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If Not Us Then Who? Film 3 (12:30) 2021
The Dayak Iban Way of Farming
This is one of seven short films about sustainable living in the forests of Indonesia, Costa Rica and Brazil. Taken together, they tell a story of oppression, resistance, accomplishments, and confidence for the future.
CURATOR
Laura Miller
Applied ethicist and instructor, Southwestern Illinois College, St. Louis Community College, Fontbonne University, and Webster University
Please download the teacher's guide for maps, background information, suggested subjects, questions and activities.
SYNOPSIS
"Then came the companies taking the trees, destroying the forest and ruining nature, and we became their scapegoat."
The Sungai Utik, Dayak Iban way of farming is that of their ancestors. Their cultivation techniques involve rotating fields and crops so that some fields lie dormant while others are farmed. It is this traditional method of opening a field for planting that has been deemed problematic, even illegal, since the Sungai Utik use carefully controlled burning to open their fields for planting. These fires have been said to cause pollution and forest fires, though the clearing of land by palm oil plantations, said to be the main source of these problems, faces little scrutiny. The loss of this traditional method of farming, including the right to burn the fields, would fundamentally change what it is to be Sungai Utik, Dayak Iban. Lost would be their way of farming, the rituals used to open fields, blessings and offerings, and their ability to provide for themselves.
TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE WITH DOCUMENTARIES
This guide was created with the intention of exploring the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples in the Global South. These experiences demonstrate the resilience of the people born in these locations and their struggle to maintain the connections to their ancestors through their cultural practices, rituals, and defiance.
I consider this to be a legacy project in which the contributors are seeking to honor the lives of their elders and those who have come before them. As an educator, I cannot replace seeing the faces, places, and lived experiences through the eyes of another. No matter how graphic a text depiction might be, the essence of experience conveyed through film is far more powerful. I encourage you to embrace this ethnographic approach to cultural anthropology and to embrace the narratives of peoples who have overcome modernization and threats from commercial interests and other harms, and who have found unexpected alliances and opportunities to thrive.
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Other titles in the If Not Us Then Who? Collection:
3. The Dyak Iban Way of Farming
REVIEWS
If Not Us Then Who?
Reviews by Isadora Lambert for Video Librarian 21 April 2023
The seven short films collected in If Not Us Then Who? chronicle sustainable practices in the forests of Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Brazil. While many environmental documentaries focus on the devastation humankind inflicts upon the world, these seven films demonstrate resilience and hope for the future.
Part One: Indonesia
Sungai Utik: The fight for recognition (21 min)
The first film in “If Not Us Then Who?” is Sungai Utik: The fight for recognition. At 21 minutes, this is the longest film in the collection. Sungai Utik profiles a Dayak community that follows sustainable practices passed down by their ancestors to protect forest lands. While outsiders see the financial gain in exploiting the forest’s resources, the Sungai Utik take only the resources they need and repay the earth for what they take by planting new trees. The film follows their quest to receive legal protection and fair treatment from the government.
Building a Longhouse as a Cultural Center (12 min)
The second film in the collection follows the Sungai Utik people as they build a traditional longhouse for the first time in fifty years. This building acts a cultural center where the community can gather, attend school, make food, and live together. The indigenous filmmaker of Building a Longhouse as a Cultural Center emphasizes the community effort that makes this construction possible and pays particular attention to the elders in the community.
The Dyak Iban Way of Farming (13 min)
This documentary short discusses traditional Dayak Iban farming methods. Their process involves rotating farmlands and utilizing carefully controlled burning. Although this is a traditional technique, the government has deemed controlled burning illegal due to pollution and forest fires. However, the true environmental damage is caused by massive palm oil plantations. The Dyak Iban Way of Farming demonstrates the cultural and ecological value of maintaining traditional practices.
Homecoming: Indigenous youth return to the land (8 min)
Homecoming: Indigenous youth return to the land focuses on Indigenous youth and how crucial this generation is to environmental activism. While many youths choose to leave their communities to study and work in cities, this documentary examines those who choose to return in order to help their communities by integrating tradition with sustainable planning.
Part Two: Costa Rica/ Brazil
A Sustainable Solution: Environmental tax to maintain forests in Costa Rica (7 min)
This documentary short highlights the impact Indigenous people have made in reducing logging in Costa Rica. A government program called Payment for Environmental Services supports sustainable practices and motivates communities. A Sustainable Solution proves that government intervention can have a positive impact on the environment.
Brazil's Warrior Women: Women’s movement wins access to babassu oil (8 min)
In Brazil, 400,000 women harvest nuts from the babassu palm in order to maintain a living. However, some ranchers and farmers pose a threat to these women, threatening to physically ban the women from the fields. Brazil's Warrior Women follows the passing of a law that allows these women to remain in the fields and provide for their families.
A Tribute to Dona Dije, Babassu Woman Warrior: An interview with the leader of the babassu movement (4 min)
A Tribute to Dona Dijé, Babassu Woman Warrior pays special tribute to Dona Dijé, a central organizer of the Babassu movement. In this interview, she reflects on how the movement has impacted both the protection of women as well as the Amazon.
These seven documentary films are unique in their emphasis on how Indigenous communities influence environmental conservation. “If Not Us Then Who?” champions perspectives that are often not shown on screen. These inspiring stories would be welcome in both high school and college classrooms.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
This film would be suitable for students and library patrons interested in environmental studies, public policy, political science, and global studies.
How does this film contribute to a discussion of environmental or climate justice, and/or to environmental literacy?
If Not Us Then Who? contributes to discussions of climate justice by demonstrating solutions for environmental issues, and prioritizing indigenous voices.
What type of library programming could use this title?
These short films would be perfect for library programming events focused on sustainable solutions for the future.
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For hundreds of years, we have been farming.
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Before Indonesia was formed, we were already farming.
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Then came the companies taking the trees,
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destroying the forest and ruining the nature.
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And we became their scapegoat.
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We only burn as necessary.
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We're not greedy, nor excessive.
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We farm as a way of life.
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I often did that when I was your age.
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My parents brought me to the fields.
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Farming had been transmitted to us
from generation to generation.
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He said that: "The first step in farming,
is to choose where the field will be this year".
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"After that, we look for omens,
which usually comes through dreams,
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only until we receive a good omen
can we start farming."
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That's what my father taught me.
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That is how we learned to farm.
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From farming we get paddy.
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But not just paddy, also many vegetables like cucumbers, pumpkins...
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We plant many different plants.
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We farm so that we can live the same way that our ancestors did.
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If we want to live sustainably as they did,
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we must follow their traditions and cultural values.
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In many places on the island of Kalimantan,
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indigenous Dayak farmers are being criminalized
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for practicing our culture of opening the field by burning it.
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There are indigenous farmers being trialed in court,
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some have been convicted and imprisoned,
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some have been freed after mass protests.
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Dayak communities uneased at the start of every farming season,
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whilst the big corporations that have been suspects
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in the forest fire cases continue business as usual.
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Will this continue to happen?
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We don't just carelessly burn the field.
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We call it "Nunu" in the Iban language.
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Before burning, we would observe the conditions around the field.
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We only start burning when it is optimal.
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On the edges of the field, we create partitions so the fire doesn't spread.
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We don't want it to spread to the forest nearby.
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So we look after the fire until it's out.
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Our field, for example, is not very big.
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It usually takes just around 2 hours.
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For hundreds of years, we have farmed traditionally.
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Ever since our ancestors,
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farming has always been our life.
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We farm to get paddy.
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We look for dreams, listen for signs before opening the field
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So that we can have a good harvest.
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When we have guests at the field, we offer them rice wine
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It's a sign of gratitude,
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like we've always done.
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If we have rice, we cook, and we eat together
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Like you, you are our guests at this field.
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You bring fortune to us.
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When we first open the fields, we "Nengah Ambo".
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We open the field together, with the whole family.
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The Dayak Iban way of farming is both a long and complex process
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Every stage of the farming season is accompanied by a ritual
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At the start of the farming season, we first ask
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for permission and blessing from the spirits.
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And at the end of it, we hold a harvest celebration called the "Gawai",
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expressing our gratitude for the harvest.
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We then clear the field,
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afterward we burn the field and then start planting.
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We have been farming in this area for around 3 years
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Every few years or so we move our fields
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On the next farming season, we'll move the field forward
continuing from the last field
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Leaving the previous field for maybe ten or even fifteen years.
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Only then, do we come back there.
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That's our way of farming.
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We wait for the old field to regain their fertility before returning to them.
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Dayak farmers open our fields by slash-and-burn.
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Coming back to previous fields, not opening new forest areas.
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Fields that were cultivated in the years past,
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once it has regained its fertility is used once more.
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Our family gets enough from farming,
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Until the next harvest, we don't need to buy any rice.
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If we get enough paddy from our fields,
we don't need to receive help from outside
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If we don't burn the fields,
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our paddy wouldn't be fertile.
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If the fields aren't burnt first then we won't have a good harvest.
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We can't farm traditionally without burning the fields.
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What will happen if we're not allowed to farm traditionally?
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Like our old paddies, it has been passed down for generations.
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For how many generations, we don't know.
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This is why we must continue farming traditionally.
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In Sungai Utik alone there are dozens of varieties of paddy seeds.
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These seeds are transmitted from generation to generation.
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If we can't continue our traditional way of farming
these seeds will become extinct.
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Sungai Utik's customary territory is more than 10,000 hectares big
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± 20% of it is used for settlements and farm fields.
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± 65% of it is a protected forest area
called "Kampung Galau" and "Kampung Taroh".
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± 15% of it is a production forest
which is used in accordance with customary law.
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All of it is owned and managed by more than 300
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members of the Dayak Iban community of Sungai Utik
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"The Dayak Iban Way of Farming"
A film by Kynan Tegar
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Interviews in order of appearance:
Kote, Kidao, Indai Jamet, Layang
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Opening song:
"Peladang" by Kepal SPI
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Forest fire archive
Nanang Sujana
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With special thanks
to Bima Valian
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Sponsored by:
If Not Us Then Who?
