Preserving the SANCTITY of Rice Paddy
WISDOM comes from various directions, including from remote tribes beyond our sight. Upstream of the Mahakam River, East Kalimantan, the Wehea tribal community conserves nature with the spirit that rice paddy and other plants are as invaluable as their own children.
Last April, Tempo reporter Adek Media Roza followed the traditional rituals held by these tribespeople. Cahyo Junaedy supplements it with bibliographic research.
May 7, 2006
FROM the windows of the second floor of a traditional building, the sound of a wooden drum and gongs was floating along the Wahau River. Far upstream at Mahakam, East Kalimantan, in recent mid-April, the sun was coming up, evaporating the dewdrops on the roofs of the houses of the Nehas Liah Bing villagers. A kilometer-long row of simple houses stands along the Mahakam River. One by one, the residents would go down the street, responding to the r
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