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On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest

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KAMBIAYIN, Indonesia — Eka Karlina repeats a mantra to her Dayak Pitap ancestors as she runs her fingers through the soil, combing the field in Kambiayin village for weeds. “Hopefully this year’s harvest will be good,” Eka told Mongabay Indonesia in the foothills of the Meratus mountain range here in Indonesian South Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. Like many Dayak women, Eka blends extensive domestic responsibilities with farm work and a demanding day job (the 27-year-old mother of one teaches at the local junior high school). “It’s school holidays today because of Ramadan,” Eka said, referring to the Islamic fasting month. “Usually when I am teaching, either before or after school I’ll make the time to come to the huma [field], even if it’s just to have a look or pull weeds.” Growing food is so pivotal to the local adat, a broad term in Indonesia used to describe Indigenous rules and norms, that anyone who doesn’t farm is considered to risk pamali, a curse of misfortune. Reni Antika, a midwife from a neighboring Dayak village, married a man from Java who didn’t understand the Indigenous society’s farming tradition. Reni decided to give up cultivating food. “I told my parents that if you need rice, you should just buy it,” she said. Reni’s second child was born in poor health and had endured fevers for around a year when the family visited a local balian, a medicine man, to plead for help. “I was called pamali, because I was…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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