The Resilience of Indigenous People in Sereh Village, Papua Province, to Disasters

Abstract

The number of casualties of indigenous people during natural disasters in several areas in Papua Province indicates that the level of indigenous people resilience is low. This research will examine how the resilience of indigenous people in the northern coastal areas of Papua to disasters and the factors that influence the resiliency. The study location was determined to be Sereh Village, Sentani District, Jayapura Regency, which was hit by flash floods in March 2019. This research used quantitative and qualitative approaches. In addition to in-depth interviews with informants which were deliberately selected, questionnaires were also distributed to residents of Sereh Village to obtain primary data. Data were analyzed using descriptive methods that present narrative and tables as a result of data processing. The results showed that the level of resilience of the Sereh villagers is low. The majority of indigenous people are low economic groups, work as traditional farmers, depend on the surrounding forest resources, and their life patterns tend to be subsistence. The villagers were able to survive after the disaster and recovered because the village location was in an urban area and close to Jayapura City as the center of the Papua Province government, so they immediately got help from outside parties.