CULTURE – in South Papua Province, Merauke. The capital of Mappi District is Kepi which is located in Obaa District. Mappi District has a lot of potential, one of which is that the various tribes and cultures in the area are its own attraction. Mappi has six large tribes, namely the Yaghai, Awyu, Koroway, Wiyagar, Asmat, and Tamario tribes.
The Yaghai tribe has dense peat swamp forest areas. Until now, the Yaghai Tribe survives by relying on natural abundance such as hunting animals, fishing in the swamp, and harvesting sago as their main livelihood and until now there are no land roads in the Yaghai Tribe village and the Oba River is one of the main arteries that provide their main route of mobility as the main access means of transportation and a place to find fish to meet their daily needs. The Oba River is the main transportation route connecting areas with the Digul River estuary, Tanah Merah, Asmat Regency and the Arafura High Sea.
Most of these tribes still rely on the traditions of gathering and hunting or seeking and gathering, they need time to learn to plant and care for them. Just like several other tribes in the Land of Papua, the Yaghai Tribe also needs a process of following changing times.
The Yaghai tribe is known as a war tribe, they are known as one of the headhunter tribes in Papua in the past. This tribe has a strong temperament and will and it is not easy to approach the Yaghai tribe if they do not have relationships with people within. However, thanks to the role of missionaries (a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country), this tribe has experienced cultural transformation, namely through an educational process called the “Sekolah Peradaban”. They succeeded in domesticating the Yaghai tribe, which had a strong temperament, to become softer.
Apart from that, the Yaghai tribe also has its own character and is different from several other tribes, one of which is in terms of arithmetic. This tribe has very simple techniques and knowledge of arithmetic and the Yaghai Tribe are simple but firm people, every policy in their community must be clear and decided together.