The Fighting Saga of the Lebak People About Caah Laut

Collaboration between UMN and the Mitigation Group of South Lebak (Gugus Mitigasi Lebak Selatan/GMLS)

Panggarangan, Lebak – The Mitigation Group of South Lebak (Gugus Mitigasi Lebak Selatan/GMLS), in collaboration with Multimedia Nusantara University, held a Watching Together and Discussion event for a documentary film entitled “The Indigenous” by Watchdoc Documentary on Thursday (14/9), at the GMLS Command Center, Panggarangan, Lebak.

The event was attended by Vice Chairperson of the National Council of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago Henriana Hatra Wijaya, GMLS Chairperson Anis Faisal Reza, GMLS members, members of GERMAS Village Disaster Response Youth (Remaja Tanggap Bencana Desa/RTBD), Indonesian Youth National Community (Komunitas Nasional Pemuda Indonesia/KNPI) Malingpingping, and MBKM Humanity Project students of Multimedia Nusantara University.

“The Indigenous” documentary tells how the local wisdom that is part of the Daya luhur indigenous community in Cilacap, Central Java, and Dayak Iban in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, is a reflection of so many indigenous communities that are often misunderstood due to the failure of the audience to understand the meaning behind the local wisdom itself.

The film addresses the many misconceptions people have about the definition of local wisdom. In fact, local wisdom has its own meaning. Cilacap has the local wisdom of “Sedekah Ketupat,” a ceremony to honor guests and human relations. Just like Cilacap, Kapuas Hulu also has its own local wisdom. The local wisdom is called “Keduren Pansot,” a ceremony to thank God Almighty for the harvest and ask for similar blessings for the following year.

Nobar activity with the young generation in the South Lebak area

Through this nobar (watching together) activity and discussion, it is hoped that the younger generation in the South Lebak area will not look negatively and forget their cultural wealth.

“South Lebak is an area that has a rich tradition and culture. There are rituals, there are symbols in it. Today’s children have begun to lose knowledge of their ancestors’ customs. They even have a negative stigma about their own ancestral customs,” Anis said.

The nobar activity was followed by a discussion session themed “The Meaning of Rituals and Symbols in the Banten Kidul Indigenous Community and Their Relevance to Community Resilience” with Henriana Hatra Wijaya as Vice Chairperson of the National Council of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago.

The discussion session was closed with a presentation of opinions from KNPI Malingping members and Multimedia Nusantara University students regarding the dynamics of the younger generation in understanding indigenous communities and their cultural wealth.

Communication Science Team | UMN News Service

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

Kuliah di Jakarta untuk jurusan program studi Informatika| Sistem Informasi | Teknik Komputer | Teknik Elektro | Teknik Fisika | Akuntansi | Manajemen| Komunikasi Strategis | Jurnalistik | Desain Komunikasi Visual | Film dan Animasi | Arsitektur | D3 Perhotelan , di Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. www.umn.ac.id