East Kalimantan and the Linggang Bigung Sub District

People of East Kalimantan: population, and ethnicity

Based on Kalimantan Timur Dalam Angka (in Figures) in 2003, the population in East Kalimantan was 2,704,851 (Badan Pusat Statistik, Propinsi Kalimantan Timur, 2004:51). Table 1 [ PDF 69.3KB | 1 page ] below shows the size and population of each district of East Kalimantan in 2003.

As mentioned by Gerke (1997), the Dayak is a minority in East Kalimantan even though their material cultures have been used to represent East Kalimantan. Table 2 [ PDF 43.3KB | 1 page ] shows that the Dayak consist of 12 per cent of the population of East Kalimantan (the most recent data on the basis of ethnicity was compiled in 2002). The Dayak are the largest population among the ethnic groups only in the West Kutai, Malinau and Bulungan Districts, while the Dayak are in the second position in the Nunukan District after the Buginese.

The position of the Dayak in Indonesia parallels in important ways that of the Orang Asli of Malaysia, in that they are both considered backward and less civilised compared with other ethnic groups in their respective countries. Clarke (2001) argues that the Dayak of Sarawak and Sabah are considered to be minorities. Gerke (1997) considers the Dayak of East Kalimantan a minority because of the small proportion of the Dayak in the area. The Dayak of East Kalimantan consider themselves to be indigenous people.

The size of the Kutai Barat (West Kutai) District is 31,628.70 kilometres. The West Kutai District in the north is bordered by the Bulungan District and Sarawak - East Malaysia, in the east it is bordered by the Kutai Kertanegara District, in the south it is bordered by the Pasir District, and in the west by the West Kalimantan Province and the Central Kalimantan Province.

The West Kutai District has fifteen Sub Districts: Bongan (2,274.40 kilometres); Jempang (5,654.40 kilometres); Penyinggahan (271.90 kilometres); Muara Pahu (2,833.80 kilometres); Muara Lawa (444.50 kilometres); Damai (3,438.70 kilometres); Barong Tongkok (544.64 kilometres); Melak (1,139.70 kilometres); Long Iram (3,126.96 kilometres); Long Hubung (1,432.70 kilometres); Long Bagun (4,971.20 kilometres); Long Pahangai (3,420.40 kilometres); Long Apari (5,490.70 kilometres); Bentian Besar (886.40 kilometres); and Linggang Bigung (699.30 kilometres) (Source: Regional Development Planning Board, West Kutai District)

Linggang Bigung Sub District and Its People

The Linggang Bigung Sub District is one of the sub districts under the District of the West Kutai, Province of East Kalimantan. This sub district is newly established and previously was only a village, which was headed by the village head, the lowest level of the structure of organisation in the provincial administration.

Based on data for the year 2000, the size of Linggang Bigung was 699.30 kilometres and is still the same at present. The total population in 2000 was 11,873 people (BPS – Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Kutai, 2000), while in 2002 it slightly increased to be 13,701 with 3,427 households (Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Daerah Kabupaten Kutai Barat and Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Kutai Barat, 2003:25).

See Table 3: The size and the population of each village in the Linggang Bigung Sub District in 2000. [ PDF 51.1KB | 1 page ] and Table 4: Population of Linggang Bigung Sub District based on gender in 2000 [ PDF 42.6KB | 1 page ]

In terms of ethnicity, there is no census on ethnicity, but based on interviews with sub district administrators the majority of the population is Tunjung Dayak. As mentioned previously, the Dayak are considered to be the indigenous people of East Kalimantan though in terms of their number they are a minority (Gerke, 1997). If we count them by districts, the Dayak are not always a minority because in at least two districts, West Kutai and Bulungan, they are believed to be the majority. In Linggang Bigung, which is part of the West Kutai District, it is believed that they constitute around 70 per cent of the population. Other groups are mainly constituted of Buginese, Javanese, Banjarese, and the Kutai. Since there is no census on such matters, the calculation has been predicted on the ground of religious adherence in which all Christians are counted as Dayak (see Table below on religious adherence). Many experts assume Dayaks are Christians and that Muslims are not Dayaks (see for instance, King, 1993). Likewise, many informants in Linggang Bigung Sub District told me that the Dayak are mostly Christians. They further said that people could predict the number of the Dayak based on this religious determination.

Religious adherence in nine villages of Linggang Bigung Sub District, September 2004, can be illustrated as follows:

Linggang Melapeh village: Catholic: 403; Protestant: 262; Muslim: 58

Purwodadi village: Catholic: 42; Muslim: 1,319

Linggang Mapan village: Catholic: 658; Protestant: 155; Muslim: 64

Linggang Amer village: Catholic: 428; Muslim: 86; PGKII: 140; PGKSI: 62; PGPPI: 51

Tutung village: Catholic 187; Protestant: 431; Muslim: 1,718; Hindu: 6; Animist: 14

Bigung Baru village: Muslim: 37; Catholic: 193; Protestant (GapemBRI):121; Protestant (GPDI): 29

Bangun Sari village: Muslim: 1,403; Protestant: 8; Catholic: 18; Hindu 4

Linggang Melapeh village: Catholic: 667; Protestant: 360; GPDI: 30

Linggang Bigung village: Muslim: 310; Catholic: 509; Protestant:1,152; Animist: 129

It is often argued that decentralisation will bring about prosperity to the local people, including the Dayak of the interior. The West Kutai government which is headed by a Dayak and has many Dayak in high ranking positions, is expected by the Dayak to improve their economic conditions and to empower them who used to be marginalised.

There is a concern from the empowerment section of the sub district in Linggang Bigung with the reality that many Dayak people who used to have land along the main road in the Bigung areas now have sold their land to migrants like the Javanese. The Dayak, as indigenous people there, have moved back when they sold their land along the main road to migrants because they own many land areas. The Dayak's use rights to many land areas are partly because they practice the shifting cultivation method in which they rotate the use of the land areas so that they need not depend on one area only. Shifting cultivation is the mode of subsistence most closely associated with the Dayak (Dove, 1988; Lebar, 1972; and Conley, 1973). Officials in the empowerment section of a sub district told me that many Dayak people have moved away from the main road because for them to engage in shifting cultivation they do not need to stay close to the main road. A Dayak lady, who is an official at the sub district level, told me that the Dayak basically do not have a tradition of entrepreneurship so that they do not use the opening up opportunities since the debut of decentralisation.

The story of a Javanese lady, Ibu Sri who owns a small restaurant is a case in point on how migrants can own land on the main road. She used to work in a gold mining company, PT KEM, as a chef. When she quit her job she received severance money from this company. Being a chef, she is an experienced cook so she bought a piece of land on the main road opposite the sub district market and opened a small restaurant. To her it was strategic to open a small restaurant near the market due to the fact that Linggang Bigung, as a newly established sub district is rapidly developing in terms of infrastructure and economic matters. Enterprises are growing in this new Sub District. According to many officials at the sub district level, migrants see these opportunities and engage in enterprises (which will be discussed further in a different section). Ibu Sri is doing very good business since her restaurant is quite popular. Many drivers of rented cars suggested I should go to this restaurant to eat during my stay in the Sub District.

The success story of Ibu Sri is shared by several Javanese migrants who set up businesses in sawmills. Meanwhile, the Dayak have sold their land.

The Dayak and Forestry Related Products

As mentioned previously, forestry products are a lucrative source of income, even at the national economy level. These were therefore targets for many interest groups during the New Order government. Based on recent figures, in 2003, the size of the forests in East Kalimantan was 29 million hectares, divided into six (6) categories: protected forest, natural and tourism conservation, forest for restricted production, forest for production, forest for production which can be transferred to conservation, forest for research or education (Badan Pusat Statistik Propinsi Kalimantan Timur, 2004).

Kompas (2 December 2004:29) reports, the National Convention of the Dayak Customary Institutions for Kalimantan on 30 November 2004, attended by 150 people constituted of customary chiefs (kepala adat), customary institutions (lembaga adat), and the Dayak customary board (majelis adat Dayak) of four provinces in Kalimantan, highlighted ten (10) recommendations. The most crucial recommendation was that the central government should get rid of illegal logging. The illegal logging will not only destroy the customary forests, but also spur on the horizontal conflicts in the society as well as destroy the life patterns of the Dayak who are dependent on the sustainability of forests. The customary chief of Long Bagun Ilir Kampong of West Kutai, East Kalimantan, argued that illegal logging has affected the indigenous Dayak people who have lost their plants for medicines and traditional ceremonies. A customary chief from Central Kalimantan added that people could gather honey, gaharu, plants for medicines, roots, rattan, and tree sap in the sustainable forests, without destroying them. Another important suggestion from a customary chief from West Kalimantan is that facing the problem of illegal logging should go side by side with the creation of job opportunities, otherwise conflict may emerge (Kompas, 2 December 2004:29).

It is therefore very crucial to understand the Dayak and their involvement before and after the decentralisation in the village. To understand the situation before and after regional autonomy, fifty (50) people from 9 (nine) villages in Linggang Bigung Sub District were interviewed by using a questionnaire. All respondents were Dayak. This selection is based on the purpose of the research itself which is to understand the income of the indigenous people from forestry related products. The result can be illustrated below.

Profile of the Dayak Involved in Forestry Related Products

The majority of the respondents were Tunjung Dayak 84 per cent of 50 respondents. The rest of the respondents include Bahau Dayak and Benuaq Dayak.

Table 5 [ PDF 106.4KB | 1 page ] shows that the majority of respondents (76 per cent) were around 25 to 44 years old. The nature of the work mostly needs physical strength so that elderly people cannot participate in the forestry sector.

Amongst 50 respondents, about 88 per cent were married, while 10 per cent were single and 2 per cent widowed. If we look at gender status, about 10 per cent were women, while 90 per cent were men. This is because there is a division of labour by sex. Women are hardly involved in the hard work in the forests.

In terms of religion, Catholics made up 50 per cent, Protestants, 32 per cent, Muslims, 16 per cent and Buddhists, 2 per cent.

About 88 per cent of the respondents had 4 or fewer dependents, and only 12 per cent of the respondents had more than 4 dependents. Around 29 people (58 per cent) of the respondents were originally from this place and they have never moved to other places. 21 people (42 per cent) previously were not resident in the area. The reasons for migrating to this area varied, including marrying villagers there (six people), seeking and finding jobs (ten people), and returning to the original family home town (five people).

Basically, respondents are not considered to be poor in Indonesia as their basic needs appear to be met. They can eat and have shelter. They are quite different from people who live in the socalled 'poor villages'. The Economic Social Survey of Bureau of Statistics, 2002, defines the poverty line for food as Rp93,351 /capita/month in the urban area and Rp73,148 /capita/month in the rural area. Meanwhile, for non-food it is Rp37,148 for the urban area and Rp23,482 for the rural area (Aswatini, et al, 2003:24). Aswatini et al criticize this measurement by arguing that every region has a different culture and situation so that making a standard measurement has certain problems (ibid.) I agree with their criticism of the standardized poverty measurement. For instance, if the floor of the family home is made of earth this will be considered as one aspect of being deemed a 'poor' family. This will be applicable in Java, but insignificant in East Kalimantan. In East Kalimantan, especially in the interior, people use timber for the floor of the family home. It is very uncommon that the floor of a house be made of earth. In Linggang Bigung, for instance, the Dayak houses usually use wood both for the floor and the walls. A few people have started to use bricks for the walls and tiles on the floors.

Based on Table 6 [ PDF 59.3KB | 1 page ], there was a slight improvement in every aspect after January 2001.

Economic Activities and Incomes

As mentioned previously the traditional method of obtaining a livelihood by the Dayak has been through shifting cultivation. Many respondents still engage in shifting cultivation though they are also involved in other jobs in the forestry sector. Some informants argue that people cannot rely on shifting cultivation only. They, therefore, need to seek other economic activities. The forestry sector has given them the opportunity to earn a living. To see the types of jobs and the shifti in the type of jobs we can look at Table 7 [ PDF 84.7KB | 1 page ] below.

A few small-scale enterprises stopped their activities due to certain factors. For instance, small entrepreneurs who made rattan products encountered a scarcity of raw material (rattan). Rattan gatherers faced difficulties in getting rattan in the forests nearby. On top of this, rattan estates have not become a priority for estate development by the government or individuals. In the Linggang Bigung Sub District rubber has become important sources of income. Rubber plotsestates are privately owned by individuals in the region. In the case of respondents, those who engage in rubber work own land for rubber production. The size of their rubber plots or small-scale estates is mostly around 1 to 2 hectares. There were only 4 respondents who owned more than 2 hectares of land for rubber production, ranging from 3 to 6 hectares. Usually, respondents gathered the latex of rubber trees, accompanied by family members. According to several people in Linggang Bigung, rubber will be the main potential source of benefit. They also say that a few people who used to work in the big companies like PT KEM (a gold company) began to engage in the rubber work when they lost their jobs in the big companies. Generally, respondents get their land through inheritance. Table 7 [ PDF 84.7KB | 1 page ] shows that only one person is engaged in logging entrepreneurship.

Some respondents were not been able to disclose their incomes for many reasons, particularly for having forgotten their incomes. It is common that people do not have written accounts of what they earn

See Table 8: Annual income before December 2000 [ PDF 47.6KB | 1 page ] and Table 9: Annual income after January 2001 [ PDF 103.4KB | 1 page ]

If we compare between before December 2000 and after January 2001, it is clear that the percentage of people who earn more than Rp10 million is slightly higher after January 2001. It is likely that decentralization has given the opportunity for indigenous people to be involved in the forestry sector. If we look at the previous Table on the types of occupations it shows that more people engage in small scale businesses in forestry related products and more people work for a logging company after January 2001. However, at fall in the number of enterprises has occurred at present (September 2004) partly due to the scarcity of rattan. In this case, people stopped their rattan small-scale industries.

According to the detailed illustration of people with different jobs in forestry related products: There are four classifications: logging entrepreneur; small-scale entrepreneur of forest related products; hunter, forest gatherer and gatherer of the latex from rubber trees (the rubber category) and employees of a logging company or a big forest related enterprise.

The only person who is a logging entrepreneur is ‘Pak Oheng. He established his business in 2003. People of Linggang Bigung know him as the ‘boss’ of logging. People believe that he is a good example of a Dayak who has benefited from the recent decentralisation. He admits that before regional autonomy it was not possible for the indigenous people, the Dayak of the interior, to engage in such businesses. According to ‘Pak Oheng, after January 2001 or after decentralization, it was basically easier for local people to get licences than before December 2000. As mentioned previously, the Indonesian government had allowed the district to issue licences in certain schemes. When this was cancelled, many licences were issued anyway. The local people complain this is always because of their marginalization in participation in forestry. Under the New Order government, logging businesses were dominated by big businessmen, including Bob Hasan. At that time, the Dayak were pushed away from forests. There are many stories of this gloomy type. An informant told me that he was chased by the security staff of a logging company when he entered the forest to get a few logs to build his house. Before the coming of the logging companies, the Dayak could go to the dense forests to collect a few logs for building. The Dayak have their own wisdom in managing the environment. Now they were considered to be thieves if they took logs for their houses from the logging area.

'Pak Oheng who manages to own a logging enterprise used to face similar problems to those of his fellow Dayak. In the middle of my fieldwork in Linggang Bigung, I even heard a 'dark story' about him from several people who reside in the West Kutai District. Those people believe that in the past 'Pak Oheng and his friends often stole the logs that belonged to a logging company from the river at night. There are many ways for a logging company to travel its logs, including floating a raft of logs in the Mahakam River or pushing them by ship. The lack of accessibility by the Dayak to logging enterprises is sorely felt by them.

Since he established his logging enterprise, Pak Oheng often trades his logs in Samarinda. He, basically, has no problem in marketing his products. However, he finds that it is difficult to get a business licence because of bureaucratic problems. Respondents believe that bribery and paying levies have become common practices in business.

Before December 2000, the Dayak rarely worked in the logging companies or big enterprises in forestry related products. From empirical research, this common condition has been proved by the fact that it is only 1 person or 2 per cent who had been working in the logging companies. The proportion of people who are engaged in this classification has increased to 7 people or 14 per cent. In terms of income, these people who are working for logging companies have higher incomes than others, apart for the logging entrepreneurs like 'Pak Oheng. In 2004, their incomes ranged from Rp1 million to Rp2.5 million (equivalent to about US$ 111 to US$ 278) monthly or Rp12 million to Rp30 million annually (equivalent to about US$ 1,333 to US$ 3,333). The types of jobs in the logging companies include truck driving to transport logs from the estafet camp to the log pond at the Mahakam riverside and logging operations. Five out of seven people were working full time. In terms of job permanence, it is only two (2) people who work as permanent workers in the logging companies, the rest of them are contract based. It was only 1 person who was working before December 2000, while six (6) people have started to work since January 2001.

Another category is small-scale enterprises in forestry related products. There are ten people who are engaged in such enterprises as their main jobs. In terms of income this can be illustrated as follows:

See Table 10: Income of respondents who are engaged in small-scale businesses in forestry related products [ PDF 50.1KB | 1 page ]

Table 10 [ PDF 50.1KB | 1 page ] shows that the incomes of respondents have increased gradually. The majority of this group is engaged in sawmill work. According to a sub district official, sawmills have grown rapidly in the region. However, formally they have not registered at the sub district administrative office so that the record of sawmills does not match the reality. In the West Kutai District, there are only four (4) registered sawmills: CV Budi Satria, PT Agung Sejahtera, Loa Haor Sawmill, and KUD Lawa Setia. It is only Loa Haor Sawmill which reports its production. In June 2004, it produced 20,522 pieces of cut timber which were 2,831,983 tons in weight. According to the formal record of the number of sawmills there are 4 (four), Anderson Sawmill at Linggang Melapeh village, C.V. Mapai Jaya at Purwodadi village, Subur Jaya at Purwodadi village, and Prasongko at Purwodadi village. However, based on prediction, officers at the Sub District of Linggang Bigung believe that there are more than 20 sawmills in this sub district alone. Many migrants, especially Javanese, have seen the opportunity in this sort of business. All sawmills in Purwodadi are owned by Javanese. Based on information, the problem of licences in West Kutai is that many people do not want to register their businesses because they think that regional autonomy partly means being free to do business. This also happened with petrol stations, with only one registered. Based on my own observation, along the main roads in the area of Linggang Bigung, there are many sawmills. Many sawmills have established recently, especially around 2003 to 2004. Six (6) out of 10 respondents, started their businesses after January 2001. They see the opening window of opportunity after the local people have become involved in the logging. The involvement can be seen in the possibility for the Dayak to go to forests and take logs by using a sensaw (a kind of saw to cut big trees). The price of a sensaw can be more that Rp5,000,000. Basically, not only the Dayak engage in this kind of work, many non-Dayak, like some Javanese, also engage in similar jobs. Based on my in-depth interviews, they explained that this job is dangerous because they have to go to the forest and stay overnight in order to be able to cut big trees. They establish a camp so that they can sleep and cook in the camp. Often, they work in a group because it is difficult to take care of big logs alone. They rent trucks to transport logs to their places. The cost of transporting logs by truck is around Rp1,500,000. They process the logs into cut timber. Once again, if they do not trade their products in their sub districts, they rent a truck to transport the cut timber to Samarinda. The land transportation has been able to be used since the regional autonomy. Though the road that connects Linggang Bigung and Samarinda is winding and has not been completely constructed with hot-mix, but is of pressed soil. The journey can take more than ten (10) hours. According to informants, on the way, truck drivers have to pay at many police posts. Previously, people could only transport wood by river transportation which was more expensive and took more time.

All respondents usually trade their products in the area of their sub district and Samarinda, the capital city of East Kalimantan. At present they can get logs easily, but are concerned about the future, especially because they are aware that the forests have become very thin or even ‘dull’. To the people in Linggang Bigung, thin forests are forests that have been left by logging companies and which do not have many large trees left. They refer to ‘dull’ forests when the forests are about not to have trees but still have grass. In my observation, there are areas that had been burnt in annual forest fires in this region. In those areas we can only see grass and a few burnt trees. Meanwhile, the people’s work relies totally on the availability of logs. They produce plywood and cut timber, The mushrooming of this business has been due to the opening up of access to logs. As mentioned previously, local people currently have more access to logging. Usually, people take logs from logging areas that have been left by the big logging companies.

Since regional autonomy, it is admitted by many informants that the indigenous people, the Dayak, have benefited from the forestry sectors, in various forms. For those who own areas of forests (petak) exploited as logging areas by any company will get fees from the company. The distribution of fees is a complex matter. Often, the negotiation of the amount of money as a fee involves many parties, including the head of a village, customary chief, and the company. According to Tobian, the secretary of Linggang Bigung village, apart from getting certain benefits from forest exploitation in the form of fees, the distribution of fees has somehow created conflicts. He told me that many conflicts on this issue have occurred in the Linggang Bigung Sub District. The conflicts not only relate to fair distribution, but also link with the unclear borders of the forests, where overlapping of ownership has become a common issue. Of course, the distribution of fees does not always create a conflict. I shall illustrate the example of the distribution of fees in the village of Melapeh Baru, Linggang Bigung Sub District, in March-April 2001 from the HPHH (Hak Pengusahaan Hasil Hutan – Licence for Exploiting Forest Products) activity of PT Royindo:

List: The Detail of fee distribution to Melapeh Baru village for HPHH (PT Royindo) activity in March-April 2001 with volume of 760 M3 and value of income 760 M3 x Rp85,000 = Rp64,600,000 (equivalent to US$ 7,778).

I. Foundation:

1. Fee payment by PT Royindo 760 M3 x Rp85,000 = Rp64,600,000
2. Distribution for land ownerships: 760 M3 x Rp50,000 = Rp38,000,000
3. Distribution of fee to village, village administrative officials, village customary representative, paramount customary head, sub district and so forth: 760 M3 x Rp35,000 = Rp26,600,000

II. Fee Distribution:

1. Head of village and village staff members: 760 M3 x Rp5,000 = Rp3,800,000
2. Village customary chief and staff: 760 M3 x Rp5,000 = Rp3,800,000
3. Paramount customary head: 760 M3 x Rp3,000 = Rp2,280,000
4. Village Melapeh Baru money supply (a kind of a village treasury – the money can be used for public needs, such as road improvement): 760 M3 x Rp10,000 = Rp7,600,000
5. Sub district: 760 M3 x Rp8,000 = Rp6,080,000
6. Youth Organisation (Karang Taruna): 760 M3 x Rp2,000 = Rp1,520,000
7. Unexpected funding (who gets this money is unclear as the sub district officials could not explain it): 760 M3 x Rp2,000 = Rp1,520,000

Total = Rp26,600,000

III: Total I + II:

I - Rp38,000,000 + II - Rp26,600,000 = Rp64,600,000 (Source: Linggang Bigung sub district file)

Comparing before and after the decentralisation or regional autonomy, Dayak people have more opportunity to access the forests since the implementation of regional autonomy. I shall illustrate the experiences of two people as a case in point. Martinus^1[8][9], a Bahau Dayak, after the regional autonomy, has been able to work in a log pond . His duty is to look after the log pond and to calculate the number of incoming logs from the log storage (estafet camp – TKP). He works from morning until 5 p.m. He is a permanent worker. He explained that in terms of fee distribution from forest exploitation by a company, the Bahau Dayak usually receive the same amount of money as their fellow villagers because the forest areas are owned communally. He further told me that this custom is not the same as that of the Benuaq Dayak who follow the system of inheritance. Among the Benuaq Dayak, it is only the people who own areas of forest land who receive a fee if their areas are exploited by a logging company.

Being a guard of a log pond, he has knowledge of logs. According to him, a log can have a content of 3-5 cubic metres. A Troton truck can be filled by around 7 logs. This truck will transport logs from the estafet camp to a log pond, on the Mahakam River bank. People from Samarinda or other places often go to the log pond to buy logs. The log pond where 'Pak Martin works is owned by the Karya Rimba Utama (KRT). Previously, KRT only owned a small log pond. There were many logging companies that went bankrupt or did not continue their operations because of the end of their licences. Recently, the licences have been given to the local people and Chinese businessmen who live in Kalimantan. During the New Order period, the logging companies had not been owned by local people, but big businessmen like Bob Hasan. In that period, the logging companies leased their forest areas to contractors. KRT used to be a contractor. In the past, logging companies did not pay fees to the local people, but now the logging companies are supposed to pay fees to the local people who own the areas of forest. He further explained that in the past the Dayak were not allowed to enter the logging areas. Now, the Dayak are paid fees if they own areas of forest exploited by a logging company. 'Pak Martin also explained the process the logs go through. The KRT sells its logs to traders who come directly to the log pond. In this way, it is the responsibility of the traders to transport the logs from the log pond to their places. Apart from this, the KRT, as a big company, transports the logs to Samarinda by using tongkang boats, which can transport 40-50 logs. Usually, it takes around 3 days to transport a log from this log pond to Samarinda. In Samarinda, the company processes the logs into plywood.

'Pak Martin told me that there are negative aspects to receiving fees, which he labels 'unexpected money' (uang kaget). He told me that the observed negative effects include the rise of prostitution, alcohol consumption, and gambling. He, however, realises that these may not only be affected by the rise of unexpected income since a few large companies have existed in the West Kutai District, previously, including PT KEM (Kelian Equatorial Mining). Many people complain that nowadays prostitution is mushrooming. From the town of Linggang Bigung, if people want to go to another small town Tering which is located on the Mahakam River bank, and want to go to a log pond which is also located on the Mahakam River bank, people will pass many cafes, which are simultaneously operated as closet prostitution venues. There are many Javanese girls who are occupied as prostitutes in this location. In this region, when people mention café, the negative connotation goes side by side with this. Another issue is gambling.

The last classification is hunter, forest gatherer and gatherer of the latex of rubber trees. I admit that this classification is somewhat wide. This is because many of the people involved do simultaneous jobs, like having a rubber garden and hunting animals. Apart from gathering the latex of the rubber trees, people gather rattan and hunt wild pigs. Compared with the other jobs, this group has less income because they mostly earn less than Rp10,000,000 annually, even in 2004. A few people who rely on hunting animals have the lowest incomes; less than Rp5,000,000 annually. Many people do not remember what they earn because they do not receive the money regularly. The majority of the people state that the forests have become thin and this will create environmental problems as well as difficulties in finding animals. Based on interviews with many people in the Sub District of Linggang Bigung, in the past the people of Linggang Bigung with the majority of Tunjung Dayak, had lived surrounded by dense forests. The dense forests have gradually gone, especially since the large exploitation by logging companies in the 1970s.

Another important issue is that, the dependence on hunting and gathering has been drastically reduced since the exploitation of forests has been carried out extensively. An elderly man, who remains in the same job, hunting, has encountered hardship in finding animals. He keeps hunting though the results are not satisfactory because he cannot move to do something else easily at his age. The youngsters can get other jobs when they face the problem of a shortage of animals to be hunted. Hunting is a ‘traditional’ economic practice of the Dayak. Hunters go after not only the meat of animals, but also the gallstones (guliga), nails and teeth of particular animals. In the past meat was not a commodity since hunters would share their meat with fellow villagers. Today, it is common for people to aim to sell their catch, so meat has become a commodity. The methods of hunting have changed because people now use guns though the government forbids this method. Hunting certain animals, such as deer (payau), is not allowed. However, the people continue to hunt them. It is common for the young Dayak to learn from older people how to hunt. If the forest surrounding the village is no longer dense and as a consequence there are not many deer or wild pigs left nearby, to hunt, people need to go to areas far from the village, traveling in groups and sometimes staying overnight. It is also common practice for the hunters to be supported by brokers to be able to stay in the forest for a long period, like a month.

Today, in the villages of Linggang Bigung, it is hard to find people who engage in hunting. The Dayak youngsters have more options for jobs now due to the scarcity of animals as a result of the continuing exploitation of forest areas. Traditional practices of the Dayak could disappear along with the forest degradation.

Apart from hunting, work on rubber plots has become important in this category. According to informants, the price for the solidified latex is around Rp2,500 to Rp3,000 per kg. The prices are set by brokers. Many argue that brokers are very clever in manipulating the prices. Rubber gardens or plots have been developing not only at the sub district level, but in the West Kutai Distict in general. Many informants told me that the reason for the development of rubber plots at the beginning had been to replace the thin forest or abandoned land.

Rubber Estate work is an important source of income in the West Kutai District as a whole and in the Sub District of Linggang Bigung in particular. The once dense forests of the past have become small rubber plantations. Based on 2002 data, in the Linggang Bigung Sub District, the total size of small-scale rubber estates is 2,848 hectares, consisting of not yet yielding 1,530 hectares, yielding1,268 hectares, and no longer yielding (damaged) 50 hectares (Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Daerah Kabupaten Kutai Barat and Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Kutai Barat (2003: 69). People have turned to rubber cultivation because it is considered to be profitable. However, now there are many brokers who manipulate the prices of the rubber. The experience of ‘Pak Tobian is a case in point. 'Pak Tobian has a rubber estate and has been serious in this business since he left his previous job in the big gold company. He argues that he could survive if he were seriously involved with the rubber estate since the local government has also paid serious attention to this business.

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1. Fowzia
   (posted 20 May 2007 / 12:12:10 PM)
   
   This site gives a lot of good information on the indigenous poeple.