Herman Wainggai is a West Papuan leader living in exile in the United States of America and banned for life from his hometown, Jayapura, the capital city of Papua in Indonesia. He is a former political prisoner who took on the Indonesian government and almost cost him his life. Mr. Wainggai escaped to Australia, where he lived briefly before traveling to the United States where he resides today. He is known to many in Australia and the world as the man who escaped on a canoe to Australia in 2006.