Faith in the forest helps Indonesia’s Dayaks keep plantations, loggers at bay

KAMBIYAIN, Indonesia — The village of Kambiyain lies deep within the forests of Indonesian Borneo, well off the national grid, and the nights here are typically dark and silent, save for the handful of homes with solar panels or diesel generators. But on a particular evening in May last year, the village was lit up with bright lights, and the sounds of conversation and laughter boomed from the community center, where everyone, young and old, had gathered to celebrate the harvest season. They sang songs in their indigenous Dayak language, as the men played traditional drums and the women served food their distant ancestors would have been familiar with. As the music died down, a village elder named Didi stepped forward to address the crowd. “We hold this event to express our gratitude to the universe for our abundant harvests,” he said. It’s an expression of thanks common across the Dayak heartland in Borneo, including in Kambiyain in South Kalimantan province, home to the Dayak Pitab subtribe; and one that’s been made routinely over the years for generations. The celebration this time is called Aruh Mahanyari, to give thanks for the harvest, with each tribe celebrating its own way. It’s also one of many throughout the year; the Kambiyain villagers also perform rituals before they begin clearing their land for farming, called Aruh Babanta, and during the planting period itself, Palas Paung. The Dayak indigenous tribe of Kambiyain village in South Kalimantan province, Indonesia, is holding an ‘aruh’ ritual to…

from Conservation news http://ift.tt/2BNk58j
via IFTTT