm feasts and invite neighboring villages to the feasts. On special occasions the men dress with feathers, bracelets and gourds. They often have pig feasts after a death in the village, where a pig is wrapped in banana leaves and roasted with sago worms. The women primarily gather food and garden. Most people wear modern clothing but rarely wash their clothes. The people eat sago, sago worms, and fish. Wanggom people use the tools that they own: machetes, steel axes, bows and arrows, and shovels. Houses are generally log posts, palm or cement floors, plank or stem walls, and a tin or leaf roof. There are no known generators in the area but in Wanggom village there is an SSB radio. The people get their drinking water straight from the river, from a well or from rain. Malaria, lung disease and yaws are common. Wanggom village has a health clinic.

The Wanggom people have no gospel cassettes, films or videos in their language. With family members Wanggom is generally used, but with friends both Wanggom and Indondesian is spoken. Although there is a Reformed church in the area, it is not readily accessible. It is not known how many of the people claim to be Christian.

Text Source:   Anonymous