The Return of Pua Kumbu: The Struggle of the Iban Traditional

Weaving in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Semiarto A. Purwanto

, A. Cahyo Nugroho

and Nita Trismaya

Department of Anthropology, Universitas Indonesia

Semarak Cerlang Nusa Consultancy, Research and Education for Social Transformation, Jakarta, Indonesia

Sekolah Tinggi Desain Interstudi, Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Pua Kumbu, Iban, Indonesia Conservation, Cultural Continuity, Adat

Abstract: The paper describes struggle of a local tradition to survive in a changing of complex and rapid social and

cultural context. Pua kumbu as part of the old Iban culture was overlooked, as was the case with the Iban

tribe who were regarded as underdeveloped. Despite of many changes, pua kumbu is still very popular and

widely spread in the Iban communities in Batang Lupar Sub-district, Kapuas Hulu District, West

Kalimantan, which became the site of our two months observation early in 2018. While many experts

believe that the growing contribution of local culture in current Indonesia was related to the launching of the

Law of Regional Autonomy Indonesia, we argue that the process is more complicated. Our research shows

that Iban weaving or pua kumbu was basically never completely disappeared from the life of Iban people. It

is last for centuries since the Iban still considers it as scared and a part of their custom-bound life. As there

also some NGO facilitations to conserve traditional weaving and the commersialization of them, we

conclude that the continuity of pua’ kumbu is contain with social and cultural narrative to include adat, close

interaction with development agents, and market.

1 INTRODUCTION

Although it had long been known as related to the

Chinese ancestors that arrived about 1500 BC (van

der Hoop 1949), Indonesia people have developed

their own unique weavings. From the basic pattern

of braiding a straight or vertical pattern with a

transverse or horizontal pattern (Kartiwa, 1987: 1), it

then became more complex with the decorative

motifs emerged along with the migration of

ancestors from Dongson (Indochina) and Annam

North about 700 years BC (Kartiwa, 2007; Van der

Hoop, 1949; Gillow, 1992).

The Iban of Kapuas Hulu district in West

Kalimantan is a community that has been using

traditional weavings for their daily use. Pua’ kumbu,

one of Iban's typical weaving types, has always been

an important part of Iban’s culture. But from time to

time, its existence rises and falls in accordance with

the socio-political conditions that take place. This

paper highlights the dynamics of the last ten years

when pua’ kumbu again attracted Iban people.

A study was conducted to explain the

revitalization of ethnic or local traditions in

Indonesia during the last 20 years have been related

to the changing of political systems (Aspinal, 2011).

Post-1998 reformation that followed by the

launching if the Law No. 22 of 1999 on Regional

Autonomyhad led to the rising of local sentiments in

a wider context, not only on the political setting. It

also triggered the return of adat (customary law) and

local leadership into the main discourse in the post-

Suharto era (Harvey & Davidson 2008, Duncan

2009). Along with the trend, efforts to rediscover

local identity for the local groups have also arisen

(Adams, 2003).

We see, however, that the case of the

revitalization of pua’ kumbuis not a merely political

but also a social and culturalprocess involving

various events and interest parties.The role of

external organizations, namely ASPPUK, in the

effort to revitalize pua’ kumbu in Kapuas Hulu

relatively large. In addition, the environment

movement to conserve Kalimantan forests has also

influenced the cultural conservation to include

traditional weavings.

Purwanto, S., Nugroho, A. and Trismaya, N.

The Return of Pua Kumbu: The Struggle of the Iban Traditional Weaving in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0009931115191525

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 1519-1525

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

 2020 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reser ved

1519

2 METHODS

Our research shows that Iban weaving or pua kumbu

which has been considered forgotten was basically

never completely disappeared from the life of Iban

people. Despite many changes, pua kumbu is still

very popular and widely spread in the Iban

communities in Batang Lupar Sub-district, Kapuas

Hulu District, West Kalimantan, which became the

site of our two months observation. Data collection

was conducted for six weeks from February to mid-

March 2018, using qualitative methods. Primary

data collection was conducted using in-depth

interview techniques to the heads of women's

weaving groups, weavers, and community leaders.

Interviews were also conducted to

tuayrumah(betang’s leader), village heads, hamlet

heads, and other informal leaders who mastered the

Iban Dayak customs and social issues by coming to

them in betang (Ibanese longhouse). The study area

covers 10 hamlets in 4 villages: Kampung Tekalong

(Lanjak Deras Village), Kampung Sawah, Sungai

Sedik, Sungai Long, Sungai Luar (Sungai Abau

Village), (Dusun Entebuluh, Enkadan, Keluin and

Dusun Kelawik (Mensiau Village), and Ngaung

Keruh (Labian Village).

3 RESULTS

3.1 The People of Villages Studied

The ten hamlets that become our research area are

settlements inhabited by the Batang Lupar Dayak

group which is an Iban Dayak sub-ethnic group.

However, due to migration and marriage with

outsiders, there are also residents in the hamlet who

come from Java, Malay, Ahe Dayak, Embaloh

Dayak and others. The Malay, Javanese, Minang,

Batak and Bugis are migrants who have existed

since the early 1960's and live in Lanjak, the capital

city of Batang Lupar subdistrict, to trade, serve as

teachers, civil servants, and the military or police

officers. While other parts of Dayak are people from

surrounding like Ahe, Embaloh, and Kayan.

According to Tumenggung Sumpit, head of the

Iban Dayak community in Batang Lupar Subdistrict,

naming the Batang Lupar Dayak was at the request

of King Brooke, the ruler of the British Borneo

region. Batang Lupar is the place where the Dayak

group originated before being classified as Iban.

King Brooke specifically asked the Dutch Borneo to

keep calling their citizens who moved around Lanjak

as the Dayak Batang Lupar.

The Dayak Batang Lupar naming continued until

the identity of the Dayak group changed to the Iban

Dayak in the 1930s. The word Iban itself is said to

have originated from the Dayak Kayan language

which means 'migrant' or another version means

'wanderer'. The Iban themselves do not agree on the

mention of Iban which comes from the Kayan’s term,

they claim that they have long used the name Iban.

Population settlements are in hilly areas and are

close to rivers that have long been the backbone of

people's lives. Access and road conditions to hamlets

differ from one another. The hamlets of Ngaung

Keruh, Sungai Sedik and Kampung Sawah are

located on the edge of a cross-provincial asphalt

road with good conditions. Road access to Tekalong

Village, Sungai Luar Village and Long River is still

in the form of land that is rather difficult to pass

when it rains. While the hamlets of Engkadan,

Kelawik, Entebuluh and Keluin can be accessed

from the same route, namely the Kelawik Ring Road

which is planned to be a cross-provincial road to

Central Kalimantan and towards the borderline with

Malaysia in Nanga Badau. The next hamlet of

Kelawik has the condition of a flat dirt road covered

by sand ready for paving, while the access road to

Entebuluh and Keluin is partly still in the form of

land and some are rocky which are rather difficult to

access under any conditions.

The hamlets in Batang Lupar Subdistrict,

especially those that are under study are located in

conservation areas such as protected forests and

national parks. Hamlets in the southern part such as

Tekalong, Luar River and Long River are adjacent to

Danau Sentarum National Park (DSNP). Whereas the

hamlets that are more to the north area such as the

hamlets in Mensiau Village, Ngaung Keruh Hamlet

and Kelayam Hamlet, are close to the Protected

Forest and Betung Kerihun National Park (BKNP).

3.2 The Dynamic of Iban Weavings in

Kapuas Hulu

We will begin our description by exposing the

trajectory of Iban weaving from time to time,

starting from colonization, post-independence, to the

recent days. The history of weaving, we believe, can

not be separated from the economic, social and

political dynamics that occur locally, nationally and

globally.

In this paper, the colonial period begins with the

Dutch colonial presence as a result of the London

Agreement of 1814 between England and the

Netherlands. In 1816 the area of West Kalimantan

which was originally occupied by the British handed

over to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In the early

Dutch era, pua kumbu served as an important part of

the Iban rites. Kain tenunis present in every circle of

Iban people's life. Yet, one of pua kumbu’s

important role was taking part in the process of

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pengayauan (headhunting) that greatly disturbed the

rulers and the Christian missionaries at the time.

Both the Dutch rulers in Kapuas Hulu and British

ruling in Sarawak strive to eliminate the tradition.

In the head-hunting tradition, pua kumbu used to

cover the head of the headed enemy. Going forward

is a high achievement for Iban and his clan. The

attempt to eliminate headhunting was achieved in

1894, when the Dutch succeeded in gathering Dayak

chiefs and establishing a peace agreement called the

Tumbang Anoi Agreement. One of the key points

resulting from the treaty is to stop the tradition of

headhunting. After the peace agreement, the

headhunting practice disappeared, and this meant

that some of pua kumbu’s roles of the had

disappeared. From that moment on, the pua kumbu

was finally only kept as an heirloom and was

expelled at major events such as gawai.

When Japan came to Indonesia In 1942,

according to our informant namely Tumenggung

Sumpit, in Batang Lupar Sub-district, the

community experienced the most difficult period,

including in the clothing fulfillment. During those

days, the Malays used the burlap sack as clothing,

while the Iban people were still in a better condition

because they already had the knowledge and

technology to make woven fabrics. As a result, Iban

people are increasingly active in making woven

fabrics from cotton plants which they plant

themselves, and make it into clothing,

kelambik(shirts) and cawat(loincloths). After the

Japanese occupation ended in 1945, there was a

vacuum of power, including in Lanjak and

surrounding areas. Many Iban people went

forbajalai (wandering) to Malaysia for work or just

to visit their relatives. The Iban people began to

recognize the yarn came from the factory obtained

from Malaysia. They also could easily buy clothes.

Bajalai to Malaysia was often done and work

seemed to be easier to get, but getting cash money

was not easy. Many Iban workers were paid with

only rolls of yarn. The yarn was brought back to

their hometown for fabric material, during those

days yarn started to become an alternative to

substitute the home-made cotton yarns.

Access to the free borderline lasted about 17

years. In 1963, the Indonesian first president

Soekarno expressed his rejection and confrontation

towards the establishment of the Malaysian state.

This situation had an impact on the heating up of

relations between the two countries. The border area

became critical as army and militia posts

established. This unfavorable situations also affect

the mobility of Iban people to cross into Malaysia or

vice versa. As doingbajalaibecame more difficult,

purchase of yarn was also getting more difficult.

This impact on the decrease of the supply of the

factory-made yarn and the manufacture of the

weaving was again relying on the home-made cotton

yarns for its basic material.

When Soeharto became the second president in

1966, Indonesia's relationship with Malaysia

improved and the confrontation with Malaysia

subsided. The Indonesian army focuses on crushing

militia who are considered as communist, especially

on the border area. They interrogated and arrested all

the suspect. This situation made it difficult for the

Iban to live a normal life. The adult males were

afraid to go out to hunt or to the field while women

are afraid to do the weaving activities even in the

house terrace. Production of weaving materials

seemed to be stalled for a long time. Ten years after

Suharto's rule, the impact of the national

development began to be experienced in the region.

Educational programs, for example, albeit slowly,

began to influent people’s lives in the 1980s.

Children who previously had plenty of spare time to

make woven fabrics at a young age, 10-14 years old,

since then had become more school-oriented and

most of the time did schoolwork at home.

Furthermore, some people deliberately build houses

in Lanjak to bring children closer to school

buildings, which meant that they were away from

betang. Weaving became no longer attractive and

had been replaced by the modern clothes.

Suharto’s era ended with the beginning of a

national economic crisis of 1997, which made the

Iban people experienced the difficulty to earn money

and to supply yarn for weaving. The price of rubber

fell and, practically, only rice cultivation could

support their food security. While continuing to

farm, Iban people look for other economic

opportunities that can make money quickly,

including bakuli (work as blue-collar labor) to

Malaysia. But the most profitable is through illegal

logging that rampant in 2003-2005. Temporary

weaving activities stopped, all busy with logging

business. As purchasing power increases, sidan

woven from Malaysia is highly favored by Iban

youth because of its bright colors. In addition, the

motive is easy for young people to learn during

school time. After the illegal logging, life goes as

before again. Children were busy attending school

with interspersed parents to the fields, while

weaving is only partially cultivated by a small part

of parents who are generally included in their

grandmother's generation.

From 2008 to 2015, the yarn for weaving is hard

to come by. To overcome this situation, several

efforts were made by various parties including the

district government through the PKK program by

providing yarn assistance. However, this program

only runs for a moment, because the purpose of the

program is only to help women do weaving and not

The Return of Pua Kumbu: The Struggle of the Iban Traditional Weaving in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

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to be sold. In addition to the government, NGOs

were also assisting people to produce pua kumbu.

Beginning in 2010, WWF consistently helped to

revive the weaving activities through the program of

making natural dyes.Itmade people realize that in

addition to yarn, people also need dyes to make the

weaving materials colorful. They also train people to

market the Iban weaving.The other NGOsthat work

with the locals in Iban weaving is PRCF and

ASPPUK. They also concern with the yarn supply as

well as the marketingaspect of the weaving products.

3.2 Weaving: Rituals, Custom, and

Economic Value

In the past, weaving cannot be separated from the

tradition of headdressing. At that time adat gave

high appreciation to those who succeeded in getting

a number of enemy heads and made him a hero (PJ

Veth, 1856). Special woven fabrics are prepared to

welcome the enemy head and merge into the joy of

the victory party. Pua Kumbu used to receive

decapitated heads were made with certain motives,

which will have higher inheritance and high

sacredness when many heads have been received.

When the headhunting tradition is gone, the

heroic title in Iban life is even less important. Pua

Kumbu as the recipient of the head is finally only

stored as an inheritance and passed on to the next

generation as a family inheritance. In the end,

weaving heirlooms only limited to being a sign of

the greatness of his ancestors in the past. The high

social position of a family is measured by the

ownership of the weaving heirlooms.

Even so, until now the heirloom woven cloth still

has an important meaning because of its sacred value.

This is because sacred weaving still has a function in

traditional Iban ceremonies. Weaving together with

other heirlooms such as mandau, tajau, gong and

others, is often part of traditional rituals.

Heirloom weaving has motifs that are relatively

the same and not much developed anymore. Thus, to

be able to have this motive, other people must

borrow it through certain customary procedures,

namely hanyut teladan or pinjam motif (or

borrowing motives). In this context weaving

heirlooms are in a high position because the content

of the element of trust in the making and function of

the past which is still the same is believed and

carried out.

Weaving occupies a central position in Iban

culture. We examine that the roleof weaving can be

at least categorized into the three domains: (1) at the

momentum of the transition of the stage of human

life (2) the great feast of customs and the

instruments; and (3) the identity of kinship.

The transition of life stages occurs around the

momentum of the crisis of human life. Generally,

the local culture requires a series of ceremonies in

new stages of life, from birth, marriage, to death.

The weaving in the Iban life cycle does not merely

functionas an ornament and complement of the

ceremony, but rather, a vital element which takes the

individual from one stage to another in an unbroken

circle of life.Kain tenun is seen as an heirloom that

is able to provide protection from disturbance of

spirits at the time the baby is born. For the purpose

of baby protection, kain tenun is used for two

activities, the firstis asa protective shadewhen the

baby sleeps and the second is used for the first

bathingceremony. Weaving also plays an important

role during the wedding ceremony, especially at the

stage of pinah pinang. Couples who got married at

betanghome generally still follow the customary

ceremony of the Iban people. Kain tenunused as a

wedding curtain or part of the dowry.

In the final cycle of human life, weaving is

presently accompanying the dead to the grave. In

Ibantradition,kumbukumbu accompany the corpse

along with other custom items such as loincloth,

tajau,and others to the grave. At the ceremony of

death, pua’ kumbu is placed under the feet of the

corpse. Kain tenun used to accompany the corpse

along with other clothes. Without carrying weaving,

the funeral process is incomplete. Often the question

arises between them, “what did your mamak

(mother) bring when she died?.”

Another use of weavings is as a marker for

children or families, namely pamaik (inheritance

rights). If the Ibanese live far away and separated

from the parent, they must hold the inheritance

object so as not to get reprimanded from others

because it is deemed to have no identity and origin.

In this case, weaving can serve as a marker of the

origin of someone, betang origin, region, and family

background. Weaving is also used as a reminder for

their children and grandchildren later, hopefully, in

the future it can bring them back to the betang.

The decoration, color, and clothing design of the

weavings can symbolize the high-status of the owner

which can usually be seen at the event of a gawai.

At the gawai, the heirloom weavings that usually

used asa walldecoration or sandung(gravestone

made up of solid woods). The guests then can

estimate whether the host has met the completeness

of pedarak (offerings) for the ceremony. Pedarak

were prepared on a number of plates with pua’

kumbu as the tablecloth. The more dishes are served

the wider fabric is needed, and the higher respect

will be recaived by the host.

In recent years, weaving has attracted people for

its economic value. The position of the weaver

began to shift from the ability to make weaving

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through appropriate customs to the ability to produce

weaving at a certain the quantity, selling it, and

making it suitable to the market demands. Those

who are able to sell the kain tenunin a great number

will gain praise for the success of our fellow

weavers. With the high price,even when sold at

betang, then weaving becomes a commodity to get

cash money. One sheet of cloth for a 5 x 80-100 cm

scarf is priced up to IDR100,000; while for the size

of 25-30 x 120 cm it can reach the price of IDR 500-

800,000 per pieces. The highest price is for pua

kumbu, which is in the form of blanketora wall

decoration, measured around 120-160 x 200-220

cm, can reach up to 2-3 million Indonesian Rupiahs.

3.3 Some Initiative to Revive Pua’

Kumbu

The supply of yarn as a raw material of weaving is

the concern of many parties, among others is

Association of Small Business Women Assistance

(hereafter will be referred to as ASPPUK).

Pioneered since 1994, ASPPUK serves as an NGO

network that empowers women in small enterprises.

With 54 NGO members spread across 20 provinces

in Indonesia, ASPPUK is involved in business

development and critical awareness through

organizing, training, critical discussions, seminars,

technical assistance, development facilitation,and

product and market quality, etc.

(http://asppuk.or.id/).

Through funding from the TFCA-Yayasan

KEHATIASPPUK encourages the community,

especially the Iban Dayak weavers to re-utilize

NTFPs in the form of certain crops as raw materials

of woven dyes. To ensure sustainable plants for

natural dyes, weavers must not continuously take

crops from the forests where the plant grow, but

must also make conservation efforts for endangered

dye species. The use of NTFPs of dye crops will

encourage forest conservation and management.

The knowledge and utilization of plants for

natural dyes have been owned and recognized by

most communities living in and around forests for

generations, however, the community has not yet

had the ability to inventory and identify such

knowledge. Through the facilitation of ASPPUK,

residents in 5 villages and 10 hamlets in Batang

Lupar and Embaloh Hulu sub-districts begin to

identify and process natural dyes. Most of the

population in these two sub-districts are traditional

farmers with shifting cultivation systems. These

agricultural products include rice and vegetables that

are also the source of food. In addition, the

community also became farmers and rubber tappers.

Agricultural work is done by both men and women.

Outside of agricultural work, women do weaving

activities; weaving baskets from rattan and weaving

mats. These works are generally done on the

sidelines of agricultural work to add family income.

Income from agricultural products is very low,

hence, can only meet the needs of daily meals.

In terms of weaving, women specifically get

their own place in the Iban community. When

weaving is still a part of adat, women have a world

of self-respect for those who have expertise.

Appreciation is not only because of the

achievements they achieved but also the intelligence

they believe to come from panggau, the heavenly

creature.

Almost at every stage weaving the expertise of a

person gets his own designation or title. So many

titles are given to smart women who are able to

master weaving skills. Those who are expert in one

stage are usually called indu or mother in Iban

language, which is placed in front of the area of

expertise such as indu gar or ibu benang means she

is good at making yarn from cotton, indu nakar

which is a degree for those who are good at measure

the ingredients to color the thread.

The main program of ASPPUK is to raise the

role of women in small business. This has been

proven by the emergence of the interest in weaving

production in the assisted location. The number of

hamlets requested to be accompanied by ASPPUK

increased from 6 to 11 hamlets and villages. In 2017,

new opportunities from this weaving craft are well

responded by some village heads like Mensiau

Village and Sungai Abau Village. Some activities

concerning the empowerment of women in weaving

are included in the village program with the

allocation of the Dana Desa (village fund) budget.

Kain tenun are displayed in various expo events at

district, provincial and national levels with ASPPUK

facilitation.

To campaign for the environmentally friendly

weaving skills of Iban women, ASPPUK helps

promote by opening local, national, regional markets

at the ASEAN and global level through exhibitions,

fashion shows and workshops. Two of the events to

promote Iban weavings facilitated by ASPPUK were

New York Fashion Week and the Jakarta Fashion

Week in 2017. The market is very enthusiastic,

welcoming the products of the Iban women, an

extraordinary appreciation. Certainly, this

appreciation must give simoulateous effects at the

grassroots level, to the weaving women. Assistance

and empowerment efforts are still being carried out,

strategies must be expanded by involving other

stakeholders with the same long-term goals.

The Return of Pua Kumbu: The Struggle of the Iban Traditional Weaving in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

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Awareness of the importance of maintaining

knowledge, skills and expertise is positively

correlated with the wishes of Iban Dayak women to

improve family welfare. The assistence of ASPPUK

inspired Iban Dayak women to conserve natural

coloring plants, because weaving is a life for them.

The knowledge and skills of the Iban to produce

natural color have been documented in a catalog of

colors. This catalog is an oral knowledge which is

outlined in practice, and with assistence of

ASPPUK, is compiled together in writing

documents. The catalog is now displayed on the

betang houses. It is hope that it can be learned by

children, women and men, who live in betang.

3.4 Competition with Malaysian Iban

For Iban people in Malaysia and in Indonesia,

weaving has become an inseparable part in all kinds

of socio-cultural activities of the people. Weaving

has become a part of everyday life which has many

uses from only clothes, decorations, to being a

substantive part of the traditional celebrations and

great celebrations of the Iban people. Comparing

different characteristics between Iban Malaysia and

Indonesia is not easy, especially for those who are

laymen and do not understand the woven fabric in

depth. We think that there is a kind of competition

betwe the Indonesian and Malaysian Iban in

weavings.

Unlike the dynamics that occur in Indonesia,

Malaysian weavers are arguably rarely having

difficulty in supplying yarn and factory dyes for a

long time. Even around the 1940s in Malaysia there

was an abundance of thread stock which was

abundant where thread had become a means of wage

for Indonesian workers who bakuli there. The

stability of the economic situation in Malaysia

makes the tradition of weaving with manufacturer

(synthetic) dyes consistently maintained until now.

Our informant from Betang Tekalong explained that

Malaysian woven fabrics rarely use natural colors

but chemical dyes or wantex even though they know

natural dyes from the same ancestors.

Another difference between Malaysian and

Indonesian Iban woven fabrics is in visual

appearance. Visual display is a variety of colors that

exist in woven fabric products that can be observed.

In addition to color, another visual appearance is the

structure of the constituent yarn. Our informant from

Betang Kelawik said that the most easily seen

difference was the shape of the motif where

Malaysian woven cloth had a large motif while

Indonesian woven cloth was smaller. Indonesian

Iban motifs are thought to be neater while Malaysian

motifs look thicker and bigger so that they look less

neat.

Weavers in Malaysia, according to our

informants, prefer to use new motifs and do not want

to use old motifs from ancestors because they still

believe in the taboo. New motifs for woven fabric

can easily be made into finished products, such as

clothes or skirts. While the old motifs, like the

motives of humans, crocodiles and all other living

things, should not be cut. While the price of

Malaysian products is generally perceived as higher,

the Indonesia Iban told us that their natural colored

weavings are priced cheaper by Malaysian buyers.

The product are thougt as too dull as they prefer the

brighter ones.

From the competition with the Malaysian

weavings, the Indonesia Iban in the research areas

believe that their weaving are much more authentic

than the Malaysian. We are not in the position of

judging which one is true, but that perception has in

practice made the Indonesia become more proud to

their weavings.

4 DISCUSSION

Natural dye materials promoted by ASPPUK is

expected to answer the issue of availability of dye.

In addition to cheaper, natural dye materials are also

in line with market trends that give more

appreciation for natural products. Our research

shows that the Dayak community in Batang Lupar

Sub-district extractnatural dye in three ways: (1)

direct picking from nature, from plants and minerals

in the forest, (2) taking from plants originating

around the village or cultivationand 3) taking from

the remain of the unused timber or logs.

Nevertheless, they take more raw materials directly

from the forest. As we show in Table 1, natural dye

appears to have the potential to interfere with the

survival of the plant. The main ingredient is in the

form of leaves often must be taken in large

quantities which can damage the plant. There is even

a material taken from its roots, which of course turns

the plant to die. On the other hand, there are plants

that have become increasingly difficult to find, such

as engkerebai, which is also sought by the local

people as ingredients for traditional medicine.

It is fortunate that the Iban people, for example,

the community live in Sungai Long, still live in

groups and uphold adat (the customs) by always

putting harmony with nature. They always start the

activities of extracting nature ingredients by

performing rituals and in accordance withadat rules.

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For example, until now they still divide the land for

farming activities on the basis of ancestry and

kinship ties in the betang.

From several discussions with the Sungai Long

community on the program of non-timber forest

product identification which is done together with

ASPPUK, the community is greatly helped by the

knowledge of natural dyes. They realize and know

the potential of natural dye plants that are located in

the betang vicinity and that are in their customary

gardens and forests. Natural dyes are mostly

obtained from plants in forests which is used

according to betang institutions. When ASPPUK

introduces a program to produce natural dyes, the

local people look at their forest potential and see

how it relates to strengthening the role of betang in

protecting forests.

Interestingly, the program initially initiated by

ASPPUK for the enhancement of the role of women

entrepreneurs ultimately establishes cultural

conservation through the strengthening of

knowledge and practice of weaving. While the

choice to focus on the use of natural dyes, not

primarily on motives and weaving skills, ultimately

brings this ASPPUK program to the issue of natural

resource conservation. When the research was

carried out, the weaving business began to

conductedin betang again to help people to get cash

money. Some NGO activists who come to do their

jobs in the villages often buy kain tenun; in addition,

they also help to market Iban weaving in exhibition

events at district and provincial levels. ASPPUK

even once brought Iban weaving products in the

event of a national clothing festival in Jakarta.

5 CONCLUSION

Our research has shown how the facilitation process

by an NGO based on women's empowerment, in

practice, has led to a variety of effects. The case of

ASPPUK's local economic strengthening program in

Kapuas Hulu through pua kumbu production and

sales, provides an overview of the increasing

appreciation of the pua kumbu. In addition, the use

of natural dyes also resulted in the intensification of

certain crop cultivation in the forest, which in turn

led to conservation awareness of forests and nature.

As a product of cultural processes, the survival

of the Ibanpua’ kumbuis colored by and related to

many factors and interests. Some scholars have

pointed out that the policy of regional autonomy

launched in 1999 has a lot of influence on the

increasing role of the local government and

community. At the same times, they also notice that

the policy also push some local authorities to

revitalize their old tradition to show their uniqueness

compare to others. Pua kumbu, that its popularity

was up and down through history, gets its

momentum in this period. However, since cultural

processes are always fluid and in the making, we can

only judge the increasing of communities’

appreciation ofpua kumbuby describing the context

first. In the case in Kapuas Hulu, it is more due to

the NGO’s activism. We have already pointed out

that the type of activism associated with this rise in

appreciation is not simply because the program is

linked to economic benefits alone, but there are also

aspects of gender, cultural conservation, and nature

conservat

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The paper is based on a research funded by Yayasan

KEHATI. We would like to thank ASPPUK that

allowed us to access their data and programs in

Kapuas Hulu. Specifically, we really appreciate the

initiative of Hamda Khairuzain (TFCA Kalimantan-

KEHATI), the assistance of Mia Ariyana, Darmanto,

Risma (ASPPUK), and the accompany of

ASPPUK’s field officers in Kapuas Hulu during our

stay. An earlier version, with a different angle, will

be presented in the 14th International Borneo

Research Council Conference, in Kuching,

Malaysia, on 6-8 Agustus 2018.

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