The colonisation, decolonisation and recolonisation of West New Guinea

Abstract Dutch rule in West New Guinea can be described as an interregnum within a longer history of direct contacts between indigenous Papuans and other Indonesians. The early history of Dutch colonisation of West New Guinea is marked by a general indifference on the part of the authorities and a failure to commit significant resources. This history of early missionisation, exploration and gradual expansion of influence is contrasted with the much greater activity of the post‐1945 period, when Dutch attention was more sharply focused on New Guinea. During this period, Dutch perspectives on New Guinea shifted from plans for European settlement to the acknowledgement of an independent future for West Papua. A brief review of Indonesian attitudes towards Papuans helps to account for the nature of Indonesian rule in West New Guinea since 1962, a period which, in terms of its denial of benefits to Papuan people, might most accurately be described as a ‘recolonisation’.