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As theInternational Day of the World’s Indigenous People was celebrated this week,the United Nations called on all countries to recognize the rights ofindigenous peoples through this year’s theme, “Indigenous designs: celebratingstories and cultures, crafting our own future.”
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| Handbags and textiles made by Kalimantan people. (JG Photo: Courtesy of Ng Swan Ti) |
Indigenouspeoples are defined by the United Nations as nondominant ethnic groups with aclaim to historical continuity in their ancestral lands, who often sufferdiscrimination and marginalization by groups who have occupied their landsthrough invasion, colonial rule or political dominance.
There arearound 5,000 recognized indigenous groups around the world, whose members makeup around 5 percent of the world’s population.
InIndonesia, the Dayak and Bajau peoples of Kalimantan are included under thisdefinition.
“[Indigenouspeoples] have their land but are often displaced. They end up at the verybottom of society without any skills,” Michele Zaccheo, director of the UnitedNations Information Center in Jakarta, said at a video screening and discussionat the Goethe-Institut on Tuesday.
Zaccheoshared a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the event, sayingthat indigenous peoples “face many challenges in maintaining their identity,traditions and customs, and their cultural contributions are at times exploitedand commercialized, with little or no recognition.”
“We mustwork harder to recognize and strengthen their right to control theirintellectual property, and help them to protect, develop and be compensatedfairly for the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge that is ultimatelyof benefit to us all,” the secretary general’s message read.
A 30-minutedocumentary called “Kalimantan’s Craft: Harmony of Culture and Nature,” byfilmmaker Nanang Sujana, was screened at the UN headquarters in New York and inall member countries around the world to mark the international day ofrecognition.
The filmshows the life of the indigenous Dayak people in Kalimantan, who depend on thenatural resources around them for their livelihoods. With skills that have beenpassed down from generation to generation, the Dayak people produce artisticcrafts including woven baskets, handbags and textiles, all using naturalmaterials.
AgusSardjono, an expert on intellectual property from the University of Indonesia,said a community’s rights to its own creative products should be recognized.
“Whencreating a product, indigenous people in villages don’t actually think aboutintellectual property. But when other people run a business selling similarproducts using their designs and make a profit, that’s when they begin to thinkabout it,” Agus said.
Often, he added,people outside the community care more about this problem than the indigenouspeople.
“It’speople in general, like us, who are very concerned when we see certain peopletake advantage of a culture’s creativity, but without sharing the benefits,” Agussaid.
YayasanDian Tama, a West Kalimantan-based foundation, has been working with theindigenous Dayak people since 1994 to help make sure they benefit financiallyfrom the products of their labor.
“Basicallythey have the skills. So what we do is provide them with training on how tomake better products, set up standards to meet the demands of the market, andalso help maintain quality control,” said Tri “Alty” Renya Altaria Siswanto, anadviser for the foundation. “At the same time, we also teach them how topreserve the natural sources from which they take the materials.”
Alty saidthe organization employed a “punishment and reward” system to encourage theDayak people to create high-quality products. This, she said, is a way toappreciate the knowledge and skills of the indigenous people themselves.
“We toldthem that the better the quality, the better the prices, and vice versa,” shesaid. “And they are now able to produce high-quality products, sold under thebrand Borneo Chic. We are also currently participating in an exhibition atHarrods [department store] in the UK.”
Alty said,however, that the production of better-quality products had not changed thepeople’s economic situation, because they still needed to improve theirmarketing.
“But wehave achieved a very important thing, which is getting [the Dayak people’s]traditional knowledge and creative rights recognized by people outside theircommunity,” she said.
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