Crafting a new future for the Dayak and Bajau people

Jakarta Globe, Ade Mardiyati, August 13, 2011         

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As the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was celebrated this week, the United Nations called on all countries to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples through this year’s theme, “Indigenous designs: celebrating stories and cultures, crafting our own future.”

Handbags and textiles made by Kalimantan
people. (JG Photo: Courtesy of Ng Swan Ti)  

Indigenous peoples are defined by the United Nations as nondominant ethnic groups with a claim to historical continuity in their ancestral lands, who often suffer discrimination and marginalization by groups who have occupied their lands through invasion, colonial rule or political dominance.

There are around 5,000 recognized indigenous groups around the world, whose members make up around 5 percent of the world’s population.

In Indonesia, the Dayak and Bajau peoples of Kalimantan are included under this definition.

“[Indigenous peoples] have their land but are often displaced. They end up at the very bottom of society without any skills,” Michele Zaccheo, director of the United Nations Information Center in Jakarta, said at a video screening and discussion at the Goethe-Institut on Tuesday.

Zaccheo shared a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the event, saying that indigenous peoples “face many challenges in maintaining their identity, traditions and customs, and their cultural contributions are at times exploited and commercialized, with little or no recognition.”

“We must work harder to recognize and strengthen their right to control their intellectual property, and help them to protect, develop and be compensated fairly for the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge that is ultimately of benefit to us all,” the secretary general’s message read.

A 30-minute documentary called “Kalimantan’s Craft: Harmony of Culture and Nature,” by filmmaker Nanang Sujana, was screened at the UN headquarters in New York and in all member countries around the world to mark the international day of recognition.

The film shows the life of the indigenous Dayak people in Kalimantan, who depend on the natural resources around them for their livelihoods. With skills that have been passed down from generation to generation, the Dayak people produce artistic crafts including woven baskets, handbags and textiles, all using natural materials.

Agus Sardjono, an expert on intellectual property from the University of Indonesia, said a community’s rights to its own creative products should be recognized.

“When creating a product, indigenous people in villages don’t actually think about intellectual property. But when other people run a business selling similar products using their designs and make a profit, that’s when they begin to think about it,” Agus said.

Often, he added, people outside the community care more about this problem than the indigenous people.

“It’s people in general, like us, who are very concerned when we see certain people take advantage of a culture’s creativity, but without sharing the benefits,” Agus said.

Yayasan Dian Tama, a West Kalimantan-based foundation, has been working with the indigenous Dayak people since 1994 to help make sure they benefit financially from the products of their labor.

“Basically they have the skills. So what we do is provide them with training on how to make better products, set up standards to meet the demands of the market, and also help maintain quality control,” said Tri “Alty” Renya Altaria Siswanto, an adviser for the foundation. “At the same time, we also teach them how to preserve the natural sources from which they take the materials.”

Alty said the organization employed a “punishment and reward” system to encourage the Dayak people to create high-quality products. This, she said, is a way to appreciate the knowledge and skills of the indigenous people themselves.

“We told them that the better the quality, the better the prices, and vice versa,” she said. “And they are now able to produce high-quality products, sold under the brand Borneo Chic. We are also currently participating in an exhibition at Harrods [department store] in the UK.”

Alty said, however, that the production of better-quality products had not changed the people’s economic situation, because they still needed to improve their marketing.

“But we have achieved a very important thing, which is getting [the Dayak people’s] traditional knowledge and creative rights recognized by people outside their community,” she said.

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