Wood supply becoming problematic for Dayaks<\/p>\n
By Indra D. Himrat<\/p>\n
KUTAI, East Kalimantan (JP): Forty-two Dayak families in this
\nvillage are homeless as they find it difficult to find wood, the
\nmain construction material for housing, in the area.<\/p>\n
These 169 Dayaks live in Jelmu Sibak village, Bentian Besar,
\nKutai, East Kalimantan. They account for one third of the
\npopulation of Jelmu Sibak and their names are on a list at the
\noffice, which is also the home, of the head of Jelmu Sibak rural
\ncommunity resilience agency.<\/p>\n
Wood is getting scarcer. Wood is a means of living for many
\nvillagers and can no longer be depended on as the primary support
\nin their lives.<\/p>\n
Many villagers complain that they must go deep into the forest
\nto find wood when they want to build a house. Sometimes they
\ncannot get any wood at all because the forest is controlled by a
\nforest or timber estate concessionaire.<\/p>\n
\"Yes, the wood which is good for house building is available
\nfar away from the village and also you cannot fell a tree just
\nanywhere,\" said Nyaran, a state elementary school teacher.<\/p>\n
Salmiah, an activist added, \"It may not make sense but it is
\nreality. It is getting more and more difficult for villagers to
\nfind wood for house building even though their village is
\nsomewhere in a forest.\"<\/p>\n
Also, she said, villagers can no longer go freely about
\nlooking for wood because the land and the forests are now
\ncontrolled by forest concessionaires.<\/p>\n
All this can only mean that it will be increasingly difficult
\nfor these villagers to build a house, especially since other
\nmaterials needed in building a house are also difficult to
\nobtain. This will be the next serious problem that the villagers
\nare going to encounter, after the problem of food scarcity.<\/p>\n
Some village elders, including the tribal chief of Jelmu Sibak
\nvillage, have suggested that a special location be designated as
\na reserve forest for the villagers. This would mean that not all
\nthe villagers' forest areas would be handed over to forest
\nconcessionaires.<\/p>\n
\"No forest concessionaires may touch the forest area in the
\neast, across the Lawa River,\" said Yahya Holeh, the tribal chief
\nof Jelmu Sibak village.<\/p>\n
\"That area is a reserve forest area for villagers, whose lives
\nare very dependent on the forest,\" said Yahya in a recent
\ninterview at his relative's house in a housing compound owned by
\nTimber Dana Kali Manis Group, where he has been staying lately.<\/p>\n
Socioculturally, there are several types of houses particular
\nto East Kalimantan. The first type is a lou, which is known as a
\nlonghouse and normally called lamin by the locals, indigenous or
\notherwise. This is a traditional house, where a large family
\nlives. The second type is an ordinary house for a small family,
\nbut may also be occupied by more than one family. These two types
\nmay be found in a village or a residential area. The third type
\nis a resting house, which is also a rice storehouse. This house
\nis located in a paddy field.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, an estimate of the need for houses in a village
\ndoes not depend on the number of families in the village but,
\nrather, on the need and the development of a family. So it may
\nhappen that a family has two houses or more. On the other hand,
\nthere are families who do not have a house of their own; they
\nlive in a house along with other families.<\/p>\n
In Jelmu Sibak village there is a longhouse measuring about 15m
\nx 40m which is owned by the tribal chief. The villagers'
\nhouses are made of wood all through, are smaller in size and
\nstand along the road in the central part of the village, at the
\nside of the Lawa River. Both the old lou and the villagers'
\nhouses are built on many large and small wooden poles. Some of
\nthese poles have lasted three generations but are still strong
\nbecause the wood they are made of is ironwood, which is water-
\nresistant. Unfortunately, this ironwood is no longer easily
\navailable to the villagers.<\/p>\n
The present wood \"crisis\" has made locals fear that there will
\nsoon come a time when it is no longer possible for the villagers
\nto build their longhouses. \"It is very likely that this village
\nwill no longer have a longhouse in future,\" said Nyaran.<\/p>\n
In fact, a lou is a cultural center for the Dayaks. It is here
\nthat they carry out various sociocultural and religious
\nactivities. If no more lou can be built, this will signify the
\nrural community's cultural doom because the continuance of their
\nculture depends on the presence of a lou, and their own survival
\ndepends largely on the different types of wood around them.<\/p>\n
This is a phenomenon which needs further disclosure because
\ntree felling continues not only in this village, but also in
\nother villages where the villagers rely on the forest as their
\nmeans of living, not simply as a place where they can obtain wood
\nfor house building.<\/p>\n
The writer is an anthropologist<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wood-supply-becoming-problematic-for-dayaks-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }