TRIBESMEN TURN TO ISLAM
People in Sumatran rainforests say life is much easier after their conversion from animism,
BATANG HARI, INDONESIA // Indonesian tribesman Mohammed Yusuf believes his conversion from animism to Islam in a government-backed scheme will make his life easier. “Thank God, the government now pays attention to us. Before our conversion they didn’t care,” he said. Mr Yusuf ( the Islamic name he has adopted) is a member of the Orang Rimba tribe. His original name was Nguyup until his small community converted to Islam and gave up their nomadic ways in January in an effort to improve livelihoods that have been devastated by the expansion of palm oil plantations and coal mines into their forest homelands.
The authorities insist the move is positive but critics say it amounts to a last throw of the dice for indigenous groups driven to desperation by the government’s failure to properly defend their rights against rapid commercial expansion. Indonesia is home to about 70 million tribespeople, more than a quarter of the country’s population of 255 million. The tribespeople include the heav- ily tattooed Dayaks of Borneo island and the Mentawai, who are famed for sharpening their teeth because they believe it makes them more beautiful.
But as a nomadic group, the Orang Rimba – which translates as “jungle people” – are a rarity.
The 200 who recently converted in the Batang Hari district of Jambi province – a handful of the roughly 3,500 Orang Rimba – decided to turn to Islam after being approached by an Islamic NGO, and the social welfare ministry has helped with the process. Community leader Mr Yusuf conceded the reason they converted had less to do with deeply- held beliefs than with the increasing difficulty of finding food and the constant disputes with companies on whose lands they hunt.
The father of 10 also said he and his family wanted to get national identity cards, which would allow them access to public services including education and healthcare.
Converting to Islam and settling in one location means they can get the cards. The decision has meant big changes. The converts now live in basic wooden huts on stilts and no longer move to a new location every few weeks. They are fully clothed in items donated by the government and NGOs, having abandoned the simple loincloths and sarongs they wore in the past.
“It’s nicer living in a village like this, our lives are better,” said Mr Yusuf. They have not completely abandoned their animistic traditions, however. The tribe believes that spirits inhabit the trees and their wavy- bladed daggers. They view Islam as a religion that overlays their own, ancient beliefs. Not all of the Orang Rimba are keen to convert. A couple of hours drive away, a group of about 300 Orang Rimba, dressed only in loincloths, live under blue, plastic tarpaulins propped up on sticks and subsist on the few animals they can find to hunt with their homemade rifles amid the palm oil plantations. They move on average three times a month in the hunt for prey. They look thin and malnourished and life is undoubtedly tough, but they remain firmly against conversion.
“According to our tradition, conversion is not allowed,” said Mail, the group’s leader. Superstition also comes into play. “We’re afraid that if we break our oath we will be captured by tigers.”
The conversion of tribespeople to Islam is not uncommon in Indonesia, and the government insists it benefits them, as it is easier to provide for them if they are not moving around.
Nor are their traditions endangered. “It’s a creative culture which has local wisdom we need to preserve,” said the social affairs ministry.
But some feel the tribespeople have no option but to convert. “I view this as a result of the state failing to protect them,” said Rukka Sombolinggi, secretary general of Aman, an indigenous rights group.
Mr Yusuf said he felt a sense of tranquillity after converting. But his group have yet to receive their identity documents.
“It’s now up to the government. If they care about us they will work on our identity cards,” he said.