How Dayaks manage their resources
How Dayaks manage their resources
By John Bamba
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): There are shrimps on the
leaves sunk on riverbeds. There are fish in the waters. There are
animals in the forests.
This saying of Dayak Jelai living in Ketapang district, West
Kalimantan, describes succinctly their vision and dreams about
living in happiness and prosperity. Simple as it is, it is their
foundation for living.
Living in harmony with nature is the basis of their lives, and
the Dayak have developed a distinct management system of natural
resources. Only from this perspective can one really understand
what the Dayak are doing today in managing their environment.
Today, most if not all of the riverbeds have turned into mud
deposits, fish are found more easily in fishponds or aquariums
than in rivers and most forests have become empty where even the
songs of birds are rarely heard. For the Dayak, these conditions
could be the beginning of their genocide. Nature, especially
land, river and forest are the three most important elements that
allow a person to live as a real Dayak.
For centuries, these natural elements together have formed a
unique identity that we now recognize as Dayak tribe, culture,
customary laws and religion.
Dayak culture with all its oral traditions is inseparable from
its surroundings. A Dayak shaman could not perform a healing
ritual if there were no more forest to collect the materials for
the ritual and the medicines for the patient. The Naik Dango
(harvest) festival would no longer exist if there were no more
areas for farming or if perladangan (farming) activities were
banned. Customary laws applied for illegal marriage -- which
include bathing the couple with dog and pig blood in the river --
could not be performed if the waterways have been polluted or
turned into dams.
In short, the Dayak identity will be lost with the loss of
nature. At present, the loss is guaranteed by ignoring this
sociocultural function of land, forest and river for the Dayak.
Various forestry laws and regulations in Indonesia unfortunately
fail to recognize this function. Forests are treated as green
gold that should be exploited to collect as much money as
possible.
Principles
The Dayak have five principles in the natural resource
management system: sustainability, collectivity, biodiversity,
subsistence, and customary laws.
* Sustainability. The most distinct aspect is that all the
Dayak view nature as a "common house" (rumah bersama) rather than
economic asset or wealth. It is clearly reflected in the
"permission" ritual which is carried out before any activities
are done. The "permission" ritual is even carried out before an
area for farming is cleared. The point is to ask for agreement
from other beings that possibly dwell in that area.
The song of a particular bird or the voice of certain animals
could be treated as an omen or augury whether the permission is
granted or not. By treating nature as a "common house" for all
beings, it is not exploited for the benefit of humans alone but
also for the benefit of other beings.
* Collectivity. Nature with all its resources is managed based
on the principle of collectivity for common benefits. The areas
for farming could be cleared by all respective village members.
Fish in the rivers and animals in the forests could be caught,
trapped or hunted. Fruit gardens inherited by ancestors are
collectively owned by all village members.
A villager does not need to pay for a cemetery plot because it
is a collective possession. All the villagers have similar access
to sacred areas as well as hunting grounds. On the other hand,
individual rights are also granted. Farming areas, which have
been planted with cash crops, are recognized as individual
possessions.
* Biodiversity. One of the most obvious distinctions between
resources management by the Dayak and that belonging to the
capitalistic economy is in terms of biodiversity. Under the Dayak
system, the sustainability of biodiversity is the priority, while
the capitalistic economy would place productivity at the top.
* Subsistence. The Dayak exploit the natural resources for
subsistence purposes; therefore the exploitation is done on a
very small scale. There are some commodities that are market-
oriented such as rubber, but these are not the main source of
income. Timber exploitation is mostly for domestic use or for
firewood. Though there are some villagers who collect timber for
sale, this exploitation is done using traditional equipment and
is thus still tolerable for the environment.
* Customary Laws. Dayak manage and exploit natural resources
based on customary laws which have been formulated to guarantee
the sustainability of nature. Unfortunately, the present national
laws do not clearly recognize the customary laws which are still
applied by the community. One of the clauses of the Agrarian Law
states that these customary laws are recognized as long as they
are not incompatible with the national interests. This diplomatic
statement does not give any real recognition since "national
interests" can encompass many definitions.
Jargon
These main principles are found in all Dayak management of
national resources. If we consistently applied the above five
principles in the management of our natural resources, we should
undoubtedly achieve what has become the most popular contemporary
jargon: sustainable development.
Many experts say that sustainable development must meet at
least three criteria: economically beneficial; ecologically
sound; culturally not destructive. It is obvious that the
indigenous peoples, especially the Dayak, have been practicing
sustainable ways of extracting natural resources for ages.
The indigenous peoples' wisdom in managing natural resources
is often considered a hindrance to development and modernization.
Therefore, this wisdom is gradually disappearing and being
replaced by the destructive exploitation for the sake of high
economic growth. In West Kalimantan, for example, the local
government's target to achieve 10.9% of economic growth by
encouraging giant investment on palm oil, industrial tree
plantation and mining will bear the worst environmental
destruction.
Sign
The most glaring sign already with us is the raging forest
fires affecting not only lives of people in Kalimantan but also
abroad.
It is clear the lives of the Dayak, formerly full of high
cultural values, have been infiltrated by outside influences as
the impact of spreading consumerism in the world. But changes
toward a better life should be started by the Dayak themselves.
They should free themselves from feeling inferior and become
confident that they have much to offer to create a more just and
better world for all. They have the wealth of their customary
laws, culture and traditions. There must also be a change in
other people's perceptions of the Dayak.
Branding the Dayak as cannibals, headhunters, shifting
cultivators, forest squatters and other degrading stereotypes
will only do harm. President Soeharto's recent statement that the
forest fires were not caused by the traditional farmers should be
applauded as an example of the wisdom of an experienced leader.
The writer is research program coordinator of the Institute of