By: Fahmi Alamri

Journey to Sungkup Village

As the morning sun had not yet shown its beautiful light, HuMa Sandoro Purba and Fahmi headed to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to continue their journey to Melawi to attend the “Community and Multi-Stakeholder Meeting.” This event was initiated by the Bela Banua Talino Institute (LBBT), and was also attended by several local NGOs from West Kalimantan.

Participants in this event came from several representatives of Indigenous Community in West Kalimantan, namely; Melawi, Sanggau, Sekadau, Sintang, and Kapuas Hulu.

These representative communities were present to share experiences and information related to the situations, status, and resolution of conflicts in their respective areas. They had local knowledge and various obstacles related to tenurial conflicts in their living areas.

This event took place from May 1-5, 2014, in Sungkup Hamlet, Belaban Ella Village, Menukung District, Melawi Regency, West Kalimantan Province. The event was opened with a welcoming ceremony by the hosts, Sungkup Hamlet. Traditional rituals were performed during the welcoming ceremony. Starting from tying bracelets as a symbol of friendship between the hosts and guests, to cutting bamboo to prevent bad things from happening. In addition, the sacrifice of animals and traditional dances accompanied by traditional music were presented to the guests. The enthusiasm and hospitality of the local community were very visible during the guest reception, and the event was enlivened by all Sungkup Hamlet residents.

After the traditional rituals in welcoming the guests were completed, the guests were directed to the Betang House to rest for a while and given guidance on the guests’ overnight stay location. During the event, the guests stayed in the homes of Sungkup Hamlet residents. The warmth shown by the homeowners made us feel comfortable during our stay there.

As the day darkened, the time showed 7:00 PM, the night atmosphere enveloped Sungkup Hamlet accompanied by the melodious sounds of nature. The peaceful atmosphere was then interrupted by the striking of a gong, indicating that dinner time had arrived, and the participants were asked to go to the Betang House and enjoy dinner.

After filling our stomachs with food, the event continued with welcoming speeches by the Committee Chair, the Host (Sungkup Hamlet), and LBBT as the organizer. Sharing information always emerged in each speech given because the essence of the meeting was to share information and learning. After all the speeches, the event continued with the introduction of the guests to the Sungkup Hamlet Community. A cheerful atmosphere enveloped the introduction session, with laughter filling every corner of the Betang House. Each guest introduced their identity, starting from name, origin, reason for attending the event, and even relationship status became one of the most enthusiastic topics to discuss. Laughter, joy, and friendliness began to emerge among us, the guests and the indigenous community, the introduction broke down the barriers between the guests and the hosts, turning the guests into friends. The day grew late, and the introduction session was over, followed by the screening of several Dayak songs by the committee. At the same time, one by one, the participants began to leave the Betang House and began to rest their bodies.

The next day, after resting, we were awakened by the beautiful morning sun accompanied by the chirping of birds, and the faint sound of the river could be heard. A beautiful view was presented to us, with trees guarding and surrounding us, and beautiful paintings in the blue sky as a gift to our eyes.

The loud sound of the gong once again broke the morning silence, the gong struck three times, indicating that the event would begin, and the guests along with the local community were asked to re-enter the Betang House for breakfast and start the event.

The theme of the activity on Friday, May 2, 2014, was “Learning from Each Other and Strengthening Each Other,” by sharing information about social, cultural, threats, ways to interact with nature, and the struggles undertaken to preserve the customary environment.

The first session on the agenda that day was “sharing stories from 7 continents,” where representatives of indigenous community communities participating in the event would share their experiences and information about the above matters. Each representative from the community told stories about their experiences in defending their land from various parties. The experiences of each region in their efforts to resolve land disputes adorned the morning meeting, and this served