Dairi farmers struggle to keep 'kemenyan' tradition

Dairi farmers struggle to keep 'kemenyan' tradition

By Benget Simbolon Tnb.

JAKARTA (JP): Kemenyan, incense from a plant that is locally
known as kemenjen in North Sumatra, is more than a source of
income for Dairi people. Its existence has also created cultural
values concerned with dos and don'ts toward the environment.

However, as the authorities pay little attention to kemenyan
(Styrax benzoin), which is only found in Dairi, North Tapanuli
and South Tapanuli regencies, many farmers in the regencies have
been long left alone to deal with unfair business practices of
irresponsible traders, who manipulate the prices.

The kemenyan farmers have no choice but to continue using
kemenyan as their only weapon to survive.

"We and our kemenyan have always been the victims, while the
traders have always earned the profits while the authorities do
almost nothing to tackle the problem," Martua, a former
cultivator of kemenyan told The Jakarta Post by phone over the
weekend.

That's why he was surprised to learn of the merkemenjen
performance in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah park in East Jakarta.
"Is it true. What is their real purpose (of the event)?" asked
the 63-year-old man.

The show, which is the main part of Pakpak Cultural Show and
Dairi exhibition organized by Dairi administration last Thursday
night at the park, explained how Dairi people tap the incense
tree resin and how the forest's non-wood production influences
their life economically, culturally and environmentally.

It could have been such a situation that created Odhong-
odhong, a melancholic folksong, performed during the show. The
song is usually sung by Dairi men while tapping kemenyan resin in
the forests to express their loneliness, suffering and hope.

"Odhong...Odhong...odhong/Nggo kidah mayak-mayak bon ari i
rambah mbellen nda/O turang impal kekelengenku sada-sada/Idike
nai ngo dia pekirohmu merembahkan togohku mi rambah nda/O ale
impal, aloi aku simelehe nda/Tekka mersodip giam tendimu asa
njuah-juah aku mengeluak kemenjen/Udan kessa mo nina ari, tap-tap
mo jalu-jalungku, setahun mo aku mencari, tukar poda boi giam
bajungku."

(Odhong...odhong...odhong, twilight is creeping into this wild
forest/Oh my beloved/From where will you come to bring my
dinner?/ Please, answer me as I'm very hungry/ May your soul say
a prayer so that I'm always safe in tapping kemenyan/When it is
raining, my jalu-jalu (a Merkemenjen tool) soaks/I've been
working in this forest for a year but I cannot even buy a new
shirt).

Lack of replanting

Once the darling of North Sumatran farmers, kemenyan is now a
business in decline as fewer and fewer farmers are interested in
its production.

According to EnviroDev Website, in the last 10 years, Styrax
benzoin production has decreased almost by half. The website
provides no data, only saying that many factors have contributed
to the decrease. Among the factors are aging trees and lack of
replanting, low prices, aging farmers and lack of interest by
young people to join in the business.

According to 1990's data published by Forestry and Plantation
Ministry's Aek Nauli Research Agency in Aek Nauli, North Sumatra,
there were 22,833 hectares of kemenyaan plantations (in Dairi,
North Tapanuli and South Tapanuli) with a total production of
4,388 tons per year. In 1997, the total area increased to 24,511
hectares but total production dropped to 2,151.3 tons per year.

Illegal cutting

Making things worse, cutting by illegal loggers, which is now
rampant in the regions, threatens the existence of kemenyan.

"In the next decade we may all see the cultural values that
kemenyan brought to the Dairi society are gone. It's a great pity
that our grandchildren will have to lose such values," Martua
said.

For North Sumatran Pakpak people, kemenyan does not have
economic value only. Prior to tapping kemenyan, for example, they
will hold the merkemenjen ceremony eating traditional food:
pelleng and nditak gurgur. Pelleng is made of softly-cooked rice
mixed with turmeric, chili and chicken meat, whereas nditak
gurgur is made of rice flour mixed with a bit sugar and salt.

Pelleng is believed to renew their spirits and prepare them
for the merkemenjen, while nditak gurgur -- some are eaten and
other are smeared on tools to be used for tapping the resin -- is
believed to prevent them from harm or accident.

During the ceremony, elders will remind them about the dos and
don'ts to the environment -- such as not to force harvesting more
that it should be or asking "permission: before cutting the tree
as they believe kemenyan trees have spirits and should be treated
the way people are treated.

"This custom is something that we should preserve," Dairi's
regent Tumanggor told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the
performance.

Actually, he said, kemenyan business has good potential since
there is growing demand for the incense, particularly from the
European market, as it is used as raw material for perfume,
pharmaceutical products, cigarettes and food. Kemenyan is also
widely used for religious purposes around the world.

The regent promised the Dairi administration would help the
farmers improve their kemenyan business.

"Soon, we'll set up cooperatives that are specially tailored
to meet the need of the farmers," Tumanggor said.

"We're also pursuing an intensive effort to attract local and
foreign investors to the sector," said the native of Dairi, who
has been the regent for more than a year.