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Batin Sembilan Summary

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Page 1: Batin Sembilan Summary

The extinction of Suku Batin Sembilan for the Sake of Sustainable Development (Summary of the ethnographic study on the indigenous Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan in Jambi Province)

By: Yayasan SETARA Jambi

The province of Jambi is one of the provinces with diverse indigenous peoples, among others, Suku RimbaOrang Rimba and Batin SembilanOrang Batin. Both the tribes have been traditionally utilizing forests and their produccollect medicinal plants and live in Bukit 12 National Park, the forest in their territory, which has been practiced for generations. It is their dependence on their forests that give them the name the Suku Anak Dalam or the Dalam (literally the name means the children of the inner forest). Despite the same being called Suku Anak Dalam, they have different ways and patterns of life. While the Orang Rimbaare a nomadic tribe and move when there is death in their families, the Suku Batin Sembilan are not. Despite keeping on the move, the Orang Rimbahave never occupied the others’ land. Each family has their own roaming land, known and agreed to by all the families.

Based on the oral tradition, the SAD Batin Sembilan are the descendants of the 9 childrens of Raden Ontar, who was the son of Prince Nagosari and the grandson of Maruhum Sungsang Romo; the latter having Mataram Hindu blood. All the nine children were Singo Jayo, Singo Jabo, SingInu, Singo Besak, Singo Laut, Singo Delago, Singo Mengalo, Singo Anum, who were

Preface

Suku for the

Sake of Sustainable

(Summary of the ethnographic study on the indigenous Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan in Jambi

he province of Jambi is one of the provinces with diverse indigenous

Suku Rimba or Batin Sembilan or

. Both the tribes have been traditionally utilizing forests and their products for their lives. While the Orang Rimbacollect medicinal plants and live in Bukit 12 National Park, the Orang Batin manage the forest in their territory, which has been practiced for generations. It is their dependence on

e name or the Suku

(literally the name means the children of the inner forest). Despite

Suku Anak , they have different ways and

Orang Rimba are a nomadic tribe and move when there is death in their families, the

are not. Despite Orang Rimba

have never occupied the others’ land. Each family has their own roaming land, known and agreed to by all the

tion, the SAD Batin Sembilan are the descendants of the 9 childrens of Raden Ontar, who was the son of Prince Nagosari and the grandson of Maruhum Sungsang Romo; the latter having Mataram Hindu blood. All the nine children were Singo Jayo, Singo Jabo, Singo Pati, Singo Inu, Singo Besak, Singo Laut, Singo Delago, Singo Mengalo, Singo Anum, who were

Map of Suku Batin Sembilan’s teritory

Orang Rimba manage the

forest in their territory, which has been practiced for generations. It is their dependence on

Batin Sembilan are the descendants of the 9 childrens of Raden Ontar, who was the son of Prince Nagosari and the grandson of Maruhum Sungsang Romo; the latter having

o Pati, Singo Inu, Singo Besak, Singo Laut, Singo Delago, Singo Mengalo, Singo Anum, who were

Page 2: Batin Sembilan Summary

inherited or granted control over nine tributaries called Batin. Each Batin is headed by a leader called Pati/Patih. The term Suku Batin Sembilan not only means the descendants of nine brothers, but also 9 tributaries. The nine tributaries or batin are Bulian or Bulian; Singoan, which empties into the Batang Hari River; Jebak, Pemusiran, Telisak, Sekamis, Jangga and Burung Antu, which empties into the Batang Tembesi River, Jambi Province; and lastly, Bahar, which empties into the Lalan River in South Sumatera Province. These tribes used to live in one area but due to the administration division and the imposition of the “desa” (village) concept, they have been split both in terms of kinship and teritorry. They are now dispersed in three districts, namely Sarolangun, Batang Hari and Muaro Jambi, Jambi Province.

Forests for the Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan serve as the place that provides both daily needs and tools and ingredients for their medicine, rituals and even identity.

The tradition and ritual are still observed by some of the Suku Batin Sembilan. However, conversion of forests into palm plantations has made the ritual practically impossible to be observed as all the ingredients for it are only found in forests.

If we look at the land tenure in the Suku Batin Sembilan’s terittory, it is very clear that the tribes no longer have room to move, let alone room to continue their living, culture and identity as the Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan. PT Asiatic Persada/Wilmar Group; displacing houses up to old graveyards for the sake of sustainability The sustainable palm oil standards set by the RSPO are seemingly not strong

Forest, Culture, Identity and Life

Suku Batin Sembilan; no more Home!

PT IKU (palm Oil)

PT Asiatic Persada (Palm Oil)

PT REKI (Carbon)

PT PN (HTI) and TAHURA/Forest concession

PT Wanakasita (HTI Sinar Mas)

PT PN (Palm Oil)

Page 3: Batin Sembilan Summary

enough to force its member companies to comply with the standards. Examples include PT Asiatic Persada, a subisidiary of the Wilmar Group, an RSPO member and IFC client. Operating in Jambi on 20,000-hectare land in the Suku Batin Sembilan’s teritorry, the company has displaced the Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan, who have long been living in Bahar tributary or Batin Bahar. The newest incident happened on 8-15 August 2011. At that time, PT Asiatic Persada destroyed the houses of Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan. This destruction has eliminated 70 houses and one Sub-village. Consequently, 150 families are evacuated to Jambi Province. PT Asiatic Persada not only has sustainable economy, but also conducted sustainable destruction of forests, plantations, villages, sources of living, and even identity of Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan.

Demolition of Sungai Beruang Sub-Village by Brigade Mobile (Brimob) and PT Asiatic Persada The Chronology Monday, 8 August 2011 On Monday, Pak Zainal’s truck and driver were detained by the security of PT Asiatic Persada (PT AP) in its facility. He was accused of stealing oil palm fruits from the company’s plantation. At 10 o’clock in the evening, Pak Zainal approached two mobile brigade (Brimob) soldiers, who were guarding the facility, and asked him to release his truck and driver. The soldiers said that they had no authority to do so as they were only the guards. It was the security that detained the truck and the driver. Unsatisfied with the answer, Pak Zainal went back home, returned with four members of his family and picked a quarrel. A fight broke up and the soldiers were injured. Pak Zainal and his family took hold of their guns. Pak Zainal returned to Sungai Beruang sub-village and gathered the villagers, trying to seek support. Pak Damsi and Pak Gandi dispersed the crowd as it was Pak Zainal’s personal affair with the Brimob soldiers, not the villagers’. Tuesday, 9 August 2011 About 6 in the morning, approximately 15 Brimob soldiers surrounded Pak Zainal’s house. They came to get back the guns seized by Pak Zainal. After Pak Zainal negotiated with them and it was agreed that the guns would be returned and so would Pak Zainal’s truck. The soldiers said that the truck was kept in the company’s camp (about 100 meters away from Pak Zainal’s house) and told him to pick it up by himself. Pak Zainal sent two of his sons to pick the truck up. About 15 minutes later, the sons were heard screaming for help. Pak Zainal rushed to his sons. When he came out, the soldiers set fire to his house (possibly by shooting the gas stove and there was gasoline inside the house then). Outside the house stood hundreds of Brimob soldiers and the Batanghari policemen. Pak Zainal was pushed roughly by 15 Brimob soldiers. He and his family fought back but, outnumbered, he was arrested. A villager named Pak Bas, who was around the house at the time of the incident, got shot at the back. Fearing further violence, he fled into the forest (his whereabouts have been unknown to date). Although the villagers got a bit worried, it was business as usual in the village after the incident. Wednesday, 10 August 2011 About 8 o’clock, some Brimob soldiers and the company’s workers came out of the camp. Seeing them, especially the soldiers, the villagers started to panic. One called the head of Tanjung Lebar village, who soon came to the sub-village. The villagers expected that the village head could protect them. The company’s workers harvested the palm fruits in the plantation, which borders on Sungai Beruang sub-village, guarded by the Brimob soldiers. After the harvest, at about one o’clock in the afternoon, 4 soldiers approached the village head, who was with the local residents, and asked who he was. He replied, “I’m the Head of Tanjung Lebar Village”. The soldiers warned him to leave; or else he would get something bad. One of the soldiers said, “The villagers were bitches, swines, as they ganged up on our friends (i.e. the Brimob ).” After saying this, he fired his gun into the air, followed by the other soldiers around. The villagers were dispersed in fear. The soldiers went into the sub-village, hitting, cursing and aiming their guns at anyone they met. In the meantime, the company’s bulldozers came, crushing all the houses along with their contents. About 100 men, women, children, and the elderly were dispersed in fear, leaving all their possessions behind. A very old woman, although stressed by the demolition, insisted on staying in what was once her house. From 10 August 2011 to 15 August 2011 the sub-village was blockaded by the Brimob soldiers. Outsiders, even the media, were not allowed to enter. The villagers said that in the morning of 13 August 2011, the Brimob soldiers discarded all the villagers’ possessions: mattresses, doors, televisions, wardrobes, etc. It was strongly believed that the soldiers were trying to eliminate all the evidence. (SETARA,PH and CAPPA)

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PT REKI; Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan are sacrificed for carbon Climate change has brought a lot of suffering to poor people, especially forest-dependent people. One example is the Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan. After their land has been stripped and cleared to give way to oil palm, which is a commodity believed to be able to provide oil for environmental-friendly engines, the tribe have to suffer another misfortune: carbon trade to prevent global warming has robbed them of their valuable forest, not to be converted into oil palm plantation, but to trade the carbon stored in the forest. The forest is all that is left to the future generations of the Suku Batin Sembilan after their land, gardens and villages are converted into oil palm plantation. And now the forest has become the hope of the international community. In fact, it is fine if the forest becomes very valuable for the international community, but the problem is that the forest is now controlled by a carbon industry company called PT REKI, which is in fact no different from oil palm industry. The carbon industry called PT REKI or Harapan Rainforest has been slowly separating the tribe from the forest they depend on for living, medicinal plants and identity as the Suku Anak Dalam Batin Sembilan. It seems like a curse has been put on them. The forest, used to be a place providing shelters, food, identity and culture, has now become their enemy. What used to be their forest now seems hostile to them, becoming a place they can no longer access and reach. When the source of food has been replaced by oil palm plantation, when their remaining forest has been closed to them, they have only few options left: trying to survive inside the oil palm plantation by working for the company as brondol (loose fruits) collectors who must be satisfied with a pay of IDR300/kg, or “stealing” the fruits. Quite a lot of them cannot stand the condition and run deep into the forest, being fully aware of the risk of being arrested and imprisoned by the permit holder’s security. In terms of teritorry, the Suku Batin Sembilan are no longer in existence, replaced by HGU (business use permit) and HPH (logging permit). Their culture has also been becoming extinct; their identity has been slowly diminishing. Control over forests for carbon concessions and land use for oil palm plantation are two drivers of the tribe’s extinction. Hence, the sustainable palm oil standards and forest conservation for carbon trade have lost their meanings if the indigenous people, who should enjoy and benefit from them, are no longer in existence. (STR)

Suku Batin Sembilan; There is no Choice, except becoming palm fruit thieves