Kepi is a town in Mappi Regency, South Papua, Indonesia. Following the formation of Mappi Regency in 2002, the town became its administrative seat. At the time of the Dutch arrival, the region was inhabited by various tribes speaking Trans–New Guinea languages, such as the Awyu, the Yaqay, or the Kayagar. The inhabitant of the area were mostly left al…
Kepi is a town in Mappi Regency, South Papua, Indonesia. Following the formation of Mappi Regency in 2002, the town became its administrative seat. At the time of the Dutch arrival, the region was inhabited by various tribes speaking Trans–New Guinea languages, such as the Awyu, the Yaqay, or the Kayagar. The inhabitant of the area were mostly left alone by the outside world until the first half of the 20th century, when the Dutch started taking an interest in the region. In 1926, a penitential colony for political prisoners was established further inland at Tanahmerah, although it would take ten more years for the first Dutch government post to be established in the Mappi area. In 1936 a military post known as Mappi Post was set up on a hill named Tamao, at the confluence of the Digoel and Kawarga River, to prevent Headhunting raids which were creating unrest and migrations, and assert Dutch control over the area. Following the Japanese invasion of New Guinea in 1942 and the subsequent bombing of the post by Japanese aircraft in 1943, the post was essentially abandoned and only manned by a coastwatcher. In 1944, the Australian Army moved in, installing a radar station which had been previously operating in Bupul, with the goal of spotting Japanese airplanes coming from the west to attack Merauke. However, as the Japanese airfields were wiped out by allied aerial bombardments, the radar station became useless and the Australian Army departed in 1945.
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