The Guardians of ‘Tano Bedewo’

Orang Rimba worship not only their ancestors, but also trees and the beasts believed to have auras, such as tigers and elephants.

KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Children from the Orang Rimba community are comfortable playing in the forest of Bukit Duabelas National Park, Jambi, on (02/02/2019).

The event that took place 30 years ago has yet to desert Ngelembo\'s memory. As young as he was, he could do nothing but watched in apprehension as a group of people from his community shouted out in despair in the face of heavy equipment about to bulldoze tano bedewo, the sacred land of Orang Rimba (jungle people).

The fraying situation saw them defending tenaciously and striving to block the heavy equipment from moving forward. The machine operator finally relented. However, the encroaching area had already been crushed, leaving only a sizable enclave of tano bedewo untouched.