In addition to protecting and preserving Bornean orangutans and their habitat, the BOS Foundation works closely with local communities to help maintain their cultures and traditions. The following is an example of a traditional ceremony we have participation in: the naq lom, or initiation ritual for children of the Wehea Dayak, a Dayak tribe in East Kalimantan.
The naq lom ritual confirms the lineage name of individual children and beseeches protection from their family's ancestors. It is usually held after the rice harvest festival, between May and June, and is led by local traditional leaders.
A naq lom ritual usually lasts for four days; the first two days involve preparation, and the other two days are set aside for carrying out the ritual. The BOS Foundation, through its Orangutan Habitat Rehabilitation (RHO) program and in collaboration with Save the Orangutan (StO), a partner organisation that is supported financially by CISU (Civilsamfund i Udvikling/Civil Society in Development), participated in the organisation of this ritual.
The first day involves preparing the equipment and materials needed, including rice, pork, firewood, bamboo, and cutlery, among other items. The second day is spent preparing the venue; a house blessed with a ritual called ndeq kot, which involves spreading boiled pumpkin around the perimeter for animals to eat, as offerings to the ancestors.
As part of the main activity, on the third day, the Wehea Dayak community carry out leng dung, the symbolic act of giving fortune to animals, in the form of banana stems left on the side of the road. Meanwhile, the boys and girls, who are the subjects of the ritual, pound sugar cane in an activity called nde luaq.
On the last day of the festival, there is ndeq; the slaughtering of a pig, while wearing special traditional clothes. The slaughtered pig must be male and its blood is smeared on the traditional clothing worn by the children who are being initiated. The whole proceeding is accompanied by prayer readings, asking the ancestors for fortune, blessings, and safety.
Of course, there is no party without a feast and a dance! Lunch for this ritual is followed by a ngeway communal dance performed by women, accompanied by percussion music played by men. There are several other kinds of joyful dances that the Wehea Dayak community perform at the peak of the festivities, namely the ngejo (danced in pairs) or ngeleang (danced solo or in pairs).
Gratitude is not only expressed through dance, but also in the reading of prayers and mantras called nelkeaq. The Wehea Dayak also carry out gunggunggel, which involves tossing food or money for guests to compete over - somewhat like the throwing of a bouquet at weddings, symbolic of sharing fortune with others. The ritual usually ends with some enlueng dendang music, the strains of Wehea songs sung all through the night and into the next morning. These songs narrate the origins of Wehea ancestors, making mention of the names of the ancestors, the rivers, and their heritage.
During the ritual, it is taboo for the organisers to eat certain types of fish and the dancers are not allowed to consume salt for one night prior to the festivities.
Naq lom is deeply important in ensuring the status of children and their families within traditional Wehea Dayak society. However, in this modern era, the costs involved in organising this sort of ritual are too expensive for many, so fewer naq lom events are being held each year. This is why we at the BOS Foundation continue to work together with StO to help organise this ritual of high cultural value.
The BOS Foundation, together with the KLHK and the BKSDA of Central Kalimantan will soon conduct the 44th orangutan release from the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR).
Every year on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day to honour the planet that is home to us all.
It was a usual day at the Nyaru Menteng forest school, where young orangutans were learning from one another while their human surrogate mothers looked on from below.
