Ballad of the Jungle
Members of the Laman Kinipan customary community in Central Kalimantan believe that every child is bound to nature, even in the mother’s womb.
The chairman of the Laman Kinipan Indigenous Community Effendi Buhing (left) in 2019.
Members of the Laman Kinipan customary community in Central Kalimantan believe that every child is bound to nature, even in the mother’s womb. Pregnant woman carry cokur (galangal) as an amulet to ask nature for protection.
Such was said by Effendi Buhing, a Kinipan customary leader currently fighting alongside his people to defend his customary forest from encroachment. He continued that the forest had a deep meaning to the Kinipan people. Other than serving as a source of life, the forest is part of the local community’s characteristics and spirituality.