Ballad of the Jungle

DOKUMEN SAVE OUR BORNEO

The chairman of the Laman Kinipan Indigenous Community Effendi Buhing (left) in 2019.

Members of the Laman Kinipan customary community in Central Kalimantan believe that every child is bound to nature, even in the mother’s womb. Pregnant woman carry cokur (galangal) as an amulet to ask nature for protection.

Such was said by Effendi Buhing, a Kinipan customary leader currently fighting alongside his people to defend his customary forest from encroachment. He continued that the forest had a deep meaning to the Kinipan people. Other than serving as a source of life, the forest is part of the local community’s characteristics and spirituality.

During a conflict between locals, nature is seen as a fair judge. They hold the Besolap rite, in which those in conflict dive into the river to find a solution for their problem.

Also read: Neglected Land that Support Families on Tangerang’s Cisadane Riverbank

Today, deforestation threatens the community. The Customary Land Registration Agency reports that land conversion into oil palm plantations has taken 4,000 hectares out of Kinipan’s customary forest area, which was 16,000 ha according to a 2016 record (Kompas, 28 August 2020). This is a source of sorrow for the Kinipan people.

Trees, water and the earth are neither passive objects nor a privilege for humans.

For them, the forest is where they fulfill their obligations to safeguard their ancestral legacy. The jungle contains their ancestral footsteps, cosmological perspectives and collective memories. Trees, water and the earth are neither passive objects nor a privilege for humans.

For the customary people, the forest is a dynamic unity, a source of energy for life. The forest is a blessing that must be preserved and protected. Effendi Buhing explained with a trembling voice how he had fallen in love with the jungle when he was just a little boy.

A Covid-19 pandemic report by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) shows that customary communities have endurance and resilience to get through this crisis. In facing new ways of life, customary community are proven to be persistent, especially regarding food security. For six months, they have independently managed their areas by preserving principles of plant diversity and sustainability of local seedlings. Consequently, they are safe from starvation.

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

Berkat Arus, the Chairman of the BPD Desa Kinipan, brought several types of plants, including medicinal plants in a location that had been opened by an oil palm plantation company in Lamandau Regency, Central Kalimantan,  on Sunday (20/1/2019).

They farm with a sensibility for balance by respecting limits related to customary forest protection. Their resilience contrasts sharply with the monoculture of industrial agriculture that has left a trail of problems, including imbalances in benefit-sharing, environmental destruction rife with conflicts and land grabbing.

King of plagues

Sukirman, the chairman of the Kaharingan Faith Assembly in South Kalimantan, said he saw the pandemic through a different perspective. He explained that the Kaharingan belief recognized thousands of plagues or bala. They see these plagues as beings. In this perspective, the SARS-CoV-2 is seen as the king of plagues, who emerges on earth to protect those who are sick or hurt.

Sukirman said that the emergence of the king of plagues reminded humans of their forgotten values, especially on harmony with nature. The Kaharingan people believe that space does not exist by itself in a vacuum. For instance, the forest exists as both an empirical, physical space as well as a realm of magic. To enter the forest, a person must have a sincere heart and good intentions.

Also read: Selametan Sawah, Pleading for Abundant Harvests

Sukirman emphasized that waging war on a plague was wrong, because wars are triggered by greed and arrogance, which would only increase the wrath of the king of plagues. Therefore, the Kaharingan people have held various rituals, including the bawanang. The ritual is seen as an effort to redeem humans of their errors and seek forgiveness from nature.

The “king of plagues” narrative is important to be interpreted as a discourse of defining humankind’s fractured relationship with nature. Humans must contemplate their rash actions toward nature. Environmental degradation can lead to various ecological disasters, including the rise of new plagues.

A workshop organized by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) comprising scientists of various fields has concluded that there is a close link between biodiversity annihilation and the emergence of a risk of plagues such as Covid-19.

The loss of wildlife habitats and the expansion of human settlements has increased the risk of pathogens moving from animals to humans.

The research combines data from 6,800 ecological communities on six continents and comes to the conclusion that deforestation can lead to new pandemics. The loss of wildlife habitats and the expansion of human settlements has increased the risk of pathogens moving from animals to humans.

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Wahana Visi Indonesia aid tents for the indigenous peoples of Pubabu, Timor Tengah Selatan, East Nusa Tenggara.

IPBES emphasizes the central role of customary communities in facing environmental crises. Kaharingan believers worship the forest as a sacred entity. The word Kaharingan itself derives from the ancient Dayak word of haring, which means “life”.

Dayak woman Kunti Ayu Vedanti said there was a strong bond between Dayak women and the forest. She said she often walked into the forest to find plants that could be used as medicine. She cited the Book of Panaturan, a Hindu Kaharingan holy book. The book’s Article 24 says that the first human Raja Bunu, and then Raja Sangen and Raja Sangiang, were given a mandate by Ranying Hatalla Langit or God to exalt forests and all living things therein.

Czech philosopher Erazim Kohak interpreted nature as a moral symbol; the good, the righteous and the beautiful. The philosophy of settling is the binding of the self to nature. He rejected the idea that the culture of humans was separated from nature.

Kompas

Saras Dewi

In particular, Kohak rejected the notion that the excellence of humankind’s culture is marked by the creation of language, whereas nature is a silent entity. Nature has a sound. The ballad of Borneo’s jungle is still heard, even if quietly. The Dayak people, through their various religions and beliefs, are united by the spirit of the forest. They are the guardians of the ancient forest.

Saras Dewi, Lecturer in philosophy at the University of Indonesia