<![CDATA[Child marriage in Yahukimo Regency, particularly among the Kimyal indigenous community, has historically been embedded in customary relations and collective strategies for maintaining social cohesion. This study examines how religious education contributes to the transformation of child marriage practices among the Kimyal indigenous community in Yahukimo Regency. The study employed a qualitative case study design. Data were collected in 2025 through in-depth interviews and observation involving three informants: a Kimyal traditional leader, a religious leader representing the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI), and an elementary school teacher. The data were analyzed thematically to identify changes in the meanings, social functions, and contemporary contexts of child marriage. The findings indicate that child marriage was historically understood not simply as an individual decision but also as a customary mechanism for strengthening relations between groups and resolving inter-tribal conflict. Traditional leaders and dowry practices played important roles in sustaining these arrangements. The introduction of Christian teaching and modernization, however, contributed to a transformation of these customary norms. According to the religious leader interviewed, GIDI has adopted a policy prohibiting marriage for girls below the age of 19 and has promoted education and children's rights. At the same time, contemporary child marriage has not disappeared but has become associated more with dating, premarital pregnancy, and changing social relations than with inter-tribal peace-making. The study concludes that religious education contributes to the transformation of the meaning and legitimacy of child marriage, but this transformation occurs within a wider ecological system involving family, school, religious institutions, customary structures, and broader social change.]]>
