Pig Feast explores Indigenous land rights in West Papua but key leader Mama Yasinta changed her tune

Yasinta Moiwend vanished without a trace.

She could not be reached by phone, and her family have no idea where she is after she was last seen near her home in Ilwayab district in West Papua late last month.

Nearly a week after her disappearance, the Indigenous community leader of the Marind people appeared on television thousands of kilometres away in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, flanked by her lawyer.

Exactly how she got there has sparked a storm of rumour and controversy.

Mama Yasinta, as she is widely known, gained national attention in Indonesia after appearing in the documentary Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time.

The film by Dandhy Dwi Laksono and Cypri Jehan Paju Dale was viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube in just two weeks. 

It was also live screened some 2,000 times in Indonesia and overseas, including in Australia.

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In the documentary, Mama Yasinta is portrayed as one of the Indigenous figures opposing Indonesia’s National Strategic Project (PSN) after forests and wetlands that had long supported her family’s livelihood were taken over for development projects.

Before contact with her family was lost, a video began circulating online showing the 64-year-old flipping her position and expressing support for the PSN.

“We were shocked when we saw the video. Mama had suddenly changed direction,” Yasinta’s nephew Esau Maguo Kahol told the ABC.

Rumours of private jet and military involvement

Mr Kahol said Mama Yasinta had left the village without her family’s knowledge.

He also said the family had been told by locals in the area that she stayed overnight at an Indonesian military post before allegedly being taken out of the village alongside military personnel and district officials linked to the PSN.

The ABC contacted the Indonesian defence ministry for comment.

Mr Kahol said the family was also told Yasinta flew out on a private jet on May 25.

Arnoldus Anda from Papua legal aid organisation LBH Papua made similar claims, citing locals.

He told Indonesian media that she was picked up in a private jet belonging to the PT Jhonlin Group, accompanied by Ilwayab district head Christin Rumlus and Mandala command officers, before flying to Jakarta.

PT Jhonlin Group is owned by Indonesian businessman Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, known as Haji Isam.

In Pig Feast, Haji Isam is described as being involved in the government’s food estate project through the PT Jhonlin Group, which cleared millions of hectares of forest in Merauke, Boven Digoel and Mappi in Papua.

The ABC contacted Christin Rumlus and PT Jhonlin Group for comment, but did not receive a response.

Mr Kahol questioned both Mama Yasinta’s sudden departure and her apparent change of stance, saying he suspected she may have been pressured.

The ABC attempted to contact Mama Yasinta directly but was unable to reach her.

Pig Feast plot twist

Five days after she was reported missing, Mama Yasinta appeared on Indonesian television and in national media coverage.

Accompanied by a lawyer, she visited Jakarta Metropolitan Office headquarters to file a complaint against Pig Feast director Dandhy Dwi Laksono and John Teddy Wakum, the director of the Merauke branch of LBH Papua, under Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection Law.

“Mama Sinta reported alleged fraud and the use of personal data without consent,” Metro Jaya Police Senior Commissioner Budi Hermanto said last week.

At the police headquarters, Mama Yasinta said she objected to her image being used in Pig Feast and called for the “documentary screenings to be stopped”.

In another video circulating online, she denied claims she had travelled on a private jet or was under pressure, saying she went to Jakarta on her own initiative.

“That’s not true. I travelled on a regular passenger plane. I did not go to Merauke or Boven Digoel using Haji Isam’s helicopter. None of that happened, it’s nonsense … and I’ve never even met Haji Isam,” she said.

“I came by myself. Nobody asked me to come. The military did not pick me up. There was no intimidation. Why is everyone making such a fuss about me?”

But Mr Kahol did not believe her explanation.

“I believe Mama is lying. We are poor villagers. People from the village don’t suddenly have enough money to travel by plane like that,” he said.

He said the family regretted Mama Yasinta’s decision to report Dandhy Laksono and Teddy Wakum, noting that the film was shot over a number of years.

He said she never raised concerns with the family about her appearance in the documentary, or about not being compensated for her role in it.

Pig Feast’s controversy

Set in South Papua, the documentary follows Indigenous communities, including the Marind, Awyu, Yei and Muyu peoples, who say they are losing their ancestral lands and livelihoods because of the PSN.

The title Pig Feast, or Pesta Babi in Indonesian, comes from a tradition of the Muyu people in West Papua known as Awon Atatbon, a customary ritual involving pigs as important social and cultural symbols tied to the protection of the natural environment.

The 90-minute film examines tensions between Indigenous Papuans and the project, and claims that the government’s food estate program is being used to facilitate a large-scale bioethanol development that benefits commercial interests.

Indonesia’s food estate program in West Papua, primarily concentrated in the Merauke region, is a massive national strategic project aimed at boosting domestic food and energy production.

The government plans to convert millions of hectares of tropical forests and Indigenous customary lands into large-scale, industrialised agricultural zones for rice, sugar cane, and corn.

The documentary also examines three issues rarely covered in Indonesia’s mainstream media: what it describes as the world’s largest ongoing deforestation project involving the clearing of around 2.5 million hectares of tropical rainforest; the existence of an estimated 107,000 internally displaced people; and the continuing armed conflict in the region.

It explores the wider political and economic forces surrounding the project, including allegations of military involvement.

The documentary also traces Australia’s footprint in the PSN, highlighting the involvement of Sugar Research Australia in developing sugarcane varieties planted in West Papua.

The documentary’s controversial claims have sparked strong reactions.

Ekspedisi Indonesia Baru, one of the documentary’s production collaborators, said about 50 of the 2,000 live screenings held so far had been disrupted or cancelled before the film was released on YouTube and before Mama Yasinta travelled to Jakarta.

He said the reasons varied, ranging from claims that the “title is provocative”, the need to “maintain public order” and “anticipate security concerns”, to allegations of “failure to coordinate permits”.

Off-screen, director Dandhy Laksono has been targeted on social media, where he has been labelled a “foreign agent” and provocateur.

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But Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said he never instructed local authorities to shut down or ban public screenings.

“Let people watch it,” Mr Mahendra said.

“After that, discussions and debates can take place. That way, the public becomes more critical, pros and cons can emerge.”

Mama Yasinta receives support

The story of Pig Feast appears far from over.

Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights, Kommas HAM, is investigating allegations that Mama Yasinta was pressured to complain about the documentary. 

“She is living in conditions of extreme poverty … she is a woman, she is Papuan, and she is highly vulnerable,” said the deputy chair of Kommas HAM, Putu Elvina.

Police say they are still reviewing Mama Yasinta’s complaint and have not yet summoned witnesses or those named in the report.

Pig Feast director Dandhy Dwi Laksono was contacted by the ABC but declined to comment.

Mr Laksono has made few public comments since Mama Yasinta lodged her complaint.

On social media, he urged the public not to judge Mama Yasinta and to respect whatever choice she made.

He said the latest developments involving her appeared to be a “strategy” by certain parties “to slowly shift attention away from the issue of colonialism in Papua”.

“This is where our collective commonsense is being insulted,” he said online.

Back in West Papua, Esau Kahol and his family said they were still waiting for Mama Yasinta to return home.

“Even though we live with very little, Mama means everything to us,” he said.

It is believed Mama Yasinta is still in Jakarta, but it is unclear with whom or under what circumstances.