International Journal of Management (IJM)
Volume 11, Issue 3, March 2020, pp. 242–246, Article ID: IJM_11_03_026
Available online at />Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com
ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510
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COMMUNITY GROUPS OF DAYAK MISIK
STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, WELL-BEING AND
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY IN CENTRAL
KALIMANTAN
Siun Jarias

Faculty of Law, Palangka Raya University, Palangka Raya, Indonesia.
ABSTRACT
Customary Law Communities, hereinafter referred to as Dayak Indigenous
Peoples throughout the island of Kalimantan in general, particularly in Central
Kalimantan, are currently experiencing a very fundamental problem, namely related
to ownership rights to customary lands and customary forests when viewed from the
point of national law. The Dayak Indigenous people who live in rural areas of Central
Kalimantan, where their ancestors have been inhabiting these villages for hundreds of
years. However, their customary lands and forests since 1945 up to 2019, have not yet
received recognition, protection and legality from the state. This paper describes
efforts to preserve life and its tradition.
Keywords: Dayak, indigenous people, customary lands, tradition

Cite this Article: Siun Jarias, Community Groups of Dayak Misik Struggle for
Justice, Well-Being and Sustainable Forestry in Central Kalimantan, International
Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (3), 2020, pp. 242–246.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Central Kalimantan Province with an area of 153,564.5 square km, with a population of
2,605,274 inhabitants, with a density of around 16.96 inhabitants / Km2. It consists of 13
regencies, 1 city, 136 sub-districts, 139 sub-districts, 1,432 villages and 87 areas. Peoples of
Dayak as indigenous people reach 46.62% or 1,214,579 people. The Dayak Indigenous
people, which are still thick with traditional patterns of life, inhabit around 1,000 villages in
the interior (upstream of the river), where the condition of the forest is still relatively
maintained.

Article 18 B paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution reads; "The state recognizes and
respects the customary law community units and their traditional rights as long as they are
still alive and in accordance with the development of the community and the state of the
Unitary Republic of Indonesia as stipulated in the law". But until now the law specifically

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"Lex Specialis" on customary law communities, has always failed to be passed by the
parliament (DPR-RI).
On the other hand, the management space or living space for the Dayak indigenous people
in Central Kalimantan is increasingly dynamically narrowing from year to year. This is as a
result of the expansion of investment in the fields of Forestry, Mining and plantations that are
increasingly out of control. As a result, living space and management space become
increasingly narrow, traditional rights to extinction, shifting cultivation traditions are
increasingly "prohibited by burning". While the pattern of solutions as a substitute model has
not been found.
To answer all the problems mentioned, the Dayak Misik Farmer group is present to offer
and fight for solutions, so that the Dayak Indigenous Peoples can continue to live happily and

prosperously even though, on their ancestral land, Tanah Kalimantan Dayak Central.

2. DAYAK TRIBE IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
The ancestors of the Dayak tribe, inhabited and lived on this Borneo-Kalimantan land, long
before the birth of the Republic of Indonesia. That is why the Dayak tribe is referred to as the
indigenous people of the island of Borneo. Likewise, the ancestors of the Dayaks who
inhabited the "Land of Dayak" in Central Kalimantan, e.g. Tambun Bungai, Rambang
Ringkai, etc. Furthermore recorded in local history, that Damang Batu with the support of the
Dutch Colonial, held a Peace Meeting in Tumbang Anoi in 1894.
Furthermore, entering the era of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, descendants of the
Dayak tribe fully joined the Republic of Indonesia with joy and hope to achieve a better life,
as the ideals of state life are contained in the four pillars of state life, namely; Pancasila, 1945

Constitution, Bhineka Tunggal Ika and NKRI.
Some foundation; basic, constitutional and formal legal norms which become the "Spirit
of Optimism" of the struggle and programs for the Welfare of the Dayak Indigenous Peoples
include: (1) Pancasila, (2) Opening of the 1945 Constitution, (3) Article 18B of the 1945
Constitution paragraph 2, (4) Article 28 I paragraph 3, (5) Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution,
(6) Law No. 5 of 1960 concerning UUPA, (7) article 67 of Law No. 41 of 1999 concerning
Forestry, (8) Constitution court Decree No. 35 of 2012, that customary land outside state
forests, (9) Local regulation No. 16 of 2008 concerning Dayak Customary Institutions in
Central Kalimantan and (10) Governor regulation No. 13 of 2009 concerning Customary Land
and Customary Rights on Land in Central Kalimantan.
The common struggle of all the nation's sons to expel the invaders and establish an
independent state has been realized on August 17, 1945. Furthermore, we are struggling to fill

independence with various forms of physical and non-physical development, which have also
been carried out since the beginning of independence until today, in order to realize the ideals
life as a state, "NKRI" namely; A safe, peaceful, prosperous, just and prosperous society.
In the beginning, the Dayak Indigenous Peoples of Central Kalimantan, fully believed and
waited and accepted all development programs designed only from "Above". However, after
being lived, felt, understood and witnessed by the reality in the life of the Dayak people,
especially those living in rural and rural areas, it turns out that there is a principal part that has
been neglected, namely related to rights to land, forests and land. In Central Kalimantan today
there are 258 villages that live in their villages. This is because 80 - 90% of the village area
has been occupied for the benefit of investors (HPH, Mining and PBS / Oil Palm),
transmigration and other developments. This continues and is very dynamic. In these villages
traditional rights are dynamically threatened to be destroyed, such as rights; (1) hunting, (2)

gathering, (3) collecting forest products, (4) farming / farming, (5) magical / religious
magical. All of the ancestral inheritance has disappeared without a trace. On the other side;
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Community Groups of Dayak Misik Struggle for Justice, Well-Being and Sustainable Forestry in
Central Kalimantan

although natural resources (Alpian et al., 2018; Jaya et al., 2018; Mangkoedihardjo, 2010;

Samudro and Mangkoedihardjo, 2012), which are abundant in Central Kalimantan have been
exploited on a large scale since the 70s until now 2019, apparently not directly proportional to
the welfare of the indigenous Dayak people as indigenous people in Central Kalimantan. The
Dayak Indigenous Peoples have not fully received a sense of justice, prosperity has not yet
been realized, even the forest as a place of traditional rights and environmental preservation,
dynamically leading to destruction.
There are at least five modes experienced by the Dayak Indigenous people in rural and
remote areas related to the acquisition of land, forests and land by Investors, namely through;
convocation, rope, compensation, sale and purchase and just taken. The final result; the land,
forest and land were transferred from the control of the Dayak Indigenous Peoples, together
with the loss of all traditional rights on land, such as; the right to hunt, gather, collect forest
products, plant or farm, even including the disappearance of magical religious symbols of

ancestral heritage, such as; Sandung, sapundu, grave, pahewan, sacred, patahu, sepan, antol
and so on.

3. DAYAK MISIK FARMER GROUP
Observing the above facts and after attending the Declaration of September 1, 2014 at the
Republic of Indonesia's Vice Presidential Palace, on the Recognition and Protection of the
Customary Law Community with all its traditional rights, awareness emerged of the Central
Kalimantan Indigenous Dayak Community "Misik" through the Dayak Indigenous Council,
with " Propose "a program that is bottom up from the community to the Government, Namely
the Program; Dayak Misik Farmer Group, which focuses on 3 (three) basic things, namely:
(1) Request the Government and regional government to give recognition, protection and
legality of the land, forest or 5 ha / household land in their respective villages, in the form of

giving away certificates for free or in other forms such as HGU, HTI, HTR or other names.
(2) Request the government and regional government to provide recognition, protection and
provide legality of at least 10 ha of customary forest in each Dayak Misik village, in their
respective villages, or to join in one village in the same area.
(3) The 5 ha / household land referred to after being established / acknowledged and given
legality, is requested from the government and regional government, so that it can be
facilitated to cooperate with investors in the form of partnership, so that it becomes productive
as a source of family income. While the Customary Forest, in order to be facilitated to remain
sustainable as a forest as the original.
The big dream of this program is that after the 5 ha / household land is made productive as
a result of partnerships with investors, all the households have received a certain income ....
then all members of the Dayak Misik Farmer Group have been freed from poverty. All

administrators and members of Central Kalimantan Dayak Misik Poktan feel optimistic that
this program will be responded positively by the Government and regional government
including investors. This optimism is quite reasonable. Why has natural resources in the
Dayak land of Central Kalimantan (land, forests and land) been almost completely given to
capital owners, transmigrants and others. If they are allowed, of course when the Dayak
Indigenous Peoples ask for their share, of course they can because they are also Indonesian
citizens, even as indigenous people. In essence, the Dayak community must get its fair share,
in order to create prosperity, and to maintain the preservation of some forests as a healthy
environment. As well as contributing to support the United Nations program on climate
change.
The management and members of the Dayak Misik Poktan have made various efforts,
both internally and externally. Internally, efforts have been made to form the management of

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Siun Jarias

the Dayak Misik Poktan in each village to the interior, (currently reaching 800 villages) from
the target of 1000 villages, holding meetings, socializing and determining the location
(mapping, pegging, making SKTA / SKT, point coordinates, etc.). Externally, it has
conducted socialization, consultation, coordination, meetings, submitted requests to the BPN,

MoU with potential investors, faced government officials, even faced relevant ministers to
face the President of Indonesia - Mr. Joko Widodo. The culinary shoots arrived; Mr. President
Joko Widodo, is committed to encouraging local people to achieve progress and prosperity,
through the Nawa Cita Program. There were two important sentences delivered by the
President when he received the Dayak Misik Team at that time (6 November 2015 in
Palangka Raya); (1) Prove that the Dayak Misik Farmer Group Program is indeed the request
of the Dayak Indigenous Peoples, (2) If the people ask for it and the rules do not yet exist,
then the rules will be made.
The Nawa Cita Program, specifically political commitment through Agrarian Reform; that
the government will provide recognition, protection and legality of 21.7 million hectares of
land, forests or land for the community, especially for 31,000 indigenous villages that have
been legally declared to be living in forest areas. The direction of the distribution of land

legality covers 9 million ha through BPN certification and 12.7 million ha through KLH
(Director General of Forestry Ministry of Environment / March 21, 2017).
This Dayak Misik Poktan Program is a program to "Free" the Dayak Indigenous Peoples
from poverty, ignorance, marginalization, exclusion or even being driven out of their
hometowns on the Dayak land of their ancestral heritage. In accordance with the mandate of
the Central Kalimantan fighter, Mr. Tjilik Riwut: "Ela tempah plots but manana sare, ela
tempa kajang but can be loaded, ela tempah uyah but Batawah strokes".
The realization of the objectives of the Misak Dayak Farmers Group Program is believed
to depend on political commitment, goodwill and goodwill of the Central Government and
Regional Governments in this case the Governor, and the Regent / Mayor. If the Government
and Local Government want to make a "Breakthrough" as is done for the citizens of
Transmigration, then this program can definitely be realized. The issue of customary land

ownership rights and customary forests for the Dayak Indigenous Peoples, the solution is the
"Necessary State Present". If the Dayak Misik Poktan Program is realized, then: a sense of
justice will be fulfilled, welfare will increase, harmonious relations with investors, state
revenues from the tax sector will increase, farming by burning will gradually be abandoned,
customary forests will be maintained and a healthy environment will remain sustainable.
The Central Government, in this case Mr. President of the Republic of Indonesia, has
responded positively to the proposals of the Customary Law Community, especially the
results of the meeting between the core management of the Dayak Misik Poktan with Mr.
President Joko Widodo on November 6, 2015 in Palangka Raya. This also acts as an
implementation of the Art. 18 B The 1945 Constitution which so far has only been dreaming
about, has not yet descended into the Dayak Land of Central Kalimantan. The positive
response from the Central Government was manifested in the form of: (1) Ministry of

Environment Decree No. 180 / MENLHK / SETJEN / KUM.1 / 4/2017, Concerning
Indicative Maps of Forest Area Allocation for Provision of TORA Sources, (5 / 4- 2017), and
(2) President decree No: 88 of 2017 concerning Settlement of Land Tenure in Regions
Forests, (date 6 / 9- 2017). However, the implementation for the Dayak Indigenous Peoples
who are members of the Dayak Misik Poktan in Central Kalimantan, apparently has not yet
produced the expected results.
Since it was declared in Tumbang Anoi on October 3, 2014 at the Pumpung Hai event
with Governor Agustin Teras Narang, SH to this day, the Dayak Misik Poktan Program has
received tremendous welcome from all Dayak Indigenous Peoples throughout Central

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Community Groups of Dayak Misik Struggle for Justice, Well-Being and Sustainable Forestry in
Central Kalimantan

Kalimantan who are already "Misik" or aware of as a native, but they have not received a fair
share of the natural resources inherited from ancestors in their respective village areas.

4. CONCLUSION
That the Dayak Misik Poktan Program is one of the "Breakthroughs" of the Dayak Farmers

Rescue Program "shifting cultivation" by burning, from poverty, ignorance, backwardness,
oppression, marginalization and expulsion from the ancestral lands. In this case the state must
be present to give a positive response. The Dayak tribe as a native must stop positioning
themselves only as spectators and surrender, must be changed to participate as players. When
the other party is excited and partying to enrich themselves by exploiting the natural resources
that are abundant in Central Kalimantan on a large scale (even unclear whether legal or
illegal), the Dayaks must also be pro-active in demanding their share for justice, welfare,
peace , harmony, the preservation of customary forests, dignity and dignity.

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