Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey to the forbidden territories of West Papua

by George Monbiot

At great personal risk and with forged travel documents, George Monbiot bluffed, cheated and forced his way into the remotest tropical place in the world - the forbidden territories of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Sealed from the outside world by Indonesian forces, it is home to tribes who have remained unchanged and unseen for centuries - and who are now, along with their forest land, being systematically obliterated.

Genres: Politics, Travel, Asia, Nonfiction, Indigenous, History, Anthropology

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 1989

About the author

George Joshua Richard Monbiot is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism.

Reviews

[Answer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poisoned Arrows documents young George Monbiot's trips to and around West Papua circa 1987, in search of the truth behind the state-sponsored transmigration in Indonesia. It's an enjoyable read, thanks to Monbiot's detailed, witty and honest writing.

The book largely tells about the adventures Monbiot and his photographer friend, Adrian, had while getting around West Papua, including remote areas they weren't supposed to visit. It's nothing like Indiana Jones or anything close to that though. It's more like two ordinary Caucasian guys who almost seem to be clueless and not really knowing what they were signing up for, and who kept getting frustrated throughout the whole journey. But don't get me wrong. For me personally, that's partly what makes the book refreshing and awesome: the absence of the "I'm a white man, I know it all and I'm here to save you lot" attitude.

Monbiot here and there also gives introduction to the fascinating, at times eyebrow-raising, cultures of some of the tribes in West Papua and how they were slowly but systematically eroded - first by Christianity brought by the missionaries, and later by the "Indonesia-zation" through the transmigration policy. The book disappointingly has only limited details on the latter, but it's understandable - after all this was back in the '80s when Indonesia was ruled by Soeharto. If anything, it reflects the state of secrecy and security control imposed by the Indonesian government over West Papua back then, which sadly has not changed much today.

[Ruchama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lezen.
Jaren 80 van de 20e eeuw. West Papua heet nog Irian Jaya en bestaat uit een provincie. Nu (2023) zijn dat er 5.
Een onderzoeksvraag en een te gesetteld leven sporen de schrijver aan om alles te verkopen en samen met een bevriende fotograaf het westelijk deel van Nieuw-Guinea in te trekken op zoek naar antwoorden.
Een prachtig verslag van een intense reis, waarin hij antwoorden op zijn vraag vindt. Geen vrolijk boek. Wel een goed boek. Een eerlijk boek. En een pijnlijk boek.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally bought this book on ebay as I wanted to become immersed in another of Monbiot's outdoor adventures. I had read Monbiot's "Feral: Rewilding the land, the sea, and human life" and felt transported whenever he wrote of his hairy and whimsical sea-kayaking and forest walking adventures in that book. I was then eager to read three of his first books, "Poisoned Arrows", "Amazon Watershed", and "No Man's Land", each appealing to my fantasies of exploring traditional cultures and wilderness areas.

I was immediately absorbed in this book once Monbiot began describing his discontent with his current job, and need for something

[Joey DeLeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating subject, told through a harrowing adventure. It manages to convey the political and social nuances of the region quite well, as well as a deep sadness for what was/is happening there.

While it is a straightforward read, there are also moments of sublime beauty that shine through in descriptions of the rainforests, and I really appreciate how the events are framed so that any discomfort expressed is shown as clearly the author's, rather than expressing a universal condemning of certain actions (for example, the polygamy practiced by the locals).
His description of the terrible human rights abuses, and his comparisons of how people thrive when left to their traditional means and suffer when forced into a colonial mold, is enough without the author needing to lampshade it. I wish things had improved for the Papuans since the 80s but I don't think they have.

The only criticism I have is that it would have been nice to have more information about Adrian and George's relationship to each other, since we only really heard about Adrian when something went wrong. I imagine this was in order to keep the focus entirely on the country and the people there, but it did make it a bit jarring when the reader was suddenly reminded that Adrian existed because he had developed yet another wound or sickness (the poor, poor man). While I know traditionally photographers are not acknowledged as much as writers in journalism, he trekked through the rainforest as well and suffered for it as much or more than George.

I would recommend this book to anyone, as I feel it probably preserves a part of history and culture that is completely gone now. It revealed a part of the world to me that I had no idea about and I am the better for it.

[James RM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poisoned Arrows introduces a young, scrappy, almost-rogueish Monbiot, investigating what was at the time called Irian Jaya and is now called West Papua.

Monbiot and his photographer accomplice Adrian Arbib journey deep into barely-charted mountainous jungle, through many places they're not supposed to be in, and witness settler-colonialism unfolding in front of them.

This book is what made Monbiot his stones, and, despite its age, still carries weight today in 2022 given that things the Indonesia government don't want the world to see still go on.

[Tyron Surmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, Monbiot writes well and his story here is really cool. Main issue I had with it was how for most of the middle of the book his 'mission' of discovering why transmigration occurred is barely mentioned, and when it is it feels like an artificial story-telling device (like each chapter, "we were one step closer to solving it"). Admittedly that may be how it happened in real life, but did affect the reading experience a tad.

[Carsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been to West Papua three times and actually read this while in a tent in the mountains between Wamena and Angurruk. As a traveller/writer interested in both anthropology and politics I found this interesting and accessible. There are few books about the Papuan cultures on kindle and while this is now a couple of decades old (and the political situation had changed) it is still relevant - the Papuan troubles in 2019 for example became more dimensional to me after reading the book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book. A really important piece of journalism that enlightens a wider audience about an issue very few know about. The writing was not of the best quality and sometimes the story was hard to follow.

[Henryk]

The terrible situation in West Papua explained. A bit out of date.