Anak Dalam : Tribe in Transition

Ethnic Runaway - Suku di Tengah Transisi from Farli Sukanto on Vimeo.

Framly & Rene were invited to experience a superb journey in the heart of Bukit Tiga Puluh forest in Riau, Indonesia. Here, we encountered the last jungle dwellers, Anak Dalam Tribe. We documented changes that were faced by the Anak Dalam people. How they accepted an influx of new habits & technologies while keeping the identity of a community from generation to generation. Read the complete story here.

The show is owned Trans TV. People involved in the production process can be seen in the end of the show.

Happy watching guys! 

Oh, we took this hilarious photo that finally 

became promo poster for the episode! :D

Special thanks to
Framly @framly_anin & Rene

 

 Long life travellers!

Tribe in the Middle of Transition

yang ingin baca edisi Bahasa Indonesia bisa gunakan fitur translator di bilah samping kanan

photos by Evan Tri Carla S. and Eri Gad Kindangen

"Human beings have the right to choose what's the best for their LIFE"

This might be my second best trip to shoot a documentary Ethnic Runaway, a tv program that exposes the life of traditional tribe in Indonesia. (Click here to watch my best of the best trip in Ethnic Runaway)

Yes, there are many critics to some episodes of the show which didn't create a good image of traditional tribes, laughed at them and sometimes disrespected their habits. And yes, I admit them as a fault. But episodes of Ethnic Runaway are made by many people (with different background & interest) in different teams. Although we had gathered and discussed in a meeting, trust me it was hard to tell others about this issue. 

What I can do is creating my episode of Ethnic Runaway as respectful as possible, giving an simple & different message behind it, and of course put a little adventure!

So earlier this year, my team and I went to Riau to document the life of Anak Dalam Tribe. We invite 2 adventurous celebrities, the first ever L-Men Indonesia Male Models Competition winner Framly Anin and Big Brother Indonesia 2nd runner up Renata Novomestska aka Rene. Together they journey 2 days 2 nights to enter the deep jungle of Bukit TigaPuluh National Park in Riau and another 2 days and 2 nights experience the nomadic life of Anak Dalam.

Framly and Rene were so excited to be on 4WD to conquer the severe and wet track into the woods.

Our destination is Sungai Jirat, a point in Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park that took 2 days from Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru. After one full day on a bumpy road, we finally had to spend a night at the village passed (actually it was a villager stall passed - what a trip!).

 My producer, a fellow camera person and I as the advanced team had gone 2 days earlier to reach Sungai Jirat and prepared everything for the shooting. And the journey didn't get easier for us, soaking wet along the road, running out of money, just having rice and eggs as our meals - these were why the trip was my second best trip ever.

 And finally the advanced team and the second team along with Framly and Rene met in Sungai Jirat. We didn't have much here; tarps for our shelter floor & roof, river for water supplies, feed, Trangia for cooking and of course video equipments for shooting. Because we're already in the middle of jungle it wasn't so difficult to find a nomadic family of Anak Dalam, near our camp, there was a group of Anak Dalam people with their leader, Pak Ali.

Some villagers outside the forest warned us to be careful with the Anak Dalam. Ones told us not to see Anak Dalam men straight to their eyes because they can hypnotize us to be one of them. I didn't mean to be impolite with the locals (villagers) but how can I build a good relationship with the Anak Dalam if I talk without seeing their eyes. So at the time I had just heard the warnings, in my head I directly decided to see their eyes once I meet them.

And that was what I had done when I met Pak Ali to explain our intention and ask his tribe support for our shooting. And I proved that Anak Dalam is a very friendly tribe, fun and cooperative people!

Framly and Rene had different interesting ideas to approach The Anak Dalam. They dressed like them and start to entertain the kids with balloons, and the result - kids loved them and their parents felt safe about us.

Anak Dalam is The Tribe in the Middle of Transition. They still run a nomadic life, hunt animals, wear loincloth and build shelter from nature but at the same time they also know the value of money, smoke modern cigarettes, wear T-Shirt or jackets and own motorcycles. Yes, they ride and bring their motorcycles across river to nearby village to sell Jernang , sap from kind of rattan trees that can be treated as fuel.

Then, why don't they leave the forest and start a modern life in the village? Ali said that Anak Dalam has to guard their patrimony forest, moreover they can't settle at one place. Once a member of their family or group pass away, they have to leave the place where they believe has been cursed and brings in another bad luck.

Is having a motorcycle while keeping the philosophy of nomadic life inconsequent? I don't think so. I still believe that "Human beings have the right to choose what's the best for their LIFE". Because I still could see Pak Ali as an Anak Dalam while he was riding his motorcycle. He keeps his identity as Anak Dalam Tribe well. 

So that was my story documenting another life in another part of my country, Indonesia. We got back to Pekanbaru, enjoyed the day-break with TV and beers! Cheers!

(A week after I had reached hometown Jakarta, I was diagnosed malaria and spent a week in hospital :D - no doubt Anak Dalam was my most memorable trip!)

Watch the full episode here.

Menangkan L'OREAL & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Blacktrail ke Raja Ampat!

Video Promo kontes BlackTrail yang diselenggarakan L'oreal Men Expert dan National Geographic Indonesia 

edisi Pendakian ke Gunung Rinjani dimana saya beruntung jadi salah satu pemenangnya! : )

Menangkan wisata petualangan ke Raja Ampat sebagai liburan akhir tahun kamu! Berani?

Ayo ikutan & daftar BlackTrail  disini.

 Buruan daftar sebelum 30 November 2012!

Untuk informasi lebih lengkap tentang kegiatan BlackTrail ini eksplor web ini.

Best regards,

BLACKTRAIL-ERS RINJANI!

Another Friends of The Forest : Kalende Tribe

I flew from Jakarta to Makassar (South Sulawesi) for about 2 hours then I continued  to fly another 45 minutes using smaller plane to Bau-Bau in Buton Island (Southeast Sulawesi). There are 2 airlines, Lion Air and Express Air, that serve 4 flights everyday from Makassar to Bau-bau. The flight ticket price is about Rp. 400.000-500.000.

It is easy to catch a taxi or cheap ojek (rental motorcycle) in front of Bau-Bau Airport. But it was easier for me because I was on duty to document another culture of a tribe in Lambusango Forest in Buton Island, we had had rented 4WD cars. Our goal is Kalende Tribe living in Wabou Settlement, Lawele Village in Lambusango Forest.

Lambusango is a large area of forest in the middle of Buton Island. Some organizations which concern in implementing and assessing conservation management programmes are here such as Operation Wallacea and Lawana Ecotone. That's why you can meet many foreign students doing research in the forest along the way to Lawele Village.

I invited Rini Yulianti to visit and live with the Kalende tribe. With the support of Kalende people, we would make a semi-documentary episode of Ethnic Runaway. This time, we would like to try something different; which was putting a little drama in the episode while still introduce the rich culture of the tribe. And it was fun to involve the villagers in our production!

Kalende Tribe is one of the community that still lives and depends on the forest. Not only that, the people also still keep the hereditary tradition from generation to generation. One thing I'd found really interesting was how important Rattan is for the tribe. You can easily find the rattan trees in the forest of Lambusango, and they are also the most important forestry products for the Kalendes. Almost everyday, the men get into the woods to collect aged enough rattan sticks and deliver them by the watershed. They brilliantly and efficiently deliver the heavy and very long bunches of rattan sticks by the watershed to some point of the river which they have already dammed. The meet their client at the dam to handover the rattan sticks and get their money.

This is a picture of Rini and Naina Samina (Naina means "Mom" in Kalende Language) in the small stream. You can see that Naina Samina handed a rattan bud which she collected along our way in the forest. And later that day, Naina Samina served them as dinner for us. The taste? They taste nice but a bit bitter x(

Another interesting activity we did near the small stream was taking the shrimp fishing equipment named "Bubu". You can see that Bubu is a plaid of rattan roots. The Kalendes simply put Bubu in the water, let them for a day, and come back the next day to check their luck in trapping those shrimps. We got about 5 shrimps that day and Naina Samina also served them for us. The taste? Just look at the video below hehehe.



How to Make Tombula? from Farli Sukanto on Vimeo.

Rini learned how to make Tombula, a Kalende's special rice cooked in a bamboo with a coconut milk. The rice was served with the shrimps. Do you notice that the water container and the plate are made of bamboo too?

The last unique thing made of rattan are the handicrafts of Kalende. We visit a very talented old lady of Kalende who can make a beautiful basket, bag, bracelet, and vase from rattan. She varies the techniques of wickering the slices of rattan sticks to produce all of those creative things.

We finished the shooting in 2 full days and after that we got back to Bau-Bau and enjoyed our 1 break-day. Though we knew they are many interesting places near Bau-Bau, we were to tired to travel. Most of the hours were spent sleeping in the hotel. But we spent our last morning to Nirwana Beach (30-45 minutes from Bau-Bau), a beach with beautiful views but not yet well-managed. They were huts for visitors and the water is opened for Scuba Diving (We met a group of divers and asked them at that moment). We enjoyed beers, wines and coconut while playing and release some stress. So what we got from the beach were only these crazy photos :

 And this is the best shot :

I suggest a visit to Benteng Keraton Buton. It is a very large area of historical fort of Bone/Bugis Kingdom (a well-known kingdom for their sea rafting in Dutch-Colony era in Indonesia). It is said that there is monumental-historical mosque, castle, cave and graveyards inside Benteng Keraton Buton.

Retrospective Video on a Journey to Tuo Datai Village of Talang Mamak Tribe

Video Retrospektif Talang Mamak from Farli Sukanto on Vimeo.

in this land|

it is not an adventure|

its not a heroic story of wanderers|

its not about adrenaline challenge|

with those tensions|

none of them||

but in this land|

new dailies became your new rituals|

new wisdom made you realize what you lack of|

you appreciated the heritage of nature & ancestors as yours|

you found the new family as those who will always you miss|

to visit||

yes, there's one thing you can not find here|

differences|
here, no slightest difference allowed to separate|

no mass productions and superb technologies|

which slowly drown the human side|

of human||

Look, there is no mosque|
Look, there is no church|

Look, there is no temple|
Look, there is no monastery|

Look, there is no mosque, church, temple and monastery|

which separate me from you from Him from them||

here, there's no school grade that becomes your god|

no soaring career that becomes your heaven|

here, it is okay if you don't agree||

Is it really not an adventure?||

for us|

this land|

whispered us to always be tough|

facing every single uncertain things|

and leave our heart for every moments shared||

This retrospective video contains footage and tells story of our journey to Tuo Datai Village of Talang Mamak Tribe, deep in the jungle of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, Riau-Indonesia. It's about the experience and the lessons we get from our trip.

Read full story here.

Kami dan Penguasa Belantara Bukit Tiga Puluh (Bagian 3)

 Jadi buat apa kami, sekelompok muda, bersusah payah menempuh perjalanan panjang dan sulit dari Bandung ke Riau? 

Awalnya mimpi kami hanya sekedar jalan-jalan ekstrim lintas pulau bersama teman-teman, kemudian mimpi itu berkembang menjadi misi ekspedisi : mendokumentasikan kekayaan budaya Suku Talang Mamak yang belum banyak dikenal. Setelah pulang, kami menyadari perjalanan semacam ini memberikan sesuatu yang sangat bermakna. Bertemu saudara-saudara di pelosok negeri dengan kultur yang jelas-jelas berbeda membuka pemahaman tentang arti hidup. 

Bahwa sebagai sama-sama manusia pun ada standar kebahagiaan yang berbeda-beda. Bahagia mereka berbeda dengan bahagia kami. Dan bahagia masing-masing manusia tetap menempati pilihan terutama dalam hidupnya. Jangan berikan jaket pada orang Talang Mamak karena takut mereka kedinginan, mereka akan menolak karena pilihan mereka sudah jatuh pada kain jarik. Jangan berpikir memberikan uang dalam jumlah banyak akan membuat orang Talang Mamak girang, karena bagi mereka tentram yang paling utama adalah saat hutan tidak didatangi perusahaan kelapa sawit atau saat Taman Nasional percaya penuh pada sistem menggilir ladang yang mereka pakai menugal. Setidaknya itu yang saya dapat pasca ekspedisi saya di tahun 2007.

 

Dok. Ekspedisi PMT Suku Talang Mamak Mahitala Unpar

 Suku Talang Mamak di Dusun Tuo Datai adalah komunitas adat yang sangat menggantungkan kehidupannya pada alam dan hasil hutan di kawasan Taman Nasional Bukit Tiga Puluh. Dan kini peradabannya yang semakin maju telah membuka hubungan kehidupan masyarakat Talang Mamak dengan budaya luar yang lebih maju.

Keadaan ini mendatangkan sejumlah masalah yang merupakan ancaman bagi eksistensi suku Talang Mamak, khususnya yang bermukim di Dusun Tuo Datai. Beberapa masalah yang menjadi kekhawatiran masyarakat Talang Mamak adalah kerusakan hutan di kawasan Taman Nasional Bukit Tiga Puluh. Kerusakan ini menyebabkan kekhawatiran masyarakat Talang Mamak akan kelestarian rumah mereka serta tersedianya pemenuh kebutuhan hidup mereka (sandang, pangan, papan) yang semuanya bersumber dari hutan. 

Dok. Ekspedisi PMT Suku Talang Mamak Mahitala Unpar

Selain itu masalah lain adalah krisis jati diri generasi muda suku Talang Mamak akan identitas kesukuan yang dimilikinya. Intervensi budaya luar ke dalam Dusun Tuo Datai menyebabkan lunturnya rasa memiliki (sense of belonging) terhadap warisan budaya dan kearifan lokal Suku Talang Mamak yang tidak ternilai harganya. Manusia, tidak terkecuali komunitas adat, adalah makhluk dengan peradaban yang terus maju, sehingga bentuk-bentuk kebudayaan yang menjadi kekayaan masyarakat Talang Mamak bukan tidak mungkin berubah. Esensi dari bentuk-bentuk kebudayaan itulah yang seharusnya tidak lekang oleh waktu, yaitu identitas dan jati diri. Bagaimana suatu komunitas adat di tengah-tengah lingkungan yang sangat modern sekalipun, tetap dapat terlihat dan memperlihatkan identitasnya sebagai suatu kelompok yang memiliki keunggulan nilai dan keunikan cara hidup.

Diperlukan perhatian dari semua pihak, terutama pemerintah dan negara akan fenomena ini. Kondisi komunitas adat di Indonesia yang berada pada posisi yang lemah menyebabkan komunitas ini tidak dapat bertindak untuk mencegah dan menanggulangi masalah yang dihadapinya ini. Pendidikan yang telah menjadi kebutuhan komunitas adat dalam menghadapi tantangan-tantangan dari luar dapat dijadikan suatu jalan keluar sekaligus bentuk perlindungan terhadap hak asasi manusia suku Talang Mamak. 

Enam hari lima malam yang kami habiskan di Dusun Tuo Datai berlalu sudah. Berbagai pengalaman, pengetahuan dan nilai kami dapatkan dari setiap saat yang kami habiskan di sini. Dari wejangan Sang Ketua Adat, pantun-pantun yang kami mainkan bersama warga dusun di suatu malam, keramahan para ibu, keceriaan anak-anak yang tiada henti menemani kami, perjalanan menelusuri hutan dan sungai, pertemuan dengan satwa-satwa hutan serta semua suka dan duka yang kami alami bersama di dalam tim mulai dari persiapan hingga pelaksanaan ekspedisi ini.

 

Batang kasai jangan dibenang

Jika dibenang rubuhlah padi

Tanah Datai ini janganlah dikenang

Kalau dikenang rusuhlah hati

- Sidam Katak (Ketua Adat Talang Mamak)

saat main balas pantun di malam perpisahan kami 

Bagian 1

Bagian 2