Asmat is located in the delta area of Southern Papua, the easternmost part of Indonesia. The culture of the indigenous people of this area, the Asmat, is focused on sustaining balance in the universe: Asmat believe in a connection between humans, their environment and the spirit of the environment. This article aims to determine the feasibility of transferring a decision-making framework created specifically for the Aotearoa New Zealand context to the geographically, politically and culturally distant context of Asmat. The Māori concept of mauri is similar to the Asmat concept of ja asamanam apcamar (keep in balance). The Mauri Model Decision Making Framework is a unique sustainability decision-making model that was developed in New Zealand. The framework has been applied to engineering case studies to assess problem solving in complex systems. A comparison between Māori and Asmat tribes reveals similarities that support the use of the Mauri Model in the Asmat context to assess the equitable distribution of infrastructure development in Asmat.
ArsdaleP. W. V. (1978). Population dynamics among Asmat hunter-gatherers of New Guinea: Data, methods, comparisons.Human Ecology, 6(4), 435–467. doi: 10.2307/4602472
2.
BarlowC. (1991). Tikanga whakaaro: Key concepts in Maori culture.Auckland, NZ: Oxford University Press.
3.
BPS (Statistics of Asmat Regency). (2012). Asmat Regency in figures.Agats, Asmat: BPS.
4.
DaeliO. (2012). Ci opak, jis opak (no canoe, no firewood): An economic dimension of the Asmat canoe.Melintas, 28(2), 119–138.
5.
De HontheimA. (2010). Imagination behind shape: The invisible content of Asmat artefacts.Anthropological Forum, 20(3), 235–249. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2010.515292
6.
DobratzL. (2008). The changing Asmat world: A survey of cultural and artistic change from 1950-2001. Master's project, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. Retrieved from http://hdl.han-dle.net/10057/1295
7.
Fa'auiT. N., & MorganT. K. K. B. (2014). Restoring the mauri to the pre-MV Rena state.MAI Journal, 3(1), 3–17.
8.
GiesenW., & HoutermanJ. (2009, November). Sustainable management of wetlands in Papua. Paper presented at the 1st International Biodiversity Conference on Sustainable Development in the Land of Papua, Jayapura, Papua.
9.
GintingL., & PyeO. (2011, April 6-8). Resisting agribusiness development: The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in West Papua. Paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, University of Sussex, UK.
10.
GintingL., & PyeO. (2013). Resisting agribusiness development: The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in West Papua, Indonesia.Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies/Ōsterreichische Zeitschrift fūr Sūdostasienwissenschaften, 6(1), 160–182.
HawkinsD. E. (2004). Sustainable tourism competitiveness clusters: Application to World Heritage Sites Network Development in Indonesia.Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 9(3), 293–307.
13.
HoogerbruggeJ., & KooijmanS. (1976). Asmat Kunst: 70 Jaar Asmat Houtsnijkunst (Kesenian Asmat: 70 tahun Seni pahat Asmat).Breda, Netherlands: Rijkmuseum voor Volkenkunde.
14.
JimanipitsD. (n.d.). Kumpulan cerita rakyat Asmat.Agats, Asmat: Asmat Regency Department of Culture and Tourism.
15.
KawharuM. (2000). Kaitiakitanga: A Maori anthropological perspective of the Maori socio-environmental ethic of resource management.Journal of the Polynesian Society, 109(4), 349–370. doi: 10.2307/20706951
16.
Koentjaraningrat (1989). The Asmat of South Irian Jaya.Indonesia Circle, 50, 3–18.
17.
KonradG, KonradU., & SchneebaumT. (1981). Asmat: Leben mit den Ahnen: Steinzeitliche Holzschnitzer unserer Zeit [Asmat: Life with our ancestors: Stone age woodcarvers in our time]. Glashū tten, Germany: Friedhelm Brūckner, 1981.
18.
KonradU., SowadaA., & KonradG. (Eds.). (2002). Asmat: Mencekap kehidupan dalam seni.Greven, Germany: Druckhaus Cramer.
19.
KrekA., & EvelpidouN. (2008). The role of geoin-formation technologies in geocultural landscape research. In VassilopoulosA., EvelpidouN., BenderO., & KrekA. (Eds.), Geoinformation technologies for geo-cultural landscape analysis: European perspectives (pp. 3–33). London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
20.
MansobenJ. R. (1995). Sistem politik traditional di Irian Jaya.Jakarta: LIPI RUL.
21.
MorganT. K. K. B. (2006a). Decisions-support tools and the indigenous paradigm.Engineering Sustainability, 159(ES4), 169–177.
22.
MorganT. K. K. B. (2006b). Waiora and cultural identity: Water quality assessment using the Mauri Model.Alternative, 3(1), 42–67.
23.
MorganT. K. K. B. (2008). The value of Hapu perspective to municipal water management practice: Mauri and its potential contribution to sustainability decision making in Aotearoa New Zealand. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
24.
MorganT. K. K. B., SardelicD. N., & WaretiniA. F. (2012). The Three Gorges project: How sustainable?Journal of Hydrology, 460-461, 1–12. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.05.008
25.
PanelliR., & TipaG. (2007). Placing well-being: A Maori case study of cultural and environmental specificity.EcoHealth, 4(4), 445–460. doi: 10.1007/s10393-007-0133-1
PattersonJ. (1998). Respecting nature: A Maori perspective.Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, 2(1), 69–78. doi: 10.1163/156853598X00064
28.
PeacockB. C., HikuroaD., & MorganT. K. K. B. (2012). Watershed-scale prioritization of habitat restoration sites for non-point source pollution management.Ecological Engineering, 42, 174–182. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.01.005
29.
ProjectA. H. (1974). Asmat artists present: A collection of fascinating Asmat art and crafts.Geneva: International Labor Office.
30.
ReedA. W. (1963). An illustrated encyclopedia of Maori life.Wellington, NZ: Reed, 1963.
RobertsN. (Ed.). (2002). Planning and tangata whenua Issues.Auckland, NZ: Reed.
33.
RossM. L. (2008). Mineral wealth, conflict, and equitable development. In BebbingtonA., DaniA., de HaanA., & WaltonM. (Eds.), Institutional pathways to equity: Addressing inequality traps (pp. 193–216). Washington, DC: World Bank.
34.
RumkoremY., LinggasariD., & SempahY. (n.d.). Jew: Tinjauan sosio kultural rumah adat Asmat.Agats, Asmat: Asmat Regency Department of Culture and Tourism.
35.
SchneebaumT. (1988). Where the spirits dwell: An odyssey in the New Guinea jungle.New York, NY: Grove Press.
36.
SchneebaumT. (1990). Embodied spirits: Ritual carvings of the Asmat.Salem, MA: Peabody Museum of Salem.
37.
SchneebaumT. (2000). Secret places: My life in New York and New Guinea.Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
38.
SmidtD. (Ed.), (1993). Asmat art: Woodcarvings of Southwest New Guinea.New York, NY: George Braziller.
39.
TommaseoM., & LucchettiE. (1992). Anthropometrical study of the Asmat (Irian Jaya).Antrhropologischer Anzeiger, 50(3), 217–234.
40.
VassilopoulosA., EvelpidouN., BenderO., & KrekA. (2008). Geoinformation technologies for geo-cultural landscapes: European perspectives.London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
