Orang Rimba worship not only their ancestors, but also trees and the beasts believed to have auras, such as tigers and elephants.
By
IRMA TAMBUNAN
·5 minutes read
The event that took place 30 years ago has yet to desert Ngelembo\'s memory. As young as he was, he could do nothing but watched in apprehension as a group of people from his community shouted out in despair in the face of heavy equipment about to bulldoze tano bedewo, the sacred land of Orang Rimba (jungle people).
The fraying situation saw them defending tenaciously and striving to block the heavy equipment from moving forward. The machine operator finally relented. However, the encroaching area had already been crushed, leaving only a sizable enclave of tano bedewo untouched.
Holding the graves where their nenek puyang (ancestors) were laid in rest, it is revered as the holy place by Orang Rimba living in the buffer zone of Bukit Duabelas, Jambi province.
Tano bedewo is designated as a seclusive place, where, according Ngelembo, one is obliged to pray in asking for permission to enter. He said if the heavy equipment had entered the area and uprooted the large trees, it would have been deemed as an act of evicting dewo (god).
"Customs violations receive heavy consequences. The punishment is nyawo ganti nyawo [life for life],” Ngelembo said. A life-for-life penalty in their customs entails having to pay the heaviest fine, namely 500 pieces of cloth.
Amid the increasingly advanced civilization, Orang Rimba still retain their belief in bedewo, though it could no longer be the same because nature has changed.
Orang Rimba worship not only their ancestors, but also trees and the beasts believed to have auras, such as tigers and elephants. The broad-crowned trees are seen as the life-guarding gods for them from the onset of their birth into the world.
Every newborn baby has its placenta buried with a sentubung tree being planted as a marker. Serving as protection, the tree cannot be pruned, let alone cut down. Those who violate the rule will be subject to sebangun customary sanctions, which falls into the life-for-life consequence with 500 pieces of cloth.
Entering the first week of infancy, the baby’s head is smeared with powder made from the senggaris tree bark so that the head hardens quickly.
With the tradition of applying the bark of two protective trees, namely sentubung and senggeris, on the baby, Orang Rimba are attached to nature and thus play an important role in preserving the forests.
The diverse plants and flowers growing in the jungle are used to perfect their rituals. A saying passed down over generations goes: ado rimbo ado bungo, ado bungo ado dewo [forests give flowers, the existence of flowers mean the presence of god]. The forest and all its elements become the means for carrying out religious rituals.
However, as the forest is dwindling, flowers are becoming scarce. The bebalai ritual can no longer be observed as genuinely as before. That is just one aspect of the impact from the ignorance to heed Orang Rimba and their environment.
Government policies have brought about injustices, too, and reflect the negligence of the lives of Orang Rimba.
‘Uncivilized’
As a community that does not subscribe to any of the state’s recognized religions, Orang Rimba are often considered uncivilized. They are also often ridiculed and harassed.
“Orangterang often mock. Indeed, we worship dewo," said Ngelembo, referring to the people from outside his community.
Anthropologist Robert Aritonang, who has accompanied Orang Rimba as part of an outreach program since 1997, recalled the hardships Orang Rimba endured. A stigma is attached to them as a “godless” community.
Orangterang often mock. Indeed, we worship dewo.
They are also considered dirty and smelly; they are deemed as belonging to the lowest social class. They are a neglected community, being deprived of public services. Robert pointed to a series of disease outbreaks that resulted in fatalities in 1999 and 2014.
In 1999, the area was hit by a dire condition of food, exacerbated by the clearing activities of forests for industrial plantations. "At that time, around 30,000 hectares of forest that was the source of the Orang Rimba\'s food disappeared," he said. The grim condition cost 13 lives.
Another bout of hardship in the span of six months between 2013 and 2014 left 14 people dead. The two major events revealed the fact that Orang Rimba had yet to be registered as citizens who deserve social assistance and health insurance.
The last stronghold
Haidir, the head of the Bukit Duabelas National Park (TNBD), said part of the Orang Rimba community still practiced their traditions in the TNBD area. The national park appears to be the last bastion for them to maintain the cultural values that have been passed down from generation to generation.
With Orang Rimba, he said, believed to be integral to the preservation of the environment, the revision of TNBD zoning has synchronized state regulations with Orang Rimba customary interests.
The synchronized spatial zoning and customary management system in Bukit Duabelas was confirmed in 2019. The zoning has been hailed as progress, with the TNBD being protected and Orang Rimba being able to preserve their important customary places, including tano bedewo, tano suban, benteng, kleko and pasoron. The latter is a resting place for the dead, whose designation as a religious zone is in in line with the TNBD zonation.
Also included in the zonation is a steep area on the hills. They call it the hills rope where a spring is located. Land clearance is forbidden.
The zonation covers 14 designated areas, all part of the natural conservation program. The 54,780 hectare TNBD is home to 718 families or 2,960 people, made up of 13 customary clans, each with their respective living territory.
Orang Rimba’s attachment to nature and their belief system deserve state recognition. After a long wait, Orang Rimba administrative data has been massively recorded by the state, entitling the community to social assistance and public services.