Nicolaas Jouwe

Nicolaas Jouwe ( Jayapura, 24 November 1923[1][2] – 16 September 2017)[3] was a Papuan leader who was selected to be vice president of the New Guinea Council that governed the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea. As the president of the New Guinea Council was the Dutch civil servant Frits Sollewijn Gelpke, Jouwe was the highest ranking Papuan politician in the colony.

Nicolaas Jouwe
Nicolaas Jouwe in 1962
Born	(1923-11-23)November 23, 1923 Hollandia, Dutch East Indies
Died	September 16, 2017(2017-09-16) (aged 93) Jakarta, Indonesia
Resting place	Jayapura, Papua
Known for	Former independence activist, designing Morning Star flag

During Japanese occupation, He alongside Johan Ariks, Markus Kaisepo were member of Japanese Kenpeitai. In 1945 he was listed as among the students in school of bestuur in Kota NICA (Jayapura), which became the first generation of Papuan elites. Among the school students were Frans Kaisiepo, Lukas Rumkoren, Yan Waromi, Cornelis Krey, Marthen Indey, Silas Papare, G. Saweri, Samuel D. Kawab. [4] On 31 August 1945, during Queen Wilhelminna birthday celebration in Bosnik (East Biak), he alongside Corinus Krey, Frans Kaisepo, Marcus Kaisepo alongside others was meeting in Lukas Rumkorem’s house and instead celebrate Indonesian independence ceremony. In 1947, Jouwe alongside Markus Kaisepo were involved in a disagreement with PKII leader, Silas Papare, which lead Papare to move to Java.[5]

In a broader effort to dissociate Papua elite movement with the broader Indonesian movement, Dutch colonial authority remove Colonel Widjojoatmodjo and began to persuade educated papuan elites to change side, among them Nicolaas Jouwe. In 1949, he was listed among the delegations in Round Table Conference in Den Haag, he was the representative for BFOs for New Guinea. In 1951 he was among the papuan leaders that opposed Indonesian efforts to integrate West Irian. He was among the founding member of Gerakan Persatuan Nieuw Guinea (GPNG). [4] [6]

In 1961 he was selected to be vice president of the New Guinea Council. In 1962, After the colony was ceded to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in October 1962 and subsequently to Indonesia six months later, he left New Guinea for the Netherlands, where he settled in the town of Delft. He vowed never to return to his native land if it were still occupied by Indonesia. In his memoir, on 16 September 1962, he was invited to a secret meeting with John F. Kennedy and Sukarno. Which became his biggest motivation to return to Indonesia, later on. [7]

In October 2008, a documentary was broadcast on Dutch television about Jouwe's life. In it, he reiterated his stance not to return to Indonesian-administered Papua. In January 2009, he was invited by the Indonesian government to visit his ancestral land. He responded positively, and visited Papua in March 2009.[8] About this visit a follow-up documentary was made by the same director. He finally returned to West Papua in 2010 to become Indonesian citizens.[9]

Jouwe died on 16 September 2017 at age 93 in Indonesia.[10]