9. Imagined Baduy Children

AHMAD BUKHORI-MUSLIM

9. IMAGINED BADUY CHILDREN

Working with Parents and Little Time to Play

INTRODUCTION

Cultural identity representations of minority groups are frequently stereotyped. Lack of understanding and ignorance resulting from cultural and social domination enables the majority groups to generalize narratives told about the minority group. As Stanley (this volume) observes, the intrinsic cultural identity of the minority group is often blurred by the observer-relative ‘facts’ of the majority group. This stereotyping of Others can be identified in the relationship between mainstream Indonesian children and those of the isolated Baduy community as described below. This chapter discusses the perceptions of mainstream Indonesian children of the daily lived experiences of Baduy children, an isolated Indigenous minority in Indonesia, who occupy the most southerly western part of Java. It also explores how the Baduy children depict their own lives and the lives of mainstream Indonesian children. Depictions of identity in this chapter are as understood from drawings made by children of both the mainstream and the isolated groups. The chapter first explains who Baduy are and the place of the Baduy children in mainstream Indonesian society. Next the purpose of the study is outlined and the research site described. Emerging themes based on the pictures are identified and discussed and some conclusions are drawn.

WHO ARE THE BADUY?

Indonesia is a land of multiethnic groups. Some of these local ethnic groups are dominant such as the Javanese and Sundanese in Java, the Batakese and Padangese in Sumatra, and the Balinese in, of course, Bali. They play active roles in all levels of government administration, from local to central. Other ethnic groups are geographically isolated, smaller in number and still living their traditional life with limited involvement in mainstream Indonesian society. Such groups are isolated in rural areas of the country and resist interaction with the more dominant ethnic groups. Included in this group are the Anak Dalam in Sumatra, the Baduy in Java, the Dayak in Kalimantan, the Polahi in Sulawesi, and the Korowai in Western Papua.

These people are called Masyarakat Adat (Indigenous communities). However, the way in which the term ‘Indigenous people’ is used in the Indonesian context is different from the same term used to describe other groups in countries such as Canada (Inuit), the United States (Indian-American) and Australia (Aborigine) because all ethnic groups in Indonesia are basically Indigenous (International Work Groups for Indigenous Affairs). One such group are the Baduy who live in the subdistrict Leuwidamar, a district of Lebak, in south-western Java. Their name may be derived from the word Bedouin. It may also be taken from the name of a local river, Ci Baduy (Baduy river). Local non-Baduy people sometimes call them Kanekes, taken from the name of the local government-administered village in which they reside. They are also called the Rawayan, a name referring to the numerous bamboo bridges over a local river. Another name used by local mainstream people is Kompol; this term is especially given to members of the outer Baduy community. However, according to Erwinantu (2012), Ayah Mursyid, one of leading figures in the Baduy community confirms that he and his community prefer two of these four labels. The first is Kanekes, a term that refers to their formal administration established by the Indonesian government, and the second is Baduy that represents their formal identity in interaction with the mainstream Indonesian society. As this is the term preferred by the community, the term Baduy will be used throughout this chapter. The total population of Baduy people is approximately 11,000, occupying the Kendeng mountain, at an elevation of 300–500 metres above sea level (Kurnia & Sihabudin, 2010). The Baduy homeland is contained in just 50 square kilometres of hilly forest, about 160 km from Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. The Baduy live in several small and large villages under the administration of Kanekes. Ethnically the Baduy belong to the Sundanese ethnic group, one of the many local ethnic groups in today’s Indonesia. Some people believe that the Baduy are the descendants of the aristocracy of the Sunda Kingdom of Pajajaran who lived near Batutulis in the hills around Bogor, West Java province. Their racial, physical and linguistic traits bear strong resemblance to the other Sundanese people. However, while modern Sundanese are open to influences from the outside world, the Baduy people resist any modern influences and vigorously preserve their ancient way of life. They live a simple and modest life in their geographically isolated areas, maintaining a close but friendly contact with nature, much like the Amish people in the United States. The Baduy people have traditional clothing that they wear at all times and this has become their trademark. Males, adults and children, wear a homespun shirt, a bandana-like headscarf, and a skirt, similar to the Scottish kilt. Females wear a long shirt and skirt like a sarong. The colour of these outfits is always either dark blue or white. The Baduy people are not allowed to wear shoes of any kind, believing it is important to have contact with the earth. The Baduy are divided into two sub-groups: the Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy), and the Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy). Dark-blue clothing is worn by Baduy who are part

118