Liz:

If you will note the story, or rather lack of story information, is because the story was sent over the 'wire' by the French news agency Argence France Presse. The short report was picked up by MSNBC lacking detail but enough information to "get" what happened generally speaking.

I bet their government outlawed compound bows, crossbows, and expanding broad-heads.

See what happens when you ban guns? They still try killing each other with other weapons, take away the Bow and Arrow, and it will be slings and clubs.

Arrows fly as tribal clashes break out in Indonesia's Papua

Primitives are funny.

Maybe this is how we should allow them to settle the drivebys in the hood,can you see the arrows flying in WATTS.

You can get the full story on this warrior's facebook page.

You gotta love the juxtaposition of the Tribal beads and the A-T shirts and Polo Hats.

Svenolafson: "Funny?" You're the 'primitive' not the tribesman. That was a stupid comment.

mongo - before making a rcist post it's correct etiquette to preface whatever spew you're going to post with, "I'm not a racist, but....." this alllows you to post "Black people alll have tails and Latinos are pea brains" and no one will know you're a racist. Also, don't forget to p[ut "no offfense" somewhere in the post. e.g. No offfense, but papuans are alll dbags." THis makes it so the person being callled a dbag doesn't get upset, GOt that? No offfense, dbag.

When spatulas are outlawed - only outlaws will have spatulas.

Education is better than outlawing things. A recent article showed that the MTV show "Teen Mom" has done more to prevent teen pregnancy than abstinence, free condoms, and all other efforts etc.

Think about that - then think about how many TV dramas or movies show the hero resolving things through violence instead of using his/her brain to outsmark the villian.

People need to be shown the way

Ronald, I have to say it's you that sounds racist. Mango did not mention any race at all, he mentioned the "hood". YOU are the one who made assumtions about the race of people in the hood.

It is good that the locals are keeping the tradition alive... practice, practice, practice...

Define "primitive". And by the way, take a good look at how much more barbaric we "advanced" peoples tend to be. We kill each other long distance with all sorts of weapons ranging from biological to nuclear. We wipe out whole cities and towns without ever seeing the faces of the men, women, and children who live there. We leave our veterans and mentally disabled and economically-downtrodden people - including families with children - to live in the streets without giving a damn if they live or die. We let people suffer and die because they can't afford medical treatment on a scale that makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like Mother Teresa and have the nerve to try to use the "law of the jungle" excuse (the strong survive, the weak perish) as if we can't do better than animals.

In fact, many animals DO take better care of their troup or herd members than we humans do our fellow human beings. So do most so-called primitive peoples. In a village everyone takes care of and protects each other because the survival of the group is more important than the material gain of the individual. I'm not excusing the bloodshed in this case as I feel that the 2 tribes would do better to negotiate, but when it comes to arrogance and taking stubborn past the point of stupidity, "primitive" man and "modern" man appear to be equals.

To and earlier comment:

I'm pretty sure that abstinence is 100% effective at preventing teen pregnancy. It is pretty hard for MTV and "Teen Mom" to compete with that.

Education is great but there are just as many well educated criminals and thugs as there are uneducated ones. It comes down to morality.

Morndew:

C'mon, you coward...don't try to weasel away from the racist implications of Mongo's comment.

I am reading the comments and I am shocked and offended by how ignorant most of you are. While you make jokes about the native people's way of life and how they are trying to protect it, they are being killed by a very corrupt government.

The genocide that is going on in Papua is just as serious as the Holocaust and Darfur. The government is systematically ridding the country of the indigenous people in order to take the land for mining and development. The comments written are stupid and cruel. I can only hope that this is a small group of bored, ignorant people and not a reflection of how most of society feels.

Yes morndew, the codewords used make his comment harmless, in your mind anyway. He could have been talking about the overwhelming population of any race that just happens to live in Watts.

Guns don't kill people, arrows do.

Somebody should get them some freaking swords. :)

Wow, a good "very old" fashion combat, now just wait for a good ole' clubbing fight.

I'll take swords for $500..

Just how where the police and military overwhelmed? The tribes have bows and arrows (yes I know they can be deadly) but the police and military have guns? I suppose it is more out of the interest of not wanting to shoot anyone and needlessly kill but still when you see the pictures above and read that it does kinda leave you wondering. Once they get more facts here then we can decide. Otherwise hope they get this resolved.

It is time

people fighting for what they believe.i live in a country of sheep,and already know we are so far from what these people feel

I see even MORE primitive fights here at any local bar.

We should have a reality show called, "So you think you aren't a Tribesman?"

Really, getting drunk and using your fists makes you actually more dumb than these guys. So welcome to it, people who think they are so smart!

It always gives me a chuckle to see a tribesman wearing a NIKE Tee Shirt..

natives restless, bwana. this job for tarzan.

revmrf,

Svenolafson: "Funny?" You're the 'primitive' not the tribesman. That was a stupid comment.

No I'm not. It's funny how so many of the modern day "Liberal/Progressives" worship primitive peoples. You're the same type of person that probably thinks you should have been born in a previous time. I would love if time travel were available. I'd ship all you primitive worshipers back to the stone age. You'd have a different take on things the first time you had to kill to eat, start fire to keep warm, or build some type of shelter to keep your candy ass out of the elements. Cut yourself or break a bone and you just might have received your death sentence. These people are primitives whether you like it or not. The only value they've contributed to humanity is the stories about their head-hunting 50 years ago. Oh, and maybe some cool tribal tattoos the choads on Jersey Shore copied.

Sven, the pictures could very well have been taken in the Southside of Chicago. Some there are just as primitive, sadly, as their culture dictates.

Ronny H Reagan and Bmette You left out Enough all Ready.......Just who do you think he meant by " They " ? It is always the " OTHERS " to them.....The same way they ( When I say" they "it is not a code word I am definitely implying bigots and racists) consider our president an " OTHER" that they have to take " THEIR " country back from.........."THEY" disgust me , I can learn to live with any culture or ethnicity but I can't be around " THEM "

Dasvet-----Racists and bigots are much more primitive.....Just sayin'.......Are you one ?

South Philly is primitive. Is that a bone in your nose?

sw philly,

.Just who do you think he meant by " They " ? It is always the " OTHERS " to them.....The same way they ( When I say" they "it is not a code word I am definitely implying bigots and racists) consider our president an " OTHER" that they have to take " THEIR " country back from

My definition of "They" are those Radical Left Wing Liberal/Progressive Wack Jobs who have never held a real job, think they're smarter than everyone else, think the Constitution is outdated because the Founding Fathers didn't have cell phones, and they know best. Could it be that you can't handle the truth that we have an incompetent boob in the White House and the only way your pride allows you to believe that anyone could possibly want the current big eared jug headed idiot out of office is because of the color of his skin? That's actually pretty racist in itself. You can't believe that anyone can not like him because they dislike his policies and his dishonesty, it must be because he's black. You're pretty sad.

Quick someone go find the Great White Bat shikaka!

South Philly is primitive,I don't live there..I am from Southwest hence the SW....So there Dasvet...I am a vet also....................

Sven------I am in the middle not left or right.....And I have worked and do work pretty hard....And I know you RWNJ's don't like him because of his policies,you didn't like Clinton either......But that being said I know there are people out there who also don't like him because of his skin....And there are those that don't like his skin or politics.....Which one are you honestly ? It is pretty anonymous on here...And it is not against the law to voice a racist opinion so be brave and answer honestly....Do you hate or dislike others just because their color,culture, socio-economic background, ethnicity or religion is different than yours ??????? Because I can honestly say I don't and that has got me in hot-water at jobs and in social situations where I didn't discriminate like bosses and friends wanted me to...

I guess I don't know about 'code' words. All I know is there is more than 1 white person living in WATTS, and if people start seeing code words whether intended or not, how am I a coward by not being aware of that?

I do not deny there is racism. I just am careful about who I sling that term at and wish others were as well. Maybe then people wouldn't constantly be charged with playing the almighty race card.

Morndew----You are officially sounding like someone with a guilty conscience..Not saying you are guilty, just pointing out public perception ;)

philly, that is exactly what the race baiters want white people to feel..guilt. It is why a neophyte was elected in 2008, with absolutely nothing to show as for being capable of being President. I don't feel guilty, because I have no reason to feel guilty, as we were as poor and any black family that lived around us when I was in my early years. We made it quite well, because we did not blame others for our own shortcomings. At least we got off our asses and accomplished a lot, even if we did envy those who lived a little better than we lived. Until it is cool again to be successful to blacks as a group, there will always be problems for the black community.

Guilty of what? That's the strangest response I've ever had.

Guilty because the ship that brought the slaves over had the same white skin as white Americans. Afraid to be called a racist when telling the truth. Obama got elected because of white guilt clouding their minds.

Ah. I never understood feeling guilty over something I had nothing to do with. Oh well.

I don't feel guilty myself. Just that others voted for a fool because he was black.

I think the US should send in about 100,000 troops.

If they were still alive we could send in John Wayne and Roy Rogers. Problem solved!

or George Zimmerman could do his neighborhood watch patrol............it would be his idea of heaven with the target rich environment

Send in John Wayne and Roy Rogers? What one-dimensional thinking. Wouldn't it be better to try to negotiate a truce between the two groups and get them to work together on a lasting peace? Peace is more profitable than war for civillians, better for their country and government really. Peace allows for faster development of a people than does war as the trauma tends to have deleterious effects upon the people as a while and most especially upon women and children, without whom no culture can exist let alone grow.

And there is a whole heck of a lot of difference between being able to defend yourself against assault and ongoing bloodletting for revenge and bragging rights. Certainly a humungous difference between self-defense and being sent of to fight to corporate interests in control of the government.

Allison Shaw:

My comment in post #2.1 was my feeble attempt at humor Allison! Sorry I offended your sense of social justice and, by the way, I agree that peace and negotiation are far wiser, just, humane, and less costly than war, any way you measure the cost. Now I hope you are feeling better phychologically and physically! Have a GREAT life, and don't start any wars or even arguements! Diplomacy and statesmanship are the words of the day, for both of us!

While they are using their ancestral corrugated shield, the protective qualities of the tiger claw are questionable.

cheetah,

This goes to show how little you know of the indigenous culture. The corrugated shield is a stand-alone device. The tiger claw, however, increases in power when used in conjunction with the ceremonial ball cap.

lmao

@ Denver Bill, Arrows are not weapons of mass destruction(atomic bombs,gas,etc) so yes the world be a better place.

Scir91on Pick up a book and read where mankind started(Africa) so it's not so astonishing that Aborigines look more like Africans.

The tiger claw is fine for arrows but, even with embellishment, completely ineffective for spears - a fact exploited to deny it's victim a ride in the tribal helicopter.

rightthewrong....lets have 1000 arrows flying towards a crowd of people, and I am sure you would change your tune. Arrows can be just as destructive as "gas"

Studies have shown that the ritual of burning plywood and tar paper have some effect on the use of the tribal helicopter, but the jury is still out on its efficacy.

...and while some of my neighbors pose various levels of gas threat I haven't noticed an inordinate level of atomic bombings but would prefer the threat of one to being hit with a Kabob on my way to the water hole.

It's exactly that decimation of the Papua Plywood Forest that has brought on this catastrophe - those who would burn it for mosquito control against those who would build shelter with it along with the noisy splinter groups.

Now this is old school fighting!

No joke....and i guarantee you if modern man were re-equipt with arrows ,swords,spears and pikes and actually had to go arrow to arrow and hand to hand, look their opponants in the eye before skewering them and had to see the life run out while the blood ran down the sword blade it wouldn't take long before somebody raised the white flag! Notice the casualty list in this engagement... yet they are the primitive ones? If we could all be so damn lucky.

If they were going to even out the sides, the riot police would need to keep the riot shields, but trade in their rifles for nerf guns

That's what I was thinking! They need semi-automatics.

LOL

Human beings have always been war-like. We are no different than our ancestors of 40,000 or even 100,000 years ago. And just like our ancestors we fight over resources, boundary lines, nationalistic arrogance, religion, and just about every other excuse we can come up with to kill our fellow human beings.

In that sense, "modern" people are no better than so-called "primitive" ones. We've merely developed more efficient ways to kill others on a larger scale and without looking the "enemy" in the face. We're still every bit as savage and probably more barbaric because we ought to know better.

At least we don't eat each other.

Such an ignoramus - trying for comedic relief and it comes out ignorant

Depends if you eat bath salts.

Congratulations Yank, your comment is the only intelligent contribution to this thread. Here are a few things to consider.

1. European style dress is universal. Shorts, ball caps, rasta-style knit caps, all part of the daily dress of humans all over the planet. So what's the big deal? You'd prefer they wear grass skirts?

2. Bows, easily constructed, inexpensive and extremely deadly. Oh, and the bow requires much more strength and ability to use than just blazing away with your assault rifle. They have the added benefit of being virtually silent.

3. Forest warfare. Modern military is rarely trained in this unique and very specialized fighting style. Remember Viet Nam?

4. Large shields of the type shown here were called a "Pavise" in ancient and medieval warfare and were used extensively up until the early 1500's when gunpowder weapons began to dominate the battlefield and replace the bow and crossbow. Mobile cover, very effective against non-gunpowder weapons.

5. No, you will never see a return to these types of weapons in the US. Archers are skilled and required great upper body strength to use a weapon possible of bringing down another human. There are more guns in private hands in the United States than in the hands of our military. If gun sales were suddenly stopped in this country (which sadly will never happen) there would still be more guns in private hands than possessed by all the armed forces of the Eurozone.

6. Finally, these people are from the same genetic line as the Aborigines of Australia. They are not "negro" although the British Colonials lumped them all into the single category of "Blacks" along with the Africans and East Indians.

So a bunch of people armed with bows and spears burned some police cars, what the heck were the cops armed with?

Skip in regards to your point number 5, God might have made man, but Sam Colt made men equal.

Instead of fighting each other, they should be fighting Indonesians. One of the world's largest genocides is going on in West Papua. The Indonesian government is moving Muslim Indonesions into West Papua to displace the Papuans. The Papuans are oppressed in the schools, jobs, legal system, etc. and Indonesian soldiers routinely rape and murder Papuans. Indonesia is too big and important of a country to call it out on its bad behavior; certainly too big to send in the troops the help the poor Papuans. Will Obama ever speak up? He has spent time in Indonesia; he should know. Even he won't help these oppressed "blacks".

Navy

Sam Colt also created the myth of the gun in the American west to promote the sale of his firearms. That myth continues to be upheld by the NRA and gun nuts all over this great country. "The Colt. 45 Peacemaker, the gun that won the west." Baloney, barbed wire and plows won the west.

Now don't get all up on your high horse. I'm a gun owner, I've owned lots of guns. But our gun laws are too lax and there are far too many guns in circulation in the United States among far too few responsible gun owners.

Pity the poor people of Papua.

As for US involvement, we cannot continue to be the world's police force. It's none of our business and as been demonstrated so eloquently on this thread, we do not understand the complexities of Indonesian society.

Homesick Yank -- You have worded that quite well!! I totally agree with you, and Skip, Tabasco, and Navy--you have all made some good points (and yes, Sam Colt, for whatever reasons he initially advertised his pistol, has still given me a chance to defend myself if I ever get attacked--I'm 61 years old and can't successfully run from a young even semi-athletic attacker). Tabasco, you make a really good point about the genocide going on, and I hope that these tribesmen can form an alliance to protect their rights and tribal lands.

They are not Africans. Please stay focused.

They sure look it.

Guns are restricted in Indonesia so that it's essentially illegal for regular civilians to own guns. Look how peaceful they are without guns!

what actually happened was yesterday morning, 18 June 2012, at around 09.20am (West Papua local time), Indonesian Police shot dead two civilians, Andelius Ongomang (45yo) and Dony Ongomang (43yo). Local witnesses said that there were no fight at all (between the two groups who are in conflict in that area, Timika) in the crime scene, they all were on stand guards. At around 09.20am one of the group (top stronghold) were doing traditional war-dancing, immediately the police fired the guns toward the group, resulted in two were shot. Dony was shot in the head. Because of the shooting incident the top stronghold group shot their arrows against the police and other group . Some civilians were reported injured and the angry mob then burnt police vehicle. The Indonesian Army (TNI) and Police troops with heavy weapons and equipment are in the conflict area now.

more information, please visit www.westpapuamedia.info

Thank you, Juan, for the information and the web address.

Aborigines. I believe Mother Nature(spirits) are their deity

They probably are of African ancestry. The might have emigrated on canoes, etc. The Philipines have blacks and partial blacks because the Spanish brought them there as slaves, like so many of the Islands.

Actually, unbelievable, their genetic makeup is more closely related to that of Asians that Africans.

Wow, the ignorance of racial characteristics is just amazing! Please do a little research before grouping all folks into some color category. It makes no difference. Australian aborigine children are almost all blonde with dark skin. The hair darkens as they get older. Some folks from the northern European nations are naturally dark skinned with dark hair. My neighbor, who is of African-American descent, has lighter skin than I do, and I'm very Caucasian. Again, what difference does it make? The story is about a clash between tribal factions. Firearms are restricted in Indonesia; thus when a conflict arises, the weapons of availability are the ones used.

As far as clothing goes, that old stereotype of the naked savage went by the way back in the 30s or 40s. I believe the last reported case of headhunting came from the 60s--about the same for cannibalism. Some regions still hold to native garments and ornaments, but they certainly are not exclusive of western attire. "When in Rome . . . ." We live in a very homogenized world, people should really get a clue.

Zapper great point. MAy I also say that the reason why people who live in very damp hot climates do not wear clothes is because if sickness. When you live in a rain forest your clothes are constantly wet and you are more prone to get sick. So they would not wear clothes to help keep themselves drier.

Zapper, what a pompous windbag. Sci was merely curious about the picture and the region and I was answering. Whenever anyone starts with "the ignorance of ..." and then acts like some pseudointellectual it is very annoying. For Your information, there are many islands (in the Carribean for instance) that many people, including black Americans, assume were always black, and indeed they are only balck because Europeans colonized and then proceeded to bring slaves there. The same can be said for Brazil, Honduras, (like I said The Philipines) etc. Maybe, just maybe, people find the history of the world and the makeup of the people in it interesting and are curious, not 'racist' like you want it to be!

Unbelievable--you really are! Yes, ignorance is rampant on the vine. "i thought indonesians were asian looking? they're black??" Guessing that Indonesians are of African heritage is really stretching it. Admittedly, African slaves were found/spread worldwide, but most of the Indonesia area is not affected by this colonization. (We are all of African heritage, if we want to go all the way back, but that's not why color should be a defining factor in this article.) Color should have nothing to do with it all, the article is about tribal conflict. Trying to make color part of the conflict is racist, and that's not what I said at all, so I'm not being racist. Trying to make firearms part of the conflict is, also, not what the article is about. So if I'm pompous (and educated--been there/done that), I guess that's the way my pomposity bounces.

There's your pomposity again, assuming I'm not educated. He didn't make it about race. He could have merely been curious. And there are over 100 islands in Indonesia. What makes you so sure none of them are black? Look at Fiji. People do travel around throughout history.

My father was born in Sumatra. My mother's white, you would never know he is my dad because of his dark skin with mine being white. But with his genes, I get unbelievably tan in the summer months. Makes all the caucasians I know jealous.

Mrs. Jones is closest with them being related to Asians...

The native people of the island of New Guinea are Papuans. They are black. They are not Africans. They are more like Australian aboriginals. They are Melanesian, a distinct south Pacific ethnic group very different from your typical Javanese Indonesian.

I just laughed so hard at this suggestion - it is so implausible and ridiculous that it is actually funny. Good job, I could definitely use a good laugh this morning.

Ya, they should have had nukes!

They need to ban the stick sales!

You were robbed by gorillas looking for food?

Only a QM would think that way. LOL

Yeah right? All our technology has either brought us more effective ways of killing each other, or easier access to porn.

Then all we need to take space exploration seriously is to meet violent aliens with big breasts?

Yah for porn

LOL

So is this an argument for or against the wifey thing?

Nice guessing. Typically piercing wounds don't bleed until the object is removed.

I'll make some calls and see if they'll just report what you want to read from now on; or you could just not click on what you don't care about.

Except Ron Pauls win of Iowa really doesn't matter. Tell Rand to support his father.

ROTFL... that was too good! Still chuckling.

You are an idiot