In a remote corner of Indonesia, an ancient way of life hangs in the balance. The Hongana Manyawa, a tribe of hunter-gatherers who have thrived in the dense rainforests of Halmahera island for millennia, now face an existential threat. But the danger comes not from rival tribes or natural disasters, but from the global race to mine nickel, a key component in the batteries that power the electric vehicles many see as critical to fighting climate change.
About 500 members of the 3,500-strong Hongana Manyawa tribe remain completely cut off from the outside world, living in what anthropologists call “voluntary isolation.” These uncontacted peoples, who call themselves “the people of the forest” in their own language, depend entirely on the bounty of their ancestral lands for survival. But that land, and their way of life, is now being devoured by mining at an unprecedented pace.
A Nickel Rush Fueled by “Green” Demand
The surge in nickel mining on Halmahera is driven by booming demand for electric vehicle batteries, as automakers and governments set ambitious targets to phase out fossil fuel cars. Indonesia, which has the world’s largest nickel reserves, has been eagerly cashing in. Nickel mines now cover about 40% of the Hongana Manyawa’s ancestral territory, according to a new report from indigenous rights organization Survival International.
The report identifies 19 mining companies operating on Hongana Manyawa land, but focuses in particular on the massive Indonesia Weda Bay nickel project run by France’s Eramet group. Survival International alleges that Eramet has been aware since at least 2013 that its mining activities posed grave risks to the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa living near its concession.
“International experts on uncontacted Indigenous peoples, on disease, and on genocide have all warned that this mining poses an immediate threat of the devastating population collapse of the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa, that is, a genocide,” the report states bluntly.
Forests Destroyed, Disease Looms
Halmahera’s rainforests are not just the source of the nickel deposits international mining firms covet. They are also the source of nearly everything the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa need to survive – food, water, shelter, medicine. As the forests fall to make way for mining, that survival is increasingly in jeopardy.
Even more frightening is the specter of disease. Uncontacted tribes lack immunity to common illnesses like influenza and measles, which historically have devastated indigenous communities worldwide when introduced by outsiders. Experts say contact between miners and the isolated Hongana Manyawa, which becomes more likely as their forest buffer disappears, could unleash a deadly epidemic.
Videos obtained by Survival International seem to show members of the tribe attempting to resist the encroachment of bulldozers on their land, or emerging from the dwindling forest to beg for food at mining camps. The organization says some Hongana Manyawa have been spotted with respiratory illnesses, foreshadowing a potentially catastrophic outbreak.
Mining Company Disputes Claims
Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for Eramet disputed the claim that the Hongana Manyawa living near its mine are truly “uncontacted,” asserting that some have “regular and voluntary contact” with mine personnel. The company says it has established protocols governing workers’ interactions with the tribespeople to ensure “culturally appropriate behavior.”
“We have established strict standards and require them to be applied by all our employees and contractors, in all our areas of operation,” the Eramet spokesperson said in a statement to the media. “Our group is also voluntarily committed to the highest international mining standard.”
But Survival International argues that mining on indigenous land without the inhabitants’ “free, prior, and informed consent” – something uncontacted people by definition cannot give – may violate international law. The organization is calling for Hongana Manyawa territory to be placed off-limits to mining and resource exploitation to protect the tribe’s future.
A Global Dilemma
The desperate plight of the Hongana Manyawa highlights a troubling dilemma underlying the green energy revolution. The same electric cars and renewable technologies many hope will help avert climate catastrophe depend on minerals like nickel, lithium, and cobalt – finite resources often found in pristine, biodiverse regions that are home to indigenous peoples. From Alaska to the Amazon, Congo to the Pacific islands, a new wave of extractivism is being driven by skyrocketing demand for these minerals.
For some, like the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa, the cost could be cultural oblivion and the end of their people. It’s a wrenching irony that technologies meant to help save the planet might now threaten one of the last true stewards of our vanishing wildernesses – and a living link to humanity’s own distant, pre-industrial past. As the clamor for a rapid transition from fossil fuels intensifies, stark questions are emerging about what – and who – might be sacrificed in the process.
