with nearly 70 years of independence, Indonesia prides itself on being a nation founded sovereignty and determination of peoples who call the Nusantara archipelago from their ancestral homeland. Unfortunately, even Indonesia tends to discriminate and criminalize indigenous communities whose lifestyles and livelihoods may conflict with the interests of the dominant society.
The documentary Handcrafted Films If Not Us Then Who? follows various indigenous peoples whose livelihoods and cultures depend directly on local forests. "These people have the same level of passion, commitment and sacrifice to protect forests worldwide and combat the difficult battle against large industries," said the director of the project Paul Redman, a militant Forestry long and nominated filmmaker.
in cooperation with the Alliance of indigenous peoples of Nusantara (AMAN), Handcrafted films screened If Not Us Then Who? in Jakarta. the indigenous leaders of Indonesia and abroad were invited to tell their stories of fighting for dignity and the right of their peoples to live as citizens of countries ruled by capitalist interests. Compiled over two years through community participation in various parts of Indonesia and Latin America, a film segment tells the story of Tobelo Dalam, an ethnic group of Halmahera, North Maluku.
Although Tobelo Dalam have a real dependence on forest resources for their nomadic subsistence farmers and hunter-gatherers, the government takes the liberty in the granting of exploitation rights of their land to companies, mainly mining and oil palm plantations. With the help of AMAN and Cipta Media Seluler, Tobelo Dalam now implement a SMS monitoring system to control illegal logging, and work on mapping their customary ancestral forests to assert their rights to land and natural resources.
According to AMAN, Indonesia still has 70 million hectares of customary forest, 40 million hectares of primary and secondary forests. But just because a virgin forest seems, that does not mean there is no licensing on it. It is unusual for a forest area being claimed by two to three licensing conflict, in most cases illegal. When indigenous people are undocumented, it makes them defenseless against legal entities who want something from their land and have the power to manipulate the law to suit their interests.
Because many indigenous minorities still practice ancestral religions, many can not obtain national identity cards (KTP), marriage certificates and birth certificates. Their children can not go to school and they miss about their rights as citizens -. Discriminated against and criminalized by the state itself that is supposed to ensure their access to public services
"For 70 years, Indonesia has committed to protect the rights of indigenous communities. But for 70 years, and our communities indigenous were ignored, "said Abdon Nababan, secretary general of AMAN. AMAN aims to help indigenous people get legal documents and map their traditional homelands in order to obtain legal status.
Although UCP Masyarakat Adat (Indigenous Minorities Bill) is planned for the 2014-2019 National Legislation Program legislature failed to give priority for 2015. Many laws and regulations on indigenous minorities in conflict as each other. 14 departments conduct aboriginal affairs, mostly by competition for projects and bigger budgets, and showing things that look good on paper, such as community development, resettlement and cultural tourism. But when it comes to dealing with land tenure and discrimination, these departments are washing their hands.
Nababan said that if the state initiates serious reconciliation with Aboriginal communities, the Republic of Indonesia will not last long. The denial of fundamental rights as citizens of the incentive enough to fuel separatism in Aboriginal communities.
Reconciliation means indigenous communities receive local autonomy to exercise their customary traditions safely and in peace in their country. It also means the legal recognition of indigenous communities and their individual members, access to economic empowerment through cooperatives and credit unions, support for the conservation and rehabilitation of their natural environment, mapping territories Aboriginals are recognized in the development of national infrastructure, giving indigenous communities chamber to contribute to the advancement of the nation, and mutual connectivity with the central government.
When the community is trying to communicate these issues to the government, their cries fall on deaf ears. It is unlikely to change soon, due (among others) for mapping problems in indigenous territory. For community participatory mapping to be recognized, government officials must be present throughout the process - and yet when invited, the government is often reluctant to attend. In addition, concessionaires are often urban Batak who have land rights by clan relations, but have little, if any, respect for clan rights as a community.
Candido Mezua, president of Panama's indigenous peoples coordination of the National Body stated that reconciliation in his country was achieved through 90 years of struggle and 74 years of war. This was colored by discrimination, criminalization and even bloodshed not unlike those that occur in Indonesia. Today, 22% of Panama's land is recognized as indigenous territory, but 11% is still in dispute.
"In my culture there is a saying:" A native landless indigenous person is dead, "said Mezua via his translator.
"We can not blindly trust the Government to take forestry decisions on our behalf because the forest concerns the livelihoods of indigenous communities. To gain the respect of our culture and appreciation for our territories, aboriginal peoples must unite, not only nationally but also internationally we are not against development -.. Rather, we are for the type of development that respects our livelihoods and lifestyles "
the main points of the struggle for indigenous peoples, according Mezua, the concern to win the respect of indigenous culture, recognition of the sovereignty of their territories, and the prior consent in formal knowledge when foreign intend to access their land. "Others may kill us, but not our identity and our culture. We must have sovereignty over our lands. The unit is the key," said Mezua. He adds that he admires the fight to bring together millions of indigenous people in a large country like Indonesia, compared to collect 10,000 indigenous people in the population of Panama 3 million.