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Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia Chapter five small village. The Sesepuh Kampung is the leader of a small village, belonging to the same bloodline as Abah Anom. This implies that he has the authority in the village, with an emphasis on the food production on sawahs, ladangs and kebuns. Below the Sesepuh Kampung, there are seven experts in each kampung. The first expert in the hierarchy is the Dukun Kesehatan, an experienced medicine man who possesses paranormal power. The second expert is the Dukun Hewan, dealing with material and immaterial issues around agriculture. He is also an expert in relation to cattle. Thirdly, there is the Dukun Paraji, which is a woman managing the event of a birth. The fourth expert is the Perbakin, a person who is responsible for the conservation of flora and fauna. He also has an official permit to shoot with a rifle, which can be used for hunting animals in the forest. This implies that the Perbakin has to cooperate with the local Agency of Agriculture and Forestry (Dinas Pertanian dan Kehutanan), especially in relation to the national park in which most of the members of the Kasepuhan live. Most importantly however is the fact that he leads the syukuran 32 . This is a ceremony for the protection of crops and to get the blessings of rice goddess Dewi Sri. Moreover, the Kasepuhan also pray for a successful cooperation during the work on the sawahs. On the central level – for all members of the Kasepuhan – it takes place three times a year in August, December and April. The Perbakin plays an instrument called pantun, which looks like a large horizontal guitar and at the same time he tells and sings legends and myths. The Kasepuhan also carry out this ceremony on village level, once a month during the period in which cultivation of the sawahs takes place. Fifthly, the Panghulu is the person who organises ceremonies in case of a funeral. Lastly, there are two assistants called Bengkong Sunaat. One of them is a male doctor, doing the circumcision ceremony for boys. The other is a female doctor, responsible for the circumcision of girls. Figure 5.2: organisational structure within the Kasepuhan community 5.3.2 Traditional authority in relation to traditional wet rice cultivation Within the community of the Kasepuhan, Abah Anom, the highest traditional leader, eventually decides which Kasepuhan farmer can sow the sawah and when. He also decides about the usage of different varieties of rice and the timing of harvest. Moreover, Abah Anom does not allow the utilisation of sawahs with modern tools. The legitimacy or acceptance of these decisions by Abah Anom lies with the ancestors 33 . In other words, in the perception of the people of the Kasepuhan, Abah Anom has the right to decide on these issues, because the ancestors have determined that he is their leader and that his choices are to be accepted. Moreover, Abah Anom is said to consult the ancestors for advice, with regard to the timing of sowing and harvesting. Supposedly, he uses meditation as a method to get into contact with the ancestors. Only one respondent admitted that members of the Kasepuhan are sometimes afraid of Abah Anom. Some of them would like to experiment 32 See appendix 6 for an overview of all Kasepuhan ceremonies in relation to wet rice cultivation. 33 Consult section 3.4.3 for an explanation of the concept of legitimacy. 46
Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia Chapter five with innovations in rice cultivation but they simply do not dare to try because of the fear for their traditional leader. Before the sowing period in October, the following institutional processes are taking place within the community of the Kasepuhan. After consulting the ancestors, Abah Anom calls the traditional leaders of the settlements together. During the meeting, the knowledge and advice of the ancestors are combined with the agricultural knowledge of Anah Anom and the other leaders. The agricultural knowledge relates to specific geographical circumstances. The most essential factors are temperature, rain and altitude. These factors are again decisive in the choices on the varieties of rice that are to be used. Such meetings are taking place five or six times a year. After all decisions have been made, the traditional leader of each settlement returns home, and organises a meeting. Subsequently, the experts and the traditional leader of each settlement work out the sowing plan in a very detailed way, together with the owners of the sawahs. The consultation lasts for some days and is also a ceremony called Pongokan. During the ceremony, the people of the Kasepuhan are not allowed to work on the sawahs, ladangs, or kebuns 34 . Pongokan is also the period that a local official of the desa becomes involved in the decision making process. The official who is responsible for irrigation joins all meetings on village level. The irrigation official certainly has influence on this process. We can explain this by the fact that the Kasepuhan are living relatively high in the mountains. The Kasepuhan built most of their villages on a large tableland in the highlands of the mountains; therefore, they have access to severe amounts of irrigation water. Given this fact, the Kasepuhan do have an advantage in the cultivation of rice. It means that if the Kasepuhan farmers use too much irrigation water on their sawahs, the sawahs below will receive less water. This problem exists only between October and April when the traditional sawahs are being cultivated, since non-traditional sawahs are being cultivated at the same time. Note that non-traditional sawahs are generally cultivated throughout the year. In short, from October until April, people simply need more irrigation water for their fields. Because the demand of irrigation water is approximately twice as high in this period, it is of crucial importance that traditional leaders work out a well functioning plan together with local officials from the desa. 5.4 Tradition according to the Kasepuhan In chapter three we reviewed the theoretical concept of tradition, but we also need to know what tradition means in practice for the people of the Kasepuhan. The word ‘tradition’ is of very high importance to the people of the Kasepuhan. We can clarify this by the meaning of ‘Kasepuhan’, which comes from the word sepuh, meaning ‘old’. Kasepuhan thus refers to a community or social group in which all the members or the group base their social activities on old or traditional customs (Adimihardja, 1998). With the help of semi-structured interviews, I asked members of the Kasepuhan community to explain to me what they consider as being part of their traditions. It appeared that the Kasepuhan traditions can be split up into three categories. The first category is housing, the second consists of customs, habits and behaviour and the third category is agriculture and in specific wet rice cultivation. We will shortly elaborate these three categories below. Being a member of the Kasepuhan community implies among others that this member must live in a ‘traditional house’. People built such houses with materials such as twisted bamboo walls and have a roof of palm leaves. The usage of concrete and stone as building materials for houses is strongly forbidden. Furthermore, the kitchen must consist of a fireplace to cook on. Kasepuhan women are obligated to use wood as fuel for cooking. Gas and oil stoves are not allowed to be used in a Kasepuhan house. Note that considering 34 See section 5.2.3 for an explanation of sawahs, ladangs and kebuns. 47
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