Cultural sustainability crisis of the Taikat people of Papua

The Taikat people of Keerom, Papua, are experiencing a growing cultural sustainability crisis as modernization and social transformation weaken the intergenerational transmission of language, ecological knowledge and customary practices, according to a qualitative ethnographic study. Researchers found that Taikat culture is fundamentally biocultural: forests, rivers, sago groves and customary territories provide the ecological foundation for livelihoods, spirituality, social organization and collective identity, while the institutions connecting people to those environments increasingly face pressure from external change.

The study, conducted within an applied-anthropology framework, used participant observation, in-depth interviews, informal conversations and documentation to examine the relationships among ecology, customary land tenure, kinship, Indigenous language, traditional knowledge and customary institutions. Its participants included customary leaders, elders, women, youth and other community members in Keerom. The qualitative design focused on how these elements sustain cultural continuity rather than producing numerical estimates of language use, participation or rates of cultural change. The findings are therefore specific to the experiences and institutions of the communities represented in the research.

Customary land tenure and the keret kinship system emerged as central mechanisms for regulating access to resources, inheritance, social obligations and conflict prevention. These structures connect territorial relationships with social relationships, helping organize collective life and maintain a shared identity. The study’s technical framing treats Taikat culture as an interconnected biocultural system: land, water, forests and sago groves are not merely resources, while language, knowledge and customary institutions do not operate independently of the ecological settings in which they are learned and used. The reported crisis concerns the weakening of these linked relationships and the conditions that allow them to persist across generations.

Formal education, religious transformation, market integration, migration and administrative expansion were identified as pressures that have altered traditional learning environments and reduced opportunities for transmitting Indigenous language, ecological knowledge and customary practices. On this basis, the authors argue that cultural sustainability among the Taikat depends on strengthening language revitalization, protecting customary territories, reinforcing Indigenous education and recognizing traditional governance institutions. Their central conclusion is that cultural preservation in contemporary Papua must maintain the interconnected social and ecological systems supporting Indigenous identity and resilience, rather than treating cultural continuity as the safeguarding of isolated customs alone.

Subject of Research: Qualitative ethnographic research on biocultural sustainability among the Taikat people of Keerom, Papua

Article Title: Cultural sustainability crisis of the Taikat people of Papua

Article References: Frank, S. A. K., & Idris, U. (2026). Cultural sustainability crisis of the Taikat people of Papua. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04780-8

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04780-8

Keywords: Taikat people, Papua, cultural sustainability, biocultural systems, Indigenous languages, customary land tenure, traditional knowledge, intergenerational transmission, ethnographic research, customary governance, Cultural, sustainability