Anindita Siswanto Thayf

Daughters of Papua Anindita Siswanto Thayf

Pum is a loyal old dog who can smell colors. Along with Kwee, a pig with attitude, and seven-year-old Leksi, they tell the story of Mabel. As a young girl of the Dani tribe in Papua, Dutch missionaries take her to the city under the pretense of adopting her. Mabel quickly adapts to being domestic help and is eager to learn, but her request to attend school is denied. When Mabel returns to village life years later, her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Leksi, join her. The women work in the fields all day long, and Mabel sells the fruits and vegetables in the open market. Living in Papua is a battle between tradition and the new: for the Papuan people this means leaving the land and working in the gold mining operation on the Holy Mountain, home of the spirits of the Amungme people. The mining company takes the labor from many Papuans and only gives riches to very few. Mabel holds on to the traditional way of life, and dares to speak out against injustice during a fierce election.