Family Story on Land-Related Tradition as Base for Land-Use Management and Sustainable Development: The Case of Indigenous Mentawai

  • Authors

    • Elfiondri .
    • Uning Pratimaratri
    • OslanAmril .
    • Dibya Prayassita SR
    2018-10-02
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.9.20621
  • Family Story, Land-Related Tradition, Land-Use Management, Social Norm.
  • Indonesian government is actively developing the indigenous villages of Mentawai. The development has brought social conflict over land and ineffective development due to the ignorance of the indigenous tradition on land. The indigenous people have a fanatically practiced tradition recorded in their family stories from which social norms on land are basically derived. Unfortunately, previous studies on the tradition in which there are rituals and taboos as the base for land-use management and development remains ignored and unexamined. The paper examines indigenous land-related tradition in village of Madobag Mentawai as basic social norms for indigenous land-use management and development. Its objectives are to identify indigenous social norms based on the tradition for possible land-use management and sustainable development. The study applies ethnography method based on theoretical approach of indigenous tradition and taboo on land. The result is that the indigenous people have a number of land-related traditions in which it is found rituals, taboos, sacred sites, and food, medical and ritual plants, plants for traditional home and canoe, and culturally important hunting area. The traditions include indigenous land-ownership, land-use for the indigenous, land-use for outsiders, and land-use for development. The traditions are social norms which should be seriously considered as base for land-use management and sustainable development. They can be as effective base for indigenous land-use management and development policy in using the land, solving social conflict over land, keeping social harmony, making policy on development, conserving environment and forest, and preserving indigenous Mentawai culture.

     

     

  • References

    1. [1] Elfiondri. (2016). Attitudes of Elders, Youths and Women of Indigenous Communities on Water: The Case of Siberut, Mentawai, Indonesia. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol.6, No.2, February 2016.

      [2] Sibajak. (2010). SukuMentawai. Kompas, Sumatra BagianUtara, Kamis, 11 November2010.

      [3] Elfiondri. (2018). Ensiklopedia Norma Sosial Tradisi dan Tabu Masyarakat Indigenous Mentawai (Encyclopedia of Tradition and Taboo-Based Social Norms of Indigenous Mentawai People). Research Center and Community Service, Bung Hatta University (Research Report).

      [4] Petrescu-Mag, R.M. (2018). Agricultural land use conflict management—Vulnerabilities, law restrictions and negotiation frames: A wake-up call. Land Use Policy.

      [5] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.02.040

      [6] Tulius, Juniator. 2004. Family Stories: Oral Tradition, Memory of the Past, Contemporary Conflict over Land in Mentawai – Indonesia.

      [7] Schefold, R.(2004). Mainan Roh Masyarakat Mentawai. Jakarta: Balaipustaka.

      [8] BenYishay, A., et al., (2017). Indigenous land rights and deforestation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management,

      [9] United Nations. (2007).United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. United Nations, NewYork. 〈http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/ documents/DRIPS_en.pdf〉.

      [10] Hilson, Gavin. (2017). Gold mining, indigenous land claims and conflict in Guyana's hinterland. Journal of Rural Studies. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.01.004

      [11] Loaiza, T (2017). Analysis of land management and legal arrangements in the Ecuadorian Northeastern Amazon as preconditions for REDD + implementation. Forest Policy and Economics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.05.005

      [12] Joly, T.L. (2018). Ethnographic refusal in traditional land use mapping: Consultation, impact assessment, and sovereignty in the Athabasca oil sands region. The Extractive Industries and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2018.03.002.

      [13] Heinapuu, Ott. (2016). Agrarian rituals giving way to Romantic motifs: Sacred natural sites in Estonia. Sign Systems Studies 44(1/2), 2016, 164–185. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.1-2.10

      [14] Liao, Chuan. (2016). Indigenous ecological knowledge as the basis for adaptive environmental management: Evidence from pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa. Journal of Environmental Management. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.10.009

      [15] Goodall, Heather (2007).Negotiating Survival: Aborigines, settlers and environmental knowledge on Sydney’s Botany Bay and Georges River. Zoologist, volume 39 (1). https:// doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2016.039

      [16] Dada, Sunday Olaoluwa. 2016. Post-Development and The Role Of Tradition In The Process Of Development. TRAMES. http/dx.org/10.3176/tr.2016.1.05.

      [17] Primiano, L. N. (1995). Vernacular religion and the search for method in religious folklife. Western Folklore, 54(1), 37-56.

      [18] Allison, Elizabeth. (2017). Spirits and Nature: The Intertwining of Sacred Cosmologies and Environmental Conservation in Bhutan. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.18805 JSRNC (online) ISSN 1749-4915.

      [19] Azzurro, E. (2018). Detecting the occurrence of indigenous and non-indigenous mega fauna through fishermen knowledge: A complementary tool to coastal and port surveys. Marine Pollution Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.01.016.

      [20] Elfiondri. (2012). Traditional Land-Use of Indigenous People: The case of Pagai, Mentawai – Indonesia. Paper, International Coference, Johor – Malaysia.

      [21] Plessis, WJ du. (2011). African Indigenous Land Rights In A Private Ownership Paradigm. African Journal Online. PER / PELJ 2011(14)7. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/pelj.v.14i7,3

      [22] Istomin, K.V., Habeck, J.O., (2016). Permafrost and indigenous land use in the northern Urals: Komi and Nenets reindeer husbandry, Polar Science. http/dx.org/10.1016/j.polar.2016.07.002.

      [23] Bappenas. (2010). Rencana Aksi Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi Pascabencana Serta Percepatan Pembangunan Wilayah Kepulauan Mentawai Propinsi Sumatera Barat Tahun 2011-2013.

      [24] Berkes, F., 2009. Community conserved areas: policy issues in historic and contemporary context. Conservation Letter. 2, 19–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00040.x.

      [25] Erickson, Clark L.(2008). Amazonia: The historical ecology of a domesticated landscape. In: Silverman, Helaine; Isbell, William H. (eds.), Handbook of South American Archaeology.New York: Springer, 157–183.

      [26] Bastias Saavedra, Manuel. (2018). The Lived Space: Possession, Ownership, and Land Sales on the Chilean Frontier(Valdivia,1790-1830)â€. Historia Crítica

      [27] Whitehead, Tony L. (2005). Ethnographically Informed Community And Cultural Assessment Research Systems (Eiccars). (Working Paper Series). http://www.cusag.umd.edu/documents/workingpapers/introeiccars.pdf

      [28] Coronese, Stefano. 1986. Kebudayaan Suku Mentawai. Jakarta : PT. Grafidian Jaya

      [29] Roza, Jhondri. (2002). Tulou: Cara Penyelesaian Sengketa Pada Masyarakat Mentawai. Padang: Laboratorium Antropologi Jurusan Antropologi FISIP Universitas Andalas.

      [30] Rudito, Bambang. (2013). Bebetei Uma Kebangkitan Orang Mentawai : Sebuah Etnografi. Yogyakarta: Gading.

      [31] SDKSS (Statistik Daerah Kecamatan Siberut Selatan), 2016. BPS Kepulauan Mentawai.

      [32] Spradley, J.P., (1980) Participant Observation. New York: Holt. Rinehart and Winston.

      [33] Davies, J. (2017). Warlpiri experiences highlight challenges and opportunities for gender equity in Indigenous conservation management in arid Australia. Journal of Arid Environments, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2017.10.002.

      [34] Verkuyten, Maykel. (2014). First arrival and owning the land: How children reason about ownership of territory. Journal of Environmental Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.007

      [35] Gans, C. (2001). Historical rights: The evaluation of nationalist claims to sovereignty. Political Theory, 29(1), 58-79.

      [36] Karmay, S. G. (1998). The little luminous boy: the oral tradition from the land of Zhangzhung depicted on two Tibetan paintings. Orchid Press.

      [37] Kirner, Kimberly D. (2015).Pursuing the Salmon of Wisdom: The Sacred in Folk Botanical Knowledge Revival among Modem Druids. JSRNC. doi: 10.1558/jsrnc.v9i4.25814.

      [38] Jonathan, McIntosh. (2013). Songs from the Thrice-Blooded Land: Ritual Music of the Toraja (Sulawesi, Indonesia), The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 14:4, 390-392, doi:10.1080/14442213.2013.806240

      [39] Minta, Muluneh. (2017). Land use and land cover dynamics in Dendi-Jeldu hilly-mountainous areas in the central Ethiopian highlands. Geoderma. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.10.035

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    ., E., Pratimaratri, U., ., O., & Prayassita SR, D. (2018). Family Story on Land-Related Tradition as Base for Land-Use Management and Sustainable Development: The Case of Indigenous Mentawai. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(4.9), 82-89. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.9.20621