When Golden is Lawlessly Silent

Men and women work together unweariedly during the daylight. Holding long hosepipes, they pour swift water over the ground to slide down the soil. Sometimes their activity is located in outlying woodland area, remote from settlements.

Browny water mingles with mud descend rapidly to a narrow pond. Afterwards those will be taken up with a big pipe by an absorbing machine, hoping for some pieces of gold in the end. Most of gold minings in Kapuas Hulu are illegal.

In 2009 The Combat Team of Illegal Gold Mining of Kapuas Hulu carried out raids for some indicated locations of illegal gold mining. It’s found minings also take place within the conservation area, Betung Kerihun National Park. In total there are 200 hectares of illegal gold mining. Those are at Bungan River, upper side of Kapuas River, Cempaka Baru Village, Tanjung Lokang Village.

Administratively, the area of Betung Kerihun National Park’s located in five villages in Hulu Kapuas sub-district. Those are Cempaka Baru, Beringin Jaya, Bungan Jaya, Keriau and Tanjung Lokang.
Farming is the main livelihood of residents. After harvest season, natives do the traditional mining of gold as their side-job for the time being till the cultivation season come. Traditional mining refers to the activity of mining gold by local people at the riverside within a small area, using simple equipments such as tray. Some work by themselves and some work in group. During the school holiday, parents would bring their children every so often to help them in this activity.

Kapuas Hulu is blessing land that contains gold. According to The Mining and Energy Agency of Kapuas Hulu, there are nine sub-districts that have indicated gold potential. Those sub-districts are: Hulu Kapuas, Bunut Hulu, Boyan Tanjung, Bunut Hilit, Suhaid, Selimbau, Silat Hulu, Silat Hilir, Hulu Gurung, Mentebah, mostly at riverbeds.


Nevertheless, it’s cannot denied that illegal gold mining’s also done by certain financed-powerful groups with high-level machines in rather wide areas. Those have boss and waged workers, and guards as well. The raid of Combat Team is often weak in action as its limited operational budget and the wide area of investigation needs more knowledgeable officers. The sites of illegal gold mining usually are in remote area makes those are rather difficult to be arrived at.**

Shifting Cultivation, A Balanced Life

August is commonly known as the starting phase of traditional farming for Dayak in Kapuas Hulu. Now, climate change makes everything unpredictable. Full or rain during August causes farmers begin farming this month, September.

The traditional farming of Dayak is well-known as shifting cultivation using inherited seed. Scientifically, shifting cultivation refers to those who conduct rotational cultivation with rather long fallow period.
This fallow period functions as forest conservation dan natural resource around. It allows vegetation regenerates in nature to revert soil’s fertility and ecological forest’s function.

The step in traditional farming of Dayak’s community starts with deciding the next location for cultivation then followed by land clearance.

Afterwards it’s time for planting the inherited seed of rice. The planting comprises of what farmers call as “menugal” and “menebar”.


Menugal is dibbling soil with a pointed stick in order to sow seeds. The hole is 7 cm depth with 50 cm distanced from other holes. Dibble’s usually performed by men as it’s more exhausted.


Menebar is sowing the seed into the hole. The scatterers are women. Those activities are conducted in group.


Traditional farming is about culture, participation and balance in gender.
Cultivation is not merely for getting food, but also to sustain the culture. Cultivation can’t be detached from culture. Every step of cultivation takes culture within it, for instance fertility cult.
Participation means community self-help. It’s a mutual cooperation. Other families give hands to help and they‘ll gain the same aids in return.
Balance in gender can be seen from cultivation’s activity which involves male and female. Man and woman, children, youth and elderly people participate sincerely.

Makai Taun, the Harvest of Gratefulness

Dishes of food and traditional munchies are laid out on. Rice powder from the harvest’s grain rice, is baked become appetizing cakes. Tuak, the traditional beverage is un-left.
People dance and sing gleefully. Every household visits others. Some traditional rituals are conducted.


May is a special month for Dayak Kantuk tribe. In this month they celebrate “Makai Taun”.
Makai Taun is an annual festivity held to express gratitude for the harvest.
Makai Taun means food for a year. People wish the harvest would be sufficient for one year stock of rice.
Dayak Kantuk tribe gets harvest once a year as they still do an unsettled traditional farming. Most of them still plant inheritable seeds of grain rice.


Makai Taun is held about a week. Its peak is at May 20th. Every village dwelt by Dayak Kantuk tribe will celebrate it.
In this joviality, a certain ritual is held to bestow the seed of grain rice which will be sown for next planting season.*

A Bag for Everything

A woman from the village Sukamaju, Mentebah sub-district in Kapuas Hulu, was carrying tengkalang contained bananas.
Tengkalang or tengkin is a basket used to carry fruit and vegetables from farming. It's made from rattan. The natives of Kapuas Hulu use it as a bag to bring anything to go farming.
It's very useful to carry heavy things, such as fruits, firewood and sweeden rice, and sometimes it's used to hold their little children. Ngamben, is the way of local people to carry their kids on their back by bounding them with cloths or putting them
in a tengkalang.

The Mortar Dance of Kapuas Hulu

The mortar dance (The Lesung Dance) comes from the Dayak tribe of Kapuas Hulu.
The dance is held as an expression of gratitude for the success of the rice harvest. Rice harvest is commonly conducted in June every year.
After the rice harvest, farmers will have a party of rice. In this party, youth would present dances, one of them is the mortar dance.
In this dance, one of the male dancer would dance with mortar on his mouth. He holds it by biting it with his teeth. Mortar is a tool to release rice from the chaff.
The phenomenon of climate change takes effect on agriculture which thr period of harvest begins to change which is not always takes time in June.

The Dancer from Mendalam Dayak of Kapuas Hulu

This dance comes from Dayak tribe of Mendalam, in Kapuas Hulu. Dancer dressed in traditional clothes of Dayak Mendalam. The equipment of Dayak traditional dress in general use as a decorative feather on his head, and tattoos on his arms and neck.

Lubuk Liuk, a Seasonal Hamlet in Sentarum Lake

Children are playing in the wooden path along the huts. That path is the only place for kids’ playground in that hamlet. They do not have another place as the hamlet is surrounded by water and swampy forest. In the daytime when sun shines heatly, those children play on an shed, enjoy the windy air in Sentarum Lake.


It’s name Lubuk Liuk, a small village in Sentarum Lake watery. It’s 20 minutes by speed boat (with 60PK machine), from Lanjak, the capital of Batang Lupar sub-district. It encompasses tens of small wooden houses. It’s occupied by fishermen’s family during the dry season.

This hamlet is empty during the wet season (rainy season). The innate atmosphere of this community has become an interesting point for visitor.
Along with its simplicity, for many times Lubuk Liuk became a spot for documentary film shootings, from national and foreign TV stations.


With 132,000 hectares widely, Sentarum lake is the source of life for fishermen. Many kind of fish could be found here, in particular fresh water fish species.
Hasan Basri, head of the Lubuk Liuk hamlet, their income has decrease since Sentarum Lake got a status of national park. The authority of national park forbids fishermen using certain traditional fishing tools which can be harm the lake’s inhabitant.

Working as a fisherman on the lake Sentarum, according to Hasan Basri, does not give satisfactory financial outcomes. The high price of fuel for their boats, is one of the reasons, while the selling price the fish is uncomparable. The price of fish in lake is very lower than in town. Therefore more people choose to make salted fish and smoked fish as those are higher in price than fresh fish.


Women and children will greet every boat that came as they belief it brings many fishes. In dray season they would get plenty, and often they catch expensive fish, for instance jelawat fish and betutu fish.

When the fish arrived, the women took role, cleaned the chosen fishes for their lunch and dinner. In this picture, a wife of fisherman was cleaning the jelawat fish. In town, this fish could reach a price of Rp. 80,000,- per kilogram.


Unlike village in general, Lubuk Liuk is a seasonal hamlet. Fishermen only stay there during the dry season as it’s a harvest season for fishing in the lake. It’s from the end of April to the end of July. During school holiday (June-July) the hamlet will be more crowded as fishermen also bring their children. This time is a right time for tourist to visit. A place to stay overnight is provided by local people.

In the rainy season or at the season when watery is in high level, the hamlet’s residents return to their initial village. Most of them are from Selimbau sub-district. They work in agricultural field, like farming, gardening and keeping livestock (cows, chickens), in their home village.